August 29, 2019
The 2019-2020 school year is only seven days old, but those days have already been full, fun, and productive in Lower School. We have found new friends and established new routines. We’ve met new teachers – Mrs. Cosgrave in Fourth Grade and Mrs. Lazar in Fifth Grade – and discovered familiar faces in new roles – Dr. Howell as our Literacy Specialist, Ms. Olson in Third Grade, and Mrs. Fensholt in Instructional Support. We’ve started a new six-day schedule that increases instructional time and protects complements classes that might otherwise be missed on holidays and teacher workdays.
We’ve studied our names, practiced mindfulness, and learned how our words can impact the world when we Say Something! We’ve shared self-portraits, summer souvenirs, and our hopes and dreams for the school year. We’ve set up science notebooks, learned to use our planners, established our classroom cultures, and saved a gummy worm named Fred. We’ve explored geometric shapes and MC Escher in art class, discussed artificial intelligence in the STORM Lab, and practiced our throwing and catching skills with frisbees. We’ve learned to take responsibility for ourselves using refocus sheets, explored the library on scavenger hunts, and collected words for our word passports (inspired by El Coleccionista de Palabras) in Spanish. Fifth-graders will even complete both an escape room and a ninja challenge on Friday! In short, we’ve laid the foundation for a wonderful year.
We are so pleased to welcome 177 students to the Lower School this year, including 42 who are new to TDS. Look for their pictures coming soon on the television just inside the entrance to the main building. Please stop by to learn some names and welcome them to our school community.
Here’s to a year of learning, exploring, and growing together!
Amie Tedeschi
Lower School Coordinator