::bwahaha:: ::bwahaha:: Oh, for the love of "Hyde's family-centered, character-first credo" and "that principle-based community!" This from the Alumni Newsletter of Fall 2003 (pdf download link notes that it is 2004, which may or may not be incorrect; there's a photo of the family there, in case you're interested).
To paraphrase Melissa Burroughs, "What values is Hyde
really teaching our children—by their
actions, rather than [by] their words?"
:clown:
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Many Happy ReturnsOn a December evening almost a year ago, Melissa Burroughs was driving home to Vermont, fresh from a Hyde-sponsored family workshop in Bath, when she had an epiphany. It gripped her so strongly that she immediately called her husband, Jeff, who was at home with their three children, to announce: "I'm heading back to Hyde. I know that's where I need to be." That direct and simple statement of Melissa's proved to be the catalyst of an eventful year in 2003 for the Burroughs family. Following Melissa's lead, Jeff felt he was due for a change as well. He had few, if any, reservations about returning to the place where he and Melissa had both worked happily from 1991 to 1997. After contacting Laurie Hurd and being offered exciting positions at the school, the Burroughs headed east to Bath; Jeff arriving first, in April, followed by Melissa and their children at the end of the school year, in June. Re-acclimating themselves within the Hyde fold has been easy, both Jeff and Melissa report, because they know the type of community that exists at Hyde, and it is primarily for that principle-based community they have returned.
"But if one should guide his life by true principles,
[one]'s greatest wealth is to live on a little with contented mind; for a little is never lacking."
On the Nature of Things, Book 5, Line 1117 [/list][/list]
This is not the first time that kismet played a hand in the Burroughs' respective decisions to work for Hyde School. While both of them attended an Independent Education Conference in 1991, Jeff received an offer for an interview to teach at Hyde and, upon informing his then girlfriend Melissa of that fact, found out that Hyde was one of the places she was most interested in, as well. Jeff was hired that fall to teach calculus, although he eventually worked his way to become the director of admissions [Hyde-Bath]. The following year, after completing a National Outdoor Leadership School course, Melissa took a position with Hyde-Bath, teaching English and working in the College Placement Office. She was also persuaded, Jeff recalls, to join him in marriage as well as work: the couple wed that following summer in Vermont. Hyde faculty was in full force at the wedding.
Shortly after the birth of their first child Jeb (now age 7), the Burroughs decided to leave Hyde to return to their native Vermont. Besides wanting their children to be nearer their own parents, they also were interested in seeing what was going on outside the world of Hyde—and in testing some of what they had learned at Hyde within different contexts. For Jeff, who felt he had underutilized his M.S. in engineering up to that point, the new context was a 40+-hour-per-week job with IBM. Melissa, meanwhile, delved into a completely different world: that of mothering and building ties with other mothers and members of her community. Melissa felt strongly that she wanted her family—which had grown to include two more children, Andrew (5) and Liza (3)—to have a strong support network. She saw some positive things happening in a couple of different areas, most notably at the family's church, but they were never as wide-reaching as she hoped they would be. Melissa noted:
"There are a lot of wonderful people out there, all trying to do their best by their children; but in focusing solely on their own children's needs (physical, emotional, or what have you); sometimes they forget to look at the larger environment of which their families are a part. Very few people ask: 'How is our community working? What could we do to be better, as a group? What values are we
really teaching our children—by our actions, rather than our words?'"[/list]
A desire to be with others who were asking the same questions brought Melissa to that Hyde family workshop last December, and ultimately brought the Burroughs family back to Bath earlier this year.
With regard to their personal goals at Hyde-Bath, Melissa is presently helping part-time in the College Placement Office and with the Family Education Program (FEP). She hopes this latter position will bloom in the future, as it was primarily Hyde's family-centered, character-first credo that drew her and Jeff back to the school. She hopes to share some of the good ideas promoted by the FEP within the greater Bath community, perhaps in churches and schools. Jeff was rehired as the assistant head of school (Hyde-Bath) and he teaches algebra, as well. He hopes to contribute to the school through his current assignment, and to progress to other administrative roles that may open in the future. For the present, the Burroughs are very glad to be living in a community that supports them while also encouraging them to stretch and to overcome obstacles. Theirs is a happy return—both from their own perspective, and from the school's.
