January Newsletter
As we approach the new year, we would first like to say “good riddance” to 2020! Due to the coronavirus pandemic, all of our lives were disrupted in so many ways. Some of us may have lost jobs or had our hours cut back. Many have had to work from home, while at the same time taking care of at-home children, making sure they were “zooming” into their online sessions on time, with school uniforms on and books and other necessities at hand. At the school we were unable to conduct many of our usual activities, including field trips, Harvest Festival, Scholastic Book Fair, our choir caroling at City Hall for the mayor and his staff, and our Winter Concert. Fortunately, we were able to hold our annual clothing drive and the Read-a-Thon fundraiser for which we are so grateful for your support.
We know that it has not been easy to juggle all of the many changes in our lives. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of our parents as well as staff for their heroic efforts to keeping things moving forward in terms of your children’s education. We appreciate so much your support and understanding. As always, parental engagement is so important to children’s educational achievement. Whatever the new year brings, let us continue to work together for the academic and character development of your children.
Speaking of the new year, as you see from our January calendar, following 14 days of precautionary quarantine after the winter break, during which many families may have traveled or been visited by relatives or friends, we intend to reopen the school building for on-site classes the day following Martin Luther King Day, i.e., Tuesday, January 19. At the same time, we will continue to offer the option for students to zoom into the classroom virtually for parents who may feel uneasy about sending their children to the school.
Our virtue-of-the month for January will be Courage. This is a major virtue—with physical, moral, intellectual, and civic dimensions. Martin Luther King, Jr., whose life we commemorate this month, showed tremendous courage in fighting for the civil rights of African-Americans in the face of physical injury, imprisonment, and eventually even giving his very life. Our teachers will be addressing different dimensions of courage in their classrooms.
Our hope is that, assuming everything proceeds smoothly with the re-opening of the building, we will soon be able to hold two of the events we have so far had to postpone: the Scholastic Book Fair and our school spelling bee for students in the 3rd grade and above. Please stay tuned for further notice about these events.
May the new year bring many blessings to you and your family!