October Parent Newsletter
Principal, Dr. DiTullio
Principal's Corner
September went by so quickly! I cannot believe that we are already into October. We had a very smooth start the school year. It is so wonderful to have the building full of the sounds of joyful learning. We have gotten right back into the swing of things. Baseline testing is almost finished, and we have begun meeting to discuss our data, formulate an action plan, and create new systems for progress monitoring. Our School Based Planning team parent members this year are Savena Luangkhamdeng, Nayarit Colon, and Natalie Mackenzie. The School Based Planning Team is comprised of the school administration, teachers, and parents. We meet monthly with a focus on instruction; for example, we discuss and formulate the school improvement plan, monitor the implementation of school-wide initiatives, and review and approve school-wide and individual professional development. Meeting minutes are posted on our website monthly. Thank you to the parents who have volunteered their time to be a part of this important team!
Open House
Don't forget that open house is this coming Thursday, October 5th, from 5:30-7:00. Please join us for a wonderful evening. You can tour the school and meet your child's teachers.
Uniforms
During Covid, we were able to relax in the uniform policy a bit as many families were financially strained and we didn't want to put further burden on them. This year, we are back to enforcing the uniform policy. I have MANY uniforms that are both new and gently used (but have been cleaned) that students are welcome to. If you are in need of uniforms, we are more than happy to help you. Please call thee main office (288-8008) and let us know how many and what size. Students should come in uniform every day.
Behavior Expectations
We are off to a great start, as I mentioned. Please review the expectations for school behavior with your children. We are working on being safe, being respectful, and being responsible. Please take a moment to discuss what that means and how it looks and sounds in the school setting. It is helpful to us that students know that you both know and support the expectations for behavior in school.
Class Dojo
We use this platform almost exclusively to communicate school-wide information. If you are not signed up for Dojo, please contact your child's teacher and ask how you can get connected. It will be very important for us to maintain clear lines of communication between school and home this year as we have many exciting things happening!
Field Trips
We have many field trips planned this year. Please sign and return the permission forms so that your child is able to attend. All field trips are part of the educational program, and unless we have serious safety concerns and do not reasonably feel that we can keep your child safe in a public setting, all children are expected to attend. Sixth grade parents, we will be having an informational meeting soon regarding the Washington DC trip which we are planning again this year. You will be receiving and invitation soon.
Enrichment
We have once again partnered with Kuumba Consultants and the marvelous Adrianna Santucci to provide arts enrichment to all students in pre-k through sixth grade. These programs will be starting up this month. In addition, you should be receiving information about our after school enrichment clubs soon as well. If all goes to plan, we should be starting mid October.
Warrior Factory
As part of our House System this year, we are able to send our students to the Warrior Factory to engage in some team building activities with their house. The students will be attending November 1, 2, and 3. We are pairing grades 1 and 4, 2 and 5, and 3 and 6 as we have for the houses. I am excited to be able to provide this opportunity for all students and am hopeful that it will build a sense of belonging and strengthen ties between our older and younger students.
As always, thank you so much for your support and for sharing your wonderful children with us! It is such an honor to be the principal of this caring school community.
Important Dates/Events to Remember
October 3: 3:30-4:30 School Based Planning Team Meeting
October 5: Open House 5:30-7:00
October 9: Columbus/Indigenous Peoples' Day ALL FACILITIES CLOSED
October 10: Parent-Teacher conferences begin this week
October 27: Half day for students (12:30 dismissal)
October 31: Happy Halloween!
November 1-3: Warrior Factory field trips
PRINCIPAL'S OCTOBER BOOK OF THE MONTH
Alma and How She Got Her Name, by Juana Martinez-Neal
I hope you enjoy this lovely story about the importance of our names. Have a conversation with your child about how they got their name. How did you choose that special name for your child? Is there an ethnic component to it? Does it reflect your family's heritage and culture? Does it reflect the legacy of the family matriarch or patriarch? Our names help us to understand our larger identity, and we want all children to be proud of their names.
Summary: Alma Sofia Esperanza José Pura Candela thinks that six is way too many names! But as she learns more about how her names connect her to her family, Alma becomes very proud of all her names.