Dear Harbor Families, 

I’m writing this letter to you all with a full heart - and a full stomach after today’s incredible teacher appreciation luncheon!

I began my teaching career in the 1996-97 school year, with an immersive masters degree program in education, after graduating from undergrad with an anthropology degree and a math minor. I remember making the decision to pursue teaching after lots of coursework in cultural anthropology, not realizing at the time how much the concepts from my studies of culture would influence my experience in the classroom. Now, I know that teaching and learning is absolutely about the study of humans - our development, our social interactions, the way we learn. It is a highly professional career path, and involves a mixture of art and science - as intuition, experience, and professional knowledge converge as we create intentional classroom and school cultures.

Excellent teachers must have a deep understanding of developmental levels, and how people learn. We build upon research about the brain, and use keen observation and assessment methods to identify and build upon students’ strengths in the academic, social/emotional, and physical domains. We must have a genuine interest in and care for our students, an understanding of their individual strengths and goal areas, and the ability to seek out what interests them. We must collaborate with other professionals, and with families, and ensure that we are using all of our available resources to support each student, building confidence and capability in each child.

I’ve come to believe that a great teacher will always feel their work is somehow incomplete. There is always more to know about a child, always another way we can personalize their learning, and always more to learn ourselves. It is a noble profession, and one ripe with joys and challenges. In what other profession, besides perhaps the medical arena, is one responsible for what is most precious to each of us as parents - our children?

With nearly 30 years in the field of education (how did THAT happen!), I’ve been around the block - and I’m here to tell you that Harbor teachers are some of the most dedicated, hardworking, and caring educators there are! They are culture anthropologists, scientists, artists, and even therapists, among many other skills that they bring! On this teacher appreciation week - as a Head of School, a colleague, a friend, and a Harbor parent - I would like to enthusiastically express my deep gratitude to our teachers.

And what a week it has been! Thank you to each of you for the personal touches this week. We had bouquets delivered to our classroom and office spaces on Monday, handmade cards from students (my favorite card proclaimed, "you really deserve some rest") along with delicious cakes on Tuesday. Yesterday, we enjoyed 15 minute chair massages, and today, a delicious (and filling!) lunch from True Food. And tomorrow, I hear we have one more treat headed our way! We have really been spoiled, and are feeling your gratitude and “the Harbor love” this week! 

Speaking of tomorrow, I hope you will join me for a Coffee and Connections session on Artificial Intelligence, and in thinking together about how these new tools  influence and impact education. There is much to investigate, understand, and digest with this topic; I look forward to our conversation about how our culture, and even the nature of education, might change with these new tools.

Thank you again for your teacher appreciation efforts, from all of us at Harbor!

Warmly,

Leah Musico
Head of School