School Spirit Week

Dear Soundview Families,

The school year has begun for our Board of Trustees and all its committees. The Board has clear goals for itself and for the school’s future. Please read the fall update from Board President Shawn Heidel HERE.

Soundview Spirit week was a success! Additionally, on Monday, the Middle Years Program hosted a performance by SilverKite, a long-standing Soundview partner. SilverKite’s performance explored the various pathways we navigate as we find ourselves, embrace our neighbors, and build our homes and communities. They presented an original intergenerational theater production, Sidewalks. You can learn about Silverkite HERE. Today was assembly day, led by the eighth-grade class. They presented the IB trait for November: risk-taker. You can learn about the school IB traits HERE.

Here are upcoming events and opportunities now and through October: 

• BOOLING and Trunk-or-Treat is tomorrow! We are very excited for this Soundview tradition. Participants can view your lane assignments HERE.

• Next Monday, October 30th and Tuesday, October 31st, Soundview will hold parent-teacher and student-led conferences. There are no classes for students these days. Regular school resumes on Wednesday, November 1st at the usual time. Conferences are an important opportunity to discuss your child’s development as well as for our older students to practice their reflection, goal-setting, and presentation skills. Here is a quick explanation of each participant’s roles: 

  • Students: (fifth- through eighth-graders lead their own conferences; conferences for lower grades are not student-led):

    • Identify strengths and areas for growth with specific examples.

    • Celebrate the students’ strengths.

    • Create a plan for addressing the students’ areas for growth.

  • Parents:

    • Please be punctual (it’s a very busy day).

    • Stay positive; focus on your child’s strengths.

    • Ask open-ended and reflective questions.

  • Teachers:

    • Manage the time respectfully.

    • Provide probing questions and highlight achievements.

    • Be ready to clarify where necessary.

• Picture retake day is Tuesday, November 7th. This is also an opportunity for families to have siblings take a photo with one another if you choose to do so. You can sign up for retake or sibling photo day HERE.

• November 17th is Soundview’s Grandparents and Special Friends Day (GPSF). This is a day when we invite grandparents and special friends of our students to spend an hour in our classrooms doing projects and activities with their students. Detailed information and an RSVP form is HERE. 

• The admissions campaign for next year’s enrollment is very robust, but we still need your help. Please take a moment to tell your friends about Soundview School and what it means to your family. For any and all questions, contact our Director of Enrollment Management, Victoria Nunes HERE. 

• Our SPGA now has a Soundview gear recycling program! Do you have shirts, sweatshirts, or other Soundview gear that your child has outgrown? Drop off gently used gear at the main office. The goal is to have every student at Soundview repping their school! Once we establish an inventory, SPGA will facilitate distribution. Reach out to SPGA President Carson Kaiser-Brown with questions about donations or requests HERE.

• The annual giving campaign officially launches on December 1st! Please be on the look-out for your opportunity to keep Soundview School ethical, rigorous, and compassionate. Tuition alone does not afford the full Soundview experience. Facilities, financial aid, outdoor school, student services, and so much more depend on your support. To learn more about the culture of philanthropy in independent schools, reach out to Advancement Manager Ryan Wasserman HERE.

October continues to provide a number of additional opportunities to widen our perspectives and awareness:

• October is National Domestic Violence Awareness Month which started in 1989. You can learn more about this HERE. 

• October is AIDS Awareness Month, which supports educational campaigns that disseminate science-based, factual, and clear information to youths, at-risk people, and the general public. You can learn more about this HERE. 

• October is Down Syndrome Awareness Month, or “DSAM”. It’s a month to raise awareness and celebrate the many abilities of our loved ones with Down syndrome. You can learn more about this HERE. 

See you at Booling! 

Chris
Chris Watson, Soundview Head of School

One more thing…
On October 27th, 1904 New York City Subway Began its operations. As the oldest underground subway system in the United States, construction of the transit system began in 1902. Today, the NYC subway is one of the world’s largest and the most used rapid transit systems in the world. You can learn more about this HERE.