A New Year for Joy and Possibility

Wherever you are this holiday season, we hope you feel safe and connected to those you hold dear even if they are far away.

This year has been incredibly tough. It has called on all of us—as people in the fight for greater equity in our schools and in our world—to lean into our values and lead even when it feels like we have nothing left to give. We see and celebrate all of your hard work to bring stability and care to those in your community. It’s not easy. Take the time to reflect, celebrate what you have accomplished, and care for yourself in whatever way you can.

As we look ahead to the next year, we know new challenges are on the horizon. Students will need tremendous support to accelerate their learning, to reconnect with peers and their teachers, and to feel affirmed and valued as their whole selves. Those who teach will need the same affirmation and support, as well as the focus and leadership to address the urgent demands of today while still tackling the structural changes necessary to disrupt and repair patterns of racial inequity. School and school system leaders will shoulder the weight of lifting their school communities out of crisis amid the greatest financial threats, uncertainty, and public health risks we have seen in generations. To succeed, we will need each other.

Our team at Leading Educators got into this work to be a support to you, working shoulder-to-shoulder in good times and bad. We are ready for what lies ahead. And, we believe that our shared movement for equity has the power not just to return schools to the way they were, but to make them safer, more welcoming, and more effective than ever before. We will do this.

Happy Holidays and Happy New Year!