Dear Harbor Families,

Wherever you fall on the political spectrum, news and articles about the upcoming election can be anxiety-producing these days. As we approach November 5th, older students may bring ideas and questions into their classrooms about the national and local elections. Teachers will handle these topics with a neutral and reassuring tone, and encourage deeper conversations to happen at home. 

On a lighter note…in the next few weeks at Harbor, the anticipation will continue to build for our own election process as we choose our Spiral theme. Over the past week, your children have brainstormed ideas in their classrooms about topics that they are interested in learning about, and at yesterday’s faculty meeting, teachers narrowed down the topics to three - Real-Life Superheroes, Things That Fly, and Wild Weather! Our third graders will take it from here, communicating the three topics with the students, leading campaigns to promote the topics, and developing ballots, ballot boxes, and “I Voted” stickers for our election on November 5th. We all can’t wait to see which topic is chosen, once the ballots are counted by the third graders on that day! 

If you are a returning family, you have experienced the excitement and meaningful learning connected to Spiral, which has been a part of our curriculum for over thirty years - and for those of you who are newer, you are in for a treat! Beginning when we return from the winter break in January, students will start to explore the chosen school-wide topic in their classes based on their own interests and at their developmental levels - integrating language, math, science, social studies, technology and engineering, and the arts - and developing exciting, hands-on projects to represent their learning. The school-wide inquiry will culminate in Spiral Night on the evening of February 20th, where student projects and learning will be on display as the school is transformed into a “living museum” showcasing student learning! It is one of the most exciting and memorable events of each school year, and beautifully encapsulates our interdisciplinary, inquiry-based approach to teaching and learning!

Please ask your children about our Spiral election process! And just in case they don’t share a lot of details (as often is the case with little ones), we’ll be sure to share more with you when the community has chosen the topic!

Warm regards,

Leah Musico
Head of School