School News
The month of March was filled with yoga celebrating the blossoming of spring, new yoga games, and deepening our self regulation tools. Games have included Yoga Bingo, Musical Mats, Yoga Jenga, Yoga Stars, Yoga Museum, Detective, Red Light Green Light yoga, and more. Incorporating games into yoga classes offers numerous benefits.
On Thursday afternoon, Shir’s mom, Dr. Orna Issler, came in to teach a lesson on neurology and the brain in Class 5-2. The children learned about the different parts of the brain and their functions.
In February we built upon our repertoire of poses, challenging and strengthening our bodies and minds. We added new poses such as half moon, warrior three, and twisted lunge. Children have also loved a variety of stories and games interwoven with asana such as, Giraffes Can't Dance by Giles Andreae and The Troublesome Pig by Priscilla Lamont.
In the month of January after returning from break, we eased into our yoga practice by revisiting familiar songs, asanas, and meditations to provide consistency and predictability to transition back into the school routine.
Sustaining relationships with our past students and their families holds great significance for all of us at Parkside. Observing the personal and professional development of our alumni and celebrating their achievements serves as a constant wellspring of inspiration, motivating us to continue our endeavors for the betterment of our present students.
Project Dorot's "Pearls of Wisdom" are elderly individuals who go into schools to share a story from their lives. In our second year of partnership with Dorot, on Friday morning our children had a chance to meet Vivian Warfield, a vibrant woman with a passion for percussive instruments.
Last year Parkside’s speech department introduced a pilot program called Lively Letters. Along with classroom and reading teachers of 3-1, 3-2 and 3-4, our goal was to increase our students’ sound symbol correspondence. This ability to know and produce a letter sound is a foundational building block to reading. This is no easy task, especially for children with speech and language-based challenges. Enter a program called Lively Letters.
This weekend’s news from Israel leaves us deeply saddened by the horrific violence that has already left many hundreds dead and thousands injured. As we continue to watch the violence unfold, we want families and staff impacted to know that you are very much in our hearts and minds.
Congratulations to Adriana Bass, former Parkside Social Work Intern, who has just accepted a position in the inaugural cohort of The Jewish Board of Family and Children’s Services Social Work Residency as one of six Behavioral Health Clinicians in the Early Childhood Mental Health track.
On Thursday, June 15 Parkside alumnus Rome Kadi ‘15 gave the the alumni address during the Class of 2023 Graduation Ceremony. Here is the full transcript of his speech and photos from the ceremony!