Ten Minutes With Julia Heaton
THE HEAD OF MISS HALL’S SCHOOL
Julia Heaton taught for 16 years in New York City before coming to the Berk- shires. She is now in her seventh year as head of school at Miss Hall’s—and it’s like no other. A few weeks before the new term, she still wasn’t sure how many students would be on campus because of travel restrictions. Thirty percent of the roughly 180 girls enrolled are day students; 70 percent are boarders from 16 states and 19 countries. Fall classes started online with plans to go hybrid—and a readiness to change it all up at a moment’s notice.
How has your summer been? It has been like no other summer of my professional career, and I’ve been working in independent schools for 23 years. Every single team in the school has been working without pause since the last day of school. We have reimagined every aspect of the school because of COVID.
What is your biggest challenge? There are so many. The biggest one is planning for multiple scenarios when there are so many unknowns. Miss Hall’s is the most planful and intentional school that I’ve worked at; it’s a deliberate place when making decisions and considering all the factors. But there are so many unknowns and variables out of our control. We have come up with really good plans that are flexible and can work within a wide range of rapidly changing scenarios. Last spring, the external conditions were changing so constantly, we had to adapt week to week. We will begin all online on September 8, with the goal of bringing students back to campus in October, to begin a hybrid program with the start of the second term.
How can you fully plan? The psychological challenge is accepting that even the most thorough and intentional plans cannot ac- count for everything. That presents a challenge when we all want definitive answers. We have an incident response team, which existed prior to COVID, that consists of the senior leadership team and representatives from different parts of the school. That group has met weekly, sometimes two or three times a week, since February. Because we have a global population, this has been on our radar from very early on.
What does the school year look like? We’ve shifted from a two-semester model to six terms, five weeks each. Rather than five or six courses at a time, students are taking two. We’ve looked at the safety concerns, logistical concerns, and focused on deep, meaningful, experiential learning.
How connected are you with other schools in the area? There’s been more active communication between public and private schools during this period, and we hope that will continue. The Association of Independent Schools in New England is our regional connection. We have multiple webinars every week, sessions for administrators, nurses, etc. Even though we are tracking state guidelines, as a boarding school we have more of a connection with higher education institutions in Massachusetts and other states and are looking at what the local colleges are doing. In a more informal way, I have my network of heads of schools locally and all over the country. We talk to each other a lot.
How have the teachers responded? There are a lot of concerns about safety. How can we responsibly open the school? Our local conditions are different than other parts of the country. We have a steady and cautious reopening, with a low positivity rate. But we’re painfully aware that’s not true in other parts of the world, and we track that.
How will you ensure everyone’s safety? We’re following the guidance of medical experts and the CDC—social distancing, masks, hand washing. In reopening, everyone must be tested before returning to campus and subsequent to their arrival. There will be some schedule of testing going forward and self-monitoring of symptoms. This is going to be an everyday reality, not just at the beginning of the year.
Wouldn’t it be easier to be fully remote? We are starting all remote, then moving to a hybrid program beginning October 19, after we have moved our community through testing and quarantine. We can also return to fully remote at any time. I don’t think any of this is easy. While we cannot eliminate the risks of being in person, we are doing all we can to mitigate risks. School isn’t just about running classes and scheduling meals in the cafeteria. There are so many educational, social/emotional, and community benefits to being in person, as long as it is safe to do so.
Do you worry a lot? I wouldn’t say I’m a worrier by nature, but I spend a lot of time thinking about making the best decision for our school. Some aren’t obvious. If there’s something that keeps me up at night, it’s planning for so many variables with the goal of taking care of every single member of the community. The challenges are clear and there is no clear end in sight. That presents challenges of stamina and energy.
How do to keep yourself sane? Really good colleagues in and out of school. We collaborate a lot. I can’t do any of this alone. I have an amazing family, and I’ve been focusing on my three school-aged daughters. The silver lining of this time is getting to be together as a family at home. Taking a break from being on the screen and getting outside is huge for me. We’re all in the same storm, different boats, heading towards the shore together.
—Anastasia Stanmeyer