Dear Harbor Families,
It has been such a pleasure seeing the students back in the classrooms (and you, in the car line!) this week. I hope the winter break provided you all time to rest and connect with family and friends. For children, the return to school after a long break can be an adjustment, and a welcomed return to predictable routines, peer relationships, and learning! We are glad to be back.

As you settle into the school routines of 2023 yourselves, I encourage you to read through today’s Harbor Highlights carefully for our upcoming events and activities. We look forward to welcoming you tomorrow morning at 9 AM for our monthly Open Classrooms, where classes will be beginning to explore our Spiral theme of Long, Long Ago. The students have already started to think about their questions and areas of interest related to this topic, and we can’t wait to see the direction that each class takes their inquiries throughout the Spiral unit. Be sure to mark your calendar for Thursday, February 23rd for a school-wide celebration of this learning on Spiral Night!

Following your classroom visit tomorrow morning, we encourage you to join us for a special presentation by local educator and parenting coach Naomi Rubinstein, who will be leading a session on the importance of fostering resilience in children and how to help at home. Naomi’s presentation will take place at 10 AM in the Social Hall following Open Classrooms.

Next week, we’ll be preparing for our annual MLK Day of Service, nationally recognized as a “day on, not a day off”, where we focus on giving back to the community through service. We are asking classes to donate items that families will come together to assemble for children in foster care on Monday, January 16th at 3 PM. Thank you to Rachel Schechter and the HSPA for organizing this event, and all those who are able to donate items or your time!

You will also notice a reminder to please contribute to the Harbor Fund! Our goal is to reach 100% family participation by Spiral Night, so we appreciate your support! As you scroll down, you will also see a request for makerspace materials, which are mostly recycled items you might find in your home. In case you missed the letter in December about maker-centered learning, feel free to click here to read it. We appreciate your support!

Finally, you will see a new feature in Harbor Highlights, brought to you by our Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee, which includes membership representing faculty, administration, parents, and Board members. From January through April, we’ll be focusing on the four domains of our social justice standards, which are integrated into our curriculum. Please enjoy learning more about the domains of identity, diversity, justice, and action, how we incorporate these areas into our daily learning in developmentally appropriate ways, and how you can work with the concepts at home.

As always, thank you for sharing your children with us! I wish you a very happy and healthy 2023!

Warmly,

Leah Musico
Head of School