Where do you find 55 fun, soon to be kindergartners in the middle of the summer? You might think of the pool or camp. However, if you are Daniels Run ES, you might start by looking on the playground!
Well over half of our rising kinders found friends, fun, excitement, and bugs on their Safari around our school as smiling staff members made them feel safe and welcome in their new school home. It was like a big play date and it was hard to tell who was having more fun, the kindergartners or the new principal who was lonely without kids and staff in the building! Parents got a chance to connect with each other and find a sympathetic ear to the idea of handing over their children to our care.
We started our play date out back on the playground and then students were split into different animal groups as the searched for bugs in the outdoor classroom, met new friends playing with equipment in the gym, heard a story in the library, and imagined catching a lion with the art teachers. Then we all joined back together to get on the big yellow bus (without our parents) and took two laps around the front of the school with our awesome Kindergarten teachers and sang silly songs. When we returned from our journey, we feasted upon Flavor Ice Popsicles (we had a few hundred left over from other events, so why not?).
As new principal here, this group of kindergartners will always be special to me as the group that started with me. Relationships are what matter most, and I’d say we got off to a successful Safari start! I cannot wait to learn together with these young explorers this year and beyond! Thank you to the parents who made special arrangements and made the effort to have their student participate in this event. Thank you to the 14 staff members who willingly came in to make this possible. You all made it a huge success!
AE
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