Head of School's Message — Summer 2020
Dear Mayfield Community,
I hope this edition of the Messenger finds you and your families enjoying the summer despite the difficult times we have all been facing.
While the last few months have presented many challenges, I’m extremely proud of the way our Mayfield community finished out the school year. Our students, faculty, and staff all rose to the occasion. They worked hard to keep moving forward academically, staying engaged, and continuing to strengthen our community even though we could not be physically together.
While the last few months have presented many challenges, I’m extremely proud of the way our Mayfield community finished out the school year. Our students, faculty, and staff all rose to the occasion. They worked hard to keep moving forward academically, staying engaged, and continuing to strengthen our community even though we could not be physically together.
We also came up with some creative ways to honor our beloved Class of 2020—from hand-delivering celebratory yard signs to creating individual Senior Tea Parties in a box. I was especially moved and impressed by the beautiful choice we made for graduation. Thanks to the amazing vision and dedication of Assistant Head of School Toi Treister ’82, we conducted 77 individual ceremonies (following all safety guidelines) over the course of four days. This took a herculean effort by many members of the faculty, staff, and administration, but resulted in a wonderful video and many touching memories.
It was a powerful juxtaposition that our graduation ceremonies coincided with the upsurge of protest against racial violence and oppression in the wake of the murder of George Floyd and calls for reform, especially from the Black Lives Matter movement. For many of us this has provided an important opportunity to take a hard and honest look at our own responsibilities and actions. Thanks to a group of courageous alums who reached out to us, we have also had us a chance to learn about the ways in which Mayfield has failed to live our precious Holy Child Goal 5, “to create a learning climate based on trust and reverence for the dignity and uniqueness of each person,” by making sure that our school environment is safe, welcoming, inclusive and nurturing for every single one of our students. For this we offer a heartfelt apology.
Over the past few years, we have worked hard to create programs and processes in support of Goal 5 and also Goal 4, “to work for Christian principles of justice, peace, and compassion in every facet of life,” and I invite you to visit our website, where many of our current initiatives are explained. However, we recognize that we must do more, and we would like to invite our Mayfield alums to participate in the process. To that end, we are creating a Justice, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Alum Advisory Board to help us move forward. We welcome all alums to become involved in this essential work—please contact Nicole Cosand, Director of Alumnae Engagement, for more information.
In the meantime, we are working hard to prepare for the start of the 2020-21 school year. Our goal is to resume on-campus teaching and learning for everyone as soon as possible in the safest and healthiest way. Please pray for our community as we make these important decisions, and know that I continue to hold all of you in the Light.
With Love and Gratitude,
Kate Morin
Established in 1931, Mayfield Senior School in Pasadena, CA is a Catholic, independent, college preparatory school for young women grades 9-12. Noted for its rigorous academic program, which includes 28 Advanced Placement and Honors courses, Mayfield’s curriculum is underscored by a philosophy of educating the “whole child,” which also encourages commitment to and excellence in the arts, athletics, community service and spiritual growth. The nurturing environment at Mayfield Senior School allows each student to flourish in an atmosphere of personal attention.
