Dear Harbor Families,

In the stairwell in our home, we have three sets of large canvas photos - in each set, there is a middle photo of Emily and Jude together, and on either side there are individual photos of each of them - from the years 2019, 2020, and 2021. When people visit, they often comment on them and wonder what professional photographer we used, and when I answer “these are our school photos”, they are usually pretty impressed. The fact is, of course, that we did use a professional photographer for the school photos. Given the quintessentially awkward school photos from our childhood, which at least for me (and I’m showing my age!) included 80s-themed starbursts and shadows of the images in the background, we’ve come a long way! 

Yet, I do think the school photos we organize at Harbor represent the unique experience of our school, in more ways than the generational changes I just described. In the past two days, watching Elisse Lassiter work with the kids to find their unique spirit, set outdoors on a beautiful fall day (we got lucky with the weather!), has been a joyful experience. Elisse photographed each child individually, with siblings, and with their classes, capturing the unique spirit of each child by connecting with them individually and encouraging them to express themselves in natural ways. Today I witnessed her photograph two brothers who joyfully picked each other up with a full embrace, showing a natural sibling connection and their full personalities, which was such a pleasure! I can’t wait to see how those photos turned out; they were authentic and delightful!

I can’t help but think how much even a small thing such as school photos can represent our school and our mission. What we do at Harbor is all about relationships, and is centered around each individual, unique child. I imagine, when the photo website is published in a few weeks that you will feel all of that in viewing the photos. (Keep your eyes open in a few weeks for the photo website. We’ll send an email and include it in Harbor Highlights!) And, maybe you’ll order that canvas print for your home - at the Musico house, we’ll have to figure out some more stairwell space for the fourth installment!

Warmly,

Leah Musico

Head of School