Head of School Update
Important Dates - K and Grade 1 Families
Dear Clairbourn Families,
I am pleased to report the Middle School Conditioning Program is going very well. Students are consistent in wearing masks and keeping distanced. The activities that Mr. Ball and Mrs. DeVasto have designed are both fun and energizing! Way to go, Middle School!
This week we were given permission to start bringing students in the younger grades back to campus for academics. Part of the opening advice from the state and county is to open in separate stages so modifications or adaptations can be made at each stage while keeping the groups small as the implementation is happening.
We started by surveying the Kindergarten families and are communicating with them about the return to campus. Because we know many families traveled over the President's Day weekend, we are asking all of the K families to self quarantine for a week to prepare for the return to campus. This means limiting interactions with others and following the recommended protocols of masking and distancing when away from home.
We will hold a classroom visitation day for the K families on February 25 and start on-campus classes for the group who selected this option on February 26. We are also holding a K parent meeting on February 19 at 3:30 to answer specific questions about the protocols and procedures. Kindergarten parents, please watch your email for the invitation to the meeting.
Our next group to come to campus will be Grade 1. A survey was sent to this grade today. We are in the process of surveying the preschool families for a targeted return date of March 29.
Grade 2-5 families will be contacted in the next week or so to assess the desires of each family. It is very important that each and every family tell us their preference when the survey comes through. It is impossible to plan if we don't hear from everyone in the group.
Amy Patzlaff, Ed.D.
Head of School
Coming To Campus
Use the Magnus App for Health Screening
Getting Ready to Come to Campus: For any parent who would like to get ready for their child to come to campus, you can follow these directions:
- Log into Cougarnet at clairbourn.myschoolapp.com with your own (parent) account. This will not work if you log in as a student.
- Under the "Resources" tab look for a tile with a link to Magnus.
- Click on the Magnus tile. It should log you right into your Magnus account without having to re-enter credentials to log on.
- Click or hover over your name within Magnus (top left of screen).
- Choose "Change Credentials."
- Create a Username & Password that only you know and will remember. This username/password combination will be used as your PHR mobile app login only.
- On your phone, download the "Magnus Mobile V2" app from the Apple Store or the Google Play store, and log in using your newly created username and password.
- Select the button that says COVID-19 and fill out the form. (You will only see this button if your child is SCHEDULED to be on campus.)
- This is the screen you will show the school-official before your child exits the car. The green "GO" at the top signals that the health form has been completed. (You will only be able to generate this screen using the app if your child is SCHEDULED to be on campus.)
- If you have any questions on the Magnus App, please contact Mr. Jubilado, Clairbourn's Health Officer at njubilado@clairbourn.org.
Join in This Upcoming Activity
Don't Miss the CFA's Virtual Magic Show for Grades K-2! This 30-minute interactive magic show is sure to have your kids laughing in amazement, and it's a great opportunity to give them some virtual magic fun with their classmates.
When: Sunday, February 21 at 2pm.
Buying Your Spot: Visit the Clairbourn Store to reserve and buy your spot by Thurs., Feb. 18.
Important: When ordering, please write your child’s name, grade, and the email address for receiving the Zoom link in the comment section.
Questions? Please contact Miriam Cruz at mncrdesign@gmail.com
Last Chance to Enter the Latest Contest
 You have until Friday the 19th to post a Valentine's Day Theme Photo in Vidigami: Upload your photo to this Vidigami Album to enter the contest.
About The Contests:
The Student Council started Operation Picture Project to help generate photos for the yearbook while in remote learning mode. Students and parents can take pictures related to "Theme Days" and submit them on Vidigami. Students will receive one point for submitting a picture.
Extra Points: Every theme day, judges will pick three winners who will receive extra points!
Get Prizes: Students can get prizes with their points (details will be shared later on). The more you post photos, the more fun you'll have!
The Next Theme Day: March 4 will be a College Day theme. To enter the contest, be sure to upload your photo to this Vidigami Album on or after March 4.
When Does it End? Operation Picture Project will end on March 12 when third quarter ends.
Grades 1 and K Celebrate 100th Day
Parents, please post your pictures in Vidigami!
Please email Nancy Ward at nward@clairbourn.org if you need help accessing your Vidigami account. You must have a Vidigami account to view these photos.
Big Achievements in Our Own Backyard
Located within 10 miles of Clairbourn is the leading center of space exploration in the entire world! Our school community is surrounded by some of the world's best scientists, engineers, technologists, and designers who work for Caltech or the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena. JPL is managed by Caltech for NASA, and it builds spacecraft and rovers to study areas that astronauts can't reach. Since 1958, their spacecrafts have visited and studied all the planets in our solar system including the sun.
Today, one of their projects, the Mars Perseverance Rover successfully landed on the red planet and will begin its main task of taking soil samples with the purpose of looking for fossilized microbial life. The hope is to retrieve the samples in another mission and study them back on Earth. This information could set the stage for humans to eventually travel to Mars and live on the planet.
Have fun with the Mars Photobooth webpage and make it look like you took a selfie on Mars.
Fascinating Facts about the Rover:
-This project was 10 years in the making.
-The chance of landing successfully was 50%.
-The rover has been traveling through space for 7 months.
-The rover traveled 292 million miles.
-It reached Mars traveling at a speed of 12,000mph.
-It withstood atmospheric entry temperatures of 2,300°F.
-It is -64°F on Mars, so it can withstand extreme cold as well.
-A parachute and jetpacks slowed it down while landing.
-A sky crane lowered it to the planet's surface.
