Summer comes and goes fast, so as soon as a new school year arises, every student and parent patiently waits for a new supply list. This year and last, everyone found themselves waiting a little longer. As soon as our list of materials came out, almost all of the school supply aisles in stores were cleared out. Personally, this made me stressed out, even though I remembered how hard the teachers were working to create and distribute syllabi. I did end up getting all my required school supplies, and I felt a lot better. 

I wondered how my fellow classmates dealt with their hunt for supplies. I asked girls and teachers from all around the school, and here is what they had to say. “It’s hard to prepare for school when you don’t know what you need,” said Chloe Munroe ‘26.

I definitely agree with Chloe that it was difficult, but all of us maneuvered our way through this challenge, especially with the help of our teachers. Whenever a book or school supply was delayed in the mail, (due to Covid-19, shipment might have taken longer than expected) a teacher was always understanding and gave us extra time to acquire a certain supply. 

I also interviewed some other students. Catalina Perdomo ‘27 said: “I thought they were sent out really late. I’m used to having them with my summer packets.” Maria Silveyra Dodds ‘26 agreed, saying: “I found it very annoying that they have to send lists out after school starts and not before. For my entire life, they would give us a packet [at the end of the school year] with our summer work and our materials for next year.” 

Now that we have heard from some students, let’s hear from a teacher’s perspective. 

While Middle School Director Mrs. Roberts acknowledged that lists were out later this year, she said: “There were a couple of unique challenges that prevented us from pulling these together earlier this year in particular. Probably most important is that, as you know, because of the ongoing pandemic, this year looks different from last year, which looked different from the year before, so until we were able to gather as a faculty (many of whom are NEW to the middle school!) to understand the new schedule and our courses (some of which are new!) and agree on our aims for organizational strategies for the year, we could not really develop those supply lists.” Mrs. Roberts added that teachers worked to show patience in giving students time to gather the supplies. Mrs. Roberts added: “It is my hope that next year there will be less change (schedule, protocols, safety, teachers) so that we can maybe even send out these lists in June with book lists. I will keep my fingers crossed!”

I agree that this year and last were more challenging than others, but as a community we maneuvered through each challenge. I hope that next year we can get our supply lists earlier. But, either way, these challenges do help us grow and become more resilient.  

Rachael Botelho ‘26, Co-Middle School Editor

26rbotelho@montroseschool.org