Dear GUS Families,

Spring at GUS is fun. We are constantly readying students for the celebration of closing the year, but we also recognize that this is a major time of transition as students figure out how to mourn the loss of one year and prepare for changes ahead.

To our 8th graders, this transition becomes the most significant with you, as you look to leave the place that is familiar and join a new school and a new community. It’s really quite strange not being with you during this time: usually, we have to keep the chatter to a minimum during class, we trip over you in the halls as you spread out to make your maps, and every spare moment, many of you can be found on the back field tossing the frisbee. You 8th graders can be a handful during these months, and we love every minute of it.

A rite of passage for 8th graders in the spring is to “push back” a little. Developmentally, it’s right on target. You are ready to leave GUS, you are prepared, and you are excited (and nervous) for what lies ahead. As a close knit community, your message to us is sometimes, “We don’t need you anymore, we’ve got this.” As we move towards the year’s end, you 8th graders have many choices for how you want this goodbye to be. I encourage you to consider the words of Mrs. Bullivant, a retired GUS teacher of 20 plus years. She used to say, “Always remember to keep the good in goodbye.” Those words ring true still today.

This spring’s circumstances are vastly different, but your GUS community remains, and your teachers want to help you keep the good in goodbye:

• First, keep your momentum all the way until June, be your true self.  It matters to us and to you that you put your best into everything. 

• Second, keep your GUS relationships positive. Be the GUS friend you’ve always been. You might be worried about shifting friendships, you might need to show you are ready to move on, but leave behind the strong relationships you built with teachers and classmates who care about you. 

• And finally, keep the good in goodbye. As we celebrate with you, help you transition to your next place, and yes, say goodbye for now, remember this green and shady place will always be here for you.

Trust and Go Forward,

Sydney Clarke
Grade 7 English + Grade 8 Life Skills Teacher