Executive Director Check In As we head into a 5 day weekend for students, which includes a Renewal Day, I thought this was the perfect time to share some insights into the many ways our structures and systems support our goals of having a strong, inclusive community while offering an exemplary EL Education model for our students. We can view this through the lens of our school calendar. Next year's calendar, a draft of which is linked here will be reviewed and approved at Tuesday February 20th's board meeting.

Anser's calendar is developed annually to ensure a few priorities are in place:

Pre-Labor Day Start: Anser made the shift to our pre-labor day date to address equity issues that were created as the school district moved their start date from the last week in August to the 2nd week, widening the gap between our schedules. While we as a staff, and many families loved our later start time, we recognized that it presented challenges to many working families. Many families had difficulty finding affordable child care during this gap, older siblings that provided supervision of younger children were back in school leaving younger siblings potentially home alone, the Boys and Girls Club wasn't open to serve families that couldn't afford other childcare. Families with students at Anser and Anser graduates in the district had conflicting schedules. We made the decision to move our start date to the third week in August to address these concerns.

Collaborative Planning Time: As an EL Education school, Anser has its own EL curriculum developed by our talented educators. Planning a strong expedition with rich opportunities for students takes time. Our late start Wednesdays provide that collaborative time for teachers, while still ensuring we are still able to provide supervision for students whose parents need to be at work before 9:30.

Professional Development Days: At Anser we work to develop students who are lifelong learners, and we do the same for our teaching staff. For instance today, (2/15) our teachers were busy around the building digging into student data, learning more about ELA standards, learning new science content strategies and more! Each PD day we have for our staff grows their capacity to serve our students.

Renewal Days: Renewal Days are designed to provide time for students and school staff to rest, play and recharge. Renewal Days model self-care and living a more balanced life to our students. We encourage our families to use these days for short trips, or other activities that can fill your bucket and build your connection. For our staff, these days are an opportunity to find ways to add fulfillment in their lives outside of school. Building an entire school culture- students-parents-staff that understands their responsibility to care for themselves in order that they may care for others is our goal.

Building a school system that supports the whole child, values the professional skills of our dedicated teachers and works to provide time for families to savor these rich years with their young children is a continuous work in progress. We are grateful that in our 25th year of school your family is part of our Crew as we continue this work together.

In Crew,

Heather Dennis

Executive Director