Dear Harbor Families,

It is hard to believe that we are wrapping up the school year already. As we have planned for our traditional end of year events in new ways, it has provided opportunity for reflection on a year that was firmly divided into two parts - before March 12th, and afterwards.

In some ways, our pre-COVID lives feel a world away. However, we are closing out a school year that began on September 3rd. In these next two weeks, I believe it is important - for our students, families, and faculty and staff - to take the time to reflect on the entire school year, celebrate the students’ learning and achievements, and recognize our resilient and connected community at Harbor. Our children have also experienced a confusing disconnect, which our end of year events may help them to make sense of.

In the coming days, consider taking a stroll through our instagram feed with your child(ren), and feel the memories of this year coming rushing back. Remember the feeling of walking into the building on the first day of school, gathering for all school morning meetings, working on our Invention Studio projects, our Book Fair and PJ Night, Halloween and the Thanksgiving program. We went on field trips to Adventure Park, farms, and pet stores, heard a storyteller for Black History Month and spent time in workshops with InterAct Theatre to develop our own storytelling skills. We held our first annual Day of Service, held a Valentine’s Day Sale for Heifer International, and visited and performed for our friends at Brookdale Assisted Living. Remember the students’ feeling of accomplishment on Spiral Night when they showcased their learning about sports and games - and what fun we had at the Georgetown Hoyas basketball game that weekend? And once at home, our students continued to work together in small groups, share, sing, connect, and move in morning meetings, learn through hands-on experiences and projects, and interact with comments, photos, videos, and conferences. Our Harbor’s Got Talent event kept its unique flavor as kids performed for each other on a new kind of stage, we had spirit week days, bedtime stories, virtual lunches, and a special celebration of our resilient and strong community with A Toast to Harbor and the auction! 

Definitely a year to remember and to celebrate! (By the way, have you ordered your class album yet? The deadline for orders is one week away!)

As we look toward the next two weeks, we are planning community nights, an all school morning meeting, special class events, and Bingo Night! Teachers and parents will come together to discuss student learning, growth and development. And of course, we will all celebrate our second graders in a special Moving On ceremony on the last day of school.

We will soon be sharing more about our plans for the summer and for next year. In the meantime, dates for all events are in the calendar at the top of this newsletter. Please mark your calendars!

Warm regards,

Leah Musico

Head of School