Dear Lower School Families, 

I hope this message finds you enjoying time with family friends and experiencing all the joys summer brings for young students. With the start of the 2021-22 school year a few weeks away, the Lower School team is fully engaged in all preparations and plans to welcome your family in August!

 

The months of June and July have been a wonderful balance of renewal and professional learning for the LS faculty. Every member of the LS faculty and administrative team attended a week-long workshop on Responsive Classroom approach. Responsive Classroom is a social-emotional approach that leads to classroom communities that honor the developmental stages of children and support communities of engagement, achievement, and belonging. Throughout the year, we will be sharing with you the hallmark of Responsive Classroom activities and strategies used in the classroom through the Lower School Weekly Newsletter and interactive parent workshops.

 

The excitement for the first day of school is building! We look forward to welcoming our first-fifth grade students to their first day on Monday, August 23. As our youngest Spartans, the PK3, JK4, and SK5 students will start on Thursday, August 26. It will be wonderful to all be on campus again!

Please review all the information shared in this message and on your MyCountryDay Portal in preparation for the first days of school. Important information, news, and required forms are located on MyCountryDay. The portal will continue to be your “go-to” place for classroom, divisional, and school-wide information. Class lists are active on the portal on August 1. Please be sure to confirm that you can log into MyCountryDay prior to August 1. This is vital to a smooth and confident start to school. If you have any questions about logging in, please reach out directly ITSsupport@miamicountryday.org    and they will assist you.

 

Each year of a child’s educational journey is unique. In support of this journey, Miami Country Day faculty have a special tradition of meeting with each family to learn more about each child. In Early Childhood, the homeroom teacher and partner teacher meet with each family to talk about hopes and dreams for the year to come and to start to build comfort and trust with each child before the first days of school. These home-to-school connection meetings are scheduled by your Homeroom Teacher and occur during August 23, 24, and 25. There will be more details to come.

 

Families in Grades 1-5 continue the Country Day tradition of meeting with their teacher during the Bright Beginnings Conference. All students in grades 1-5 have early release days to allow for teachers and families to start the year building an educational relationship. The teacher and parents talk about the social-emotional development stages of the students and the hopes and goals for the year. Bright Beginnings Conferences are scheduled by Homeroom teachers and occur on August 23 and 24 between 1:00-4:00pm.

 

​The connection with your child’s teacher starts in August with the first communication from your teachers occurring by August 17. You can expect a Welcome Letter directed to parents and a Video Message for your child. This first communication marks the beginning of the yearlong partnership between your family and your teachers! 

As an educational community, we are so excited to join with your family for this year’s journey and look forward to our first days of school and the joy of learning together!

With Kindness, 

Shana Lindsey

Director of Lower School