05.29.20: Friday Update

From: Julie Smith, Head of School
Subject: Friday update; Graduation Week; Student Government; Summer School

Dear Stanbridge Parents and Guardians,

Starting off this weekend's update with thanks and congratulations. A big thank you to all of the students who performed as part of today's online Spring Sing! While nothing can recreate the experience of a live show, the talent on display this afternoon shined through, and it was a blast to watch everyone's reactions to the show in real time. You all deserve a ton of credit for the work and dedication in putting together your individual pieces for this year's concert—kudos on a job well done. And special thanks to Matt Robidoux, who followed-up this year's virtual prom with a stunning encore. Amazing work, Matt, in working with our students to perform, produce, edit, and host this year's show. It was an energizing way to start the weekend and segue into the final week of the school year.

And a busy week it will be. Below is the full schedule of events for each division, leading up to the Middle School's online graduation ceremony on Thursday, June 4th and the High School's Class of 2020 ceremony on the morning of Friday, June 5th. Both of these ceremonies will be livestreamed online at 10:00 a.m. PT and all Stanbridge students, families, alumni, and friends are invited to watch. Links to view the ceremonies have been posted to the Parent Portal; the sites will go live 24 hours before the ceremony's video begins streaming. For those who can't watch next Thursday or Friday morning, fear not—the sites and videos will remain online throughout the summer.  

UPCOMING EVENTS FOR FINAL WEEK OF SCHOOL YEAR

Sunday, May 31

• "Grad Pack" deliveries to all graduating 8th-graders and 12-graders. Staff members will be making personal deliveries to graduate households that include diplomas, award plaques, graduation gowns (and caps for seniors), and a few surprises. Parents of these students should look for an email this weekend with more details to coordinate a time that works best for dropoff.

Monday, June 1

• Final day of P.E. and Specials for Middle School (music, art, tech)
• Final day of electives and Social Learning for High School

Tuesday, June 2

• Final day of core academic instruction for Middle School and High School
• Middle School Awards at 2:30 p.m. Zoom link was sent to all families in MS division; all Middle School students will be receiving awards during this event.

Wednesday, June 3

• No direct instruction for Middle School and High School students. This will be a student work day and teachers will hold office hours. Students will use this day to complete any outstanding work.
• Final day of school for Elementary; regular instruction in morning through 1:00 p.m.
• High School Awards at 12:30 p.m. A Zoom link will be posted to the HS distance-learning schedule for next week; all High School students will be receiving awards during this event.
• Elementary Awards and Step-Up Ceremony at 2:00 p.m. There will be a Zoom session for all elementary students that will feature year-end awards for all students, and a special "Step-Up" ceremony for fifth-graders graduating to Middle School (link will be shared by Danny).

Thursday, June 4

• No direct instruction for High School students. This will be a student work day and teachers will hold office hours. Students will use this day to complete any outstanding work; they are encouraged to watch the Middle School graduation ceremony at 10:00 a.m. (see details below).
• Middle School Eighth Grade Graduation, 10:00 a.m. All Stanbridge students, families and friends invited to watch the livestream ceremony; see link on Parent Portal. This is the final day of school for Middle School students (though they are encouraged to watch Friday's commencement ceremony for the seniors).

Friday, June 5

• High School Class of 2020 Senior Graduation, 10:00 a.m. All Stanbridge students, families and friends invited to watch the livestream ceremony; see link on Parent Portal. This is the final day of school  for all students; faculty will hold in-service days next week.

STUDENT GOVERNMENT OFFICERS ELECTED FOR 2020–2021
Before signing-off, a few more administrative notes: First, another round of thanks and congratulations to all involved in the Student Government elections for next year. Great job by advisor Kenny Katz in organizing this year's election, as well as Colleen McQuade who published the special election edition of the Stanbridge Weekly News. Most importantly, however, is the thought, courage, and drive put forth by all of this year's candidates. Your ideas, passion, and dedication to Stanbridge were inspiring, and both the staff and student body of Stanbridge are proud of you for your efforts. For those who were not elected, I hope you will use your voice to work with your peers and next year's leaders in continuing to inspire positive change and progress. And to those candidates who were elected, I look forward to working with you on making Stanbridge the best it can be. Announced by Kenny during this afternoon's Spring Sing, here are Stanbridge's Student Government officers for the 2020–2021 school year:

• President: Nate B.
• Vice-President: Ayal T.
• Treasurer: Ian M.
• Secretary: Gabby L-B.

DISABILITY RIGHTS DOCUMENTARY AND LIVE Q&A
Screentime has been an issue for all of us over these past few weeks, but I encourage you to make some time this week, if you can, for a special presentation by Human Rights Watch. HRW is one of a handful of organizations in the world that has, amongst others, a dedicated division focused on disability rights. With a worldwide presence, HRW is able to advocate for the rights of people with disabilities wherever they may be and investigate, expose and advocate for systemic changes. Gloria Principe is a former Stanbridge trustee and parent of a Stanbridge alumnus, and she is also on the Silicon Valley Committee for HRW. She wanted to share the event below with the Stanbridge community:

On Wednesday, June 3 starting at noon, HRW is hosting a 45-minute conversation and Q&A on Zoom featuring the Head of HRW's Disability Rights Division, Shantha Rau Barriga, and iconic disability rights activist, Judy Heumann, a key figure in the movement since the 70's. The conversation will be centered around the movie Crip Camp, an uplifting and inspiring documentary that tells the story of the disability rights movement and how it began in the 60's at a NY summer camp for teens (Note: Crip Camp is currently available to stream on Netflix). This is a truly unique opportunity to hear more about the movie and learn more about their work. There will also be an opportunity to ask questions at the end. If you are interested in participating in the live Zoom session, please email me directly and I will send you the information from Gloria.

SUMMER SCHOOL DEADLINE IS MONDAY - SOME CLASSES MAY BE CUT!
Finally, a reminder that Monday is the deadline for Summer School sign-ups and a couple of classes are still a few students shy of the minimum enrollment. To ensure we don't cut a class that your student is interested in or plans to sign-up for, please email Linda Bargas by Monday afternoon with your requested courses. There are offerings for students in all grade levels, and the mix of artistic, academic, and social learning they will receive will not only help to provide structure to their summer mornings, it will also keep them connected to school, their teachers, and classmates over summer break. Full course listings and enrollment information is on the Summer School page—act now to help your student avoid the "summer slump."

Indeed, summer is almost here. Only one week of distance-learning remains before break begins, and I look forward to the week full of year-end celebrations that lies ahead. We're almost there, Bulldogs—hang in there and Stay Strong!