Happy Valentine’s Day! Along with flowers and chocolates, I think of birds today. Birds?

We still have five weeks before the vernal equinox, the first day of spring, but everyone is feeling the need for warmer days and sunshine. Soon, Torit students will be back out on the playgrounds, walking to the Boston Common, and strolling along the Esplanade, and soon the first migratory birds will appear.

Indeed, birds and the celebration of love owe a debt to Geoffrey Chaucer, 14th-century writer of Middle English classics. Besides the Canterbury Tales, Chaucer penned a work called the Parlement of Foules, one of the first instances where love was connected to St. Valentine. In the poem, Nature, personified in a dream, convenes a gathering of the birds to encourage them to choose their mates. The birds debate, and a song is offered to the coming of spring.

Torit singers will have new opportunities to share their joyful noise when we are joined by our new music teacher, Shivaraj Natraj. A graduate of the Berklee School of Music with expertise in Indian drumming and piano, among other instruments, Shivaraj will be a great addition to our music program as we strengthen and diversify student opportunities in music. We’re excited to see how he’ll prepare the Elementary students for the spring arts performance.

Enjoy Valentine’s Day!

David Liebmann

Head of School