Lighthouse School, Inc.
October 2023
"Life is a matter of choices, and every choice you make makes you."
-- John C. Maxwell
"The highest result of education is tolerance." -- Helen Keller
In This Edition:
Announcements:
The Bioeducational Theme of the Month for September was "Choices"
The Bioeducatonal Theme of the Month for October is "Tolerance"
October 9th is Indigenous Peoples Day: No School
September Newsletters sent home Friday, September 29th
October is Bullying Prevention Month
Literacy Pumpkins
This month all of our students participated in a school-wide activity. Each homeroom selected an age-appropriate book to read as a class. Throughout the month, they read or listened to the story and focused on various aspects including reading comprehension, literary elements, and basic phonemic skills. The students then worked collectively to identify a character from the story and decorated a pumpkin based on that character. In addition to their creativity, this provided several opportunities for students to practice cooperation skills, sharing, and respecting others' ideas. Each homeroom wrote a short piece about their story and character, and these were then displayed so other homerooms could see everyone's hard work!
Spirit Week and Cluster Breakfasts
In starting the new school year, we are always eager to welcome back familiar faces and welcome in new ones to our Lighthouse School family. We celebrated our annual back-to-school tradition of Spirit Week from September 18-22, 2023 to highlight our connection to each other within the school community. Each day our staff and students showed their spirit by participating in theme days such as Homeroom Color, Crazy Hair, Hat Day, Neon Day, and USA Day. We saw lots of participation and creativity in each cluster! We were surprised to see things like Ramen noodle hair, a staff dressed as a founding father, and wild wigs!
Another way we came together as a family during spirit week was at our cluster breakfasts. Each cluster joined together to eat and socialize as we began our school year as homerooms and clusters in a pseudo-familial atmosphere. There was plenty of food and camaraderie and really set the tone for moving forward in this school year as a team.
September
September's Theme of the Month: Choices
During the month of September, students explored the Bioeducational Theme of Choices. Choice is the act of picking or deciding between two or more possibilities. Choices are multi-dimensional. Ideally, any choice should be both conscious and informed. A conscious choice is one you’re aware of. One should realize that it might have both positive and negative consequences. An informed choice is based on information and facts you’ve gathered in advance. Our students thought about what kinds of choices they have faced in their lives and what choices they may have to face in the future.
Books:
Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein
A Kids Book About Mindfulness by Caverly Morgan
Ahn’s Anger by Gail Silver
Listening to My Body by Gabi Garcia
Peaceful Piggy Meditation by Kerry MacLean
If You Had to Choose, What Would You Do? by Sandra Humphrey
But It’s Not My Fault by Julia Cook
Movies
The Lion King (G)
Wall-E (G)
Wonder (PG)
The Peaceful Warrior (PG-13)
Brene Brown: The Call to Courage (PG-13)
October
October's Theme of the Month: Tolerance
During the month of October, our students will focus on Tolerance and their willingness to accept feelings, habits, or beliefs that are different than their own. Success in today’s world and tomorrow’s depends on being able to understand, appreciate, and work with others. At Lighthouse, we teach tolerance by example -- and in other ways, too. Throughout the month, discussions will occur together about tolerance, equity, inclusion, and respect, which will help the students learn more about the values it is important to have.
Books:
I'm NOT Just a Scribble By Diane Alber
The Undefeated By Kwame Alexander & Kadir Nelson
Money Hungry By Sharon Flake
The Skin I'm In By Sharon Flake
Movie Suggestions:
Wonder (PG)
Remember The Titans (PG)
Freedom Writers (PG-13)
Philosophy Amplification Project:
"Would You Rather"
The seventh highlight of our Philosophy Amplification Project is a new version of the “Would You Rather” station – the Peacock, which is located in the 300 Cluster.
The APEX Application:
It is used as a fun way to engage students in deeper conversations about themselves, their beliefs, opinions, and perspectives. With the question of the week, usually based on the bioed theme of the month, asks the students which scenario or option they would rather choose.
Students indicate their answers by writing their names on the wallboard to whichever side of the peacock their choice is on. Then, students signify their selection by placing a feather in the peacock on the side that corresponds with their choice.
It is simple on the surface, but it can lead to great conversations that we can tie directly to a student’s self, identity, needs, feelings, and beliefs. There are lots of opportunities for peer debates about differing opinions, and perspectives as well.
The Biodevelopmental components are: Objectivity, Integration, Values, Self-Exploration and Conflict
Our Campus Facilities
We at Lighthouse School are excited to share the news that the Campus Development project has begun and is well underway. There is lots of anticipation among staff and students. Each day brings new changes and progress and it is great to see the students’ reactions to all that is happening. We will be sharing updates with you periodically and will also be posting updates on our website.
We are looking forward to the completion of this project and all being back together once again. Should you have any questions regarding the project, please do not hesitate to reach out to us.
Homework
With the school year already in full swing, we wanted to share some information regarding homework for students. Lighthouse is committed to supporting our students and families in all aspects of their education and this includes homework. We realize that this can sometimes be a challenging task. We have put together a Homework Protocols information sheet to explain our homework philosophy and to hopefully make it less stressful and to encourage students to work on and complete their homework assignments. Please click on the link below to view and should you have any questions regarding this, please do not hesitate to reach out to your Family Therapist.
Our Resources
Family Support Line
As a reminder, our therapists are available to offer clinical support to families and students 24 hours a day. If you are in need of assistance, please call our support line, starting with Line 1:
Line #1: (978) 821-1351
If you are not able to connect with a therapist or do not get a response within 10 minutes, please try Line 2:
Line #2: (978) 821-0316