Part of what makes Abington Friends special is not just the exceptional arts, diverse student body, or our collaborative instead of competitive culture. It’s the relationships between faculty and students. Trust is essential to the high spirit and wellbeing of the student body. After all, there are reasons there aren’t locks on our lockers or we call higher ups by their first name.
As a Quaker institution, Abington Friends puts trust and equity at the forefront of education. AFS has prioritized students of all learning abilities to be able to come together, opposed to being excluded.
On September 12, 2024, in an unfortunate incident, confidential information regarding student accommodations was emailed to the entire Upper School at the end of the day. Students and parents expressed their disturbance, as an email that was just supposed to be sent to teachers was in the hands of the entire upper school.
One student that was affected by the email said… “I was very surprised. I know it wasn’t on purpose, but I didn’t know what to think.”
Another student said, “Initially, I was worried about what this would do for my future as someone with accommodations…because now everyone has this information, and I felt this was a total breach of trust.”
When asked what they want to see more of in the future the same student said, “Acknowledgement of how it made people on that list feel. I feel the acknowledgement that they had was ‘well everyone makes mistakes,’ but this mistake hurt a lot of people.”
In the midst of uncertainty, AFS Upper School Director Brendon Jobs sent an email to parents and students regarding the accident. He addressed that the school would be finding solutions to distributing confidential information so that an incident like this wouldn’t happen again.
As a point of reassurance, Jobs said, “Protecting your child’s privacy and fostering a safe and inclusive environment are always our responsibility, and we are taking this situation very seriously.”
Following the email, during morning assembly, Jobs addressed and proposed the solution Upper School administration came up with, saying confidential information such as accommodations are to be sent through Blackbaud, and not the Upper School email that is more prone to accidents.
In that assembly, Jobs also affirmed that students who took pictures of the accommodation list out of harmful intent, needed to embody the stewardship guidelines and delete those photos immediately.
Following up on the School’s response, Mikael Yisrael, director of diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice (DEIJ), said, “There are a lot of conversations that are taking place, and have been taking place, but more so we are getting to a spot where whenever there’s a moment, how you respond to that moment is important…it should be used as an opportunity to grow and change and this is a situation that I’m seeing that happen.”
Yisrael said, “If something is a mistake, understood, we’re all human, the goal is not to make the same mistake again.. When these situations arise you have to talk about it, you have to take ownership.”
The school’s response to this event was admirable. We are still working on rebuilding any trust lost in the community, but so far the work being done has been received well.
Confidentiality is incredibly important, but the truth is that no institution is perfect. When mistakes happen, it is the responsibility of the school to learn from it, as our school has in this case.
The new system regarding sensitive information and the restructuring of who has access to such information is evidence that the Abington Friends administration understood the severity of the situation.
Nothing can be undone, but work was done to ensure that a similar situation is unlikely to occur again, and the school is still working to rebuild any of the trust that was lost during this time.
AFS is a school that is built upon trust, and therefore the ability to uphold that trust is essential to the success of the spirit of community all across the school.
Zoe • Oct 31, 2024 at 4:22 pm
I read Upholding trust in Times of Error. I agree with the perspective in this article because it made me look at AFS differently. I’ve never noticed why we never put locks on lockers or called our teachers by their first name. I think there are a lot of different ways AFS makes sure the community is built on trust by giving students the opportunity to walk outside during breaks, set up meetings and get to class on time. I think AFS’ trust on students are strong already but to make that sense of trust stronger with stronger support systems and organized activities.
Morgan Davis • Oct 31, 2024 at 9:16 am
I completely agree with the perspective in the article ‘Upholding Trust in Times of Error.’ Trust is the cornerstone of any strong community, and it’s built through honesty, transparency, and accountability. At AFS, practices like open communication, where students and staff can freely express their thoughts and concerns, play a significant role in fostering trust. Regular community meetings and forums where issues can be discussed openly also help in maintaining a transparent environment. To make the sense of trust even stronger, I think it’s important to implement more peer support programs and mentorship opportunities, where individuals can connect on a personal level and build mutual respect and understanding.
steven • Oct 30, 2024 at 8:52 am
2. holding trust in times of error
I agree with the idea in the article. Abington friends school emphasize the value of trust and solve problem in a open and efficient way that is important in the building of the trust. Wrongs will always happen like the errors in experiment, but how it effect the community is depend on the solution. I think AFS always get a great ways to solve conflict and make people trust each others more. AFS have many places that shows the wish to build campus on trust like calling adult by their first name, no lock locker, and highlight the diversity and inclusion. We can start student-led trust initiatives to make sense of the trust stronger.
Kevin • Oct 30, 2024 at 8:51 am
Upholding Trust in Times of Error:This article describes Abington Friends School’s efforts to cope and rebuild trust during this period. The accident is careless sent students’ private information to the whole school, causing students and parents to worry about the privacy protection of the school. But the school do the remedial measure as soon as possible in order to weak people’s concern. The article reflects the Quaker belief that AFS promotes – that trust and equality are at the core of campus culture. They tried their best to remain the trust tradition in Quaker belief. It is really valuable, I appreciate what they did, it really show responsibility of the school administration.
