Dear Parents and Caregivers,
The last stretch of the school year means that we can be simultaneously rushing toward the finish line and reluctant to cross it. As you navigate the whirlwind of these final weeks — the performances, the projects, the goodbyes — I hope you are also finding little pockets of calm to enjoy those remaining moments of this school year.
Captured Learning:
- Grade-level performances are culminating experiences in which our students bring their confidence and public-speaking skills to the stage. Our kindergarten students performed an ocean-themed play last month, where they shared their lines confidently and even sang a song in French! Our prekindergarten students take the stage tomorrow for their performance, and I am sure they are having some of those healthy nerves inside their bellies, which we welcome when students are taking safe risks!
- The Day of Play was on the same day as Earth Day, and we were able to bring these two learning moments together for different playful experiences. From outdoor painting to gardening to swapping classrooms to explore, the students were flexing their collaboration and communication skills throughout the day — both skills we know they will need in the future! One of my favorite moments from the Day of Play was hearing a Wellington parent, Urvi Patel, read her newly released picture book. I always love hearing authors read their own stories and even more special when the author is a member of our school community!
- The second grade team along with our librarians, created a special event to kick off the final second grade research project. Each student closed their eyes and picked a famous person to research, and the excitement level was high as the students discovered who they would be learning more about. Kudos to the team for creating a fun hook for the project!
- Fourth graders brought their economics unit to life at BizTown, stepping into roles from mayor to CEO. Students then returned to the classroom and designed their own lemonade stand, analyzing costs and prices to try to profit with the most money. This work connected directly their reading of “Lemonde Wars” with their economics unit with their mathematics work.
ECLS Culmination Mornings
Please do not forget to join your children for the special events below. Parking can be tight on these mornings, and you are welcome to use the visitor parking lot or the student/faculty lot. If you park in the student/faculty lot, you will enter through the doors by the Sokol Store.
- Lower School Culmination Morning will be on May 20, beginning at 8 a.m. This will be an open house format, and your child will be your tour guide. We will wrap up the culmination morning at 8:30 a.m. so the children may begin their day of learning.
- Early Childhood Culmination Morning will begin at 8:30 a.m. (sharp!) in the BPAC on May 22. Your child will go to their classroom, and you will be directed to the BPAC, where the early childhood students will demonstrate a community meeting and then head to their classrooms to share their learning portfolios. This event will be over by 9:15 a.m.
Last Day of School: May 28
May 28 is the last day of school for our ECLS students, with dismissal at 11 a.m. There is no aftercare, and ALL children will be dismissed through car line. Please be patient as we dismiss over 300 students that morning. Dismissal for families with ECLS students and middle schoolers will take place after their Moving Up program. In years past, this has run a bit behind schedule. To help keep the final car line moving smoothly, we ask that you pick up your ECLS student first, then wait in the back parking lot for your middle schooler to be released.
As Fred Rogers once said, "Often when you think you're at the end of something, you're at the beginning of something else." This year, I close a wonderful 10 year chapter leading the Early Childhood and Lower School division and move fully into my role as Assistant Head of School for Academics this summer. While I am so excited to support and shape the academic program across the entire school, I will truly miss the close relationships I have built with students and families during these early years. Having a front-row seat to seven years of growth, from Little Jags all the way through fourth grade, has been one of the great privileges of my career. I am grateful to now support and shape that journey as students move through the Middle and Upper School as well. I know Ms. Franks will carry forward the joy of playing, learning, and laughing together, and I look forward to the years ahead as both a proud Wellington parent and your Assistant Head of School for Academics.
Best,
Shelley
Shelley Brown
Assistant Head of School for Academics and Head of Early Childhood and Lower School