Dear Harbor Families,

We know, from both research and experience, that relationships make a huge difference in learning. Connections between students and teachers, parents and teachers, and teachers and teachers serve so many purposes in a school. When a school community is connected, students feel safe to take risks in learning, parents and teachers have a partnership in supporting each child through each developmental stage, and teachers and teachers collaborate to enrich the learning experiences in their classrooms. We are lucky that at Harbor, our small community allows for these connections to happen more naturally.

However, this kind of connection doesn’t happen accidentally. Rather, a purposeful and ongoing focus on community-building and establishing relationships makes powerful impacts. During the pandemic, this has been more challenging, but we’ve made it work via a number of online and in-person strategies, such as our outdoor fire pit pajama parties, biweekly bedtime stories, parenting sessions and parent coffees, and  This spring will bring even more opportunities to connect as a community - and we are excited to be planning more in-person community events!

You have most likely heard earlier this week, from your teachers or room parents, that we are pivoting to allow families to join in-class Valentine’s Day celebrations on Monday. These are low-key, student-focused events, so please don’t feel pressured to rearrange your schedules to attend; however, we are so pleased to be able to open our doors with community COVID-19 levels rapidly declining. 

Just on the horizon, we are REALLY excited to welcome everyone in for our  Spiral celebrations, where students will be showcasing their learning about this year’s Spiral theme, the Animal Kingdom. Families will be able to spend time in your child’s classroom exploring each class’ showcase of interdisciplinary projects based on students’ interests, and also explore other classroom displays during your assigned time. As a capstone curriculum-based event, Spiral is a special family experience in celebration of your child! This year, we have a few extra surprises, including tee-shirts for every student.

And beyond that, we are planning another Spirit Week and community gathering on our playground in March (scroll down for more info), our annual Harbor’s Got Talent, a virtual auction and in-person event, and a community-wide school celebration of culture and the arts in May which is in the works! Not to mention, our  parenting series and bedtime stories which are important regular events in support of our students and school mission!

The promise of spring weather, along with the declining COVID-19 case levels, makes the anticipation of these events even more sweet!  We look forward to connecting with you!

Warmly,

Leah Musico

Head of School