School News
Message To The School Community
Dear Clairbourn Family,
Can you believe that there are only 12 more school days left?! I can’t believe it either. Wow! As we start to wrap up this year, there are a few logistical items to arrange.
In order to safely distribute and collect items to and from everyone, we need to follow a schedule where families plan to arrive during an appointed time. The classroom teachers will be in attendance wearing masks and gloves to facilitate the exchange. This will also allow the students and teachers to say goodbye for the summer. If there are siblings, parents may select whichever time is more convenient. If a family cannot come during the scheduled time, they may come at a different time, but their child’s teacher will not be present. Parents and students should NOT exit their cars, but should drive through to the transportation curb where we can transfer the items.
Bags labeled with the child’s name will be ready at transportation and will include their yearbook (barring shipping issues) and personal belongings. Parents should bring back any library books, instruments, school owned-technology (including charging cords), and school-owned supplies to drop off at school at their appointed times if possible.
Monday, June 1
9-10am - JPK & PK
10-11am - Kindergarten
11-noon - 1st Grade
Noon-1pm - 2nd Grade
1-2pm - 3rd Grade
2-3pm - 4th Grade
Tuesday, June 2
9-10am - 5th Grade
10-11am - 6th Grade
11-noon - 7th Grade
Noon-1pm - 8th Grade
As we look forward to reopening in the fall, I want to let you know how we are preparing. We have been in meetings with Pasadena area school heads, with California schools, national meetings of school heads, local health and safety experts, legal experts, and child mental health experts. Many of these meetings happen on a weekly basis and help us keep very current on the changing situation. In all of our thinking and planning, the health and safety of our students, families, and employees comes first followed closely by ensuring we are fulfilling our mission in educating the children in our care. These are our guiding principles in all of our decisions and planning efforts.
At this time, it is still unclear exactly what we will be allowed or advised to do at the time school is set to open in August, so we are planning for many possibilities. The contingency planning falls into three basis categories.
- All students are present on campus using appropriate health and safety measures
- Some students are present while others learn remotely (on-site learning in shifts, staggered schedules, or in cohorts of small groups)
- All students learn remotely
Each of these scenarios will come with a long list of protocols that are vetted by health and safety experts to ensure we are mitigating risks to the degree possible. Some of the expected protocols for on-site learning may include: temperature checks for anyone entering campus, limiting or restricting visitors to campus, additional hand washing stations, additional hand sanitizer stations, requiring face masks, maintaining social distancing practices, reducing travel between learning spaces, increased cleaning of high touch surfaces, and staggered pick up and drop off times, among other things.
The school has already installed a new touchless handwashing station near the lunch tables and additional hand sanitizers at each classroom. We have also purchased sanitizing equipment and supplies to manage the demand for higher frequency cleaning of our campus.
The specific structure for the August start date is yet to be determined as it will depend on the specific requirements at that time, but please know that the health and safety of the community continues to be our highest priority.
Amy Patzlaff, Ed.D.
Head of School
Join Us For A Parent Town Hall Meeting
Please join us for a parent Town Hall Meeting about contingency plans for next year. One meeting will be May 20 at 3pm and the other meeting on May 21 at 7pm. Both meetings will be the same in structure with a presentation by the Head of School about the plans for school in the fall. All participants will be muted and questions can be submitted in advance via this link https://forms.gle/wtwzb9mGcCSnWf8J7 or it can be typed directly into the chat during the meeting.
Time For High School Counseling Meetings
Attention Grade 7 families, it is time to start scheduling your high school counseling meetings. In these meetings you will learn about the high school admissions process and the steps you need to take. All meetings will be held on Zoom and can be scheduled by emailing Jeanette Zamora at jzamora@clairbourn.org. Meetings will be scheduled for June and July.
Star Wars Day Recap: May The Fourth Be With You!
On May 4, Clairbourn's faculty suprised students with a variety of special activities all designed around one theme—Star Wars. From dressing up as Star Wars characters, to learning Jedi mind tricks, the day was full of fun and educational opportunities that channeled each child's inner Star Wars character. Watch the video below to see some highlights from the day.
Kindergarten Parents Enjoy A Spa Break
The Kindergarten class held a Mother's Day Spa theme Zoom call. Parent Claudia wrote, "It was just what the doctor ordered to close off the week and head into our deserving weekend! I love our parent community. Among the laughs, we supported each other while drumming up summer plans for our kiddos and discussed our remote learning experiences thus far."
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CFA News
Do You Need CFA Reimbursements?
If you have any expenses for CFA that you need reimbursed please submit them to Miwa Takayanagi by June 15.
Last Chance: End Of The Year Teacher Gift
At the end of each school year, CFA organizes a gift-card drive to make it easier for parents to show their appreciation. The Teacher Appreciation Group Gift Card Program allows you to participate in a class gift for your children's teachers. It also allows you to acknowledge other members of the Clairbourn community who interact with your children outside the classroom.
