All Will Be Well

Courage over comfort is a value I’ve come to cherish in my short time at Chatham Hall. Here, we encourage girls to embrace creative risks, knowing that the faculty and staff will stretch and challenge and support each girl, inspiring her to claim her voice and change the world.

When I retired in June 2025, my son, Atticus, made me a playlist called “The Drive.” I left Ohio, my car crammed with boxes and bags, plus two angry cats, yowling as we drove. The first song was called “All Will Be Well” by the Gabe Dixon Band, and, in the face of so much that was unknown about my own next chapter, the refrain became a sort of mantra for the year: “All will be well/You can ask me how/But only time will tell.” The words remind me of the reassurance written by the 14th-century mystic, St. Julian of Norwich, “All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of things shall be well.”  These are the words I offer parents, girls, and the faculty and staff as our new year gets underway at Chatham Hall: all will be well, and it will take time for all of us to adjust to this new beginning. 

The faculty and staff and I spent opening meetings thinking about what girls need to thrive. I played a little bit of the song from the playlist to set the tone for the year. We had important conversations, ranging from procedural do’s and don’ts to how to form a team of trusted adults around each child. We’ve talked about the fact that connection must precede correction, especially with girls, because we know relationships fuel learning. We considered the ways in which we encourage our girls to live the mission: equipping curious thinkers to lead lives of impact. How can we all keep curiosity top of mind and suspend judgment? The Chatham Hall adults chose courage over comfort, sharing their opinions, listening carefully to one another.

Then, in a wonderful stream, the girls arrived, rugs and suitcases and lamps pouring from cars like Mary Poppins’ bottomless carpet bag. There’s a certain joyous pitch I recognize–the squeal of girls being reunited. Our girls are the heartbeat of Chatham Hall, the reason we exist. 

The faculty cheered a welcome, arranged along the drive in front of Pruden and Dabney, clutching purple cowbells and gold clappers. Girls swarmed each new arrival to carry her possessions to her dorm room. Competent (and courageous)  students steered dollies loaded with luggage, bins, and fridges up ramps, so confident, so strong. Parents bravely hugged their daughters goodbye, also choosing courage over comfort. 

Matriculation was followed by the whole school assembling in The Well, old and new girls, shoulder to shoulder, Seniors on the steps. A picnic supper in the back of the Rectory, a practice fire drill, first nights, then Convocation, ushering in the new school year! These first days were a purposeful whirlwind of activity building up to the first day of classes. After a long runway of anticipation, we are thrilled to be underway.

Hooray!  I feel certain all will be well.