Director's Blog
The October Country
As I write this we are headed toward the heart of October. October is and has always been one of my favorite months. Ray Bradbury’s 1955 collection of spooky stories, was entitled The October Country. Ray Bradbury, an author whose stories I have long treasured, provided this evocative title for his collection and in doing so he captured something true; October truly does seem like a land unto itself.
This wonderful and wonderfully mysterious month contains so many festivals, gatherings, celebrations, sporting events, and opportunities to gather. CHIME is no different. From the wonderful Gala that we held just last Saturday night, to the amazing Hispanic Heritage Month activities on campus and in our classrooms, to the upcoming “first field trips” of the year for many grade levels, to our CHIME-a-ween celebration on Saturday the 19th, to our first round of parent teacher conferences on the 25th. And who can resist the charm of our annual Halloween parade!
Yes, October is full of wonder, joy, and thrill on campus and off. Don’t forget there are also opportunities to participate in off-campus CHIME CCA activities this month with the fundraising activities at Night of the Jack (through 10/31) and at Kindred Spirits Animal Care Farm (10/13 from 10-2).
October is also a month of serious learning! If you are a consistent reader of this blog you may begin to suspect I have an obsession with the school calendar…well, I wouldn’t go that far, but I do spend a fair amount of time thinking about our school calendar each year. And here's the truth about every October, every year - it is almost always the month with the most school days!
This year we will have 22 of our 180 school days in October which is 12% of the school year. Let’s make sure we make them count. Prioritize your child’s attendance at school and be sure to make your appointment for your child’s parent teacher conference (10/25 or 11/1). This is a great opportunity to hear from your child’s teachers and get a sense of how your child is doing this school year. Whatever grade your child is in, it’s an important one. They only get one chance at 2nd grade…or 3rd…or 6th…you get the idea! Every year is filled with so many things for our students to learn and opportunities for them to grow. And October is a great time to support your child in digging into the wonder, joy, magic, and important knowledge that awaits them this school year.
One last thought: I could make a case that October is also the birth month of American Literature. Hear me out. Washington Irving is often identified by literary scholars as the first truly “American” author writing about genuinely American places and ideas rather than imitating the literature and themes of European authors. And one of his most famous short stories, “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” (one of my very favorites!) is linked to this time of year - Fall, Halloween, October! So in celebration of our great cannon of American literature, I encourage you to make sure you and your children are reading books this month. I know, I know, we should all be reading books - yes, books not just the internet - in every month of the year, but take time now in this month of October as the weather starts to cool (hopefully) and our pace of life changes from the summer months - now in the rearview mirror - to ensure that your child is fully stocked with great books to read or listen to and that they see you, their parents, modeling the same. Go ahead, CHIME, find your favorite spooky story, pour a mug of apple cider, settle in for a good read, and enjoy October!
Back To School Night
Back To School Night is just around the corner - Tuesday September 17th for TK-3rd and Thursday September 19th for 4th-8th. This event is always an early signal that the school year is solidly underway, and we are moving past the “get to know ya” phase of the school year and getting down to the business of learning…even more than we already have been, that is.
Back to School night is a wonderful opportunity for parents to meet their children’s teachers, get a sneak peek at the curriculum for the year ahead, and establish a bit of a connection with their child’s classroom environment and teachers.
Speaking as someone who has been on the teacher end of these things before, I can share that sometimes it can be a bit nerve racking to be “on stage” in front of all the parent’s of your students. I have to smile thinking about the extra time I used to put in as a teacher prepping my bulletin boards for the night, so that they looked especially nice (I wasn’t very good at that kind of thing), getting my text books ready to display, spell checking and grammar checking my syllabus and presentation slides. I wanted, of course, to put my best foot forward.
As a parent, I wanted to be reassured. I wanted to be given the sense that my child was in an inviting and fun classroom with a thoughtful and kind teacher, and that what my daughter would be learning that year was going to help her grow in her knowledge and understanding.
The truth is, whether we are a parent or a teacher, we both want very similar things from Back to School Night:
- We want it to go well!
- We want to take a moment to make a connection with someone (parent or teacher) who is going to be in our lives in one way or another for the next school year.
- AND we want to leave the evening, even if a bit tired due to a late night after a day of working/teaching, excited about the school year ahead.
Next week will be my 14th year of Back to School night at CHIME. Nine of those back to school nights, I played the role of administrator and parent. Every one of those CHIME Back to School nights, I accomplished my goal of walking out with a sense of energy and excitement for the year ahead. Whether it was because of how amazing I thought my daughter’s teachers were or whether it was such a joy to share the evening with the wonderful families we would be working with that school year, I always walked away from the evening with a bit of spring in my step.
I hope the same will be true for all of us again next week, and I look forward to seeing you for these very important evenings.
August Is A School Month!
When I first moved to Los Angeles in 1998, school in LA started after Labor Day. Back to School “prep week” for teachers was always the last week of August, and then students would arrive the following Tuesday after the holiday weekend, and school would begin. My wedding day/anniversary (August 21st) used to be considered a late summer wedding. This school year we’d already had eight days of school by the time my wife and I celebrated our anniversary.
Now I am not necessarily pining away for the “good old days”, but August is hot in the San Fernando Valley which can make it challenging to run a school full of children who love to play outdoors…though we have been fairly lucky in that department this year.
But c’est la vie. The calendar was moved to an early start about ten years ago (largely to accommodate High Schools and their AP class schedule) and now August is a school month. In fact, August contained 15 school days this year which, if you can believe it, given school vacations and holidays, that will be the same number of school days as we have in December and more school days than we will have in the months of November, April, and June! (Find our 2024-25 calendar here). August will very soon have come and gone, and we will already have completed 8% of the school year.
Which brings me to my point: every day counts! Every day of school attendance that is. Regular school attendance is key to the success of our students. Ensuring that students get the proper instruction and skill development in the grade levels in which our students here at CHIME are enrolled is essential for long term high school and postsecondary achievement. American University School of Education notes that chronic absenteeism can have a negative effect on reading development, academic skill building, and social and emotional development. Simply put, regular attendance is the best thing for children to ensure a lifetime of learning and academic success.
Regular student attendance is also good for the school. Did you know that in California schools are funded per student, per day? That means when students are absent (even excused absences) CHIME does not receive funding for that student on that day. Illness and absences for appropriate reasons are bound to happen over the course of a school year, which is why sometimes having your child do an Independent Study Plan is a great idea. Independent study allows your child to stay on track with their work and learning, and it allows CHIME to count those students as “present” for the school day once their independent study work is returned. CHIME then retains the funding needed to ensure the high quality education program of the school. If you want to know more about Independent Study, contact your child’s teacher or division principal. You can also find our school’s independent study policy here. (hint: It’s on page 40.)
Now that August is about to be in the rearview mirror, it is on to September! (My daughter is learning to drive this Fall, so that may be the first of many driving metaphors you hear from me this year.), Mark your calendars for Back to School nights on September 17th and 19th, and prepare for the start of brisk Fall weather…or not; it is the San Fernando Valley after all.
Have a great Labor Day weekend everyone!