Hello Hardy
Highlights from the part week:
On Friday, we had International Night as we celebrated the rich diversity of the Hardy School community. A special thanks to parent organizer Sonia Kolenchary and other parent volunteers who helped make this event such a success!
Social Emotional Learning Presentation
On Thursday of this past week, there was a special presentation by Lisa Goodman, Julie McMenamy, and me focused on Social Emotional Learning at Hardy. For those parents who weren’t available to attend, here is the slide deck from this presentation:
As many of you know, Wellesley Public Schools is currently piloting the Second Step Program for social emotional learning. At Hardy, all students are participating in bullying prevention lessons led by either Lisa Goodman or Julie McMenamy in partnership with classroom teachers. The goal of Second Step is to support students in developing emotion management, relationship and problem solving skills, as well encouraging goal setting and growth mindset. Please visit https://www.secondstep.org/
Skills Program Transition to Hardy School
As you may be aware, we will be serving as the district-wide host school for the Skills program beginning in the fall. The Skills program provides a highly individualized and modified curriculum for students with autism spectrum disorder or other disabilities that present with similar challenges. This program is supported by a large team of highly skilled teachers, board certified behavior analysts, program specific speech & language pathologists, and paraprofessionals with specialized training that support students throughout the school day. We are excited to welcome the Skills program to Hardy!
In an effort to support this transition, we have been working closely with the Skills team to ensure that this transition goes as smoothly as possible. Hardy teachers have taken part in observations at Upham and have been provided with professional development about the Skills program. I have met with Skills parents to begin the collaboration. Hardy PTO Co-Vice President Meryl Glassman is planning to work on linking Skills families to current Hardy families in an effort to help incoming families to feel welcomed. As more details about these opportunities for connection are determined, we’ll share this out with you.
Panorama Survey Reminder
At the end of the past week, the Wellesley Public Schools sent an email to each WPS family that included a link to the Panorama family survey (including a unique code for each individual family to access). The purpose of this survey is to gain insight into how to best serve students and partner with families. The survey takes only about fifteen minutes to complete, and participation is optional.
School Spirit Day
On Friday, we will have the next special Spirit Day planned by our fifth graders. We will have a favorite teams day, in which students are encouraged to wear gear (jerseys, hats) for their favorite teams to school.
Have a great week!
Respectfully yours,
Grant Smith
Principal