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There are abundant lessons to be learned from this election: that experts can be wrong; that our country is even more deeply divided than many of us had thought; and that abundant numbers of our fellow Americans feel a deep sense of despair and disaffection with the status quo of government. For us here at school, we will use this as an opportunity to talk with your children in age-appropriate ways about demographics, the economy, social policy, our democratic system, and the rule of law. We will also talk about the world’s response to yesterday’s election results, our individual responsibilities as citizens to continue to give voice to our beliefs, and appropriate channels of political activism. On a more basic level, we will stress the importance of not being a gloating winner or a sore loser, and about the strength of our nation, its history of responding to dramatic political change, and the hopefulness of the future. As for you, our families, I offer two resources. Last week at a NYSAIS heads-of-school conference that I attended, the University of Pennsylvania educator Ali Michael spoke about advancing our national dialogue about race. This morning Dr. Michael wrote a Huffington Post piece, “What Do We Tell the Children?”, a moving yet direct reminder of how we, as adults, can model our responses for the young people around us. Next Wednesday, November 16, from 6:30 to 8 p-m., Semeka Smith-Williams and the PA Diversity Committee are holding a “Post- Election Healing” evening here at Packer. Please reach out if you have questions, suggestions, or simply would like to share your thoughts, and take good care. Best regards. Bruce L. Dennis Head of School Unsubscribe from this eNotice. Landon Thomas, Jr. Financial Reporter New York Times http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/t/landon jr thomas/index.h tml HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_033190