September 8, 2025

Dear Families,

On the first two days of school, the year’s challenges are still in the future. I’ve heard teachers in other schools dismiss the start as an easy honeymoon.

Well, aren’t you supposed to feel mushy on a honeymoon? I just observed my ninth first day at CPE1, and yes, I’m still mushy. I’ve witnessed the first day in a dozen different schools, and CPE1 has the most peaceful and inviting start.

Welcoming children - especially pre-K and kindergarten students who have never attended school before - requires extraordinary summertime preparation. The room has to look attractive and inviting. Teachers need to select materials that are engaging, but straightforward enough for children to succeed right away.

That’s the work before children arrive. What matters most, perhaps, is how teachers talk to children. Transitions are hard. Teachers at our school understand how to make children feel secure.

At about 10:00 on the first day, Marilyn’s pre-K class was walking together to use the restrooms for the first time. Only ninety minutes into their school careers, three- and four-year-olds formed a tranquil, confident content line, listening intently to a teacher most had just met. That’s both ordinary and exceptional.

I love working in a school where teachers think so carefully about the physical environment, where they understand how to put children at ease, where everyone with out-of-class roles pushes into classrooms to welcome children. Of course honeymoons end, but these first days keep happening, year after year.

Welcome to another beautiful start.

Parent Association Meeting - September 11 - 6:00 p.m.

The first parent association meeting of this year happens at 6:00 on Thursday, September 11. We will have childcare (and pizza for kids) during the meeting.

If you have a child at CPE1, you are part of the parent association. Please come out for this first meeting to find out more and participate in the year ahead.

All-School Sing Begins - Monday, September 15

Our first All-School Sing this year will happen next Monday, September 15, at 8:30 a.m. After that, we will have All-School Sing every Monday at the same time.

Families, as always, are invited to participate. During Sing, please sit behind classes, and join the singing. Please be fully present, with cell phones put away.

During All-School Sing, students are in class. Please do not call out to individual students, high-five kids as they exit, or distract them from being with their class. This is especially true for our youngest children, who will be focusing on a new, unfamiliar part of being in school.

The first song we sing every year is “Make New Friends”. If you were part of CPE1 last year, please be sure to introduce yourself when you see new faces in seated near the back of the auditorium. Please be sure to make new friends.