Hello Barrows Families!
This time of year we are filled with transitions. The wrapping up of a school year, although
exciting and filled with celebrations, can also provoke anxiety for students
around change and leaving beloved teachers or peers. We will do our best to be mindful of
supporting our learners through this time, and also encourage you to talk
through these feelings with your children.
Let your child know it’s common to feel happy/excited and sad/nervous at
the same time. Consider strategies that
may help them work through these feelings (talking to a trusted adult, writing
in a journal, drawing a picture for their friend or teacher, reflecting on past
transitions and their success, etc.)
One of our upcoming transitional activities is our Move-up
day. Here at Barrows on Move-up day
students travel with their current class “up” to the next grade level
teachers/classrooms. Students have the
opportunity to travel into each of the next grade-level classrooms, meet all of
the teachers, and hear a bit about the things they will learn next year. Many of our grade level teachers collaborate
and work together to support students, and this structure provides an
opportunity for all of our students to get to know all of our teachers and vice
versa. The goal is that this time allows students to continue to enjoy
the end of the year with their current class and teacher while also providing a
preview and thoughtful transition to the upcoming year.
I recently had an inquiry about the design and structure of our
day so I hope that this information will help to answer questions about why we
structure it this way and how it came to be.
As I noted at the start, this time of year holds heightened emotions for
all involved. During the 2013-14 school year staff shared concerns about the
Move-up day structure. For many students
the desire to keep their best friend in their class or a perception of a
desired teacher feels like the most important values for their forthcoming
year. We understand and acknowledge the
benefits of positive peer and teacher connections; unfortunately what was
happening in practice was we had many students that had difficulty with the day
as they became very focused on not being with a particular peer or feeling left
out of a group. This translated to
students feeling stressed and anxious, tears, and feelings of disappointment
(instead of hope and promise) for their upcoming year. It was also observed that students seemingly
missed information that was being shared, as their focus was elsewhere. Staff reported that this lead to the end of
the school year turning into a ‘recovery’ with students about than a
celebration of a successful positive experience as a classroom community,
leading to the all-important last day reflection and wrap-up being lost.
I have spent time over the last couple of months asking other
principals around the state how they handle Move-up day to inquire if there are
alternative ways to best support our transitioning learners. I have found that the majority of schools
that I have heard from either follow the last-day notifications similar to
Barrows or do not release the names of teachers to students until mid-summer or
the week prior to school starting. Their
reasons (which are ones we face and try to manage as well) include the fact
that there are inevitability staff changes that can occur, student move-ins,
student move-outs, and other information that is shared that could impact class
dynamics/sizes/needs. While we encounter
those challenges as well, I agree with the sentiment that it is helpful for a
child to know whose classroom they will be in to help build peer connections
over the summer and envision their future teacher/year.
I have had communication from parents and staff over the last 2
years about this day. Some parents have communicated a desire to have the
Move-up day be with their assigned teacher and with their future student group
as a way to decreased anxiety about whom they will be with and also arrange
opportunities to get together with peers over the summer. An overwhelming
majority of parents and staff that have provided feedback to me about this
structure have been in favor of the way we manage it and have reported that it
has been helpful in having a more positive end of the school year. At the
last PTO meeting last spring (June 2015) some parents requested that I send the
report cards later in the day after students were released. Parents have shared that it allowed the
parent to process with their child in a calm environment and discuss questions
and concerns in a way that met their child’s individual needs. Some parents have also shared that their
students experienced less worries about being away from a friend or peer when
they weren’t learning it right alongside peers that were celebrating their
placement.
An additional change that has taken place is that in order to
comply with confidentiality laws, we no longer release the entire class list of
names. I know that this creates
challenges for students seeking to find out who their peers will be. Thankfully to meet this need our PTO has
hosted an online “GoogleDoc” within which parents and families can ‘opt-in’ to
sharing their child’s names to build a list of classroom peers for those that
want to share their info. It may not be complete, but it does allow those
families that would like to build connections over the summer to participate.
Please know that we all understand the anxiety that comes with
this process and I hope you can see how much thought has gone into the
structure and design that we hope best benefits our students. This also follows many hours of thoughtful
student placement by our staff that incorporates parent input that was
provided. We know there is not ‘perfect’
system but we continue to do the best we can to meet the needs of our
learners. That being said, I haven’t
formally sought feedback about our Move-up day process. In hearing request and questions and such a
wide range of perspectives, I understand that this would be beneficial for us
to do to ensure we are continuing to do the best we can collaboratively as a
community. Our Move-up day is scheduled
this year for June 17th.
Following this event I will gather feedback from students as well as
send a survey for staff and parents to help inform our future practices.
I thank you all for your ongoing dialogue and efforts to support
all of our learners here at Barrows. Please enjoy the wonderful celebrations of
learning through this last stretch of our school year!
~Mrs. Leonard
