Written by Holly Bell, Director of First Impressions

WELCOME (BACK) to Great River School! I hope each of you had a wonderful and delightful summer, filled with lots of fresh air and activities. I feel very fortunate in that I got to see both of my “babies” in their homes in California and in Wisconsin. And, I’m so glad to see YOUR familiar faces back in school this year!

I wanted to talk about grace and courtesy. I was looking for some nice window sayings for my big window at work and I came across this very sweet picture that was labeled “grace and courtesy.” What does that mean to you? One google search I made told me this:

In short, grace is the child's ability to use their will to show comfort and respect in themselves. Courtesy is showing that same grace and respect toward others. Around the age of 3, up to 6 years, children become sensitive to social interactions with their peers and adults.(https://www.fishtownmontessori.com , June 21, 2022)

So then I started to think about all of the turmoil around us, in the world and in our city. And about adult role models who are not showing grace or courtesy to their fellow human beings. Why do we even have social norms of being kind and polite?

Next, I wondered about kindness. Have you ever heard of the Be Kind People project? Great River School strikes me as a school that would qualify to become a Be Kind School. Do you think we could (or should) do that? I haven’t studied the program enough to decide - it’ll take a little more research for me. What do you think?

Here is one of my favorite websites to go to when I’m feeling a little disjointed. (Under the “Kindness at School” section, you can print a kindness calendar.) I LOVE to look at this school calendar because it has so many brilliant ideas of things to do. You’ll see a copy of this month hanging on one of the windows in my space at the front desk.

I’m wishing for all of us, a school year filled with kindness, grace and courtesy for ourselves and, especially, for those around us.

On we go,

Holly