Dear Bates,
I hope you have some nice plans to stay warm this long weekend. As a reminder, school is closed on Monday, January 17 in observance of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.
As you may know, each year at Bates students learn about Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Below is the recent work of one kindergarten class. After reading several books about Martin Luther King, students proudly shared with me what they had learned about Dr. King’s dream and how it relates to them.
While I’ve been sharing a lot of COVID data this week, I wanted you to know that there are many other things going on here at school! This week I met with several classes of third graders who used their newly developed persuasive writing skills to write letters to me about different ways to improve Bates. I was so impressed to read these letters. They included an introduction that hooked the reader, strong claims, clear reasons, strong supporting evidence and a concluding paragraph. These letters were so persuasive that I found myself ordering more recess equipment, discussing improvements to the bathrooms and our school lunches and investigating the possibility of scheduling a field trip, as trips have unfortunately been on hold for awhile. Our students are really skilled persuasive writers!
Finally, I wanted you to know that our wonderful Bates secretary Melanie Friedman is resigning and will be leaving us after Thursday, Jan. 20. Melanie will be greatly missed. We wish her all the very best in her future endeavors.
In closing I want to say thank you all for the support you give the Bates teachers and staff each and every day. We are honored to teach your children and feel so fortunate to have such wonderful partners in our parents.
Have a great weekend.
Warmly,
Toni