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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]OP, it sounds like part of the reason you chose the school you did was because of their covid safety procedures and because, as a group, families largely took covid safety seriously. (My daughter attends a similar school.)

The flip side of that coin, however, is that there are far fewer social events than there were pre-covid, and it has undoubtedly been difficult for new families to make community connections. Most birthday parties have been no more than a handful of kids, if they happened at all. Most families pulled back and only did playdates with a few other families who they knew shared their level of Covid risk tolerance and exposure. I haven't seen some casual mom friends with whom I used to chat, go for coffee, etc. in nearly two years. When people do their calculation of risk, these events (especially when they involve developing new relationships v. maintaining old) often don't seem worth it.

And now the habit has formed for many people of doing less and/or doing things with a smaller group. You can find lots of articles about how society as a whole has changed, and many people are feeling they need to relearn how to socialize...or choosing not to do so nearly as much. All of this helps explain why this year may have been particularly difficult to be new.

Given that your child his happy, the academics are strong, and the situation wasn't any better when you were in public school, I would give it at least another year (and maybe more) to see if relationships develop with time and a return to more normal socializing.

I would also set a goal for yourself of seeking out social relationships outside of the school. Does your child have an extracurricular activity they're involved with? Can you work to develop friends there? Some of our best whole-family friends come from my daughter's sports, rather than school. Do YOU have a hobby that you could use to seek out like-minded community? What about your spouse? It's perfectly understandable to hope that the school becomes a source of this community, but it also makes sense to seek it out in other ways and places.[/quote]

I agree with this. Covid has just made everything weird and been particularly hard on community.

Also be aware that if you went to those parent socials and talked about how you came to private school because of covid concerns, you're so happy with the school's precautions, etc. (all reasonable things to say) you likely gave the impression that you're super covid-cautious, and that decreased the odds of people inviting you/your child to things because they thought you wouldn't attend/wouldn't approve/would look down on them/etc.. During covid life became a game of trying to figure out what people's comfort levels were and how to relate across them, and it was exhausting. My child absolutely lost friendships with classmates whose parents were super cautious and won't allow any in person social activities, even outdoors.[/quote]

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