Here’s something you already know: Tensions are high as we move into November and the closing days of the election season. Given the national mood, it would not be unusual for this energy to trickle down into our school community as students absorb sound bites, videos, and rhetoric that amps up divides and introduces easy narratives about who we are and what is wrong with us. In moments like these, it’s essential that our community takes a moment to reinforce what we value at Colorado Academy.
During a recent Town Hall, I addressed Upper School students about the election season—both in the run-up and how we’ll process the results. I began by expressing how proud the faculty is of our students for the way they’ve navigated an incredibly divisive campaign season. Politicians speak to each other in ways we would never tolerate in our hallways, which makes the respectful way our students have treated each other even more remarkable.
Given their emphasis on winners and losers, elections create a unique dissonance for places like CA, where we place a high value on shared accomplishments and authentic connections across differences. We aspire to the broader highway. We want to extend ideas instead of reducing them to memes.
Although we have no idea who will win on November 5, I reminded the students that who we are won’t change. We’re a school that aspires to expand thinking, invite voices, and celebrate nuance. We value respect and respectful disagreement. And although we may fall short of these goals sometimes, we are a school committed to self-inventory and reflection so we can do better.
We also want to teach respectful political expression. I reminded students that we are okay with students elevating ideas—we don’t expect them to be neutral. But they cannot do so in a way that mocks or provokes others. While most of the models they see struggle with this approach, in our daily classrooms we see our students successfully engage with ideas different than their own in ways that lead with empathy, curiosity, and respect. They know that understanding an idea is different than agreeing with it.
Regardless of who wins this election, we will have students in our community who are disappointed, dismayed, or even fearful of the implications. This means we must do even more to make sure CA feels like home to everyone—even if we may disagree with them politically.
As in years past, we will provide various spaces for students to reflect on the election and its outcomes in meaningful ways. Faculty-led gatherings, affinity groups, and student-led clubs will offer each student the opportunity to engage and process in a way that resonates with them.
We’re proud to be part of this journey with our students. This is hard stuff. But if we want a future we can all look forward to, this intentional work is essential.