My parents split up my senior year in college. My older sister and I were home for the holidays, and our folks sat us down the day after Christmas to break the news. The timing wasn’t great (Merry Christmas, kids, we’re getting a divorce!). But they had to navigate our schedules and my sister was heading back to Boston the next day. In hindsight, I should have known something was up when I came home for Thanksgiving and saw a “For Sale” sign in the front yard.
My mom and dad, who are wonderful and loving, delivered the news in a kind, calm and supportive way. To her credit, my sister handled the news well. I, on the other hand, did not. I was a wreck and in a funk for months, maybe years. With a lot of distance (and therapy), I think the breakdown of our family unit was especially hard because I am adopted. Adoptees often struggle with lifelong issues, such as loss, rejection and a lack of identity. The end of my parents’ marriage dredged up a lot of fear and anger, and I felt abandoned all over again.
Divorce is hard on everyone, especially children. That’s why we decided to pursue a story that examines ways to minimize the impact on your kids if you decide to end your marriage. In “When Parents Split,” writer Robyn Gearey uses her own divorce as a starting point for the story. She shares her experiences and insights, best practices from the experts, and helpful anecdotes from other families who’ve been through it. Although splitting up is tough and presents a lot of challenges, there can be positive outcomes if you manage it right.
Turning the spotlight to another life-changing topic for our kids, it’s safe to say that our area is college obsessed. This dynamic explains why our annual College Bound chart, which shows where Arlington seniors applied and were accepted to college, is so popular. Anyone with college-age kids knows the admissions process has become wildly competitive over the past few years. (For more on this topic, please refer to “Admissions Madness” in our September/October 2022 issue.)
To personalize the trend, I thought I’d look at the application numbers for my kids’ colleges. Our oldest daughter goes to the University of Wisconsin-Madison and our middle daughter attends James Madison University. If you compare the Class of 2024’s numbers to the Class of 2021’s numbers, UW-M saw a 20% increase in applications while JMU experienced a whopping 63% increase. Yikes. We have a junior in high school, and I read recently that the demand may be even greater when she applies. (Sorry, kiddo. Keep studying and building your CV.)
The issue also includes a fascinating examination of the early impacts of AI on public K-12 education. Writer Kim O’Connell interviews educators, administrators and students to share how teachers perceive AI and are starting to use it in their classrooms, and what students think and how they’re adapting to it. She also provides perspective on the understandable challenges the technology presents to our local school districts as they try to formulate coherent policies on its use.
I hope you enjoy our September/October Education issue. As always, please email me anytime with questions, feedback or story ideas. Letters to the editor should be sent to jenny.sullivan@arlingtonmagazine. Thanks so much for being a reader. Also, when you get a chance, please check out our new, much improved, ArlingtonMagazine.com. The site is awesome, and it will be worth your time. Enjoy!
Greg Hamilton, Publisher