Thanks to all of our Lab parents who attended Curriculum Night last week. We were excited to see the more than 200 parents who came to learn more about what their child will be learning this year. In addition to grade-level presentations, we rolled out Seesaw, our new student-driven online portfolio platform, which will be used to share student work and other updates with parents. For those of you who were here last year, Seesaw will replace Mastery Connect and our Google Sites.

How to get started:
If you have not already logged on, don't worry, its easy! All you need is the Seesaw for Parents app and your child's QR code, which was sent home your child's green folder on Sept. 26 if you did not pick it up at Curriculum Night. Contact your child's advisor if you have any questions or need another copy of your personal QR code. 

You can find the Grade Level presentations here:

• Kindergarten Curriculum Night Presentation
• First Grade Curriculum Night Presentation
• Second Grade Curriculum Night Presentation
• Third Grade Curriculum Night Presentation
• Fourth Grade Curriculum Night Presentation
• Fifth Grade Curriculum Night Presentation

You can also check out our online Q&A Discussion from the evening.

For those of you who were not able to attend, we got a lot of great feedback from parents. Here are some direct quotes from emails that we received about Curriculum Night:

• “Tonight was so great - really informative and wonderful to meet all of our children's teachers at the beginning of the year… I was impressed by their [the staff’s] enthusiasm and all their hard work over the summer to be ready for an even better second year at Lab.”
• “I was totally blown away by curriculum night! It was awesome! I love all of the changes for this year and it was so great to hear from teachers in all of the areas. All of the teachers were so excited about their subjects, the energy was awesome, it was well organized… I could go on.”
• “We would like to thank you [Mary] and your entire administrative team (as well as the teachers) for last night. It was efficient, organized, and we left with so much great information!”
• “We have been attending curriculum nights for nine years and this one was by far the best use of our time. It is clear that everyone at Lab is on the same page with the same shared vision. That's really exciting (and not always easy to do!) We realize the amount of preparation that goes into creating a night like last night - and we truly appreciate it.”
• “[To staff] Please pass along our thanks and appreciation for all the time and effort taken to prepare for this year and for the explanations last night.  The teachers' enthusiasm is infectious and it's so great to see!”

Last Friday, we hosted a terrific speaker at our advisory assemblies. Mr. Reginald Blackmon, a local therapist who works on identity development in children, gave inspirational and age-appropriate talks on finding your seed of greatness, being your best self, and what to do if your friends try to convince you to do something you know is wrong. Mr. Blackmon shared personal stories of growing up, with an emphasis on how important it is to be kind, work together, and be trustworthy.

Be sure to ask your child what they learned and to share his/her favorite story from the day.

"My goal with children is to tap into and help them unleash their potential for greatness! Children needs someone to believe in them, encourage them and point them in the right direction."  Reginald V Blackmon

Second Graders Practice Teamwork by Passing a Can Using Only Their Feet

Big Day at Lab

What better way to kick off our new blog than with pictures from our new playground, which opened for business today! By all accounts, it is a big success.  All of the classes had a chance to climb, spin, hop, balance, run, tumble, and even relax in the new space. Once again, we want to thank our more than 250 families and friends who made this possible. Thanks to the generosity of so many, we raised just over $130,000, and we were able to afford our complete vision, plus some necessary extras including much-needed drainage improvements, shading, and a new fence. We are moving forward with Phase 2 of the project, which includes the stage and hangout zone. We expect this phase to move fairly quickly once the engineering drawings have been approved by the county. (Fingers crossed that permit will come through soon.)

Here are some pictures from opening day!

The spinner is a big hit! 

Practicing the monkey bars.

Rock hopping and balance beaming

Chillin' on the rock wall

Hanging out with friends

Artist at work