Parents: If you think it is emotionally difficult to have your child attend their first day at a new school and/or begin a new school year, be thankful you are not a bird.

On average, I am told, it takes about two to four weeks for a baby bird to learn to fly. Or, in other words, from hatchling to fledgling to “flying the coop” within a month! Thank goodness, we have our kids in our nest longer than that.

Nonetheless, while we educators look forward to the excitement and energy of a new school year, the return of our students and the addition of new faces, many parents and kids are understandably anxious.

Last week I had a conversation with two recent TCS grads and asked them to reflect back on their first day at TCS. They both described their feelings in one word: fear. When we dug a little deeper into this, their feelings were more specifically founded in the “fear of the unknown.” Yes, they wanted to come to TCS. Yes, they knew it was the right decision for them. Yes, they were excited about the prospect of doing new things and meeting different people. But…still fear.

While the expression, “There is nothing to fear but fear itself,” is commonly attributed to American president, Franklin D. Roosevelt, spoken in his 1933 inaugural address, the original credit is believed to have an earlier connection to poet Henry David Thoreau. In an 1851, journal entry he wrote, “Nothing is so much to be feared as fear.” Regardless of the attribution, the sentiment is the same. We are often vulnerable to “fearing fear.” Or, fear of the unknown. From a school sense, I tweak this thought a bit, to more simply, a fear of “inexperience.”

Kids are sometimes fearful of entering Grade 5 at TCS, because they have never been here before; kids going into Grade 9 have never been in high school; new boarders have never lived at their school! The list goes on and on but what is consistent in these situations is that the students’ fear is rooted in the fact that they are embarking on something that they haven’t done before.

Back to birds for a moment. And, another quote: “A bird sitting on a tree is never afraid of the branch breaking because her trust is not in the branch, but in her own wings.” (unattributed)

Parents, your long-term objective is to see your kids believe in themselves and have the ability to face a host of obstacles and conditions with confidence and support. It’s time for them to leave the nest. And, it is fair to expect that they will be settled in and more than fine in less than two to four weeks!

Oh, and our TCS roots, trunk and branches are strong, and will support their launch.

Please continue to follow the life of our school this year via your children, our website and newsletters, conversations with teachers and advisors. And don’t forget to see us on Flickr, Instagram and Facebook – or follow our “tweets.” (Sorry, I could not resist a final reference to my feathered friends.)