Dear Harbor Families,

Welcome to the first edition of Harbor Highlights, your weekly newsletter detailing all things Harbor -so you can stay on top of upcoming dates, news and reminders, updates from our HSFA, and have access to handy links such as the family directory, handbook, and calendar. As a parent myself, with kids at two different schools (my son is in second grade here at Harbor, and my daughter, a Harbor grad, just entered fifth grade at The Lab School), I am keenly aware that the amount of logistical information involved in coordinating school schedules can feel overwhelming at times! We do our very best at Harbor to provide you with the right amount of information, at the right time, and in ways that are easily accessible. Your weekly Harbor Highlights newsletter is a central place to find important information, so please find a few moments to read (or let’s be honest, skim) it each week!

As partners in your child’s education, your teachers seek ways to regularly connect and communicate in support of the students’ growth and development. For those of you who drop off or pick up your child, you have daily opportunities to check in with teachers at the car line (please keep these conversations quick to keep the line moving, and if they need to last longer than a few seconds, you can pull into an available spot). For longer conversations, teachers are available for Zoom or phone calls with advanced notice, so please don’t hesitate to be in touch to set something up, even if it’s not the season for parent conferences. They will also continue to post photos on Seesaw so you can steal a glimpse of your child in action at school, and starting next week, you will receive bi-monthly grade level newsletters detailing what your child is learning. I encourage you to download Seesaw to your phone and sign up for notifications - to add a little smile to your busy days - and to carefully read the newsletters that teachers send (the first one will be in your inboxes next Friday).

We have a number of events throughout the fall to engage families and make connections! Please see the important dates section above this letter and mark your calendars to join us! We look forward to launching our new series of Family Fridays next week, with Coffee and Connections with me, followed by an HSFA meeting (all are invited!) in late September, and our first Open Classrooms event in early October. And of course, Back to School Night is scheduled two weeks from today on September 19th, so secure your babysitter now! 

Last week, you received an email from our Harbor School Family Association (HSFA) President, Nicole Moore, about ways to get involved in the HSFA. With the understanding that everyone has different bandwidths for volunteering, we hope that you will consider ways to offer your time or energy to support the school, considering the wide variety of HSFA volunteer opportunities.. Two of our larger HSFA events that are held in the fall are the community picnic at Smokey Glen Farm, held on October 27th, and the Book Fair and PJ Party, scheduled for the week of November 4-8. We’ll share more about both events as the dates approaches, but do mark your calendars for these not-to-be-missed community experiences! Also, let us know (hsfa@theharborschool.org) if you are interested in helping to plan an aspect of the Smokey Glen Picnic (October 27) or volunteer to help with the Book Fair and PJ Party (November 7). Last year at Smokey Glen, we had hayrides, group games like sack races and a rope pull, miniature golf, pumpkin decorating, and face painting - a truly special afternoon. The Book Fair and PJ Party, also a long-standing tradition at Harbor, is always a hit with families to promote reading and support the school, and includes firepits, s’mores, and special guest readers. Both events rely on volunteers - so thank you in advance if you are able to help out!

In this first week of school, it is exciting to see our 2024-25 theme of CONNECTION come alive! As evidenced at our Open House last week, in the classrooms in these first days of school, and at our HSFA parent coffee this week, we are off to a wonderful year of a connected community.

Warmly,

Leah Musico
Head of School
The Harbor School