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Dear Northern Oaks Lower School Families,
I hope that your family had an enjoyable spring break last week! I am amazed that we are already in the fourth quarter and only have 11 weeks of school remaining. We have some exciting events coming in the weeks ahead.
This coming Friday, March 22nd, we will be holding our Annual Lower School Art Show. This will be a walk-through event in which you will be able to see your child’s work on display in the hall. Doors are open 5-7 pm. As we all know, parking is limited so please come at your family’s convenience within the timeframe. When explaining our hallway aesthetic to new and prospective families, it is very important to us that we are surrounding students with great historical works of art and that their own work is also displayed nearby. Students can see that they are part of the great conversation that classical education aspires to join. The very reason that we have Rafael’s School of Athens next to the front door is to welcome those who enter our doors into this very conversation, which is not a dead conversation, but very much alive in asking the big questions that do not have easy answers.
Next week we will welcome our favorite visitors back to campus as part of our annual Grandparents Days. Grandparents will be invited in from 8:45-10:20 for some light refreshments, social time with their grandchildren, and a short class observation of their class. Grandparents Day will take place for grades 2 & 3 on Tuesday the 25th ; for grades K & 1 on Wednesday the 27th; and for grades 4-6th on Thursday the 28th. Please be on the lookout for sign-ups to arrive this week.
Please note that we have a long four-day weekend from March 29th to April 1st, that Friday, April 5th will be a full day, and then Battle of Flowers off on April 26th.
On the afternoon of April 8th, students will observe the total solar eclipse on campus. Please be on the lookout in the coming week for digital permission slips for children to be able to use the solar eclipse glasses we purchased to view the eclipse during the moment of totality.
We look forward to seeing families on Saturday, April 13th for Fiestaval. Thank you to PSO and the parent volunteers who have helped put this wonderful community event together! We are looking forward to an exciting day!
Looking forward to May, we will have our Spring Concert on Friday, May 3rd. We will be holding the concert at Trinity Baptist Church, which shares space with our Monte Vista Upper School Campus, closer to downtown on Mulberry Avenue. We will then hold Kinder and 6th Grade Promotion on May 29th. Details on these events will be forthcoming. We always have a small number of families who are eager to begin their summer break early so I feel it is important to remind parents that we have many important end-of-year traditions such as Kinder and Sixth Grade Promotion, the House Banquet, and end-of-year celebrations. Please remember that we at Northern Oaks teach from the first to the last day of school. During the final few days of school, students will have a final math test, Spalding test, or poetry recitation depending on their grade level. Attendance is mandatory to receive credit on these final assessments of the year.
Finally, at each new quarter, we hold a cultural reset on dress code and procedural expectations. Please do not be surprised if you hear from your child’s teachers regarding a need for a haircut or if an item that may have gone under the radar these past few weeks is now noticed. We do our best to keep high expectations of ordered joy at all times but are humble enough to know that it is difficult to strive for excellence and the human condition is such that reminders and cultural resets are necessary for a healthy community to continue to flourish.
Have a wonderful week!
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