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  WHAT PARENTS HAVE TO SAY

Mary's Musings

First Day

2/14/2018

 
​September 2006               
 
First Day
 
Oh, what a beautiful morning it was! Well, actually our first day was gray and gloomy and frequently pouring, but it felt like a beautiful morning. How absolutely wonderful it was to have students streaming through the door again. I missed them, the rest of the staff missed them, and it felt like maybe even the building itself missed them. They have once again filled us up, and helped us to remember our purpose and the whole place feels like it’s breathing again.
 
Standing at the front door during the arrival time on the first day of school is something I look forward to all summer. It’s a fascinating half-hour. The kindergartners, such little people, are doing such a big thing, and their faces show it. They’re excited and scared and unsure of themselves. I am so tempted to pick them up and carry them to their classrooms, whispering to them along the way that this is really going to be OK, just in case they’re having some second thoughts. But, I’m encouraging independence around here, so I just welcome them, check to see if they remember where to go, and then watch them admiringly as they make their way to their classrooms on their own.
 
The eighth graders, on the other hand, stride through the door with great confidence, but also with an awareness that this is the last ‘first day’ they’ll spend at Friends School. They have mixed feelings, too. They love their top-of-the-heap position, but they know that this will be a year of last times for them. I encourage them in that awareness…the fact that things don’t last forever is still a fairly new discovery for some of them, and not a bad life lesson.
 
There were many hugs that first day. (In fact, I was even hugged by a few middle school boys who must have gotten carried away and probably spent the next hour thinking, “Oh no, what have I done?”) There were a few tears, too, but those came from the eyes of parents, not children. It was a big day for all of us, full of many emotions and high hopes. All in all, a delightful and inspiring way to start the year.
 
From all of us, thank you for sharing your decidedly wonderful children.
 
Mary Ziegler

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    Mary Ziegler

    Beloved assistant head of school and child whisperer, Mary retired in 2015. She is missed every day at Friends School.

    This timeless collection of essays by Mary Ziegler was collected and published for the 25th Anniversary Celebration of State College Friends School in 2004. 

IRS notice  for 501 C3 non-profit organizations:   State College Friends School  admits students of any race, color, national and ethnic origin to all the rights, privileges, programs, and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the school. It does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national and ethnic origin in administration of its educational policies, admissions policies, scholarship and loan programs, and athletic and other school-administered programs.
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  • Home
  • About Us
    • Mission & Values
    • History
    • Faculty & Staff
    • News & Noteworthy
    • COVID-19 Response
    • Employment
    • Inclement Weather Info
  • Admissions
    • Pre-K at Friends School
    • Parent Testimonials
    • Request Information
    • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Curriculum
    • Quaker Values in Education
  • Support SCFS
    • Annual Fund
    • Scholarship Fund
    • Educational Improvement Tax Credit Program
  • Calendar
  • Summer Camp
    • Wee Friends Camp
    • Kids Camps
    • Explorers Camps