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~ Celebrating 100 Years of Education Worldwide ~


|          September 2020          |


 Announcements
News
Camp Glen Brook
Athletics
Alumni

Let us know how we are doing:

A Message from the Interim School Administrator


A Message from the Faculty Chair

Dear Community,

Adaptability.  Versatility.  Acceptance. 

I have stood in awe as I have watched the Faculty, Staff, and Board of The Waldorf School of Garden City demonstrate these strengths this summer in preparation to open the 2020-21 school year.   The Mission of the School was at the forefront of each decision made and the heart of the School enlivened.

Please welcome the additions to our team.

  • Thomas Jenkins – Lower School Chair
  • Christopher Garcia – ENL Teacher
  • Stephanie Rameriz – Lower School Spanish Teacher
  • Alanna Michtavy – Fourth Grade Class Teacher
  • Mihail Etropolski – Second Grade Assistant
  • Mara Esposito – First Grade Class Teacher

Here are familiar faces in new roles.

  • Nicole Littrean – Interim Administrator
  • Katie McCarthy – Fifth Grade Class Teacher
  • Amy Singh –Lower School Grades Assistant and Tech Support

Our first day of School for grades 1 – 12 is Tuesday, September 8th.  Early Childhood begins on Wednesday, September 9th. Early Childhood and Grades 1-5 will be in the building with a few students joining remotely through our Hybrid-Flex Learning model.  Grades 6-12 will begin fully online utilizing our Teacher-Directed Distance-Learning (TDDL) model.  See the Back-to-School section below for more information. Our Opening Assembly, featuring the Rose Ceremony, will be made available digitally the late morning of September 8th.

Sincerely,

Kelly O’Halogan
Faculty Chair

Announcements

Back to School! 

In order to ensure that families have the information they need for a successful start of the school year, a customized online resource page is available giving you 24-hour access to the forms and documents required for back-to-school planning.

Please note some important changes this year:

  • Submitting a wellness check through the SchoolPass App will be required prior to arrival each morning.
  • In-person school hours for grades 1-5 are 8:00 am – 3:30 pm.
  • Teacher-Directed Distance-Learning (TDDL) for grades 9-12 are Monday – Thursday 9:45 am – 3:45 pm and Friday 9:00 am – 2:45 pm.
  • Consult your teacher for details if you are participating in the Flex-Learning option.

Additional details are at the link below. Choose your grade level for grade-specific information.


School News

WSGC Grad Awarded the Cathedral Service League Grant

We are excited to share that recent graduate, Mia Ver Pault ’20, is one of five recipients of The Cathedral of the Incarnation Cathedral Service League Grant! This scholarship is awarded to select graduating seniors who were active in the Cathedral Service Programs and are pursuing post-secondary education. Mia will be attending Trinity College in Hartford this fall. She spoke about her life-changing experience as a Cathedral Choirs and community member, saying, “One of the main things I learned at the Cathedral, which might be surprising to some, is activism. My church not only taught me to love everyone as they are but to use my privilege to help others; almost all that I learned and experienced [about] activism was through the Cathedral. At the Cathedral, I also experienced the importance and beauty of community. The church community became a second family to me, always making me feel supported and loved.”

Camp Glen Brook

Though it has been a quiet summer here, our small staff has been busy caring for the farm and property—and have come to appreciate anew how the many hands of our community make this work lighter! As our fall programming starts up once more, we’ve decided to focus not on what we have lost, but on the opportunities before us

Summer Camp 2021:

  • We are making summer camp even more intentional and impactful, and are excited to bring these changes in 2021. Among them:
    • We will be offering a new age group, the Bears, between the Lynx and Falcon years—expect more details about that program soon. 
    • Those who planned to be Falcons in 2020 will have the chance to experience the Falcon program in 2021.
  • We’ve begun researching our beloved songbook to reassemble and contextualize the content to be more reflective of our values.  
    • Watch your inbox for more information about supporting this project.

Fall Programs:

  • Gap at Glen Brook is enrolled with a record 14 gappers and will run with a thorough health and safety protocol to manage risk and offer a quality program.
    • We’ve also relaunched our Spring Semester; applications are coming in!  
  • We welcomed The Waldorf School of Garden City 12th grade this week, with a COVID-ready program of physically-distanced activities outdoors. 
  • We’re partnering with the Monadnock Waldorf School’s combined 7th & 8th-grade class to host their outdoor classroom in our forests and fields.

We are grateful to be a part of this resilient and supportive community, and I look forward to welcoming you back here when the time is right.

Mark Stehlik
Glen Brook Director

What’s Happening in Athletics?

