Eagle Connection all-school newsletter 8.21.20

Dear Parents,

As children return to school, we are working hard to ensure that their transition back to in-person learning is as supported as possible! The faculty met together for several days this week to share in God’s word, prepare for teaching, understand our COVID Preparedness Plan, discuss operational changes, and engage in professional development around solid social-emotional support of our students. As part of this focus on the whole child, we are centrally adopting a curriculum fundamental used in Denmark called Klassens tid:

In Danish schools an hour a week is dedicated to the ‘Klassens tid’, an empathy lesson for students aged 6 to 16 years. It is a fundamental part of the Danish curriculum. The hour of empathy is as important as the time spent, for example, on English or mathematics. During the Klassens tid students discuss their problems, either related to school or not, and the whole class, together with the teacher, tries to find a solution based on real listening and understanding. If there are no problems to discuss, children are simply spent the time together relaxing and enjoying hygge, a word (and also a verb and an adjective), which cannot be translated literally, since it is a phenomenon closely related to Danish culture. Hygge could be defined as “intentionally created intimacy”. In a country where it gets dark very early in the year, it rains, it’s gray, hygge means bringing light, warmth and friendship, creating a shared, welcoming and intimate atmosphere. It is a fundamental concept for the Danish sense of well-being ( http://thedanishway.com/overlooking-the-fundamentals-of-theclassroom-experience/ )

In a year where protocols determine more distancing in our school, we are looking for ways to keep our children connected. There are many other means by which we will accomplish this, too! We know that we are bound together by the love from and for our Savior, and we want this to be a steady facet of our school culture. While many of our teachers have already been doing something like this in their classrooms, we will now invest in this effort school-wide on a weekly basis. Your children are part of our school community and God’s family, and we take seriously our role in growing their understanding of what this means in their lives!

In joyful service,

Gretchen Dolan

Read our full newsletter here:  https://stjlutheranschool.org/eagle-connection-back-to-school-newsletter-final-08-21-2020/

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