trevordayschool

by Alexis Crespin, Middle and Upper School PA Co-President (2022-24) and Maria Denis-Khan, Lower School PA Co-President (2021-23) The Trevor Day School Parents Association is an active, engaged parent body, in which every Trevor parent is automatically a member. Our primary mission is to bring our community together by providing many varied opportunities for us to gather—both formally and informally—as many times a year as possible. We also join the school in its efforts to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion. Throughout the 2022–2023 academic year, the Parents Association was thrilled to once again host all of our traditional annual events. We started in September with grade-level welcome picnics in Central Park and moved on to parent-only cocktail parties, our World Party, the auction benefit, our faculty and staff appreciation day, our book reading with English Department Chair Jason Tarbath, and closed out the school year with our Spring Fair in May and our grade-level end-of-year picnics in June. None of these events could have happened without the constant collaboration of parent volunteers and the school's incredible faculty and staff. Taking advantage of the school's facilities and working jointly with administrators is the only way we can bring these events to our community. Having a Head of School who understands and values the parent community is critical to that successful collaboration. Over the last nine years, Scott has shown his understanding of and commitment to the PA's mission. He understands the importance of keeping our community connected and engaged. Throughout his tenure, he has collaborated with nine PA co-presidents, many PA division chairs, and interacted with scores of PA representatives. Every fall, Scott holds a meeting with the PA Co-Presidents to review the upcoming year's plans and to receive our feedback. And throughout the year, we know we can always count on Scott to make himself available to hear any PA concerns—listening in his special way with an open mind; we always feel heard. Whether it was feedback about Middle School lunch or concerns about our kids' mental health, every issue we raised with him was received with equal attentiveness and follow-up. We saw Anne and Scott at every major PA event since he first arrived in 2014. His presence constantly reiterated that he was key to this community; it also sent the PA a strong signal that we could count on his support. Whether he was having ice cream at the Spring Fair or contemplating taking a spin on the ice at the Skating Party, Scott was always present. The years of attending events and witnessing the way our community enjoys coming together meant Scott had an informed and clear understanding of what was necessary when we returned from COVID. The fall of 2021 started with a slow return to activities with many COVID precautions still mandated as we tried to keep our community safe. The PA knew we had lost a full year of in-person connections, and we had to find a safe way to bring the grade levels together. We called Scott and proposed using our wonderful East Campus community rooftop for outdoor parent cocktail parties that would strictly follow COVID protocols. Scott agreed without hesitation. Later in the year, Omicron hit the city. We preemptively canceled our skating party but suddenly, forecasts pointed to decreasing case numbers and there was a chance to have the party. We proposed an outdoor-only skating party and told Scott that our community needed this. Again, Scott fully supported the effort. He attended that skating party, stood with the co-presidents observing the record number of attendees, and smiled. The gleam in his eyes reflected the palpable joy our students and parents felt being in that rink. When we called him and said "Hey, we need to fundraise for next year's events with an open-air rooftop auction," he said, "Of course you do." He stood on that stage on that covered rooftop and delivered a wonderful speech to the crowd of supportive parents. Weeks later, we recreated Spring Fair to an outdoor-only event that included outdoor eating. Again, we saw him and Anne walking through the fair and engaging with our community members and newly admitted families. Having been present at all our events, Scott easily supported our return because he has always understood the importance of the unity of this community. He has always felt that being connected is critical to the school's vitality and an integral component of who we are. The Parents Association is grateful to Scott for all his support and for showing us through example the importance of being present. We will miss seeing him at our events. But, perhaps, as Head of School Emeritus, he'll still attend many of them. His presence would continue to honor us. TREVOR DAY SCHOOL / 15 INSIDE TREVOR TREVOR TRANSLATES FEATURE AR TICLES ALUMNI

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