Weekly Update - February 17th, 2024
Dear ECS Family,
Please note we do have school on Monday, February 19th (President’s Day). Our next scheduled day off is Friday, March 29th which leads into Easter break the following week.
March is Reading Month at ECS! While we always want to promote reading and foster a love for it, March has many opportunities that connect us to literature.
Dr. Seuss Week is March 3rd-9th. We have some special days planned, and students may dress up outside the normal uniform using the following schedule:
Monday: Mixed Up Monday
Tuesday: Top to Toe Tuesday (hats and crazy socks)
Wednesday: Wacky Wednesday (crazy hair and clothes)
Thursday: Career Day (Oh, the Places You’ll Go)
Friday: Be a Seuss Day or Favorite Storybook Character-
We will have our Paper Pie Book Fair March 19th-21st. This was a very successful event last year, and we very much enjoy this chance to promote the love of books and reading within our school.
Monday, March 25th is Tolkien Reading Day. Students may dress as a Tolkien character (no orcs, spawns of Ungoliant, or Sackville-Baggins, please).
The Easter Egg sale is ongoing. There will be rewards for the top selling Guilds, class, and individuals. Orders are due on Thursday, March 7th. We will pick up the eggs on March 20th.
Over the last few months we set up and have been testing an ECS Discord server. We are now ready to start inviting more parents and families to that. There are several reasons for this, the most significant is it gives us the most controlled and secure environment with the greatest flexibility to establish channels for our needs (e.g. - a class channel, easy private messaging, more user-friendly than ClassDojo). We will send out the information about joining within the next week.
One of the first things for which we will utilize Discord is sending out a State of School address. This will be akin to a presidential State of Union, but related to ECS. I’ve worked hard to promote transparency, but recognize Weekly Updates are really focused on the day-to-day operations. A State of the School address will provide a big-picture overview of our financial position, academics, expected staffing, and building issues. I want everyone in our school community to know where we are, where we are going, and what steps are getting us there. My goal is to record this and start sending it out no later than the 2nd week of March.
Finally, re-enrollment is ongoing. I know we started earlier than in recent history. This was necessary for a few reasons. HOPE Scholarship applications for 2024-2025 open on March 1st, and if last year is any indication we will experience a significant uptick in inquiries and interviews. Further, over half of families are considering potential options at least 6 months in advance of the school year starting. By opening our enrollment for 2024-2025 earlier, we ensured we are on the radar for those families. Re-enroll by midnight on March 15th to have your re-enrollment fee waived (and retain your grandfathered rate if applicable).
That’s it for this week!
God bless,
Headmaster Batten
