By Katie Maier
At opening assembly, interim principal Patrick Boswell resurrected a small tradition that Covid interrupted. Facing the Upper School student body sitting in Kilpatrick stadium, he asked the seniors to rise and allowed them to exit the assembly first. It’s his way of “acknowledging our student leaders” in a graduating class that has made it to a school year that promises to be a bit more normal than the last.
After serving for years as a dean, Mr. Boswell is stepping in as Interim Upper School Principal for this academic year. His new role means that rather than working primarily with individual students, he will be focusing on improving the student experience on a broader scale.
With all of his new responsibilities ahead of him, he made sure to take time over the summer to enjoy golfing and going to the pool with his family.
But he also, of course, spent plenty of time on campus preparing for the start of school. In an upper school devoid of students, he worked with his colleagues to address the ever-shifting COVID-19 situation, figuring out what changes would carry over from last year and what could be adjusted in light of the vaccine. All of the earlier adaptations would make it easier to return to school, but it still wouldn’t be easy.
“There’s still uncertainty,” he says, “but we’re all more comfortable with where we are. I think everyone is taking it all more in stride.”
Masks may still be required, but between-class traffic will no longer be dictated by the tape “lanes” in the hallways. Lunch seating will no longer be restricted to the spray-painted social distancing dots around the plaza and stadium. Chapel services will return to, well, the chapel.
And many beloved Lovett traditions, like rising for seniors at assemblies, are coming back to life under the leadership of Mr. Boswell and the Upper School administration.
His sense of encouragement actually began back in May, when he led a JOE group for the first time since before the pandemic, getting to know some of Lovett’s senior leaders who, according to the Class of 2022 theme, represent “a new hope.”
