Dear Parents and Caregiver,
We did it — we survived (and even thrived!) in January! With its gray skies and early nightfall, it’s always a test of endurance, but we made it through. As February unfolds, we gain a few extra minutes of daylight each day, reminding us that brighter days are ahead. While winter isn’t done with us just yet, we’re turning the corner toward a season that promises a little more light, warmth, and plenty of exciting moments in our school community.
As we continue our commitment to keeping families informed, you may have noticed some updates in how teachers in our first through fourth grade classrooms communicate about reading and math groups. With so many skilled educators supporting our students in small, flexible groups, we want to ensure you have insight into their learning. Moving forward, teachers will send regular updates detailing which teacher is leading your child’s group, the targeted skills they are working on, and how we are tailoring instruction to meet their needs. This approach reflects our deep commitment to differentiation — knowing each child as a learner beyond a single test score and providing the right scaffolds and challenges to help them grow.
This past month, our students have been busy learning, celebrating, and giving back:
- Friendship Parties: Beyond sweet treats and fun, these gatherings centered on kindness and service. Students made placemats for Meals on Wheels recipients, created heartfelt cards for children, military members, and first responders, and crafted bird feeders to support wildlife during the winter months.
- Lunar New Year Celebration: The ECLS division came together for a vibrant festival, immersing our youngest learners in the traditions and joy of the Lunar New Year.
- Building Strong Readers: In our kindergarten and first grade classrooms, students are strengthening their decoding and fluency skills by combining their knowledge of phonics, background knowledge, and word recognition strategies. Working in small groups, they engage in multi-sensory techniques to read words — not just in isolation but within meaningful and engaging stories — helping them build confidence and comprehension as emerging readers. The fun part is on the other end of the ECLS division, seeing our fourth graders take ownership of their reading by selecting their novels for their reading group. The wide variety of rich texts they chose reflects their diverse interests and growing literary tastes, and they embraced the challenge of managing their time to read their entire book — a great skill for the future and a perfect intersection of independence and time management!
- Learning with Honesty, Courage, and Connection: Our third graders had a unique opportunity to hear from a classmate’s grandmother about her journey during the Great Migration. Engaging with personal narratives helps students see history not as a distant past but as a living story that shapes our world today. We embrace hard history with empathy and curiosity.
- Measurement Across the Grades: From our Little Jags and prekindergarten students using nonstandard units to measure classroom objects, to third graders diving into elapsed time in an extension group, students explored measurement in meaningful, hands-on ways. Want to try a third grade story problem about time? See if you can draw a bar model to solve: Ivan took 1 hour and 32 minutes to learn how to fold a paper dragon. He took 47 minutes more to learn how to fold a paper rabbit than it took for the dragon. How long did he take to learn how to fold the paper dragon and the rabbit?
To learn more about our learning at Wellington and how it connects with the middle and upper schools, join us on February 20 at 6:30 p.m. for State of the School & All Things Wellington. This special evening offers an opportunity to hear from our head of school, Ms. McLaren, as she reflects on the school year and shares exciting plans for the future. Reserve your seat.
Parent-Teacher Conferences will take place on March 13 and 14, providing a valuable opportunity to discuss your child’s progress and learning experiences. Conference sign-ups will open on February 24 at noon through Veracross. We encourage you to schedule a time to connect with your child’s teacher and gain insights into their growth. Please log into Veracross at that time to secure your preferred slot. If you have any questions about the process, feel free to reach out. We look forward to these conversations and partnering with you in your child’s learning journey!
Warm wishes,
Shelley