In the August issue of The Globe, I wrote about how this school year seemed somehow different. There was an unusually profound sense of change, a simultaneous unease and excitement. Venerated teachers and coaches had departed, new staff had joined the community, and the building itself had been transformed.
Nine months later, the future of Clayton is no less uncertain. Almost comically, the interim superintendent introduced an interim principal this month as Dr. Louise Losos resigned. The District’s budget crisis looms large on the horizon, with programs, services and staff positions in jeopardy. Meanwhile, technology specialist and GSA sponsor David Hoffman, band icon Charles Blackmore, and familiar face Neil Cerrato will soon say their final goodbyes.
The Clayton of today may be very different from the Clayton that I visit during college breaks, or the Clayton that I come to for high school reunions. Change is necessary, change is good – but I worry that the changes here may not be for the better. That said, my 13 years in the District have been uniformly valuable. Iwill always remember Field Day and weighty words at Meramec;Immigration Day and Sixth Grade Camp at Wydown; the author project and homecoming games at CHS. Clayton is special to me because of its remarkable trust in students, its commitment to building both character and knowledge, and, most of all, its phenomenal teachers.
I, and The Globe as a whole, have criticized many aspects of the District. But it is important to acknowledge that, no matter how much we gibe and ridicule, Clayton is an amazing place. The people within the District – the teachers, the administrators, the support staff, and the students themselves – form the core of a community that is unique, a community that I have been lucky enough to call home. I hope it is not these parts of Clayton that change in the coming years. I hope students ignore the garish posters hanging in the Commons – it is not ACT scores and Newsweek rankings that make Clayton special. When real excellence and passion are drowned out rather than complemented by test scores, Clayton is no longer unique. I hope Clayton stays fearless. Learning from other high-performance districts is great, but Clayton should not shy away from pursuing what our community values, despite educational trends or the latest book by a Harvard professor. That means maintaining Clayton’s commitment to the arts, continuing the programs that form the foundation of the Clayton experience
(such as conferenced English), and retaining the VTS program. In a way, I hope that Clayton changes without changing Clayton. New faces and new buildings are inevitable as time passes, but the underlying philosophies should persist. Trust, rigor, and passion should be the mold around which new policies and plans are implemented.In a time of flux such as this, I can only be certain of my own experiences: my own memories of laughter and camaraderie in the Globe office, of focus and adrenaline on Field 7, of fascination and curiosity in the classroom. My 13 years in the School District of Clayton have been special, they have been unique. That much will never change.
