We had such a lovely turnout for this year’s Bring Your Parent to School Day! While all of our parents are welcome, we see this event as an especially great opportunity for full-time families, or perhaps parents who aren’t able to be on campus very much, to get a feel for their child’s school day. The students absolutely love getting to show off their desks, classrooms, art projects, friends, and teachers – their little world outside of home!
On April 15th and 16th, parents of Kinder-8th grade students filled our hallways and classrooms with their gracious energy. Our visitors started their day with a lovely breakfast in the MPR and a chance to engage with each other as they listened to a short presentation by Lisa Ann Dillon (Director of Lower School). Then they were off to visit their student(s) in their classrooms! Each visiting parent was able to come alongside their children to witness first-hand all the good, true, and beautiful that goes on at SLOCA. Check out some of the highlights and experiences below!
“This was my first “take your parent to school day” and I really enjoyed it! My student is not a huge talker once school is over, so it was great to see first hand the amazing work that they are doing. Now I WANT to repeat 7th grade!”
– Jennifer Foronjy, parent of SLOCA 7th grader
“My Intermediate students delighted in showing their parents around the classroom, eagerly sharing the details of their recently-created Jamestown scenes, creative narratives on John Rolf and tobacco, and artwork on the classroom walls. Parents engaged in helping their students assemble mini Mayflower ships, with one dad even explaining the term “shroud” to the class. (the rigging of the ship). Parents also helped create descriptive diamante poems on Pocahontas. It was a wonderful morning together, full of hugs, smiles, and laughter!”
– Lisa Wallace, SLOCA Intermediate Teacher
“It’s always a joy to have our SLOCA parents visit LMS! Students shared poetry that they wrote with the group of parents who visited. Nearly the whole class participated and shared their original poems. We learned about creating a Writer’s Notebook to become more skilled poets and parents joined in with their child to come up with choice words to describe something they wondered about in nature. We played with words together and students thoughtfully shared their ideas. I love seeing parents engage in learning right alongside their child and that they get a glimpse of a typical day in LMS.”
– Stacey Cote, SLOCA Lower Middle School Teacher
“Our activity in the kindergarten classroom was very low-key (we colored turtles together and listened to a story), however, the joy in the kindergarten classroom was unmatched. It was such a beautiful thing to see the powerful bonds between my students and their parents, and I was struck anew with gratitude for the unique partnership SLOCA teachers are able to have with parents.”
– Anna Rocha, SLOCA Kindergarten Teacher
“In the UMS History class, students were evaluating Jamestown laws which were put in place to keep the peace with the natives. Martial law was the law of the land, with death being the consequence for transgressions in many cases. Parents sat with their students in small groups, joining the conversation as they determined which laws they thought were necessary and which might have been changed without compromising the safety and, ultimately, the existence of the colony. It was a joy to watch our co-teachers jump right in and facilitate these conversations.”
– Cade Newman, SLOCA Upper Middle School
