LS Update- April 6

Spring is fighting its way through a long cold winter, and I am here for it! Next week, we can expect weather in the 60’s! Spring is certainly showing itself at our outside spaces, where we notice fresh buds on the trees and bulbs planted in the fall are finally sprouting. This feeling of renewal means we want to show up and show out! Off comes the winter jacket and we run faster and laugh louder. Moreover, we continue to show gratitude.

Often when I speak to families, I brag about School Meeting. It is gratitude and community in action. It serves as a model for how we are to uplift each other. I watch Mr. Luman run rehearsals early in the morning and hear the Upper School students in the house band encourage and guide Lower School students to shine on the stage, assuaging them of their fears. But even before the Lower School students get to that stage, they have many chances to do mini-performances around the school. Apparently, when you attach performance with gratitude and gift-giving, children willingly move past their phobias and sing loudly, sharing the gift of their performance. A great example of this is the Recorder Grams! Faculty send Recorder Grams to each other by filling out a card and sending it to Ms. Edwards. Ms. Edwards then sends a group of students to perform a song they learned on the recorder! It is the best surprise when they arrive because a colleague thought of you and the performance is THE BEST. Today, Mr. Cardoza and Mrs. Saunders came with EC2 students to perform an Español counting song. My heart was filled with joy, and the students showed they could count and understand quantity in two languages! You can see the video here.

As we look ahead, we have Parent-Teacher conferences on Thursday, April 13th, after the half-day and all-day Friday, April 14th. If you haven’t signed up for a conference already, please do so. The tool will close by Monday, April 10th. Additionally, on April 13th and 14th, I will be in Chicago at the American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting, working specifically with Division K. Division K is the special interest group that focuses on research related to Teacher and Teacher Education. The tool will close by Monday, April 10th. On April 21st, we have the ALL- SCHOOL ART CELEBRATION and EXHIBIT. Parents are invited to tour the artwork with grade 8 dossiers at 2:15 pm and pick up their children at 3:00 pm from homerooms.

Save the date: Literacy Morning is happening Tuesday, May 2nd. You will hear more about this morning in the coming weeks. And, of course, we have more programmed joy and exciting events!