Dear Centennial Crew,

As we shared in a previous Crew News, our equity work is grounded in improving our inclusive practices as well as who we are as an EL school. Much like we honored Hispanic/Latinx and Native and Indigenous Heritage months in October and November, we will be honoring Black Heritage Month beginning in February. As part of this work, we will be one of hundreds of schools participating in Black Lives Matter @ School Week of Action. Our teachers had time on our recent non-student contact day to craft and revise lessons for their crews. In these lessons, kids are exploring their own identities as well as learning about Black and African culture, history, and social justice. We are also including an explicit focus on what the LGBTQ+ community looks like in these cultures, as well as diverse learners and those with disabilities. See here for a brief summary on what these lessons will look like in the classroom. Please reach out with questions. We will also host a family night for Black Heritage month later in February -- stay tuned for details! Also, on our professional development day, staff watched this video for our own learning and we wanted to share it with you all as well.

This Friday, January 27th, we are recognizing International Holocaust Remembrance day at school with a schoolwide moment of silence. Please see here for more information and resources on this important day of remembrance. 

We are excited to share that for the second year in a row, “Valentine’s Day” will be officially celebrated as “Empathy Day” at Centennial. As you know, Empathy is one of our WoRLD CARE Habits of Character. Celebrating Empathy Day allows us to move away from the romantic/sugar-focused holiday for young kids and towards a deeper understanding of a complex topic like empathy. See this article for details. Last year, we purchased books in the Empathy section of this article so that each crew can have an empathy-themed read aloud. While we will not be exchanging Valentines, we will make space for crew celebrations. Please take the lead from your child's crew leader/room parent to see if they will be celebrating empathy day with any type of snacks.

Finally, a gentle reminder- Please ensure your students are leaving personal items (toys, stuffed animals, trading cards, balls, etc) at home.  If students do bring these personal items, they need to stay in backpacks throughout the school day. Thank you for your support. 

Have a great weekend,

Emily and Laura