This year, we are giving Clairbourn faculty and staff Amazon gift cards, and families can contribute toward the purchase of those cards. The gift card will be distributed directly to the teachers at the end of May. Click here to purchase. The deadline is tomorrow on Friday, May 15. Questions: Connie Kim
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Student News
Announcing High School Acceptances
Congratulations to our graduating eighth-grade students who have been accepted into and plan to attend the following high schools.
Barreau, Madison - Los Angeles County High School for the Arts
Bu, Emily - La Salle College Preparatory
Chang, Kyle - St. Francis High School
Chen, Jenny - Mayfield Senior School
Chen, Matthew - Flintridge Preparatory School
Chiu, Aidan - La Salle College Preparatory
(Correction) Drazic, Leah - California School of the Arts San Gabriel Valley
Echemendia, Zaria - Flintridge Preparatory School
Espinoza, Thomas - La Salle College Preparatory
Gokgoz, Sophia - La Salle College Preparatory
Ho, William - Campbell Hall
Hong, Austin - Flintridge Preparatory School
Jones, Cyanne - Polytechnic School
Lopez, Alexander - St. Francis High School
Marshall, Raymond - La Salle College Preparatory
Pavel, Andrew - La Salle College Preparatory
Plummer, Roxy - Out of State
Reiling, Matthew - Flintridge Preparatory School
Sheng, Kaylie - Flintridge Preparatory School
Tian, Raymond - La Salle College Preparatory
Tseng, Jaleen - Flintridge Preparatory School
Waite, Wendy - Mayfield Senior School
Zhang, Barbie - La Salle College Preparatory
Zhang, Kevin - Flintridge Preparatory School
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Student Council News
Student Council Leads A Fun Spirit Week!
For Clairbourn's Spirit Week, the Student Council shared messages every day with ideas to help students participate in fun spirit-building activities. If you have photos of how your child participated, please post them in Vidigami for everyone to see!
Here are some stand-out styles from Crazy Hair Day!
Watch Student Council's messages below.
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Good Ideas
Social Media Celebrates The Class Of 2020
Facebook and Instagram are hosting a streaming event called #Graduation2020: Facebook and Instagram Celebrate the Class of 2020.” The event will feature a commencement address from Oprah Winfrey, along with remarks from Awkwafina, Jennifer Garner, Lil Nas X and Simone Biles. Join more than 70 stars — including Selena Gomez, Cardi B, Usher, Matthew McConaughey — in the multi-hour livestreaming event happening tomorrow, on May 15 at 11 am PT.
Why Your Child Should Dress As Batman
Katherine Martinko, author of "Being Batman Can Teach Kids Perseverence," wants parents to know that Batman cosplay can help young children stay on task. Her article states, "A study published last December in Child Development found that, when children aged four to six wear a Batman costume, they're better able to resist distraction and complete the work at hand than when they're dressed as themselves, or even another fictional character. The study was led by Rachel White and colleagues (including Angela Duckworth, author of "Grit") from Hamilton College in New York state. The 180 participants (all aged 4 to 6) were asked to complete a boring, repetitive task that they were told was important....What the researchers found is that those children dressed as Batman spent the most time on task -- 55 percent for six-year-olds and 32 percent for four-year-olds."
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Caring For Our Families
What Is Gratitude Doing To You?
Gratitude is a word we hear a lot at Clairbourn School—especially at the start of May when students celebrate Teacher Appreciation Week and submitted thank you notes, drawings, and videos to honor the work of their teachers. After such a heartfelt and bountiful outpouring of thanks, it can be easy to feel satisfied about our community’s understanding and practice of gratitude. So why is it important to unpack it and take a deeper look? Because this single word represents a much bigger concept than sincere thank-yous and heartfelt feelings.
Gratitude is a power that we can exert over our immediate experience to bring about changes for the better. It is scientifically proven to relieve our minds and bodies from the negative effects of dissatisfaction, stress, disappointment, delay, and devastation—struggles especially associated with the current COVID-19 losses, economic fallout, and restrictions. Read The Full Blog Post
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Picture Books
Storytime Videos For Our Youngest Students
NEW STORIES THIS WEEK from Dr. Patzlaff. Pull up a comfy chair and get ready for Picture Books!
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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! Email Noelle Shoemake at nshoemake@clairbourn.org with the details including a photo or video if you have one.
Tiffany H. Performs On Mother's Day
Tiffany H., in Grade 7, performed a soprano aria called, "A Mio Babbino Caro," from the opera Gianni Schicchi (1918) by Giacomo Puccini. She performed for the East Meets West Parent Education Club's Mother's Day Virtual Concert held on Sunday, May 10. Tiffany was one of several
award-winning young musicians who performed at their 2020 Lunar New Year gala. Forward the video to the 10min 26 second time mark to see Tiffany sing.
