written by David Núñez, Interim Head of School

Dear GRS Community,

Happy October everyone!

The school year is off and running and I’m excited to say that things are moving along smoothly despite a few hiccups. Our biggest challenge has been the complete lack of substitute teachers in the state of MN right now. If you know anyone who is interested, we are going to be running an orientation and training on being a substitute in an attempt to grow our own substitute staff.

Our biggest success so far this year has been the success of the fall Key Experiences, despite the fact that we hadn’t run them in years due to COVID-19. While there were challenges to the trips, the staff and students rose to those challenges and had some truly formative experiences. We are meeting to process how we can improve upon the trips for next time. Thank you all, students, staff and families, who helped to make these experiences come together.

You may have noticed that our MCA scores have been posted on the MN report card, alongside other schools in the state. Unfortunately, although similarly to all other schools in the state, our scores did drop last year. I want to assure you, no matter your thoughts on standardized testing, we are taking this drop in test scores seriously, and continue to focus on the health and wellbeing of our students. We know that students need to be in a good place socially and emotionally to succeed academically and so we are offering increased SEL support and increased academic support this year with COVID related funding. Individual student score reports are being addressed right now and should be mailed home in the next week or two.

If you didn't know it, the 15th of last month marked the beginning of National Hispanic Heritage Month. That means these weeks are a time to celebrate the vital role of Hispanic people in American history and highlight the accomplishments of people who identify as Hispanic. As I always say during the various celebratory months we have here in the US, of course we need to honor a diversity of voices at all times, but when we have a reason to celebrate, we take it!

Part of what I do throughout the year is share the resources I’ve collected with staff during celebratory months, and at a recent community meeting the students asked me to share those resources with them as well. So here goes:

Hispanic Folks you should know:

Here are 30 inspiring Latinx folks who have shaped our history as a country
Check out the work of local artist and activist Ricardo Levins Morales
“Si, se puede!” Think political and read about Dolores Huerta
Or maybe think pop-culture and consider the huge career of star Rita Moreno
Perhaps you are looking for a more academic bend, trying reading something by Gloria Anzaldúa
During a career that lasted more than 60 years, Celia Cruz, the Queen of Salsa, helped popularize salsa music in the United States by celebrating her Cuban culture.
Pura Belpré was the first Puerto Rican librarian in New York City – she was also a writer, collector of folktales, and puppeteer.
A veteran of the 1969 Stonewall uprising, Sylvia Rivera was a tireless advocate for those silenced or ignored by larger movements, fighting against the exclusion of transgender people, especially transgender people of color, from the larger movement for gay rights.