Dear Lower School Families,
Welcome to our 2014-15 school year. I hope your children had a wonderful first
week back to school. I know we were happy to see them last Wednesday and are
looking forward to a great year.
As I mentioned in my back to school letter, the school/home partnership is crucial.
It is important that we keep the lines of communication open to ensure that we are
all doing what is best for our children. We want to keep you informed so, in addition
to the classroom teachers’ webpages and newsletters, I will be sending a newsletter
by email twice a month containing information about the Lower School as a whole.
As I was thinking about this newsletter last week, I knew that there were a few
housekeeping items that I wanted to share as we got back in the swing of things
such as:
• Reminding parents that one of our goals is to develop independence in our
children and asking that parents do not walk children to their classrooms
after the first week of school.
• Explaining that we no longer are calling 1st intercom during afternoon carpool.
Rather, the children are seeing their names on the SmartBoard and it would really
be helpful if all carpools used children’s names instead of made-up names.
• Reminding parents that Parent Night on August 28 and Hopes and Dreams
conferences on August 29 are great ways to meet your children’s teachers
and become familiar with the expectations for the year. Details will be sent
later.
As I sat down to write this first email over the weekend, I found myself thinking,
although these housekeeping matters are important, they aren’t really what matter
right now. Tragedy has hit the Lower School and the Lovett community and we
need to focus on where we go from here.
At our first preplanning faculty meeting, I spoke to our Lower School teachers about
being a team. Because I am a huge baseball fan, my talk compared how a baseball
team plays together to my hope of how our faculty would work together in the
Lower School this year. After making several points, I showed the shirt that my
son, Garrett, and his teammates wore under their jerseys when they played on the
2009 Lovett State Championship team. On the back with his shirt were the words
“Play for Each Other.” Of course the boys were talented, but what made them a
State Championship team was the way they played and took care of each other. If
one player was going through a bad time, his teammates were there to give him
encouragement and support. I encouraged our teachers to “play for each other” this
year by looking out for those to the left of us and those to the right of us.
We, the Lovett community, have the responsibility to work as a team as we support
each other and the families hit hardest by this tragedy. One of Lovett’s strengths
has always been how the community comes together when one if its families is
going through a difficult time. I know this will continue. If you find that you or your
child needs support, please do not hesitate to contact Gayle Greenwood, Yasmine
Schmid or myself. If there was ever a time we need to “play for each other” and
look out for those to the left of us and those to the right of us, it is now. Thank you
for all you do to make Lovett the special place it is.
Best regards,
Edi Houghton
Lovett Lower School Interim Principal
Welcome to our 2014-15 school year. I hope your children had a wonderful first
week back to school. I know we were happy to see them last Wednesday and are
looking forward to a great year.
As I mentioned in my back to school letter, the school/home partnership is crucial.
It is important that we keep the lines of communication open to ensure that we are
all doing what is best for our children. We want to keep you informed so, in addition
to the classroom teachers’ webpages and newsletters, I will be sending a newsletter
by email twice a month containing information about the Lower School as a whole.
As I was thinking about this newsletter last week, I knew that there were a few
housekeeping items that I wanted to share as we got back in the swing of things
such as:
• Reminding parents that one of our goals is to develop independence in our
children and asking that parents do not walk children to their classrooms
after the first week of school.
• Explaining that we no longer are calling 1st intercom during afternoon carpool.
Rather, the children are seeing their names on the SmartBoard and it would really
be helpful if all carpools used children’s names instead of made-up names.
• Reminding parents that Parent Night on August 28 and Hopes and Dreams
conferences on August 29 are great ways to meet your children’s teachers
and become familiar with the expectations for the year. Details will be sent
later.
As I sat down to write this first email over the weekend, I found myself thinking,
although these housekeeping matters are important, they aren’t really what matter
right now. Tragedy has hit the Lower School and the Lovett community and we
need to focus on where we go from here.
At our first preplanning faculty meeting, I spoke to our Lower School teachers about
being a team. Because I am a huge baseball fan, my talk compared how a baseball
team plays together to my hope of how our faculty would work together in the
Lower School this year. After making several points, I showed the shirt that my
son, Garrett, and his teammates wore under their jerseys when they played on the
2009 Lovett State Championship team. On the back with his shirt were the words
“Play for Each Other.” Of course the boys were talented, but what made them a
State Championship team was the way they played and took care of each other. If
one player was going through a bad time, his teammates were there to give him
encouragement and support. I encouraged our teachers to “play for each other” this
year by looking out for those to the left of us and those to the right of us.
We, the Lovett community, have the responsibility to work as a team as we support
each other and the families hit hardest by this tragedy. One of Lovett’s strengths
has always been how the community comes together when one if its families is
going through a difficult time. I know this will continue. If you find that you or your
child needs support, please do not hesitate to contact Gayle Greenwood, Yasmine
Schmid or myself. If there was ever a time we need to “play for each other” and
look out for those to the left of us and those to the right of us, it is now. Thank you
for all you do to make Lovett the special place it is.
Best regards,
Edi Houghton
Lovett Lower School Interim Principal