Dear Rumsey Hall Parents,
February has a quiet way of reminding us that growth often begins long before we can see it. The ground is frozen, the trees stand bare, and the fields around campus appear dormant. Yet beneath that hardened surface, something is stirring. With each day lengthening by a few precious seconds, we are inching toward an awakening we cannot yet feel but know is coming.
This is the time of year when I reach for gardening catalogues, dreaming of seeds to plant and what might take root once the soil thaws. Even as winter lingers, their pages promise color and life, and every February they remind me of a kindergarten science lesson…
Standing outside with her students, the teacher pointed to the first thin shoots pushing up through the soil and explained that pulling on a plant doesn’t help it grow; it disrupts it. Roots form unseen first; our job is to create the right environment and trust the process.
Growth cannot be hurried. Neither in plants, nor in children.
And yet, children do grow. They stretch toward the sun, they reach for understanding, they test boundaries, and they take the first brave steps toward independence. Our role, as parents and educators, is not to accelerate this process, but to tend to it with care.
At Rumsey, we create the very conditions that allow children to flourish:
- Rich Soil: Students feel known, valued, and understood. A place where they can anchor themselves and discover who they are.
- Sunlight: The warmth of trusted relationships, teachers, advisors, coaches, and dorm parents who shine understanding, guidance, and encouragement.
- Water: The steady nourishment of routines, expectations, kindness, honesty, and communication; the everyday acts that help children flourish.
- And, of course, patience: The hardest part of gardening, and the hardest part of parenting, requires trust, trust that children will grow into themselves in their own time, in their own way. Allowing challenges that stretch them without breaking them, and support that encourages without rescuing; moments of struggle framed as opportunities to deepen their own roots.
Growing up isn’t linear; it is a season-by-season unfolding. Some years bring quick progress while others bring quiet pauses, but beneath the surface, roots are always growing.
Thank you for your partnership in nurturing these young people. Together, we create a community where children are safe to take appropriate risks, encouraged to explore who they are, and supported as they reach toward the sun.
It is a privilege to tend this garden with you.
Sincerely,
Brooke Giese P’23, ’27
Head of School
