Dear Families,
Fall is wrapping itself around us and September brings the freshness of the new school year, even if it is online. Our students spent the first few weeks of school making connections and getting to know their family group. You will see teachers will be diving more into targeted content areas of reading and math, integrated with our theme studies as well. While we do not have the specialist classes: health, music, art, and PE, we hope as a family you are still able to explore that content to ensure the development of the whole child. In the next week, I will be sending how your child's iReady diagnostic information. I will follow-up with an email to you about the assessment and keeping it into perspective of the lens of the whole child. Thank you for your supporting having your child do this at home!
The district has a re-entry task force and they are continuing to work together to make the best decisions for our school and community. Tomorrow, September 15, there will be announcement about the possibility of returning to school in mid-October. I want to let you know that I feel optimistic about the idea of our students returning and know that as a community there will be many questions around this idea. Following the district's announcement, I will be holding a Zoom session where parents can have an open discussion. As we have always done, we will lead with safety as our priority to create the best environment for children!
I want to close this note with sharing a podcast I listened to on Saturday night. A personal goal I have made during COVID, is to watch my mindset. The challenges related to COVID-19 can weigh us all down if we don't tune into our thoughts. My nephew, who is in high school started a podcast called “Out Loud.” He interviewed Robert Paylor, who was a top Rugby player for Cal Berkeley. In 2017 Robert had an injury in a game that caused him to be a quadriplegic. Robert reviews his gratitude journal practice, his mind diet--nasty in is nasty out or vice versa, and provides such a unique perspective on the appreciation for life. You can listen here.
Enjoy the moment,
Clare