Cyanne J. Adopts A Senior
 Eighth-grader Cyanne J. adopted a senior through her mother/daughter volunteer group called National Charity League (NCL). Due to Covid-19 disrupting traditional senior gradations, NCL thought it would be a good idea to pamper the seniors in their organization for a week. Each senior received a sign to post in their yard, a mailed letter of encouragement, a sweet treat, and a small gift delivered to their home. Throughout the week, Cyanne and her mother Nicole dropped off fun gifts to their adopted senior that she could use in college. They gave her a bottle of Tide, a clothes bag, $10 in quarters, a gift card to Target and Starbucks, and a note that said “Congrats Senior, you will have LOADS of fun in college.” NCL will end the week with a drive-by parade in front of the seniors' homes. A special thank you goes to Cyanne for her inspiring acts to make a difference for someone else!
Claire L. Constructs A Rose Parade Float
The Tournament of Roses is hosting a virtual Rose Parade, on Thursday, May 28 via Facebook Live. The parade will feature videos of homemade floats, submitted by the general public, and presented in one compilation video. Participant, Claire L. in JPK, worked hard over the past month designing and building her own float to submit in the virtual Rose Parade. Claire named her float, "Bee Kind, Bee Happy, Bee True." View Claire's float entry below which we hope to see her float featured in the final video!
Although submission were due on May 11, you can still make your own float for fun! The first step in creating a float is to imagine what it could be about or look like. Next, gather materials from around your house and yard such as newspapers, toys, leaves, etc. Then build your float! Take a picture or record a video to show your friends and family what you made!
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Inspiration From Others
7-Year-Old Builds World's Best COVID-19 Website
Good ideas can come to anyone—even the very young—and if those ideas are faithfully acted upon, they can have a huge impact on world issues. The New Yorker's article, " The High Schooler Who Became a COVID-19 Watchdog" reported last week that, "Avi Schiffmann, a seventeen-year-old from Washington State, launched a homemade Web site to track the movement of the coronavirus. Since then, the site, ncov2019.live, has had more than a hundred million visitors. “I wanted to just make the data easily accessible, but I never thought it would end up being this big,” the high-school junior said last week over FaceTime." Avi is also notable for being a self-taught coder that learned his skill set by watching YouTube videos, and he turned down an $8 million dollar offer to place ads on his COVID-19 website!
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Smile Booster
When Online Teaching Goes Wrong
An Anglican school for girls in South Africa put together a "blooper reel" of their early attempts at online teaching. Watch the funny video below.
A Capella Group, Shades Of Yale, Performs
Kindergarten parent Heather Jones shared this Zoom performance video from Shades of Yale, an a capella R&B/Gospel group, singing “Amen” and “We Shall Overcome.” Watch the video below.
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| | Morning Messages
Morning Assembly Messages for Student's Character Education.
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Remote Learning Parent Survey
 We are leaving this survey open. Add to it at any time. |
The Balancing Strategy Of Brain Breaks
Thanks to the pandemic, screen time is dominating our lives right now, which means balancing strategies are needed to ensure we aren’t always plugged-in. Clairbourn School teachers are great at this...using the “brain breaks” strategy to make sure students stay healthy, productive, and focused—and this is something everyone can easily do at home.
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Commencement Speeches For Class Of 2020
Barack and Michelle Obama are delivering virtual commencement speeches for graduating students in a YouTube special on June 6, 2020, called Dear Class of 2020.
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Anne Gifford Ewing, Class of 1992 - Trusts and Estate Lawyer
Possessing an Audrey Hepburn elegance coupled with the intelligence of Madeleine Albright, Anne Gifford Ewing from the Class of 1992 speaks with an arresting precision and poise.
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Join Author Mo Williams On Thursdays
May is Thank-O-Rama month with author Mo Willems. To celebrate the month, Disney Publishing Worldwide is joining the Kennedy Center for a special video series starring Mo Williams called Thank You Thursdays. Tune in every Thursday of May after 1:00 pm ET to see who Mo Williams will thank for all their hard work. Learn More
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Family Meal: Recipes From Our Community
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Health And Well-Being Webinars
Futures Academy developed webinars to help students become more resilient in the face of adversity, feel more connected with the people around them, and aim higher in their aspirations for their future. Families, students, and parents/guardians may join any of their scheduled Health & Well-Being Webinars on Zoom. Here is the Zoom Link
Meeting ID: 778 4731 5492
Password: futures
Screen Time: Disconnect & Recharge
Tuesday, May 19 at 3-4pm
No Gym, No Problem
Wednesday, May 27 at 3-4pm
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Build Your Child's Personal Library!
Amazon is offering free copies of their 100 best-selling Childrens books. Check it Out
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Community Care Guide/Resources
Due to its growing size, the Community Care Guide has moved and is now accessible from the Clairbourn homepage. More links to helpful information are added every week.
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Post Your Pics of Remote Learning
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Stay Connected
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