October 28, 2022

Dear Lower School Families,

It was such a joy to watch students arrive at school today in their costumes. We hope you enjoyed the opportunity to gather before the parade and enjoy some apple cider and conversation with other lower school parents.

Quarter 1 Report Cards

The Quarter 1 report cards will be posted tomorrow (Saturday, October 29). In the Lower School, report cards are shared four times per year:

• Quarter 1: checkboxes only
• Quarter 2: checkboxes plus comments
• Quarter 3: checkboxes only
• Quarter 4: checkboxes plus comments

To view report cards, log in to your MySchoolApp account, click on the “Children” dropdown menu, select a student’s name, click on the “Progress” tab and then the report card link.

If you have any questions about these report cards, please feel free to contact your children’s teachers or email techhelp@columbusacademy.org if you have difficulty accessing them.

Parent-Teacher Conferences

Thank you for joining us last week for your children’s Parent-Teacher Conferences. While recognizing the convenience of online conferences, in the Lower School we feel that the ability to share work samples and discuss your children’s academic and social progress is much better and provides a much more comprehensive and interactive experience. We invite you to complete this short survey.

Lost and Found

Thank you to all of you who found your children’s lost items in the lost and found during our conference days. Many lost and found items still remain. Please check for missing items quickly as any lost and found items remaining after November 11 will be donated to our Kids 4 Kids service learning project or the clothing exchange closet.

Carline Request

Thank you for your patience as the City of Gahanna continues road work to Cherry Bottom Road. If you arrive between 7:38-7:45 a.m., we encourage you to have your children exit your cars if you are in front of the Lower School and wait in line by the entrance. This makes a significant difference in the overall length of the carline if we can keep it moving before 7:45 a.m. While it is a bit chilly outside and your children may be a bit reluctant to be outside in the cold for these few minutes, it helps the carline flow and not get backed up. Thank you!

Upcoming Lower School Parent Coffees

November 8: Executive Functioning Skills

Please join Heather Levingston, Sarah Wolff and Alyssa Thiele as they share an overview of executive functions, common executive-function challenges in school-aged children and ways to support executive-function challenges at home. There will be time for questions and answers as well.

December 7: Fly 5 (our new social and emotional learning program)

Please join Director of Academic Programs Gabriel Paynter along with classroom teachers Beth Klug and Elizabeth Sinclair to hear more about the Fly Five curriculum and how it is integrated into the school day and beyond.

We ask that you use this form to sign up (for one or both) if you haven’t already. Coffee and scones will be available at both forums, which will take place in our dining hall (fireside) from 8:30-9:30 a.m.

Parent Book Club

The Parent Book Club will meet to discuss the second half of “The Gift of Failure: How the Best Parents Learn to Let Go So Their Children Can Succeed” by Jessica Lahey. We will meet on the fireside of the dining hall on Thursday, November 17, from 8:30-9:30 a.m. to discuss chapters 7-12 of the book. Please use this link to sign up. Here is the book discussion guide we will use. Warm scones and fresh coffee will greet you upon entering!

Parenting Article

This week’s article is from the Greater Good Science Center at UC Berkeley and is entitled “Three Steps to Teach Children About Honesty.”

Enjoy the weekend,

Mark L. Hansen

Head of Lower School