The Fabric of the St. Margaret’s Community

The word most frequently used to describe life at St. Margaret’s is “community.” The meaning and importance of this word is, of course, very much in the eye of the beholder. Moreover, in schools like ours, the manner in which the word applies to us is constantly changing. Each year is a new experience, a time for new goals and new beginnings, and also a time for the school itself to take on new initiatives which in turn add greater meaning and depth to our sense of “community.”

For me, community begins each morning in the parking lot. How we conduct ourselves and treat each other in this daily routine says a lot about us, the community. I learned to drive in the city of Boston where a survival of the fittest, take no prisoners mentality was generally the order of the day. Fortunately, conduct in our parking lots is a far cry from that, but we can and should do better. So much of what provides texture to the meaning of community relates to the manner in which we treat each other, especially in time of stress, and the parking lot experience is a daily test.

However, the parking lot is not just a place where we begin each day; it is also a powerful visual statement of the breadth and depth of who we are. For a brief period of time each morning, more than 1,400 people of all ages, shapes and sizes from a wide range of backgrounds and experiences arrive by car, bus, train, bicycle, by foot and even by scooter. Our days begin in very different places and in vastly different communities, some nearby and others relatively far away, but we come together on common ground where each of us brings meaning and value to the overall experience of the St. Margaret’s community.

While this scene repeats itself every day, other aspects of the St. Margaret’s community are revealed throughout the year and provide important depth to our lives together. In recent years, Friday evenings in the fall have been a gathering place for school families to come together under the lights to support Tartan football and share in a common experience. This year, “Friday night lights” has taken on a new dimension as grade 6 and 7 students have joined together to create our first-ever marching band. The unveiling several weeks ago of this new and exciting addition to our school community was a truly historic moment, one that deepened the experience for all of us who were there. Even more importantly, this band will have a lasting impact on our entire school community as it takes its place in the fabric of the school.

This year, our sense of community will be further deepened when we come together on St. Margaret’s Day on November 16 for our traditional All-School Eucharist, the celebration of the founding of the school and the groundbreaking for the new Performing Arts Center. Like so many previous chapters in our history, the significance of this event is difficult to fully appreciate today. What this new facility will mean for the future of our school community is still to be determined, but my strong sense is that this will be truly transformational, and there will be a time in the not-so-distant future, when we will look back and wonder how we ever got by without it. Perhaps even more importantly, this will likely be one of those synergistic places where the impact of the whole will be much greater than the sum of the parts. It is very exciting to imagine what lies ahead.

Finally, our strong sense of community exists because in one way or another we all matter here. Those who come to school every day are not indifferent or detached; they genuinely care. In a world where “community” is difficult to find, there is a strong sense of belonging to something important and meaningful, where our voices matter and where each of us works for the betterment of the common good. It is subtle but powerful, and it is a joy to be a part of each and every day.