Desmond • Oct 30, 2024 at 8:39 am
Having a mutual understanding of trust between students and faculty is very important and should be emphasized more throughout other schools. Although a very big mistake was made that altered the trust between the AFS community Brendon is doing a very good job at trying to gain that trust back. It takes a lot of strength to own up to a mistake you’ve made none the less try to fix it. I believe that even though this event happened the bond between the community will be stronger than before afterwards.
Aila • Oct 30, 2024 at 8:37 am
I do somewhat agree with the perspective of the article because the school did react quickly to catch the mistake and apologize for it. From what I’ve seen and heard at other schools something like this would take the heads of school a lot longer to catch and they wouldn’t hold themselves accountable. However something like this should not have happened, but mistakes do occur especially with technology which means that we just have to be that much more careful with what we are sending to people and who we are sending things to. I think that some practices that AFS gives us would be letting the high schoolers eat anywhere they want on campus (where food is permitted). Another place I see these would even be in the places the article mentioned, like not having locks on the lockers, calling teachers by their first name, and letting us pick our clubs and what sports, etc and what we do in our frees, and lunch times. I think allowing us to eat in the hallways or student commons would instill a sense of trust from the faculty and staff saying “Hey we trust you with this, however, if you spill, break the rules, etc then the appropriate punishment will be required.” Overall I agree with this article and believe that AFS did take the right steps in order to come back from a mistake like that.
Anais • Oct 30, 2024 at 7:28 am
I agree that confidentiality is incredibly important as well as trust. If theres trust than there can also be safety and happiness. AFS is a very trusting community and we see this through open lockers. We also see it when students are able to share announcements and thoughts during meeting for worship and morning assembly without the fear of being judged. Being apart of a community that you trust allows you to be your true self without fear. To me this is what it means to trust. It’s true that everyone makes mistakes. That’s what it means to be human. However its what you do about the mistake that really matters. I agree that you must take ownership, apologize, and then forgive and forget. I do believe AFS has a very strong trust system.
Natalie • Oct 18, 2024 at 9:04 am
It is surprising to see an institution actually taking accountability for its actions, being from a school that had never done so. When this accident occurred, I was a little surprised and scared about what things would be spread around the school, either about my accommodation or others. I was very glad when, later that day, I got home, and my mom asked me about what happened at school because of an email she had received from Brandon that day, and I was fairly surprised when I heard a full-fled apology coming from such a big institution that should not be known for making mistakes. It is very hard to apologize correctly when masking such a drastic mistake, and AFS’ response was the perfect way to do it, making precautions for the future. It is very important to forgive when you know that people are truly sorry for what they did, especially when they make advances to make sure it never happens again. Many institutions out there avoid their mistakes and never take responsibility, but AFS’s actions create “trust” in the community, and this trust is something that brings everyone together to create solutions and make a loving and supportive community.
Lucas • Oct 17, 2024 at 5:35 pm
I find it important to emphasize the important between the school and its students, and the mutual trust that is apart of that. Having a breaking of that trust, if not addressed properly, could result in consequences in the community. I like the way the school handled this issue, making sure that everyone effected was reassured of the safety in the system, and new measures to prevent this from happening again.
Imani Heath • Oct 17, 2024 at 5:01 pm
Student teacher/faculty relationships are very important. I have noticed that teachers and faculty put in a great effort to build a connection and trust with students. Yes sometimes they lack in that area but there isn’t often. It is perfectly fine having ups and downs occasionally. At AFS teachers allow students to called them by their first names, voice their opinions, and meet with them whenever. In the school there are lockers with no lock and students can place their things anywhere around the building. Those things are great ways to show the trust at AFS. Building trust within a community is a good way to build a strong foundation.
Ava Ruff • Oct 16, 2024 at 9:19 am
I do agree that the relationships between the student and the faculty are important. The faculty do try their best to get along with their students and build trust. At Afs there are a lot of factors that help with trust as explained in the article calling adults by their first name, no locks on lockers, leaving bags outside of lockers, auditorium, and many other things. The Afs community is built on trust, respect, and love. There have been mistakes but every school has ups and downs, and we learn from the problems. I believe that this article was written well explaining the meaning of Afs and the attention of it. Over time when things get better and better the trust factor will get stronger between people.
Mason Fullertob • Oct 16, 2024 at 7:37 am
I felt the school handled it well with what happened in September, but I know it affects different people in different ways. I think this school does a good job of acknowledging problems, but I think this was a very sensitive topic so I understand where people are coming from with different emotions. I was someone who was in that list of students in the email and the part that made me more upset was that people took photos. I know it is not easy to figure out if anyone still has photos but to me that is what upsets me and I agree with the point that AFS is a place where we trust each other, but at the same time, people make mistakes. Taking photos of the email that was sent out is wrong and hurts trust. So I think AFS is a community built on trust, but as anything, it can be worked on.
