Saying Farewell to Senior Director of Admissions Amy Nylund

Well, Promavera, it was the fundraiser we did in 2011-2012. It was an 80s prom-themed party, and the parents went all out. Everyone wore amazing dresses and had amazing hairstyles. A bunch of the guides and the admin did a flash mob for the parents. Jason wore his MC Hammer pants. It was just hilarious. And so many people came, and it was so much fun. 

For a kid-related memory, I just love the Gates of Life celebrations. How we talk about the graduation step is just the beginning of your next adventure. All the YCC babies and the Primary babies, the older kiddos, and now at graduation. Whether you're graduating from high school or moving to another environment, you’re still a part of the community. I love how over the years we have brought the traditions of both sides of the school, like both age groups have kind of brought the traditions together. 

All the traditions that bring people together. I love the picnic, I love field day at the Creek Campus, I love Singing Songs gatherings where the littles learn and sing songs. I love the way we do high school graduation, it’s so cool and personalized, and you feel like you know these kids really well, and they are going off into the world with high expectations of themselves and the kind of community members they want to be. Hopefully, they are going off into the world knowing what it’s like to be known and seen in a positive way, whatever their thing is. 

Well, we have definitely grown up as a school. We had to be really scrappy when we first joined the school. It was really small, and I was just part of the lower school. It was just a preschool with a few elementary grades. We’ve gotten better at being a school while still staying in touch with being scrappy when we need to, and not being too formalized. 

We have gotten better at school finances and are steadier, so that we can pay our teachers more. There was a time when we all had so many job responsibilities because we were a relatively small administration but now we are better at being more organized and having more structure, so we don’t have to all wear as many hats. So it’s been nice to have more people added on that can then support students more and make sure the school will be here for years to come. You know, there are so many young schools that don’t make it, that’s always a real risk. So being able to feel like we are steady financially has been great. And like still staying true to what we have always held up to be important philosophically, and still feeling like that’s at the core of what we do feels good. 

I’ve had lots of positions over the years, most recently getting to work in admissions and enrollment (Go admissions team!). I work with families who are in the early childhood years, and those are parents who are starting their families and they don’t even know exactly what they want yet. They are exploring the curriculum and the types of schools and you know what kind of environment they want for their kiddo and it’s really fun to introduce them to a school like ours-- \so many people when they come and tour the school and learn about it, it’s what they have been waiting for. And every school is made for a certain group of people but it’s fun to be a part of connecting the people who are meant to be apart of us and then getting to tour them at Springs and Creek and seeing their eyes light up with “Yes, this is what I have been looking for.” People who don’t want just strong academics, people who want their kid to become a better person, or learn how to handle conflict more gracefully or more powerfully. 

So helping people be a part of the school and enroll their kids here, and hopefully stay a really long time. And often in the beginning, there is so much hopefulness and so much “Okay, this huge era of our life is settled now and we can just enjoy.” And other kids who haven’t been in the right environment and then they come and get to be with us and they see their kid becoming more of who they know they are, but they haven’t gotten to be themselves in other environments. That feels really good. And I know Krista feels that way about the middle school and high school kids.

What I hope is that the community connections between parents, between faculty and staff, and between students continues. I hope we continue to take care of each other. You know? I want those core values of being in community together and showing kids how to we are in community together, how we take care of each other, how we give each other grace, offer support, and demonstrate what loving community means. I hope I have been a small part of that and that it continues to be something that we prioritize. 

That’s a long, long list. There are so many good people here. It just takes so many people to make a place work. And when you’re a student, you don’t know all the elements, you can’t know. But we just hope you know that you are surrounded by some adults who you know really well and some who you may not know that well yet, but like everyone, are working for the purpose of your success, happiness, satisfaction, safety, all of those things. Like that’s why we are here, is for y’all. So hopefully you feel like the love of everyone who is working here, even if you don’t know them very well.

That’s a good one, always. I like deep sunset orange with a little bit of pink in it.