Dear parents,
It's the end of the month and the campus is busy preparing for the upcoming Christmas festivities. K1 and K2 classes are rehearsing in the theater. PN & N are singing seasonal songs in their classes. Though the air pollution has gone up, our anticipation for the holidays and closeness of family and friends in this colder time cannot be rivaled.
Starting off the season of love, on November 23rd, moms, dads and grandparents came to school and helped teachers decorate the classrooms for Christmas. I was overwhelmed by the amazing amount of volunteers and the quality of the decorations on the day. While every class did beautiful decorations, I must commend the N-304 parents and teachers for their creative use of natural materials, leaves, branches, pine cones and hand-stitched ornaments out of fabric. Teachers Ms. Luna and Ms. Susan told me that a group of parents had been meeting outside of school on several days the week before to prepare by hand. Thank you very much for your dedication!
Teachers are singing "Frosty The Snowman", making wishes for the class and we have finished taking class photos as well. The December meal menu includes western seasonal specialties, such as oven-roasted turkey with mashed potatoes, grilled vegetables, gingerbread cookies, rice pudding with warm cherry sauce, orange glazed chiffon cake and hot cocoa with mini marshmallows, along with new Asian dishes like Vietnamese style beef and rice noodles, steamed Halibut with Korean seaweed wraps, and Japanese style soda biscuits with Nori. All together with plenty of healthy vegetables and fruits both served with meals and in the classroom coolers.
I kindly remind parents to read the notices from both Ms. Anna our nurse and head of facilities Ms. Marie. We have been observing and recording AQI numbers over the past 4 years and though far from normal, the statistic is clear. In the colder winter months, the air quality is around 150 PM2.5 on average. Which means we do experience more frequent days with limited play or no play outside at all. Further, we strongly suggest families to invest in face masks. Ms. Anna sells them at cost price (nurse-hxj@internewton.com), you can email her or ask your teacher to help buy, or alternatively you can prepare a mask from home and our teachers will help teach children the importance of wearing the mask when outside on days with bad pollution.
In the coming weeks, we will begin to provide limited parking for children's bicycles and scooters in a clearly marked area that does not block our emergency exit route or the train "track". Parking will be limited to maximum 20 units and offered on a "first come, first served" basis.
Additionally, within the past week we have experienced two cases of parents who share their ID card to unauthorized persons. This is in clear violation of the school's safety policy and causes considerable concern by campus management and teachers. If an unauthorized person enters school using a parents ID card, the ID card will be confiscated and the unauthorized person asked to leave the school, while the parent(s) who shared the card will be asked to have a meeting with campus management. In case of emergencies that prevents you from picking up, you must provide the emergency pick-up person's identification to us in advance so we can verify for safety reasons.
On a practical and fun note, I would like to let you know that teachers and staff at campus play a game of "Secret Santa" in December. Staff pick a random colleague that they have to treat extra nice, leave notes for and make small presents for. The key to this game is that our Santas have to stay secret. Therefore, if you or your child see a fellow teacher hang something on your class teacher's door, please do not tell, help make it a surprise.
I hope that you enjoy the big Christmas tree in our lobby and notice the many beautiful tree decorations hanging from the ceiling and the wreaths on our doors, all done by your very talented and creative teachers. Have a great and happy December full of love!
IMPORTANT REMINDERS FOR THE COMING MONTH(S):
- December 6th: Christmas Party at school for Foreign K2 (tickets will be given next week)
- December 7th: Christmas Party at school for Foreign K1 (tickets will be given next week )
- December 6th - 14th: PN & N Christmas Events in classes
- December 13th: Christmas Party at school for Domestic K1 (tickets will be given next week)
- December 14th: Christmas Party at school for Domestic K2 (tickets will be given next week)
- December 22nd to 30th: Christmas Holiday for foreign section (school is closed for foreign section classes)
- December 31st to January 1st: New Year Holiday (school is closed)
Wishing you a cozy and magical winter!
Sincerely,
Anders S Christensen, principal
and the Hui Xin team!
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