Dear Families,
I hope that you are able to enjoy this mild winter. At this same time last year, the courtyard at our old school was completely covered with snow and students had enough snow to build a snow slide. This year, we are in a new building and awaiting the completion of a new playground with a very tall slide! We held the Grand Opening Ceremony for our building that included recognition and appreciation for those responsible for the building’s design and construction. Thank you to our second grade student, Sofia Henderson, for leading us in the Pledge of Allegiance in both Chinese and English. In his speech, Superintendent Young noted that the heart of our school is not the “bricks and mortar”, but our students, teachers, and community. I hope that we can spend more time together in the next few weeks getting to know each other through our daily interactions and upcoming events.
One exciting event is the National Geographic Giant Map of Asia that is visiting our school on Thursday, March 17. Earlier in the week, students will be able to complete a scavenger hunt on a giant walkable map of Asia. On Thursday evening, you will be able to share this experience with your child. This is an entertaining and educationally powerful way to ignite your child’s interest in geography. As every M.L. King student is learning Chinese, this is also a nice way to connect our studies of the language and culture with the geography of Asia. All students will experience the scavenger hunt during the day, but the evening opportunity is for parents/guardians to also explore the map and for families to connect with each other. Please stay tuned for more information about the logistics.
Our annual Read Across America challenge has started and will continue all month. Students should be reading as many pages as they can, and filling in their reading logs. Younger students that are learning to read can count the number of pages read to them. The class that reads the most pages per child will receive a pizza party and watch a Dr. Seuss movie. If our school reads enough pages to the moon (238,000 pages), I will also paint my face green in honor of Dr. Seuss’s beloved character, the Grinch, during next month’s school assembly. Please keep reading and recording!
Finally, I wanted to share the importance of setting aside quality family time for conversations and connections with your child. Our students are building really important social skills and are navigating new social constructs in their learning each day. It is important and worthwhile to ask your child to share their challenges and successes and what they are learning in school. This daily parent “homework” is important because we know that our students are going through so many changes and seek guidance. I appreciate your hard work and support. I know that we can work together to provide our students with the same impressive and forward-thinking foundation that our new school is built upon.
Yours truly,
Gerald Yung