The Next Leg
- Opening Message to Faculty & Staff

As we begin another school year, I want to start with a simple image: a relay.

Now, I should confess something up front: I was an athlete, but decidedly not a track athlete. My sports were soccer and softball, so my relationship with the relay is mostly metaphorical. But a recent piece by educator and writer Dave Stuart Jr. introduced a concept that has stayed with me, and I have Mr. Mallory to thank for bringing that article to my desk.

Stuart writes about how, early in his career, he thought of teaching as a solo race: if he succeeded, his students would succeed; if he failed, they were doomed. Thankfully, he eventually came to see teaching differently – as a relay.

In a relay, no one person runs the whole race. Each runner has a leg. You receive the baton from someone who has run before you, you run your portion as well as you can, and then you pass it – trusting the next person to carry it forward.

That is a helpful way to think about our work with students.

Teacher self-efficacy is our belief that each of us can make a meaningful difference in our students’ learning and growth. It matters enormously. We need the confidence to say, What I do matters. My choices, my relationships, my teaching can move a child forward.

But there is an even more powerful idea: collective efficacy – our shared belief that, together, we can positively influence student learning and flourishing. It moves us from “I have to get this right” to “WE can figure this out together.”

And that distinction matters.

We are not solo runners – and those that do not understand this burn out quickly. No single teacher carries the full weight of a child's education. Our students arrive having already been shaped by previous teachers, their families, coaches, friends, communities, and experiences. They will leave us and enter the care of other teachers and mentors who will carry the baton next.

Our job is not to run the entire race for them.

Our job is to run our leg well.

Maybe yours is in an infant classroom, helping a child discover that school is a safe and joyful place. Maybe it is in middle school, helping a student wrestle with algebra, literature, or belonging. Maybe your work happens outside the classroom – in the front office, on the playground, at lunch, or behind the scenes making everything possible.

Every one of us carries a baton.

And the beautiful thing about a relay team is that we don't have to wonder whether the runners in front of or behind us matter. We know they do. We depend on them. We celebrate their speed. We encourage them when their leg is difficult. We make sure the baton gets passed cleanly.

So this year, let’s resist the temptation to be the hero of the race. Instead, let’s be excellent teammates.

Let's ask: What can I contribute? Who can I learn from? Who needs encouragement? How can I set the next runner up for success?

If, at the end of this year, each of us has moved our students even a little farther toward mastery, confidence, and character – and if we have helped one another do the same – then we will have run our leg well.

We have the baton for a short while.

Let’s carry each with care, run with purpose, and pass it forward with trust.

 

Go Gulls!

-by Mrs. Lori Ornelas
Head of School
August 24, 2026