At The Waldorf School of Garden City, the interscholastic sports program is an integral part of the Middle School and High School experience, and we recognize the importance of sports to our students and the greater community. While we had been hoping to reconvene the full program this fall, we knew it could only happen if we could safeguard the health and welfare of our students, coaches, and staff in accordance with our School’s reopening plan and safety policies. Not only has it become apparent to us that interscholastic sports competition is not compatible with our School’s opening plan, but Nassau County has also voted to postpone all high school sports until 2021.

Therefore, we are regretfully canceling our fall sports season and postponing any subsequent interscholastic sports programming until it is safe to resume such activities in concert with New York State and Department of Health regulations. While we are anxious to restart the sports program at Waldorf, safeguarding the health, safety, and education of our students is our top concern at this time. Interscholastic sports programming will return when we can ensure that these concerns are not significantly compromised.

If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to reach out to me. I wish you all the very best and hope to see your student in the near future.

Yours in sport,

Shane Flanagan
Director of Athletics

 

Alumni

Alumni Notes

Jessica Diamond ’83    

Congratulations to Jessica Diamond ’83, who made the move back to the east coast this summer! After her daughter graduated from Ukiah High School in California, they drove back east to their hometown of Bath, ME. Jessica says, “We are so happy to have the ocean back in the right place and to know what time it is without thinking ‘minus 3!.” Welcome home, Jessica!

Class of 1970

The Class of 1970 is celebrating their 50th anniversary this year. Although they could not celebrate as intended due to Covid-19, they have had several Zoom meetings with up to 2/3 of the members attending from Israel to Germany, Canada, and across the country. They call themselves “Ohana,” Hawaiian for “family”!

Isaac Stumme ’18

Isaac Stumme ’18 has joined Valentines Farm for the second season of harvest. Valentines Farm said, “Isaac brings a tremendous amount of enthusiasm and an awesome teamwork mentality.” Isaac was a fan of gardening class during his time at WSGC. Learn more about Valentines Farm by visiting https://www.valentinesfarm.com/about

Irin Carmon ’01

Congratulations to Irin Carmon and her husband on the birth of their first baby girl on June 15, 2020. 

Sarah Chimino ’11 

Shaafi Chimino Amini was born to Sarah Chimino ’11 and her husband, Shahnam Amini, on July 13, 2020, at 1:33 pm CT in Houston, TX. He weighed 6lbs 10oz and was 19.8 inches at the time of birth. His name means “The Healer” in Arabic and is inspired by a very special Bahá’í healing prayer. Congratulations, Sarah, on your beautiful baby boy!

Kathy Anderson ’97

Kathy Anderson ’97, a pediatrician and health & wellness expert, penned an insightful and thought-provoking letter to the Bismarck Tribune editor in North Dakota in response to the current climate of social unrest. “As a pediatrician, health and wellness expert, and a member of our greater health care community, what we know is that racism causes disease in our communities. Studies have shown that the decisions we make as doctors, teachers, employers, and police are often shaded by biases that we often don’t know we have. And what we have learned about bias is that once we learn what our biases are, we are able to better control for them and not allow them to affect our decisions as much.” Visit https://bit.ly/3hswNKp for the full article.

 

Matthew Rivera ’09

Matthew Rivera ’09 was recently published in Architizer’s: The World’s Best Architecture as a part of the Colorado Building Workshop. The project features four backcountry privies in Rocky Mountain National Park, designed and built by twenty-four Master of Architecture students in collaboration with the National Park Service. Constructed with a prefabricated steel structure and stone sourced from the site, these privies utilize emerging waste collection methods to minimize human impact to the park. The internationally awarded project was recognized for its innovative structural system that is capable of withstanding 225mph winds. Still, it was light enough to be helicoptered to the site in the thin mountain air. It also received the 2019 AIA National Small Projects and 2019 Excellence in Structural Engineering awards for its structural design, architectural craft, and sensitivity to the surrounding environment. 

 

Franklin Rankin ’13

Congratulations to songwriting duo Big Stuff, featuring Waldorf alum Franklin Rankin ‘13, who are releasing their debut single “Water Me (feat. Shawn Whitehorn).” It will be available on all platforms on September 4th. You can pre-save the R&B ballad on Spotify: https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/bigstuff/water-me-feat-shawn-whitehorn and follow @bigstufftheband on Instagram to stay up to date on future releases.

 

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News from AWSNA

Keep up with all the news from the Association of Independent Waldorf Schools in North America by subscribing to their monthly E-News. Learn more by clicking the button below!

 

Don’t Forget you can Shop and Support The Waldorf School of Garden City with the following organizations!