The NYT article "When a Black Student Plays Along With the K.K.K. Joke, What's a College to Do?", written by Ronald Crutcher, the (African American) president of the University of Richmond, details the aftermath of his discovery of an 1980 photo of U. Richmond white students dressed as Ku Klux Klansmen surrounding a grinning African American student posing with [...]
As we near mid July, today's Thoughtful Thursday celebrates Summer. We do so with a variety of poems about summer from a variety of poets. We start with a classic from Paul Laurence Dunbar (1872-1906), who "In Summer" waxes eloquently about a song for a summer's day. Then we have a delightful ode to a "Firefly", a familiar summer [...]
National Summer Learning Week, July 8 - 13, is a celebration of keeping kids learning, safe, and healthy every summer, ensuring they return to school in the fall ready to succeed in the year. Established over 25 years ago by the National Summer Learning Association (NSLA), the celebration this year will have a daily focus on a different theme: [...]
Summer's here and it's time to make sure your kids are set with their summer reading booklists, goals and plans. Here are some tips and resources to help you get going: Scholastic Read-a-Palooza Summer Reading Challenge: Once again, children's book publisher Scholastic is offering a great summer reading program for children of all ages. After signing up on the [...]
School's out or almost out for most of our children. Reports cards have been issued or are on their way. Your children are undoubtably relieved and happy that another school year is done, and everyone's thoughts are turning to summer vacation. But before you close the chapter on the last school year, why not spend some time [...]
Last night I watched the first few minutes of the NBA draft, and saw the top three draft picks learn what teams they'd be playing for. For those of you paying no attention whatsoever, the Pelicans had the #1 pick and chose Zion Williamson from Duke, the Grizzlies had the #2 pick and chose Ja Morant from Murray State, [...]
I always encouraged (required, actually) my children’s friends to call me Mrs. Lewis, and I insisted that my children call most adults Mr. or Mrs./Ms. as well. If the parents were really good friends, they became “Aunt” and “Uncle” to our kids, and we were the same to theirs. But that was the only exception. Once my children started [...]
At the end of every school year, my mom would make a date with my brother and me for a night out to celebrate. She was an elementary school teacher, so we were all celebrating having finished up another year. We would usually go out to dinner, and then to a movie (for several years running, we saw "Shaft" [...]
As school winds down for the year, now is the time to focus on how you can help your sons and daughters stay on top of their academic game throughout the summer. As you probably know, when math and reading skills aren’t practiced over the summer, kids can lose 2 to 3 months of progress—that's the dreaded "Summer Slide". [...]
Are you in partnership with your children's teachers to make sure your children are thriving in school? In today's second session of "The Inside Guide to Helping Your Child Thrive from K-8", Lower school teacher Jennifer Vermont-Davis offered parents advice on how to establish strong and productive relationships with teachers each year. Here just are a few of her many [...]