And we're off!

What a fantastic first week of the school year!  The energy throughout the building was electric as we welcomed our first through eighth grade students back!

Earlier this week every student and teacher in the school participated in our school wide expectation tours.  This is an opportunity for our team to begin explicitly teaching and modeling what it looks and sounds like for all students to be successful in all parts of the school throughout all of their day. 

We also had a spirited pep rally to welcome everyone back and connect as an entire school community. We did some fun team building, heard from our Student Council representatives, reviewed our goals for the year, celebrated our successes to start, and talked about our responsibilities contributing to our shared community! There was also some pie :)

We look forward to building on this week’s success over the coming days, weeks, and months.  As we shared with every child today during our “Welcome Back! & expectation talks” our purpose as a school is to “value the uniqueness of all and ensure the highest levels of learning.”  We described this in a developmentally appropriate way to each grade level as ALL of us working together to ensure that EVERY child feels they are uniquely special, cared for, and valued, while also being supported in an ongoing journey to learn, grow, and improve. 

We look forward to continuing to partner with you on living this work each day.  Thank YOU for the many ways YOU contributed to this week’s strong start!

Team building (it's who we are and what we do)

In addition to connecting on our beliefs, values, and pedagogical practices, we make time at the very beginning of new teacher induction to do some team building.  Trust and connection are the core components of any impactful team and organization.  In this "perfect square" activities teammates must communicate, problem-solve, and collaborate to transform a circle into a square (while blindfolded).

Similarly, our school Leadership Team did some team building as well in our "Top Chef" East Prairie edition activity.  Blindfolded chefs concocted guacamole from scratch with the support of their seeing sous chefs.  Not only did we connect, laugh, and have fun - we also had a surprisingly tasty snack for our afternoon meeting focused on how our systems, structures, practices, and mindsets drive student learning. 

Looking Ahead

The beginning of a new school year is a most special and magical time!  Each year this moment holds the power, potential, and possibility of bringing us together around the opportunity to do something truly extraordinary in service of kids and our community.  Like all school years, the year to come will be filled with challenges, as well as, happiness, lots of learning, and many special memories to be made along the way.  We look forward to partnering with and learning alongside you on this journey.  

Please know we value your voice and insight - we are here to serve and support.  Please reach out to any member of our team at any time if there is something that we can do to better meet the needs of your child(ren) and family.  We are committed to ensuring every child feels safe and valued, while also supporting and encouraging them to reach their highest potential.  These are not just words, but a vision we seek to define with concrete action on a daily basis.  Prioritizing care, relationships, and wellbeing in tandem with developing critical thinkers, scholars, and engaged citizens is at the heart of what we do.  Our team promises to do everything we can to make this the very best school year for your child(ren) and family.  We look forward to the adventure and journey!

Here is a welcome back letter for students, thank you for sharing it with your child(ren).