Week of January 31, 2022
Dear Families,
I am writing to let you know that, after the mid-winter break, our assistant principal, Anthony, will transfer to UNMS, a middle school in our district. Anthony has been a tremendous support for our staff, families, and children during the last three years. I could not have imagined running our school during the pandemic without his help. Anthony always approaches every task with determination and a positive attitude. Please take a moment to share your gratitude when you see him at arrival and dismissal.
As you know, all of our teachers take on additional responsibilities outside of the classroom every day. I trust them wholeheartedly and value their leadership. However, for the first time since I have been principal, we can fund an out-of-class position to support the school for the rest of this school year. While we experienced a loss in enrollment this year, city officials wound up allowing schools to keep the funding they owed. In addition to having administrative support for the rest of the year, I see this as an opportunity to grow the leadership of members of our teaching staff who aspire to be school administrators one day. To that end, after the mid-winter break, both Matt and Shaquawn will take on new roles at TNS. Matt will move out of the classroom to support the office. Liz Devine will take over his class as a long-term substitute and begin working with Matt next week to support the transition. Liz was a student teacher last year in Caroline and Grace’s class, and this year she covered Lindsey’s maternity leave. I am delighted that Liz is joining our staff. Shaquawn will also take on additional responsibilities outside the classroom after the break and have several periods a week for administrative duties. These are not permanent positions, but I will continue to advocate for funding for additional administrative support beyond this year, as I believe we need and deserve.
Wednesday, February 9 at 6 PM is the first ABAR workshop with EJROC (Education Justice Research & Organizing Collaborative (EJ-ROC). This workshop for parents and caregivers will be based on the article, Characteristics of White Supremacy Culture by Tema Okun & Kenneth Jones. As it says, “Culture is powerful precisely because it is so present and at the same time so very difficult to name or identify.” Because we all live in this culture, these characteristics show up in the attitudes and behaviors of all of us – white people and people of color. We will explore these and create the anti-racist school culture we want to see in this workshop (registration link to come).
Finally, thank you to all the families who contributed tasty treats and care packages for staff today. We are so grateful for your generosity and support.
School is closed tomorrow in observance of the Lunar New Year.
Warmly,
Dyanthe