My View
THE STUFF OF DREAMS
By David Provost
Educators invariably have two kinds of dreams in the days leading up to the first day of school. The first is the type that occurs in sleep, and these are almost always terrifying. They tend to revolve around a few familiar themes: there is the one where the teacher arrives late on the first day without any materials; there is the one where the class is completely out of control and totally oblivious to the teacher's very presence; and, of course, there is the most terrifying theme of all, which involves the teacher being in front of

the class without some essential article

or articles of clothing. Each of these dreams is indicative of the kind of anxiety teachers experience as they prepare for the beginning of school; I suspect parents and students have their own versions of these nightmares as they confront the inevitable transition to another school year.

Luckily, these dreams tend to go away pretty quickly, usually as soon as the first day becomes history and we all settle into our respective routines.

The second type of dream tends to last a little longer. These are the waking kind, the stuff of daydreams and moments before sleep, and the kind that are best cultivated in the cooling air of late August and early September. These dreams are the visions of a year that surpasses any other, a year when all activities are meaningful and all contact between teachers and students is both poignant and profound. These dreams are, in short, the embodiment of the true beauty of a school year that starts in September and ends in June: the ability to start fresh and to begin again.

All of my life I have been in schools, and each year for as long as I can remember I have had these back-to-school dreams. If they didn't come, I know I would panic; this would be a sure sign that it is time to move on to something else - a career as an astronaut or a professional baseball player or something. But the dreams come still, and I am grateful, even as we work through, again and again, the countless details that need attention before the first student walks through the door.

In some ways the opening of school this year would seem to loom larger than most at Nantucket New School. Our student population, at one hundred thirty students, has increased by 30 percent over last year. We have ten new teachers joining an already strong staff, half of whom will be working in our pre-school program during its inaugural year. In October, we will be accredited by the National Association of Independent Schools, an important milestone marking both the legitimacy and longevity of the school. We will undertake an exciting partnership with our neighbor, Strong Wings of Nantucket, one that incorporates both programming and shared space to accommodate our growing population. We will continue our partnerships with the Nantucket Land Council and the Nantucket Farmers and Artisans Market, affording our students an opportunity to work on a number of exciting hands-on projects within the context of our science curriculum. There is much to anticipate, and much to be excited about.

Still, what matters most is not the "new" stuff, or the initiatives likely to make the list of program highlights. Rather, it is the simple feeling of starting again, of seeing students and families enter the school for the first time, of sitting down for the first day of classes, and of knowing that this truly could be the best year ever. This is the stuff worth dreaming about.

- David Provost is Head of Nantucket New School