Welcome Back!
Aloha! School year 2007-2008 is off to a great start! Several of our teachers have 
commented that it seems like the students haven’t skipped a beat — very, very few transition issues from summer vacation into classroom routines and students feeling quite comfortable in their new grade-level communities. I’ve been helping in the dining room at lunch, and can confirm that our children have quickly settled into school. The students in kindergarten through fifth grade gathered for a short assembly on Monday morning to meet faculty and to review the playground/recess rules. It’s invigorating to see, feel, and hear the campus humming with life, especially the energy and excitement that your children infuse into this community.
Even before your children stepped onto campus, the faculty had been meeting (the week prior to the first day of school) to discuss curriculum, instruction, assessment, school procedures, supervision, and safety. We discussed school goals and our yearlong documentation of our work for the accreditation visit in Spring 2009 by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) and the Hawaii Association of Independent Schools (HAIS).
Accreditation is a process that validates the integrity of a school’s program and fosters excellence and ongoing improvement in public and private schools. Moreover, it is a powerful self-evaluation process for schools to manage regular assessment, planning, and implementation. You’ll hear more about accreditation because some of you may be asked to participate in small group discussions. All parents will be asked to complete a survey.
We’ll be celebrating MPI’s 100th year in Manoa with schoolwide projects and a special lu`au to honor our founding families. The elementary school, with participation from the middle and high school, will take the lead in organizing and producing an original opera, Kahalaopuna, Princess of Manoa ,” by librettist and composer Dr. Neil McKay. We will partner with the Hawaii Opera Theater to produce this opera specifically written for youth. For this year only, this spring production will take the place of Grandparents’ Day and May Day. We will keep you informed about MPI’s activities and events to commemorate our 100 years in beautiful, historic Manoa.
All preschool and elementary staff received CPR and First Aid training, including use of a defibrillator. The maintenance crew did a thorough job of cleaning classrooms and maintaining the grounds.
For those of you who have remembered to check the elementary website the first Thursday of the school year for communications from the school, please note that the teachers’ weblogs will not be up until next week. We are in the process of updating the software for the weblogs. However, some of the teachers wanted to send home updates, so we decided to distribute Thursday packets tomorrow (Friday, August 17). Please check your child’s backpack on Friday for a manila envelope, which contains very important information — lunch order form, afterschool special classes enrollment forms (e.g., choir, ukulele, guitar, etc.), information about the Welcome Barbecue, etc. Check your child’s class list. If you find any errors in the information listed, please contact Margery Jacobson at 441-3801 at your earliest convenience.
Although I know that some of you are still adjusting to the morning traffic coming into MPI (and exploring the quickest route from home to school), I’d say that traffic overall has been running smoothly. However, I do have three important reminders regarding your child’s safety:
- No elementary student is permitted to walk onto the campus from the Maile Way exit. It’s a very dangerous exit for children because of the oncoming traffic leaving the MPI campus. There is also no sidewalk for anyone to safely maneuver the exit.
- If you are dropping off your 3rd, 4th, or 5th grader at the bottom autoline, you must get into the right lane and pull off to the curb so that your child can safely exit. Do not have your child leave your car from the left lane of traffic and then attempt to cut across the traffic to get to the curb.
- As much as possible, have your child sit on the right side of your car so that he/she can get out quickly and safely. This will eliminate having you get out of your car to open the door since it’s hazardous to put our 5th grade HUGSS students out on the road to open car doors. This also holds up the traffic.
I understand that most uniform orders have been filled or are being delivered to your child’s classroom. Please call Kaylene Kamada of Intuition at 735-8671 before August 20, if you have any questions.
Clarification about Parent Intake meetings: Up to last year, we set aside a school day (a no-school day) to meet with parents to gather information about your children so that we could better understand them as individuals in our classrooms. This is an opportunity for parents to tell us about their children — strengths, hobbies/interests, medical needs, daily schedule, likes/dislikes, etc. We decided to reinstate the school day, but would still like to meet with parents,
Even though Parent Intake is optional. Your child’s classroom teacher will be contacting you to set up a meeting after school, prior to Open House. Thank you for cooperating with the teacher to schedule a meeting time. All of our teachers value the information that you provide about your child.
Finally, I’m sure we were all greatly relieved that Hurricane Flossie skirted past Hawaii, even though we were braced for the worst. We have more time to prepare for hurricanes because of the “watch” and “warning” Civil defense system. However, if necessary, we would have kept your children at school because it is located in a no-flood zone. MPI’s emergency plans are explained in the student handbook.
A busy, happy first week of school — and much more to come!
For our children,
Edna L. Hussey
Principal
Posted on August 16, 2007 3:14 PM | Permalink