Somehow each day, brick by brick, a foundation is built.

Have you noticed that as we get older, days pass more slowly but the years more quickly. As quickly as it passed, though, I can’t believe all that has been accomplished in this year. Has it really been only a year? So much has happened. These children have changed and grown in remarkable ways. The kindergarteners are ready for first grade, our 5th graders are ready for the new challenges of middle school, and our 8th graders are more than ready to lead and excel in their high school of choice. How does this happen?

It seems so miraculous at times. Just blink and the world is transformed -- especially the children within it. Over the course of one short year, how many firsts does a child experience at EDS? How many children read their first sentence this year? How many learned new strategies for multiplication and division? How many read the Preamble to the Constitution for the first time? How many made a new friend or learned the value of saying, “I’m sorry.”

If we had a stop-action camera and time to watch, we could capture and focus on each and every one of these moments – like watching a caterpillar transform into a butterfly on the Discovery channel. But we don’t. We can’t. We are busy living our lives, and we wake up one day to realize the place is in full, glorious bloom.

Somehow each day, brick by brick, a foundation is built. A foundation – for learning, for relationships, for lives of meaning -- that will serve these children wherever they choose to go. There is miracle and mystery at work in that transformation at EDS, and for that we give thanks to God. But there is also a great deal of human labor -- teachers giving, teaching, loving, re-teaching. And for that we also give thanks to the people of EDS

--Thanks to all who helped support the school through the annual fund, major gifts, planned giving, and endowment support. These bring the resources that take us from good to great.

--Thanks for the work, fellowship, and fund-raising efforts on behalf of the school by the Parent Association and all who participated in Association events and activities.

--Thanks to the volunteer members of the Board of Trustees who ensure that the school is sound and who work tirelessly to secure its future in ways that most people never know.

--Thanks to all the wonderful teachers who give and give and give to children as if they were their own.

--Thanks to each and every parent, who fights the occasional battle over getting out of bed, getting homework done, or getting in dress code -- the parents who every day focus on success and excellence for their children and make the necessary sacrifices so their children may have the strongest possible foundation for learning and for life.

--Thanks to all of the faculty and staff who are not classroom teachers but who none the less teach valuable lessons about life and love every day: “Your work is Love made visible.”

--Thanks mostly to the incredible students in our school. They are not just the purpose for our being here, they are the joy that lights up each day and lightens each burden.

Through all these efforts each day, together we build and sustain a school that adds value to the community. For the children, we build a foundation, brick by brick. A foundation – for learning, for relationships, for lives of meaning -- that will serve them wherever they choose to go.

There is miracle and mystery at work here, and for that, most of all, we give thanks to God.

Have a great summer and read some good books!