DCMS Family,
I am extremely grateful for our staff, students, and community for their amazing ability to adapt and adjust to the numerous changes thrown our way these last two years. As I have pointed out in previous editions of this newsletter, flexibility, adaptability, critical thinking/problem solving, collaboration and creativity are increasingly valuable skills in our world and these are life skills we work hard to incorporate into our lessons and activities.
These last two years have taught us so much about education and as educators it reminded us of what really matters - relationships. The pandemic also reminds us that we are more than just teachers - at times we are social workers, nurses, counselors and more. We have flexed and stretched ourselves physically and emotionally in support of our students. Last year we put a tremendous focus on our students well-being and getting them through the unprecedented conditions created by the pandemic. As always, our students and staff have shown their flexibility and resiliency and our staff have simply been amazing in light of all of the new conditions thrown our way.
We have really focused much of our efforts this school year around social skills and attacking the gaps in terms of our students' social, emotional and academic readiness. It’s imperative that we also renew our focus on our own personal wellbeing, especially as educators, and take care of and support each other so we can better support and grow our students - for some, this balance can be difficult.
Thank you for all that you do and for the continued support in our mission. Thank you for entrusting us with the opportunity to guide and develop our students into future ready citizens.
Happy New Year!
Principal McCloskey