-The rover is about the size of a MINI Cooper car.
-It includes a tiny remote control helicopter called Ingenuity.
-The project cost is 2.7 billion dollars.
Smile Boosters
Internet Videos Worth Watching
Get inspired by Olympic Gold Medalist Wilma Rudolph. If you don't know about her, she was inflicted with polio (a life-threatening disease that causes paralysis) and shared, “My doctor told me I would never walk again. My mother told me I would. I believed my mother.” She wore a leg brace and by 6 years old she learned to hop on one leg. She could move around by age 8 with the help of the brace. By age 11 she was able to play basketball, and at age 16 she entered the Olympics and won a bronze medal for the 4x100 relay. At age 20, she won 3 gold medals and broke records in her second Olympic competition. Source: thekidshouldseethis.com
Jack Sheng in Grade 6, along with his parents Bo Guan and Shunxian "Jack" Zhang (famous artists in the Peking Opera), love sharing information about Chinese culture. They have prepared this spectacular video where they sing, play, music, and perform to convey the feelings, imagery, traditions, and excitement of Chinese New Year / Spring Festival.
Bo Guan explains, "Spring Festival is the most important festival in China. In the evening, before the Spring Festival, families get together and have a big meal. In many places, people like to set off firecrackers, and dumplings are the most traditional food. Children like the festival very much because they can have delicious food and wear new clothes. They can also get some money from their parents. This money is given to children for good luck. People also put New Year scrolls on the wall for good fortune."
Morning Assembly
Catch up On Morning Assembly Messages
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Having Heart: It Can Land You Your Dream Job!
Heart is not just about being a caring person who is active in community service. It also means you don't give up when things get tough. You stay motivated to find a solution, reach your goal, or accomplish your dream.
UPS Vice President Regina Hartley has a different term for people who have heart. She calls them "Scrappers."
In her TED talk, " Why the Best Hire Might Not Have the Perfect Resume," she explains how she often has to choose between two qualified job candidates. One usually appears destined for success with the perfect resume and an Ivy League degree. The other candidate usually has a patchwork resume, lack of career focus, and signs of a background where they had to struggle against major obstacles.
Hartley makes sure she takes a serious look at the Scrapper candidate resumes because "Scrappers have a sense of purpose that prevents them from giving up on themselves. If you've survived poverty, a crazy father and several muggings, you figure, Business challenges?Really? Piece of cake. I got this."
So, whether you identify as either candidate type, it's important to prove you have heart and can find solutions when times get tough. It may give you the best chance of setting yourself apart from the pack of job-seekers!
Clairbourn is "Creating Scholars and Leaders with Heart!" |
Black History Month Coverage
See who is featured!
This week in the Wednesday Morning Assembly message (viewable at the end of this eCourier newsletter), the Student Council celebrates the achievements of track and field Olympian and world-record setter Jessie Owens and comedian, actor, and producer Kevin Hart.
Jessie Owens Facts:
-He is considered to be the greatest athlete in the history of track and field events.
-He specialized in sprints and the long jump.
-He was a 4-time Olympic gold medalist at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin.
-Owens' Olympic wins crushed Hitler's myth of "Aryan supremacy."
-He won 8 NCAA championships while at Ohio State University.
-At the 1935 Big Ten Track Meet in Michigan, he set three world records and tied a fourth world record all in under an hour. (This feat has never been repeated).
-The USA Track and Field organization has named their highest award the Jessie Owens Award.
Kevin Hart Facts:
-He got his start in amateur comedy competitions.
-He was often booed off stage, and it took a long time before he got better.
-Since 2002, he has been in 48 films, 30 television shows, and 6 music videos.
-He has 1 BET Best Actor Award, 3 NAACP Image Awards, 1 Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Award, and 8 People's Choice Awards.
-He founded Laugh Out Loud Productions in 2017 to give opportunities to comedic talent around the world from all ethnicities.
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Staying Healthy:
Have Kids Empty the Dishwasher
A recent article, " Emptying the Dishwasher Can Enrich Kids’ Mental Health" reports that "...small opportunities to feel useful and successful are good for kids’ mental health..." and can develop self-efficacy where kids learn to believe they can succeed at facing challenges. Research has shown that when parents jump in to help their kids with small tasks, it solves parental anxiety, but has a side effect of transferring anxiety to the child instead.
Professor of Positive Psychology Lea Waters says, "Humans thrive on a sense of control and capability; low self-efficacy, or learned helplessness, is associated with anxiety, depression, lack of hope and lack of motivation, while higher self-efficacy is associated with life satisfaction, self-confidence, social connection and growth mind-set."
How can you help your kids build healthy self-efficacy? Start small and give positive feedback!
Tasks for Big Kids:
-Ask them to empty the dishwasher.
-Have them make their bed.
-Ask them to help set up the Wi-Fi booster.
Tasks for Little Kids:
-Ask them to complete a Lego build.
-Ask them to pack their own backpack.
-Have them make a snack.
Positive Parent Feedback:
Comments like, "You did that really well," or "You didn't need much help from me this time," create, "feelings of efficacy for children that they can draw on the next time they face a challenge...."
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Student Accomplishments
Send in your student updates! Did your student win an award, learn a new skill, make something cool, have an adventure, or do a service project? We'd love to post it in the eCourier!
with the details including a photo or video if you have one.
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Community Support
Check out our COVID-19 Resources Page designed to help kids keep busy, families stay healthy, and parents be supported. |
Stay Connected
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Reviews Count!
Would you recommend Clairbourn to a friend? If so, be sure to review us on one of these sites.
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