Estabrook Buzz

Wednesday, October 24

Wednesday, October 31

Parent-teacher conferences begin this week and run through November 1st. Conferences provide an opportunity for parents and teachers to build a working relationship, to exchange information about a child, and to identify goals for a child’s continued learning and development.

Here are some suggestions to help make these conversations productive and helpful:

• Take time to be prepared. Talk to your child before the conference. Ask what they like about school, what they don’t like, what work is easy, what is challenging, and whether there is anything they want their teacher to know. Write down your questions ahead of time to refer to them during the conference. If you have a major concern, it can be helpful to let the teacher know ahead of time.
• Assume good intent and work to build trust and mutual respect. Good communication begins with listening and asking questions. Both teachers and parents care deeply about children. As parents, things related to our children can lead to strong emotions. As teachers, we give much of ourselves to our work with children, also leading to strong feelings. We need to recognize when our emotional responses may be getting in the way.
• Remember that we bring different perspectives. Parents and teachers see children in different settings. How a child functions in a large group or responds to the demands of school may be different than how a child acts at home. Parents are advocates for their child. Teachers must be advocates for all the children in a classroom.
• Summarize: At the end of your conference, try to summarize what you heard. Ideally, you should leave with a better understanding of key areas for your child's continued learning and development.

We look forward to having the opportunity to meet with you and talk about your child’s learning and development.

Rick Rogers

rrogers@lexingtonma.org

How schools handle Halloween can vary from place to place. Estabrook School works to de-emphasize Halloween. We ask that children NOT wear their costumes to school. Classrooms do not have Halloween parties, but most classes do have a fall celebration during the month ahead.

While Halloween can be an exciting and fun tradition for some children and families, some families may object on religious grounds or prefer not to have their children participate for health reasons (candy!). And others may have concerns about costumes with violent or scary themes. In order to respect these diverse views, we ask that Halloween be celebrated at home.

During arrival on Thursday, we will be collecting children’s personal hygiene (shampoo, toothpaste, etc.) and baby supplies (diapers, wipes, etc.) for Cradles to Crayons. Please help us support those in need.

A reminder that we are seeking your feedback on an LPS Position Paper entitled Diversity, Equity and Inclusion: Our Call to Action. We want as many voices as possible to be heard as we collect feedback on this draft document first presented to the Lexington School Committee at the end of September. A short feedback form can be found here: https://goo.gl/forms/xnRGKSzVRf1TOA2u1