Month: September 2020

Recently, I watched “Social Dilemma” on Netflix. It was alarming in many ways, and I now have limits on my phone for how much I consume daily. However, a protective feature for me and others my age is that we grew up without social media, and thus don’t have the same understanding of just how much of a role in can play in one’s life. I was SHOCKED to see the statistics about children and mental health in the documentary. Compared to the first decade of the 2000s, the rates for depression and anxiety have gone up over 150% in girls aged 10-14. While we might think about “teenagers” as those in middle and high school (and there are concerns there too), to see the role social media has played in younger children scared me! Please be sure you are setting limits for yourself as a good mental health step as well as a model for students. In addition, it helps to explain to students how detrimental social media can be and put limits in place.

It was crazy to see on the news this morning that today is the last official day of summer! It feels like summer ended months ago! I’m so proud of how our students have handled the move back to school. I rarely have to remind students to wear masks, and even though it seems like there is a new way of doing things every other day, students have shown amazing flexibility.

Thank you also to the families for helping students with the transitions. So many times, we’ve had to remember that nothing about this year is ideal, but we are doing the best we can.

As a reminder, conferences are coming up. Please be sure to check with your student’s teacher about when the conference is scheduled. These will all be virtual this year (again, not ideal, but it’s the best we can do for now).

We have now completed three weeks of the 2020-2021 school year! I think exhausted is a great word to describe how everyone is feeling. Not only are we adjusting to the new school year, but also having to constantly adjust to make sure we’re all staying safe. New routines and procedures can take up a lot of our energy!

Please remember one change is students are not to arrive before 8:05. There is no adult supervision before that time, and thus we ask students not be dropped off. Also, students tend to not be great at physically distancing themselves from others, and for everyone’s safety it helps if we have as few students as possible waiting outside the doors.

I had predicted masks would be a big challenge this year, but I am thrilled to say I was wrong. Yes, occasionally a student is playing with his or her mask, or it slips under the nose and a reminder is needed. However, when given a reminder, students have been awesome about making the changes needed.

We will continue to work hard on making this the best, and safest, school year possible! Thank you so much for all your help and support!