Dear Harbor Families,

The parent teacher conference is an important ritual in a school community,  In addition to regular check-ins, our bi-annual conference serves as an opportunity to collaborate with your child’s educators and enables you to have a specific, wide-ranging view of learning strengths and goals in the academic (language, math, science, social studies) , physical (fine and gross motor skills), and social emotional realms of development. Although the time is relatively short, if structured well, the conference can be a highly effective tool for communication and collaboration between home and school. In my almost thirty years in the field of education, I have come to believe that one of the most important contributors to a student’s success in their early years is this home/school collaboration (no pressure though!).

Twice a year, Harbor teachers take a significant amount of time to prepare for these essential conversations, and they look forward to sharing observations and insights to thoroughly communicate your child’s progress along the learning continuum during your conference on November 14th. An important change for this year is that we will be holding conferences in person. This decision was based on teacher feedback; they want to be able to be in the learning environment with you, to share physical work samples and assessments, and to connect more naturally with you in only the way an in-person experience can provide.

We fully recognize that Zoom meetings are more convenient, and we really believe that an in-person conversation will be worth the effort! Given the investment in time that we are asking of you, we have made a few other changes to the experience to make the conversations even more meaningful:

• Conferences with your child’s teachers will be extended to 25 minutes, to allow for more time to review student work and engage more fully in the conversation.

• At the end of the conference, teachers will be providing a one-page overview of your child’s strengths and goals within the different developmental domains , which you can take with you to discuss with your child.

• Our art, music, and PE teachers will be offering ten-minute conferences throughout the day as well. You are encouraged to sign up for a time that works well with your schedule, to be able to learn more about the specials curriculum and your child’s progress in those important areas.

• For your convenience, we will be providing child care for school-aged children during your conference with two of our regular Harbor substitute teachers. This will be held in one of the common spaces downstairs in the synagogue, and there will be plenty of toys and games for entertainment while you are upstairs in the classrooms with the teachers!

• I will also be providing ten-minute appointments,  to take the time to connect with you and to discuss anything that might be on your mind. I hope very much that you take advantage of this chance to connect, even if you don’t have pressing issues to discuss!

We appreciate your understanding and support of these changes, and are hopeful that they will provide more meaningful connection, communication, and collaboration. Sign ups are available below and are first come, first serve - so please don’t delay in getting your time slot(s)!

We look forward to these essential conversations with you!

Warmly,

Leah Musico
Head of School