Happy New Year from my family to yours!  This year, we celebrated in true pandemic style -- dressed from the waist up, pajamas from the waist down.  Gotta have a little fun, you know? Usually during breaks from school, I like to get out of my head and into my hands.  I work on projects around the house, dive back into my own artmaking practice, cook elaborate meals, and simply spend time with loved ones.  This year pretty much followed suit -- I renovated a bathroom, finished making a coffee table, reorganized my studio, played with Aruna, and relaxed with my [...]

We start our short week with the shortest day of the year, the Winter Solstice. What a poetic way to lead into vacation -- each day after Monday will progressively be longer and with more light after the Winter Solstice. Let’s mark this day as a turning point where we are looking toward the light with great anticipation.  I am so grateful for your partnership throughout this year.  Maybe after Winter Break I will be able to find the words to describe what this year has been for me, but for now I cannot and am simply grateful to you.  Our [...]

  What does Family Arts Night look like in a Virtual setting?  It looks like a celebration.  It looks like education. It looks like community.  It definitely looks different than Family Arts Night in-person.  And, it’s just as special. Big thank you to Ms. Breai, Mr. Bush, and Ms. Cohen for the many, many hours it took to put this event together in such a seamless way.  As the year continues, we plan to continue to translate in-person school, events, and celebrations to an online format so that we can continue to connect as a community and celebrate the rich and [...]

  Aaahhh, the crispness of a new morning.  The promise of a new day. The vision of a new trimester.  Welcome to Trimester 2, everyone!  We have new Google Classrooms, new Electives, new Intensives, and tweaks to general instruction coming our way! This week, Intensives and A-Team (Arts and Athletics) classes will be asynchronous as non-arts teachers finalize Intensives groupings and arts teachers finalize Family Arts Night for Friday (6-7:00). Next week we begin new Intensives and A-Team classes. This week and next week will be sign-ups and assigning Electives while providing asynchronous Elective offerings.  In these 12 days until Winter [...]

This Friday marks the 60th day of the school year, exactly one-third of the way through the year.  I remember back, in the first couple weeks of school, with the hundreds of calls, texts, and emails about Zoom and technology issues, wondering how we would ever be able to sustain ourselves.  And, here we are, in the rhythm of the school year, looking toward a new calendar year, with engaged learning and school-wide events.  The rhythm may be different than in years past, but there is still a rhythm all its own. Don’t get me wrong -- Although I am pleased [...]

Our lovely school was beginning to look pretty well neglected on the outside.  Weeds were encroaching on the entrance and bushes were taking over. Thanks to Kindergarten mom and master gardener, Cat Chupein (August’s mom), our school now looks tended to and cared for.   Spending time talking about native plants and long-term plans for the grounds around the building, I was reminded that the state of affairs at school (and in our lives) is all but a moment in time.    We have planned to remove all non-native plants and create gardens that will educate our students about having a sustainable relationship [...]

This weekend I burned this piece of a log, with slices through the center and a wick down the middle.  As the wick burned and caught the wood on fire, a star opened up from the center of the log and extended out through the bark.  As I sat watching the log burn from the inside out, rather than the outside in, I was reminded to reconsider how I approach my daily ongoings. What do I do simply because it’s how it’s typically done?  And, how might I reconsider my  approach and create a new experience with greater fulfillment? My reflections [...]

I took this picture out my living room window at 5:14 pm on Tuesday night.  My stomach was in knots, and I was a bundle of nerves leading up to this polarized and contentious election. I didn’t know what was to come, or how long it would take to find out what was to come. Filled with emotion and anticipation, I looked up and noticed a glorious rainbow of light caused by the setting sun.   In my mindfulness practice, I remind myself when in a storm, seek the rainbow.  I have been seeking many rainbows in 2020! This moment in the [...]

REMINDER: NO SCHOOL ON TUESDAY (ELECTION DAY) This year, my daughter dressed up as a Drop Box, and we went to drop our ballots as a family. Since school is closed on Tuesday for Election Day, it’s a perfect opportunity to go to your neighborhood polling place and cast your vote!  I will never tell you how to vote or who to vote for… but, I will strongly encourage you to participate in Democracy by voting. Every presidential election year, a little over half of eligible Americans vote.  Some people feel like their vote doesn’t matter because they live in such [...]

Aaahhh, the magical time when summer fades into winter -- when leaves change colors and meander through the air on their way to the ground, when the air is just warm enough to sit outside in the evening but just cool enough to need a hoodie and some extra snuggles. I try to hit the pause button in this fleeting moment, the glorious transition from summer to winter, when nothing seems permanent and everything holds a little bit of magic. Yellow has been my favorite color for years and years.  At one point, I realized that yellow is a color that [...]