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Good afternoon Clarion parents and friends of Clarion!
The holy month of Ramadan has been quietly productive and educational at Clarion. I am so pleased to hear the student announcements in the mornings as I come in from my greeting post out front. It is also a pleasure to see the Islamic Studies students prepping and participating in their prayers together with their teachers, Mr. Mahoud and Ms. Shaimaa, with the proper respect and dignity given to them by the rest of our school community.
Ramadan Giving: The Clarion School Food Drive: As part of Ramadan we are sponsoring a school wide “Food Drive” and as next week is the last school week during Ramadan, it is time for all of us to step up a bit more and bring in non-perishable foods. You can bring these in one of several ways:
I know that in the next week we can quadruple what we have- please make the effort this weekend or on your next grocery shopping trip to take advantage of the Ramadan sales and bring in a bag or three of food!
Dress down day for Friday, April 29th: We will finish April with a Dress DOWN Day” on Friday the 29th. It is a free dress down day which means your child can wear their favorite shirt and pants/shorts, skirt, dress, etc. to school. A few reminders:
Thank you!
CPC sponsored IFTAR for staff on Tuesday, April 26th: The CPC has graciously offered and is sponsoring an Iftar dinner for the Clarion staff and their spouses and children to be held at sundown on Tuesday the 26th. The entire staff sends it's thank you to the CPC and by extension to the parents of Clarion for this! If you as a parent would like to help organize please reach out to the CPC through Priyanka and Burcin the two co-chairs. Priyanka can be reached on 054-4447653
Sustainability efforts at Clarion: Workshop presentation today: Ms. Zuzanne Kinder from a company called Kyma, gave a wonderful presentation to Grade 4, 5 and 6 this morning in the Clarion Atrium. This “Clarion Commons” style presentation saw wonderful interaction between Ms. Zuzanne and the students. The students were very well behaved and inquisitive questioners! Thank you Zuzanne and your company for coming to present to us about how we can all help the world become more sustainable through our individual actions at home.
The culture of the start-up Kyma ( https://mykyma.com/ ) fits in with the ethos of Clarion entrepreneurs seeking solutions to help make the world a better place. As I told the students when we finished up, I’ve heard companies and corporations and experts talk this talk of sustainability through refillable products my entire life, but Kyma is one of the few that I have seen that is putting this into practice.
Calendar Event updates for you:
Tuesday, June 7 - Student-led conferences (Normal School Day). Students will be prepped by their teachers to do the home conference with you just as we did so successfully last year! More information will come later!
Monday, May 30- Friday, June 3 - ABT/IBT Testing
Monday, June 6 – Friday, June 17 - MAP Assessment for Grades 1-6 – Spring Session
Monday, June 20 -Thursday, June 23 - Music Showcase, Art Showcase, Culminations
Friday , July 1 - Last Day of School
A few notes: We will schedule the “Music Showcase” in smaller groups of a maximum 1 grade level to take place in the PE room as it will be too hot to do this outside. After your child’s show, you will be invited to go to their classroom for the 3rd “Culmination Exhibition” of the year and in the room and corridor you will also see the “Art Showcase” for your child’s class section. We are striving to make this an all-inclusive event and are eager to put it into action! More information will come right after the Eid week off as to the exact day of the week June 20-23rd for your child(ren)s class.
The Last Word: Today we had many events going on around school in different rooms to celebrate “Earth Day”. It was great to see the efforts of students and teachers to strive to understand what we can all do to make the world a better place for our own lives and for those who come after us. Besides the “Sustainability” presentation mentioned earlier, I also had the chance to be at the ‘ribbon cutting’ for the K2A “supermarket” out in their outside play area. The children over many weeks with the leadership of Ms. Katie and Ms. Perps have been collecting and recycling bottles, cans, boxes and containers from home to build an “inventory” of items. I will be posting about this on my Linkedin as I am so impressed with the level of commitment that the children have shown to this effort over time. How does this tie into “Earth Day”. Well, when children reuse and recycle one-use products from home that would normally go in the trash, and make from these items educational toys that tie into their unit on community (the supermarket is called “K2A Spinneys” LOL) that is impactful learning done at a sustainable level, in an eco-friendly way. I am very impressed with the organization of the “store” down to the cash register – I do have to see if my credit card will work next week! – and the money they created as their system of exchange.
This type of learning through doing is in the DNA of Clarion School and I am so proud of the reminders I see every day when I walk the halls and look at the walls; when I enter class and hear and take in the interactions of deep learning.
Thank you Clarion educators!
Thank you all as parents for your understanding as we continue to strive to make the world a better place at Clarion School!
Sincerely,
Jim Pastore