We had a wonderful first week back at school with 27 students! It was both different and the same as previous first weeks back at school. As to be expected after a particularly long stint of not seeing each other, the joy and excitement of being together again was stronger than ever. The students showed great adaptability and responsibility by consistently following new safety-related requirements such as morning symptom checks, mask wearing, and completing additional requirements to go on open campus. They even managed to successfully navigate around major building construction and a yard sale that happened to be taking place in the church yard that week. Trips to the park and forest, hide and go seek games, water games, badminton, and art projects were some of the most notable activities that students participated in during the week. On one of the days when we had to meet remotely due to extreme heat, we had a great turnout at our virtual School Meeting with lots of important discussion and motions that were brought up. On both of those days, students found creative ways to direct their own learning from home: setting up a photo shoot with their pet bunnies, watching documentaries about sloths, skateboarding, practicing coding, playing piano with their cats, baking cookies, etc. We can't wait to see all the ways that students continue to direct their own learning during this unique school year!