Teacher Margaret's "View From My Window" - September 14th

September is a busy month! Among other observances, it is National Preparedness Month. We begin early at Westfield. Over the summer we plan our drills, conduct tabletop exercises with faculty, and throughout the year have our Safety Committee meet to review our practices, debrief drills, and discuss incidents such as the recent bee stings. 

Your news feeds, streaming services, and radio programs are saturated with reports of devastating floods, fires, earthquakes, and more. Children hear this as you listen, watch, and talk with other adults.  It's up to us, the adults who care for them, to reassure them. Children take comfort from knowing that we have a plan. They gain a sense of agency in being asked, in age-appropriate ways, to help think through what your family might do in an emergency. The Federal Government has resources for you and your family – Be a Ready Kid | Ready.gov – is one such resource. 

Last year, during an evacuation drill, a student asked why we walked in single file to the Memorial School. I explained we were practicing so their muscles knew what to do in case we had an emergency and needed to leave school. This child replied, “Oh, this is just like when my family practices how to get out of our house if there was a fire.” What we were doing that morning, made sense to the student and reassured them. 

Back to School Night has given everyone time to meet with other parents in their child’s classes, hear from the teachers about their plans for the year, and hear from our nurse. Thursday evening, parents were introduced to Family Council Officers and Darren White, a member of the school’s Board of Trustees. I asked teachers to think about three things they wanted you to remember from the evening. I hope you came away with a sense of the richness of your child’s daily learning and exploration.

Warmly,

Margaret Haviland

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Announcements:

• Saturday, September 16, BYOC Play Date, 10:00am -11:00am on the playground
• Monday, September 18, Westfield 7th Annual Golf Outing, Riverton Country Club - even if you can’t make it, be sure to visit the Auction Catalog. You can participate in bidding on items such as outdoor adventures, autographed Eagles footballs (Go Birds!), golf and baseball outings, and more! Something for everyone. BIDDING ENDS Monday, September 18th @ 7:00 pm.
• Sunday, September 24, Friends School High School Fair at Haddonfield Friends School 1:00 - 3:00pm
• Monday, September 25, school closed for Yom Kippur
• Sunday, October 1, come to the Family Council and Westfield Meeting celebration of World Quaker Day, 10:00am - 12:00pm. The theme this year is “Ubuntu - I am because you are”

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