This is our last Slice of the academic year. Our year has simply flown by and I am amazed at just how soon the last days of the school year will be upon us. It has been a full year and an exciting one.
         This is always a peculiar time of the year in schools where we finish out our school year strong while we begin to plan our next year. We have a foot in the present and in the future. One of the ways in which we are planning for next year is to be prepared for the wonderfully full Kindergarten group that we anticipate as we also are prepared for a much smaller than usual first grade. To best accommodate this fluctuation in numbers, Pam Meehan will be the one and only first grade teacher for next year. Milissa Cafarella, who has had significant and successful early childhood teaching experience, will teach in Kindergarten next year. Mrs. Sauer and Mrs. Cafarella will have the Kindergarten classes for 2008-2009 and then Mrs. Cafarella will return to first grade in 2009-2010. We will cap the 2008-2009 first grade class at sixteen students and Mrs. Meehan will teach that group, with Ms. Reardon joining her to teach reading, as she does now.
         Each one of your children has grown physically, academically, and socially, and each is deservedly proud of his /her accomplishments. As we approach our annual Step-Up Day on May 20th, we are assured that our students are, indeed, ready to step up to the new challenges that await them next year.
         Being ready to move on does not mean it is easy to leave the familiarity of the current grade and well-loved teacher. Lower School students often feel the frantic flurries of butterflies in the stomach when they think about Next Year. And surprising and often frustrating to the adults around them, Lower School children, after making tremendous growth all year long, often revert to their September selves at the end of the year. This slipping back before moving ahead is a natural part of the cycle of child growth and development, and one that requires patience and understanding from all the important adults in the children’s lives.
         Perhaps it’s fitting for all of us to look back before we move on. As I reflect upon this year that is almost over, I must say that I thoroughly enjoy each one of your children, and watching them grow, mature and be active citizens of our Applewild community is a genuine delight for me. Clearly, each one of our children in Kindergarten up through fifth grade is ready to move on to the new adventures that await them. They have worked hard and played well, and your children have grown and thrived and flourished. They are ready to move on soon and we are proud of them.
        ÂBefore we close this school year, we have important events and activities to complete. We had our first-ever Lower School/Upper School Buddy Field Day on Friday, May 2nd, and it was a great success in spite of the weather. Grandparents/Special Persons’ Day is on Friday, May 9th and that special shared joy between children and their guests is palpable and exciting. Students are required to dress up for this important day. Our Lower School Spring Concert is Thursday, May 15th at 2:30 P.M. in the Alumni Theater for Performing Arts. Family and friends are invited, and children should wear Concert Dress. Fifth graders will return to play in the Upper School Spring Concert on the evening of May 15th, dressed in Concert Dress. The All-School Spring Concert is on Friday morning, May 16th. Concert Dress should be worn at the morning concert, too.
We have Step-Up Day on Wednesday, May 20th. Our Kindergartners go upstairs and spend an hour in the first grade to assess what Next Year might be like, while first graders go down the hall to second grade to do the same. Our second graders go up the hall to experience third grade, and I walk our third graders up the hill to visit the fourth grade. Fourth graders will move down the hall to the fifth grades and the fifth graders will go downstairs to the sixth grade wing. New students are invited to attend this event. This short period in the next year’s classrooms does a lot to alleviate some worries and the children are usually very excited to move up momentarily and then return back to the security of their current rooms and teachers.
Parents, too, sometimes have butterflies when transitions approach. In past years, we have had a number of meetings telling parents what to expect in the coming year. These meetings are redundant to our Curriculum Night in September, and seem less necessary now that we are all in one division and transitions are less abrupt. Rather than have those meetings, please see the article later in this Slice about what families can expect in next year’s grade; each homeroom team has worked together to give you a sense of the highlights of the coming year. When our new third grade and fifth grade teachers are hired, I will schedule opportunities for parents of next year’s third graders and fifth graders to meet them. Also, I invite parents of rising first graders, in particular, and any other Lower School parent who may be interested or who has a question, to join me for coffee and cookies before the Spring Concert on May 15th at 1:30 in the Multi-Purpose Room of the Marshall Building.
Tuesday, June 3rd is our Annual Lower School/Upper School Teddy Bear Picnic. Students are invited to bring a teddy bear (or other beloved stuffed animal) and a blanket to picnic on. We find that it works best if the teddy bears and stuffed animals that come to school fit inside a backpack; anything larger is too cumbersome for this day. In keeping with this wonderful Applewild tradition, we will eat lunch outdoors, weather permitting, with our buddies.
Thursday, June 5th is the last day of Extended Day.
June 6th is also the last day of school for Kindergarten, first and second graders. It is an all-school noon dismissal and the buses will run at noon only.
Third through fifth graders will attend Recognition Day and Graduation on Tuesday, June 10th and 11th. Tuesday is a noon dismissal and on Wednesday the students are dismissed at 11:00. Both days are dress up days, please.
In a blinding flash of projects, activities, culminations, and events the year will be over! I hope you enjoy these lovely spring days and delightful moments with your children.