Daniel • Oct 16, 2024 at 7:25 am
I agree with the perspective of this article. Regardless of whether the breach was a mistake, student’s trust may have been broken. Though I think the school did very well in responding to the mistake and fixing it. I think what makes AFS such a strong community is the relationship the students and teachers have out of respect and “choice”. Many of the students at AFS love the teachers; I’ve seen students always eating lunch with a teacher or congregating in that teacher’s room when it’s a free level. The students have a connection with teachers outside of a classroom setting. At AFS, students and teachers call each other by their first name, which also encourages a mutual feeling of respect/comfort. The relationship the student body has with staff is a really important aspect of what makes AFS a vibrant community. It makes AFS a community to have trust in.
Lauren • Oct 16, 2024 at 7:24 am
This was a great article to read. I agree with all the points you made about the incident. You mentioned how AFS is built on trust and how successful this makes the community. This incident in particular caused a lot of uproar amongst the upper school student body. Students have different reactions ranging from tears, to anger, to laughter. However, I think it is important to remember that mistakes do happen but that does not excuse the pain they have caused. Brendon and Mikael often talk about impact vs. intent. This situation definitely encompasses that. Once again, good job!
John McCracken • Oct 16, 2024 at 7:24 am
I like how in a moment of broken trust and hardship, people immediately started working on rebuilding that trust within the community. It is important to admit when you do something wrong and it is also equally as important to understand that they know they made a mistake. The rebuilding process of trust is very important to bring the community closer and make the connection stronger. With this mistake, action can be taken to ensure that a accident like this won’t happen again. This can be taken as a good learning experience for everyone in the AFS community.
AJ • Oct 16, 2024 at 7:15 am
I do agree with this perspective from both sides of the fence in terms of the situation; student and faculty. I appreciate the acknoladgement and engagement of the mistake made and the proactive steps to slowly move forward. While trust is absolutely damaged and will take some time to rebuild, like everything in life there is need for grace and time to heal.
Gio Damico • Oct 15, 2024 at 6:40 pm
I do agree with the perspective on the situation that occurred, but there is still more trust to build back up, I appreciate the work and effort the school has put in to try to mend the trust that was damaged. Although the damage done can’t be reversed what the school has done to attempt to make it up to the students affected by this situation shows they care and I respect that. All these factors I discussed contribute to building a stronger community and can help build back trust quicker knowing the school is honest and takes immediate action.
Sylvie • Oct 15, 2024 at 4:44 pm
I do agree with this article’s view. I think that it is important for the school to take responsibility immediately, which I can see by reading the article that they did as much as possible to fix there mistakes as soon as they realized what had happened which I admire. I also think that they did the right thing by addressing what had happened and asking everybody to be good stewards and recognize what they did was wrong if they took a picture. I also think that they handled learning from their mistakes by changing how they get the information by going through blackbaud, which shows how much they value other peoples privacy and trust.
Jeremy • Oct 15, 2024 at 12:37 pm
Nobody could don’t make mistake sin their life, organizations are the same. It doesn’t matter for two reasons. Firstly, these information is not about me. So I will be kind to deal with these. Just do it better. Do not do these mistake the second time. Secondly, maybe for culture difference reason, I think living in the school is not a big deal. Because almost every Chinese upper school will have students living in the school.
Just remember this thing, absorb absorb the experience, that’s all. There is no need to continue feel upset to things which happened.
Leila Wang • Oct 15, 2024 at 9:02 am
I agree with this article’s view on the situation of yes there still is lots of work to do to help build up the trust again, but lots of work has already been done to help build up that trust. I agree with this because a mistake, especially one that hurt many people, cannot be fixed overnight because the damage cannot just be healed like that. It is a long process for the school to show that the students can trust them again, which is a long process but that just means that they are putting effort into trying to fix it instead of just ignoring it.
Neiko • Oct 15, 2024 at 8:57 am
The relationship in our school with students and teachers is admirable. Many schools have students listen to teachers out of fear, but it is genuinely out of respect at our school. One practice that upholds this relationship of trust between teachers and students is calling the teacher by their first name. It gives the idea that the teachers are friends or on the same level as you, it helps when talking to the teachers about certain topics or just greeting them in the hallway. This is one thing our school has that makes it different from many other schools. Though it may seem odd to others, it helps students and teachers grow a strong relationship with each other.
Malea • Oct 15, 2024 at 8:50 am
I agree with the perspective shared, I think that the way we as an entire school handled the situation was good. I think being honest and upfront with the mistakes we make can strengthen the community as a whole and build trust with one another more than we have before. Not tiptoeing around real situations that happen, exposes us to the real world instead of keeping us in a bubble. This situation was handled better than situations we had in the past, before instead of confronting a situation head on and addressing it directly, there was a lot of alluding to what was going on and assuming every one knew what was happening even though they didn’t. Addressing situations helps us make trust stronger in the community.