Did you Get "Got"? April 1st is such a funny day filled with light-hearted tricks and belly laughter.  I wonder, how many people were "got" by an April Fool's joke? Some jokes are elaborate -- someone I know really got it this year. Her husband drove to her parent's house, had the grandma pretend that she sold the family home, and write a fake check for $10,000 to her grandson as his part of the inheritance. In the span of a minute and a half, this poor April Fool's recipient went through a rollercoaster of emotions ending with some of the [...]

And, Yet Again, Everything Felt Right in the World... When walking my dog this weekend, I noticed the first moments of spring pushing their way through a blanket of dried leaves and what had begun to feel like dry, barren land. I heard the delicate lavenders and pinks whispering in my ear that spring is soon to come. Isn't it amazing when the days become a little bit longer, the temperatures become a little bit warmer, and the landscape becomes a little more colorful, how all of the problems in the world seem a little bit more manageable? I celebrate the [...]

Our Layers of Identities A few weeks ago, I was at an event in an artist's studio, and I bumped into two CNH parents. As we were talking, I mentioned something about being an artist. They were so surprised to hear that I was a sculptor! This moment reminded me of the many layers of identities that we all carry, and how we might reveal one layer in one place and another layer in a different place. My entire life, my artist-identify has always been in the foreground of other identities -- the layer that is ever-present and never needs revealing. [...]

Let the Sun Shine In! Even though it was hard to crawl out of bed this morning, it is so amazing that we have sunshine until 7:08 pm with daylight savings!  With warmer weather and sunnier evenings this week, hopefully, we will all be able to crawl out from under the weighted blanket of winter and be energized by the sunshine.  Spring is on its way! Just 10 more days until the official first day of Spring... Happy Week 27, y’all! --Dr. Shyla. _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Important Calendar Updates and Reminders Friday, March 15:  NO SCHOOL for Staff Professional Development SPRING BREAK:  School [...]

Summer Dreaming When I was a child we would "call India" the first Saturday of every month. My family in India didn't have a phone so we would call family friends who lived nearby.  We would hang up for them to run over to my family's house and gather as many people as possible.  And we would call back about 20 minutes later, eagerly waiting to pass the phone around, one at a time.  Conversations were limited to Hi how are you's as the phone was passed around the room to my brother, sister, and I. After doing the rounds with [...]

Every Voice Matters In the early 1990s, there was a tv show called Quantum Leap about a scientist, Sam Beckett, stuck in an experiment gone wrong that sends him back and forth in time leaping into a new body each time.  It was funny to watch him embody a new person each episode and try to figure out each new situation on the fly. This time of year, in the cycle of the school year, I feel a little bit like Sam Beckett. While we are fully focused on the educational experiences of this school year, we are also currently fully [...]

Our school is 2 hands old! This Spring we will have a number of opportunities to celebrate City Neighbors Hamilton's birthday (stay tuned!). This is a great time to think about what CNH means to you and how you can support it in that way. What might your birthday gift be to the school? How can you help it grow into the next year confidently and with pride? To me, CNH means family to me -- a family that supports, pushes, disagrees, and celebrates each other. The definition of the word "family" has had many different meanings throughout my lifetime. As [...]

"I Am More Than You Think You See" Yesterday, I had brunch with one of my mentors.  We discussed how we all think we see others and how our own histories and experiences impact our perceptions of what we see. This conversation reminded me of my personal campaign, "Today You Art Beautiful." In an earlier blog post last year, I described this campaign, inspired by brain research, that suggests when you are happy, your body releases hormones that promote happiness and inhibit unhappiness, meaning that happiness breeds more happiness! With that, I wanted to remind others that they are beautiful today. It [...]

Believing Punxsutawney Phil Every year, we ask an oversized rodent to predict the end of winter.  And, every year, we all talk about it in the news, around water coolers at work, and with our friends. For the past 130+ years, North Americans have looked to Phil for answers. What's funny is that Punxsutawney Phil has only been correct 40% of the time in those 130+ years. It literally is more accurate to flip a coin! So, why do we continue this tradition? When winter feels long, the days feel short, and the sunshine feels limited, it somehow feels right to [...]

Finding Our Own Special Recipe of Perfection   I often binge-watch the show, "The World's Most Extraordinary Homes" on Netflix. I find it amazing the ways in which people interpret what it means to be "home." Some people desire windows that frame the landscape from the inside while others want to live where the outside comes in. Some people want a large bedroom with lots of light while others prefer the most intimate of spaces with room for a mattress that folds into the wall.  Each family has a different definition of perfection for themselves. The show makes me think about learning [...]