Fifteen cross-departmental members of the Miss Hall’s faculty and staff gathered in July 2021 for a five-day Summer Design Workshop that centered pandemic reflection, ideation, and open dialogue about what’s possible as we move forward toward the 2021-22 school year.

The core backdrop for this exploration of “nowness” was the natural beauty of our Miss Hall’s campus: woodland trails, light-filled studios, and the organism-rich habitat of Perkins Pond, recently named for conservationist and philanthropist Jennifer Perkins Speers  ’71, as wader-clad participants ventured in, armed with bug spray, aquatic nets, and field journals.

Daylong trips to Berkshires cultural treasures the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art and Chesterwood, the home, studio, and gardens of sculptor Daniel Chester French, provided inspiration and a renewed sense of place.

Throughout the device-free week, our design thinkers embraced a spirit of play, shared tools for intentional innovation, and invited each other to engage in participant-led “idea labs” on topics such as wellness, inclusion, partnerships in the arts, financial literacy, experiential learning in nature, storytelling, and establishing community.

They unpacked the year that was and discussed the potential of the upcoming school year. They met with members of the Miss Hall’s Board of Trustees and dug into long-term visioning work, spotlighting how we can best serve our students. Along the way, they captured the essence of the experience in writing, collage, and sketches that now grace well-used, visual journals.

More than just a gift of time, the first annual Miss Hall’s Summer Design Workshop was an opportunity to tap the interdisciplinary expertise of talented colleagues, to help each other untangle knots, to map out “trial” innovations for 2021-22, and to imagine longer-range aspirations for the future of the School.

Those who gave up a week of precious summer time to rejuvenate together are:

• Lisa Alberti ’73, Dean of Academics & Faculty

• Kim Boland ’94, Horizons Advisor/Coach/Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DE&I) Coordinator

• Merritt Colaizzi, Director of Advancement

• Rebecca Cook-Dubin P’24, Leonhardt Family Teaching Chair/English Teacher

• Jeff Crosier P’17, Facilities Services Coordinator

• Donna Daigle, Science Department Chair

• Julia Heaton P’24, Head of School

• Ginger Galvagni, School Store/Mailroom Manager

• Matthew Grallert P’21, Facilities Services Technician, HVAC

• Ellie Kreischer, Elizabeth Gatchell Klein Expressive Arts Department Chair

• Adrienne Lazes ’05, Math Teacher

• Paula Lima Jones, Dean of Equity & Inclusion

• Chris Ouelette, Director of the Melissa A. Leonhardt ’76 Academic Skills Center

• Kennedy Raimer, Science Teacher

• Helen Telfer P’21, Chief Financial Officer

*Reflection. Connection. Renewal. Possibility. Home. This is a sampling of the group word cloud that was made as part of the closing of this shared experience.