September 2016

I am sure that this email is being met by a range of emotions, from groans, to “I wish we had one more week,” to complete elation: “It’s about time! The kids need to get back into a routine!” The summer did seem to fly by, but I am excited to get another school year started and to welcome our students back to school.

This summer, hundreds of children enjoyed our campus through the various camps that are hosted here. As kids flew off waterslides or honed their basketball skills, our facilities and maintenance team was hard at work making improvements throughout the campus. When you return, you will see that the first phase of the new Tot Lot has been completed and the Library Media Center has been transformed into an innovation lab, where students will be able to tinker, design, and engineer, using a variety of technologies and design tools. Summer chores have included office moves and remodels, new paint, and deep cleanings. When you see our facilities and maintenance crew on campus, please take a moment to thank them for their hard work and the care with which they have prepared our campus for the new school year.

As the school year begins, we welcome new faculty and staff into our community. In the Lower Elementary Division, Mikayla Park, Shelby Slayton, Amy Dolman, and Johnnisha Youngblood join us as associate teachers in Science, Kindergarten, and Second Grade. We also welcome Karen Nguyen as an associate in the library. Hedwig Aerts is our new Head of the Upper Elementary Division. In the Administration building, you will find Corinne Schulman, our new Director of Advancement, Chuck Sawyer, our new Director of Development and Alumni Relations, and Kristen Dang, our new Technology Support Specialist. We are thrilled to include all of these new faces and energies in our community. Click here to read more about our new faculty and staff members. They are eager to get to know all of you and, especially, our students.

I spent my summer enjoying an unscheduled pace of life—reading, visiting with my family and friends, and reflecting on the year ahead. I resumed my doctoral studies and spent a week at the University of Pennsylvania, engaged in research. It was a refreshing break for me to sit back and be a learner, to engage in a larger dialogue around education, and to think deeply about the experiences that we are providing for Curtis students.

It was inevitable that my classmates and I discussed the role of educators and schools in the upcoming elections. As one person so eloquently put it, we are responsible for the “air quality” for our students. The fall months for our country will undoubtedly be a mercurial time. I hope that as adults in our children’s lives, we will not shy away from having conversations with our boys and girls around the issues that we will all be grappling with and that will be at the forefront of media and television. It is not the job of an educator to tell students what to think, but it has always been our job to teach students how to think and, especially, how to treat others. Together we can model for our students how to treat opinions that are different from our own with tolerance and respect, to debate issues with facts and evidence, and to wrestle with ambiguity. It is never too early to begin to cultivate a strong sense of civic engagement in our young people.

It is going to be an exhilarating year with so many wonderful ways to engage and be involved in our school community. Please be sure to review the School Calendar for key events. We kick off the year with our traditional Back-to-School Picnic this Friday, August 26, at 5:00 p.m. Bring a picnic, blankets, lawn chairs, and lawn games and enjoy reuniting with old friends and making new ones!

Two other events that I want to make sure you put on your calendar are Camp Curtis Fair, on Sunday, October 9, and our spring event for all parents and guardians, Curtis Celebrates, on March 4. We do expect our families to join us at both events!

The faculty and staff are very excited to welcome the students back to school and to begin another exciting year of inquisitive learning, open-ended discovery, and inspirational growth in body, mind, and heart.

See you on Friday!