Dear Laurel Families,
The weather has been inconsistent these last few days, but at Laurel the students and their teachers continue to work as diligently as ever.
You all should have received your child’s report card. A reminder to Upper School parents that your students will be receiving narratives from their teacher, with the exception of Wilson/Orton Gillingham class reports. We are beginning to discuss the student progress using competency language in our report card narratives so that parents become accustomed to competency based grading procedures. Unfortunately, due to a glitch in our report card printing process, some Upper School report cards were printed so that the progress indicators (the grid) still showed up with empty boxes. We have been troubleshooting with our IT representatives and we will reprint them without progress indicators and will re-send these to you. Upper School students will receive grades at the end of the year allowing them more time to learn critical concepts.
Ms. Nancy and Ms. Sheryl have been working with some of our students to create a student-led Animal Advocacy Club to increase awareness about animal cruelty. Club members have given presentations and made cat toys for shelter animals with the Lower School. Now they want to expand their efforts by fundraising for homeless animals. Just this morning, Officer Montgomery and K-9 Shepherd Mackey, from the West Windsor Police Department, agreed to visit Laurel School tomorrow to share information with our students about their 6th Annual Dog and Cat Food Drive, called Bark Drop, which supports homeless animals and animal shelters. He will be bringing
Also, the club members have planned a snack drive to be held during lunchtime on Friday to raise money for this important cause. Snacks will be very small and store-bought, so ingredients will be visible and healthy choices can be made.
We applaud the efforts of the members of this club, who are in 6-8th grade. They have been working in their Executive Functioning Class to learn about planning, collaborating and perspective-taking, as they make plans, keep schedules, and execute their chosen activities. They are developing many adult skills that will serve them well as they mature, and we hope you all support their efforts as well as their chosen charity.
Lower School students brought home information today about their Holiday Book Exchange that will take place on December 19. More information will follow about this and our other plans as we move forward into the next couple of weeks toward our Holiday Celebration.
Dee
