Having lived through many seasons at The Mountain School, I must say that Autumn has always been my favorite. Even as a child each new school year held for me a “fresh start” feeling: new shoes, new faces, and seemingly endless possibilities. The mood was, and is, one of being able to triumph over any adversity, working together to slay metaphorical dragons that in the past have filled us with fear and dread. In this spirit we launch our new website, one that has come together with the work of many heads, hearts and hands.
When The Mountain School was founded twenty years ago, I was a parent and worked part-time in the office, with no computer, nor copy machine, nor voicemail at my disposal; I can assure you a website was not even on the radar. About five years ago Chickadee parent Steve Johnston came to me and offered to create a site for the school, which he did beautifully and maintained for us (many, many thanks Steve!) until his younger child flew our nest last Spring. Grateful for his initiative and his many hours of fine work, still I confess I didn’t quite “get” the whole thing and literally squirmed when he told me I was going to write a blog. Even more daunting was the thought of taking over the site once Steve moved on. I had been quite comfortable, thank you very much, addressing a dozen or so of our beautiful brochures every week to prospective families in my very best handwriting.
In the meantime the internet became the way to get one's message out to the world, and a few months ago it dawned on me that I had mailed only a dozen or so brochures in the entire twelve months prior. Clearly those pretty papers were moving toward collectors' item status, and maybe I was, too. But wait; I started Kindergarten the year of Sputnik and graduated high school the year of Woodstock and the Apollo 11 moon landing. Who says we can't adapt?
So with the expertise of the ever-patient Hasan Sume, and the input of my colleagues, assorted artist friends, and tireless Board member Jamie Collette, last summer we set out to create a fresh web presence for The Mountain School, and here we are. You can easily view a slideshow, sign up for a classroom tour, download an application, find us on Facebook, and watch our wonderful video generously donated by another former parent, Chikara Motomura. As a parent of an enrolled child you can log in to check our calendar, roster, parent handbook or even download an aftercare contract!
I get it now. It has been explained to me in words of one syllable how to maintain the site. I will be happily sharing thoughts with you regularly on my very own blog. And I’m actually looking forward to the next “new thing”, whatever it may be. Bring on the dragons!