Certainly you could not ask for new students to settle in more quickly - it was exhilarating to see the difference between that first Humanities class on September 8 and the very same kids just 24 hours later. Though they were certainly excited about learning, kind and enthusiastic right from the start, by the morning of their second day they had clearly decided it was okay to really be themselves, and they had also clearly decided that they all liked each other and wanted to get along. Last Monday, on an overnight trip to Camp Becket for teambuilding, leadership training, and time on a high ropes course, I commented to our counselor Elizabeth that I had been worried the kids would take a little while to settle in together but that they seemed to be doing amazingly well for just their fourth day together. She made a face that suggested "amazingly well" was, if anything, an understatement.

From the start, SBMS was supposed to be about helping middle school girls preserve their voice and their excitement for learning, and judging from the cascade of opinions as they faced each new challenge together on their overnight trip, not to mention the constant questions and proposals flooding the Humanities class, their voices and excitement for learning are certainly intact! Their instincts are also clearly toward including everyone. The trick will be, as they continue to grow ever more aware of their each other's personal styles, to come to terms with the fact that different girls will have different ideas of what it means to be included, and to figure out what that all is going to look like in the end. Since they are smart, aware, sensitive, and caring, they will certainly get to that point. How that will happen, and what exact role we adults will be called upon to play, remains to be seen. What is certain is that the journey will be a major part of the work - and fun- involved in creating a new school.