February Newsletter
Welcome to the month of February, the month where we celebrate Valentine’s Day, Presidents Day, and snowstorms!. With COVID-19 still raging, I hope that you and your families are keeping some semblance of normalcy even as many of your children still are engaging with their classes virtually. As you know, we re-opened the school building on January 19 with a little more than half of our students on-site. We are working hard to keep the building safe so that we may continue to be open. We appreciate so much your cooperation in helping us do so.
The Virtues-of-the-Month for February are Honesty and Justice. February invites us to think about the civic virtues of loyalty, love of country, and honesty as good ultimately if they are in the service of justice. Justice is the greater good and the end that is not to be compromised. If patriotism ends up become oppressive, such as in Nazi Germany, then “love of country” has become perverted. Justice always takes precedence.
Similar things can be said of honesty. Honesty and truthfulness are necessary for the flourishing of just communities but are too often compromised in politics and contemporary life. We can inspire children with “honest Abe” walking miles in the rain to return the proper change to a shopkeeper who overpaid him. To do so is noble, involving self-sacrifice and self-giving, but it also supports the virtue of justice, rendering the other his due. However, there are also times and situations in which honesty, if taken literally, can support injustice. If, for example, children inquire about the dishonesty of those who hid Jews and lied about it to Nazi soldiers, they should be reminded of the larger virtue of justice, which demands respect for the dignity and rights of all human beings.
Open House
Wednesday, January 27, was our first Open House of the year—this one in connection with National School Choice Week. Due to pandemic concerns, the event was held online as we started doing last year. Four prospective parents attended and seemed well engaged. Dr. Beebe began by giving the parents a PowerPoint presentation, overviewing the school. I wish to appreciate Mrs. Lawrence for her support by sharing her experiences with the school and answering parents’ questions. In the coming months New Hope School will be holding similar Virtual Open Houses on a monthly basis, the next being Saturday, February 27, 11:00am-12:00pm. If you know of any parents who might be interested in sending their child to New Hope, please invite them to this valuable information session where they can find out about our education program and extra-curricular activities.
Upcoming Events
We hope that sometime in February we will be able to hold the Scholastic Book Fair and Spelling Bee, which we postponed from last December. Stay tuned for further news on this.
May God be with you and your family!
New Hope School Staff
“Justice will not be served until those who are unaffected are as outraged as those who are.”
Benjamin Franklin