March 5, 2021

Dear Lower School Families,

Thank you for joining us the past two days for Parent-Teacher Conferences, which provide an excellent opportunity to learn about your children’s academic and social-emotional growth. If you have any further questions for any of your children’s teachers, please reach out to them for additional times to meet. We appreciate all of the support you provide.

We are excited to announce our Lower School Spirit Week will be the week of March 15-19. Please follow this link for the list of activities in which we encourage your children to participate.

At 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday, March 16th, we will offer a parent education evening when the Center for Family Safety and Healing will present via Zoom (just click on this link at that time, no need to pre-register) for Academy families on the topic of social media and tech safety. Learn about what the current trends are with different apps, what current research is telling us about safe media use, and how to employ measures to help your children make good choices. This will mainly be geared for grades 4-12, but all parents and guardians are welcome to join.

We have had some concerns during the morning carline that need your attention. Please refrain from using your phone while driving anywhere on campus. There are many distractions, and driving on campus requires our full attention. Please also be careful when coming into the lower school area off of Viking Way – where we have a security guard in the morning – and remember not to pass other cars or drive in the grass/dirt areas to bypass the traffic line. We have had several concerning safety situations recently with parent drivers and certainly don’t want any accidents and/or injuries to happen.

The afternoon carline has been wrapping up by 3:45 p.m. on most days. Please plan to arrive on campus before 3:45 p.m. to pick up your children before carline ends. As a reminder, CASE is not available on a drop-in basis this school year.

During this upcoming spring break, I am very pleased to report that we are getting new playground equipment installed, and we are excited to see the students’ faces when they return to school on April 5th!

The Parent Book Club will meet on Tuesday, March 16th, from 7:00-8:00 p.m. via Zoom. Please complete this form if interested in joining. We will be discussing chapters 1-5 of Best Friends, Worst Enemies by Dr. Michael Thompson.
 
This week’s parenting article is not an actual article, rather a recommended web site: Common Sense Media. If you are ever wondering about age-appropriateness for movies, books, computer games, etc, they offer excellent insight on a variety of metrics. It is also very easy to navigate and find quick answers to your questions. The results are broken down into several age groups to pinpoint what you are looking for in regards to your children.

Upcoming Events
  • March 11-12 and 18-19: Third Grade Wax Museum
  • March 20-April 4: Spring Break (No School)
  • April 5: School Resumes
  • April 14: LS Teacher Collaboration Day (No Classes for Lower-Schoolers)
  • April 23: Professional Development Day (No Classes for All Divisions)

Be well,

Head of Lower School