Dear Harbor Families,

Yes, that's what you read in the title of this letter. And no, there are NOT insects crawling around on our walls (thank goodness!). But, if you were “a fly on the wall” during our weekly all-school morning meeting, what would you observe?

Wednesday mornings are loads of fun at The Harbor School! Following our faculty meetings, teachers usher the students into classrooms, unpack bags and settle in quickly, and walk students down to our auditorium for our all-school morning meeting. Morning meetings happen every day in the classrooms to practice positive social behaviors, develop classroom community, and reinforce learning - but on Wednesdays, we do all of this as an entire school community!

Here’s the way it goes. Students come in a sit by grade in a large semi-circle so everyone can see each others’ smiles. We greet each other by singing our welcome song all together, called “I’m Glad You Came Today” (ask your child to sing it to you!). Then a second grade student - and this is an important role for our leaders in grade two - stands in front to read our morning message, projected on the Smart Board. That same second grader helps the students recite our school pledge (I will work hard. I will be kind. I will be mindful.) and then leads our entire school community in a mindful minute, often ringing the bell or demonstrating deep breathing using our breathing ball. And that’s just the first five minutes.

We usually have a special presentation, which could be a read-aloud, whole school dance, or students sharing something they’ve been learning. Recent morning meetings have featured developing our makerspace rules together, and a pair of second graders presenting a home-made video to remind other students how to use the buddy bench on the playground.

We always sing with Ms. Wilson, who chooses a different special song for each month to learn and enjoy together. We recognize and celebrate birthdays for the week (of course, singing the happy birthday song). And we end with our closing song, called “See You Later Alligator”. Ahem, we do a lot of singing. (And wow, do I love my job.)

Want to see what I mean? Here’s a link to the slide deck from one of our recent morning meetings and one to a video of yesterday’s morning meeting. Want an even closer view? Come “be a fly on the wall” one Wednesday morning! We’d love to have you!

Warm regards,

Leah Musico

Head of School

The Harbor School