Well, it is hard to believe that we have reached the end of another successful school year here at Cantiague - for most of us, our fifth year together as a collective team. The start of the next school year, which will be my seventh year at Cantiague, marks a special time in my professional journey because if everything goes well, I will be graduating from Penn in May! I am so excited that this milestone is happening here at Cantiague because there is no other place that I would rather mark such a highlight in my career. Being the Lead Learner of this school is such a gift for me because literally not a day goes by where I don't learn something new or see something that impresses me or experience something that makes an impression on me. Our school is the model for what every elementary school should look like - forget about Common Core and high stakes testing - every school should just model themselves after our school and not only will children be college and career ready but we will begin to close the achievement gap and help shape happy and productive individuals. Thank you all for another incredible year filled with critical thinking, engaged learning and happy kids who genuinely love coming to school!
Of course, we wouldn't be able to do the things we do in our classrooms if it weren't for certain support structures that are in place that help facilitate learning. First and foremost, thank you to Laura and Pam for all of their hard work each and every day. Many people would argue that the tone of the Main Office directly affects the tone of the rest of the building. Well, it is clear to me that our Main Office is a happy place where people feel supported and children/families feel valued, which can be seen in every one of our classrooms too. Additionally, I want to thank Joey, Joe, Edwin, Omar, Cliff, Michael and Eduardo (our incredible custodial crew) for keeping our building clean, beautiful and safe. Without this dedicated team, who approach their work with pride and thoroughness, none of us would want to be in this space (trust me, I have seen some dirty schools) and our children wouldn't be as available to learning! Finally, I want to thank our amazing part-time aides who do so much to support the smooth running of our school. Thank you Janet, Debbie, Elaine, Chris, Olga, Diane and Mary for all that you do each day for our staff and kids - your jobs are not easy ones but we appreciate and value your daily efforts in keeping the students safe and supporting different spaces in the building! Cantiague is a special place because every member of the community plays a critical role - THANK YOU!
Congratulations again to Linda and Mary on their retirements - we will miss you! To everyone moving on to a new job or phase in their lives - best of luck! And to everyone getting married or having a baby or any other life changing event - I wish you the best!
As you know, an #eduwin may not be something I observed but it happened in our building and I heard about it (or saw it) and I want to spotlight here! This edition will be the #eduwins for the year...
- Meryl successfully piloted and implemented a 1:1 iPad program and the results were AWESOME! Her willingness to try different approaches and empower the students to take control of their learning in a totally different way was beyond impressive!
- MaryAnn successfully moved the MindUp experience to second grade with regularly scheduled lessons and activities that challenged the students to learn about the parts of their brain and how they could be more mindful in an attempt to be optimistic, flexible and calm - AWESOMENESS.
- We were all able to watch and be connected to the amazing transition Adam made back into the classroom - like he was meant to teach second grade his whole life! We are so lucky to have him join the #Cantiague team and share his passion and instructional expertise with us!
- Over half of our classrooms and specialists are now actively tweeting from their spaces and sharing the amazing learning happening - I have no words to express how much this means to me!
- Our reorganization process was SUPER smooth (for the most part) thanks to each of you!
- In case you missed them, here are the latest Video Updates of the Week featuring kids from Gr. 5 & K - please show them to your class...
Tech Tip of the Week...
Check out this blog post with 5 really cool End of Year Activities to do with kids (even though it is geared towards HS)... 5 Reflective End of Year Activities!
SCHEDULE OF THE WEEK...
Monday, June 23
Wednesday, June 25
Kids' Korner
Pics of the Week...
SCHEDULE OF THE WEEK...
Monday, June 23
"A" Week
Tuesday, June 24
F.E.O. at 3pm in the Library.
Gr. 5 Moving Up at 9am!
Gr. 5 Moving Up Party - 6pm
Gr. 5 Moving Up at 9am!
Gr. 5 Moving Up Party - 6pm
Wednesday, June 25
Students dismissed at 11:45am
Thursday, June 26
Students dismissed at 11:45am
Friday, June 27
Happy LAST DAY OF SCHOOL!!!
Zoom and Zip into SUMMER!!!
Zoom and Zip into SUMMER!!!
Kids' Korner
During #GuysDay on Monday one of the dads pulled me aside and said, "I don't know how you all do it here at Cantiague but my son is literally excited every morning when he wakes up because he cannot wait to go to school!" Thank YOU to all of you for making Cantiague such an amazing, warm and inviting place for kids!
Pics of the Week...
Check out the last two Cantiague's Week in Tweets - click on the following links to see our Pics of the Week...
