Keep the information and good news flowing Valley!
During particularly challenging times, it becomes even more important to keep information flowing. Because of the many challenges we have faced in the past few weeks, I wanted to reinforce our commitment to keeping an open flow of two-way conversation with our entire Maple Valley community.
I want to invite people to come out for my monthly conversation opportunities. The first is Coffee and Conversation which is held at JoLei’s Diner in Vermontville. The second is Appetizers and Alliances which transfers back and forth between Good Times and R&Ds in Nashville. The dates and times can be found on our calendar or my webpage on the Maple Valley website. This is a great time to come meet with me and have conversation around any of the ideas, concerns, or questions you may have about our district. This is a wonderful way for us to get to know one another and have substantial conversations around educational topics.
Now that our administration team is fully back in place, they are working hard to get back to the business of sending out newsletters and notifications to our families about events and building specific news. They are also continuing to catch up with individual communications. As we all know too well, the world doesn’t wait for anyone no matter what may be happening to us as individuals.
As the holiday season is upon us, make sure you regularly check our district wide calendar on our website. This will help you to keep up with concerts, special events, and other opportunities to ask our students for more details about what they are experiencing in school.
I am asking all of us to extend open communication to our students as well. These past twenty months have been stressful for all of us and our kids are not immune to that stress. Many fun, engaging and exciting things are happening in our face-to-face learning. When you see a Maple Valley kid over the coming holiday weeks, please ask them to share what they are enjoying about school this year, what they are learning, who their friends are, what they enjoy about their teachers, and what activities they are engaged in outside of school. The more they can reflect upon the good times they are having in school the better they feel about the times we spend together in learning. Additionally, the more we encourage them to work hard, ask questions, and do their best the better our kids learn to set high standards for themselves. We are not going to fix all of the impacts of the past twenty months this year. It will be a long, sustained effort and our students need to know we understand and support them in the work they are doing to get back on track. Celebrating, encouraging, and hearing our kids will go a long way to giving them the supportive community that fosters growth, resilience, and hope for their futures.
Thank you for partnering with us to make a supportive community for our students everywhere they go!
In gratitude for the Valley we love!
Dr. B
