04 407 3000 admissions@clarionschool.com
Good evening Parents and Friends of Clarion!
Stay N Play - a special event for potential Clarion families Thursday the 16th:
We ask you to spread the word to your friends and coworkers about Clarion School and to inform them about an opportunity to visit Clarion on Thursday the 16th from 2 until 3 PM. In this newsletter, you will find the information about how to sign up for the event. You can also bring friends with you at dismissal next Thursday and from there they can sign up with Shazia in the atrium of the school, as well as with Asia and Heerral in Admissions.
As we close out tomorrow the first two weeks of school- which have been exceptional on many levels - we are also preparing zoom presentations from homeroom teachers to you for a “Curriculum Night”.
Curriculum Night will be Tuesday the 14th of September:
Pre K, K1 and K2 will be from 5:00 to 5:30 PM
1st to 6th Grade inclusive will be from 5:30 to 6:00 PM.
The purpose of curriculum night is for homeroom teachers to speak to parents about the curriculum areas in which they teach your children.
I have taken the decision to do this event by zoom because while KHDA has lightened the protocols for COVID on schools, I am still cautious when it comes to how many and how long parents can and should be in groups on campus. We have done very well with COVID since August of 2020 and I want to continue to do so.
I thank you for understanding that we will look to do further curriculum related events that are part of the “Clarion Way” in person later this year- even before the December break.
Having said that, we will hold “Curriculum Night” on Zoom and I thank you for your participation.
In the Zoom call, teachers will cover the following curriculum areas:
Teachers will speak to you about how we are using a Transdisciplinary approach to learning in our lessons. They will show you our room and hallway areas used in homeroom by your children. The bonus of Zoom and laptops! We will ask each teacher to record their presentation for parents that cannot tune in to see it later. This is a positive impact of Zoom, as a live event would not be replicable or even recordable like this. The specialists who teach your children will provide each teacher with information for the Zoom presentation (in Power Point) and the specialists will also “pop in” to each session for the children they teach. The specialists will either join the Zoom call or they will appear on screen live for a minute to introduce themselves to you ‘face to face’ in the homeroom teachers classrooms.I am looking forward to the 14th, and I am sure it will be a successful event.Thank you for your understanding and teamwork!
Follow Up to Curriculum Night:
The last two weeks of September we will also host grade level groups in their children’s classrooms to “learn” how their children learn every day. Individual grade level invitations will go out to parents by grade level email for an afternoon to come and spend 40 minutes with.your children’s teachers in the classrooms. By doing this, we are hoping to give you a glimpse into the daily culture of learning that your children enjoy each day at Clarion. The dress code will be COMFORTABLE clothes as you may be finger-painting, doing science experiments, block building, and sitting on floor cushions or working at stand-up tables, as a way to try out our new emphasis on flexible seating. Of course, you must be vaccinated or have a PCR done less than 48 hours previous to the invited day to come and learn.
MAP testing begins. next week!
Every year Clarion gives the MAP tests to Grades 1 through 6, three times a year: September, January, and June. We do this to meet KHDA’s requirements for external benchmarked testing requirements, but true to the “Clarion Way” we use the results to work on individualized educational programming in the classrooms. Your homeroom teachers will communicate any details needed to you, but these are not assessments you can ‘study and prepare for’.The intention of the September MAP assessment is to give each child a starting baseline set of ‘scores’ upon which we base their individualize growth for the year. We share these results with you throughout the year and work with you as parents to understand how your child and her/his assessments give us a picture of their progress.The best way to prepare? Have a great evening meal the night before, read a book together, build something at home together, paint, play, dig in the garden…and get a good night’s sleep!
Special Photos on The 14th:
As this is a new school year, we are going to have a photographer come in and take some ‘shots’ of school life on the 14th. I am telling you this as parents to ensure that we ‘look good’ that day. I will have a fresh uniform shirt on, and a big smile as I take the photographer around school and we engage children in activities. One note- if you have not yet contacted Heerral the Clarion School Parent Liaison regarding the non-permission to photo form and wish to request it, please contact her directly hasnani@clarionschool.com . We have a list of several students now, and will ensure that we respect the updated list on Tuesday next. Thank you!
A final note:
Have a great weekend! You don’t need more from me right now other than a big thank you to the many of you who looked me up on LinkedIn and made connection requests. I enjoy posting about Clarion, and spreading the word on LinkedIn has people talking about us!
Have a great weekend!
Sincerely,
Jim #HappyWeekendClarion Pastore