May 5, 2020
Dear Parents,
We have reached the month of May and are in the final stretch of this unprecedented school year. While this week we celebrate Teacher and Staff Appreciation Week, the faculty would like to in turn give our appreciation to you! What we are asking of our students and families in terms of participating in remote learning, remaining at home, maintaining physical distance from people we love, and missing planned vacations, athletics, and other events we look forward to is hard for adults to wrap our heads around. It’s particularly hard for our children to understand. We are appreciative of the incredible efforts you have all made to do the very best that you can to support the education of your children throughout the period of remote instruction. #WeAreCrew
Looking ahead, our last student day of the school year will be Friday, June 5th. We are planning to hold most of our traditional end of year events, and plans for a remote talent show, field day, and step-up experiences are in the works for the first week of June. More information about these events will be coming to you and your children soon. Once school ends for students, teachers will be preparing progress narratives summarizing skills that were focused on during our period of remote instruction and offering next steps for instruction. You will receive these progress narratives in the mail the week of June 22nd, in lieu of our traditional report cards.
In the meantime, we are planning for a SCHOOLWIDE activity for tomorrow, May 6th at 9:15 AM. On the first Wednesday of May since 1989, Project ACES – All Children Exercise Simultaneously is held, where millions of children from all over the world exercise together to promote proper health and fitness habits. Last week, students received an invitation from Mr. Bowdish inviting them to the schoolwide Google Meeting for this event. Please identify a spot in your house where your child can safely do some in-place stretches, exercises, and games, led by Mrs. Houghton and Miss Marco. We are so excited to give our first schoolwide event a try, and look forward to seeing all of our students and staff in one location!
In addition to receiving the meeting invitation from Mr. Bowdish last week, students also received an email from me containing an ask from the Community Crew about Teacher & Staff Appreciation Week. Please check in with your child about the Community Crew’s request to see if he or she would like to participate.
I want to thank you for helping your students with our Better World Day project. With the photos you sent, Miss Marco compiled a lovely video to send to essential workers and first responders to thank them for all they are doing for our community. Feedback from recipients has been shared with students during crew meetings this week so they can understand the impact their kindness has had on others. If you have not yet seen our Better World Day video, you can access it here: https://youtu.be/6yV5cmdMubA. Feel free to forward it to essential workers in your life.
Please continue to reach out for any support that you and your family need. Just as a reminder, you may choose to sign up for free breakfast and lunches for children under 18 on our school website http://www.westbathschool.org by clicking on the yellow link at the top at any time. At this link you can also find a variety of community resources for food and supplies for families to access. We are here for you.
With regards,
Emily Thompson