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Dear Rondout Families, Faculty
Our first few weeks have flown by and the students are settling in to the routines and have been actively engaged in establishing a strong foundation for their educational experience in the year ahead. We have a strong role to play in the lives of our students but we don’t do it alone. As we begin the school year, I want to recognize and stress the “Power of the Parent” in each student’s educational life.
Creating a balance between school, homework, extra-curriculars and simple relaxation can be a challenge with so many demands on a family’s time. Parents play a central role in their child’s success and happiness and that role is constantly evolving as children grow and develop over the years. Making sure your children get an adequate amount of sleep, exercise and a chance to unwind will support their success in school.
Combining the age groups in each cluster allows us to capitalize on the strengths of each developmental level while targeting opportunities for optimal growth during that stage. As students move up in the grades, we work to help them become more independent and less reliant on the adults in their lives to monitor and manage their work. Parents monitor behind the scenes and intervene when necessary. By the time they leave us at the end of 8th grade, we hope they have developed a set of skills and a toolkit of strategies to support them as they continue their learning journey.
The youngest students need our support to develop the foundation for learning and organization needed to begin their formal school experience. Teachers scaffold the expectations and experiences to build life success skills that are often hard to measure. Parents can help their children by setting up a framework for doing homework, reading nightly and organizing materials to be ready for the next day. With the many demands on time, setting up a daily routine may not always be easy but predictability and dedicated time for family engagement, homework, down-time, recreation and a good night’s sleep can make an enormous difference for most children.
As they enter the 3-5 cluster, we begin to shift the focus to greater independence. Building on skills developed in the primary grades (K-2) there is an emphasis on reading to learn versus learning to read, strengthening executive functioning and organizational skills along with focus and engagement as the content area expectations grow. Parents still have an active role in monitoring their child’s school work, growth and progress in all areas while continuing to set the boundaries for time management, supporting their students social emotional development and making healthy choices.
The Upper School students move to the next level of independence as they take ownership of their learning experience, keeping track of work and grades on Teams and PowerSchool and strengthening their self-advocacy skills. On the flip side, this is actually a time when parental presence is exceptionally critical. Teens and pre-teens still need clear boundaries, clarity of expectations and opportunities to take on more responsibility. Parenting students at this age is a delicate balance between providing just the right amount of structure and freedom to allow for developing confidence, applying problem solving skills and experiencing independence with enough guidance to support making good choices based upon their own families values. At the same time students are navigating the murky waters of adolescence, dealing with peer pressure and facing difficult decisions about life choices that can have long-term effects on their overall well-being and academic success. Keeping the lines of communication open between parents and students at this age is vital.
Home and school are on this road together and by working in partnership we can help each student reach their full potential. We encourage you to stay connected, to value our partnership, keep the lines of communication open and we will commit to doing the same so that each of our students can have the best experience possible. Thank you in advance for your on-going support, engagement and investment this year. You are a critical part of our mission for which we are deeply grateful.
Have a wonderful weekend. Be safe...Take care... Until next time...
Dr. Jenny Wojcik
Superintendent
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