On the third day of school, I entered the elemen­tary play­ground and noticed two girls on the swings in the young kinder­garten yard. The day before I had spent a little time with these same girls, encour­ag­ing them to get the swings moving on their own. Each one tried, but it isn’t easy to swing your­self when you are four years old. I was happy to see that in just two days, they had figured it out. Together, or maybe sepa­rately, each had found her way to get the swing going

without help from an adult.

It takes time to learn how to swing on your own. I am grate­ful to be at Waverly, among a commu­nity of people who are willing to help one another find their way, and to some­times stand quietly beside, while we figure it out on our own. — Jennifer Dakan, Direc­tor of Admissions