TSA 2021 Report to Towns
TSA submitted versions of the following to the various sending towns for their Annual Town Reports.
What an incredible year 2021 has been. Like other schools, we started in the depths of the COVID-19 pandemic with hybrid learning. We are all so grateful to have returned to face-to-face, in-person learning, allowing us to build strong relationships with our students. It is these relationships that we use at both the middle and high school to encourage deep learning. The joy in our buildings, from both the students and the adults, is palpable. Along with the challenges and transitions COVID-19 has brought, we have introduced some significant changes here at TSA.
In June of 2021, we said goodbye to 38 TSA Seniors from Barnard, Chelsea, Hanover, Hartland, Gaysville, Quechee, Randolph, Rochester, Sharon, Stockbridge, Strafford, and Tunbridge. These students will be attending two and four-year colleges, gap year, Americorps, and the workforce.
At the high school, we have ushered in our Deeper Learning curriculum. Over the summer, teachers spent weeks re-thinking and innovating their curricula, creating more authentic, real-world learning experiences for our high school students. Paired with this change was also the decision to start the high school day at 9:00 a.m., in keeping with decades of research that shows that a later start time is beneficial to adolescent learning.
Two of TSA’s longest-running Deeper Learning initiatives—the Middle School’s annual Circus Interim and the High School’s annual Musical Interim—were both able to continue in 2021, albeit with some significant alterations to keep everyone as safe as possible from the coronavirus. At the Middle School, we were able to seize a creative opportunity for our Circus as we welcomed TSA Alumnus Trabyn Fisk to film the creative process and performance of the circus and broadcast it online. In true TSA style, students were involved in producing the video and collecting photographs. Despite the changes in venue and format, our students were able to focus on the deep learning of the circus— perseverance, team-work, collaboration, and creative problem-solving—all while having fun.
The same was true of TSA’s 2021 High School Musical Interim—Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, Jr. It was a huge success. With altered seating at the Chandler Center for the Arts in Randolph, students performed this beloved classic to packed (but socially distanced) audiences in November. As always, students ran almost every aspect of the production, from designing and building sets to running the Box Office, choreography, marketing the show, and more. It is this real-world accountability and consequences that are hallmarks of Deeper Learning, along with the experience of intense communication, collaboration, and creativity. It was wonderful to return to the Chandler stage, after postponing our 2020 High School interim, then finally being able to perform it on an outdoor stage at the high school in June, 2021. Our students showed tremendous flexibility and creativity as we all navigated a new way to envision the show: Disney’s High School Musical.
Clubs have been introduced at the High School, with popular clubs including D&D, chess, traditional music, etc. This time allows students to investigate subjects outside of the normal curriculum, meet new people, and take on leadership roles.
In the Spring of 2022, we anticipate breaking ground on our new Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math wing (STEAM). Through a combination of fundraising and a loan from the USDA Rural Development, we are excited to have a building that will provide state of the art lab space and flexible classroom space for building, art, music, and other classes.
Additionally, several of our High School students have spent the school year in a mentorship training program and look forward to mentoring students throughout the Upper Valley in 2022.
Mary Newman
Head of School, The Sharon Academy