Building Our Community
In times of difficulty or hardship, especially economic hardship, people find themselves trying to connect to others, forging tighter relationships, building stronger communities. When our wallets are flush, we often find ourselves working and living independent of one another, sometimes verging on isolation. When money is tight, our natural tendency is to lean on one another -- to pull through the lean times together. So, if there's anything good to come of this troubling economy we find ourselves in, it is this renewed sense of community we see all around us -- and the SJB school community is no exception.
In the past few months and weeks, I have found it particularly refreshing to watch our own community grow and strengthen. As I look back over the past two and a half months (I know, I have neglected this blog far too long even for my own procrastinating self!), there are some wonderful highlights that really illuminate the community that has been built and continues to thrive here.
In January and February, we opened our doors and our classrooms and invited prospective parents to see what we are all about! Our two hugely successful open houses brought in a host of new and excited parents. They walked our halls, peeked into classrooms, asked LOTS of questions and were able to see with their own eyes the amazing things that we know and experience on a regular basis. Our pre-k and primary teachers and students were wonderful hosts to our guests. These events and our devoted and reliable current school families translated into early enrollment numbers that quickly approached our current enrollment! A waiting list for our kindergarten rapidly grew, and before we knew we were even ready for it, a second kindergarten class emerged! In the midst of the doldrums of this long and dreary winter, here at SJB we felt warmed indeed by the prospect of our growing school community.
While our community continues to grow from the outside, inside school, students and school families continue to support not only our own activities and programs, but they are continually on the watch for ways to learn about and reach out to communities outside their own. Our 4th and 8th graders both took trips to visit their senior friends at the Bishop Conway House in the Humboldt Park neighborhood. They played cards, sang songs and brought some good SJB cheer to the residents. Not to be outdone in serving the community, our school parents pulled through with flying colors offering words of encouragement, good advice and some delicious and healthy snacks during Terra Nova testing week at the beginning of March. Finally, last week, our fifth graders boarded a bus and rode to the Roseland neighborhood where they were greeted by friends from St. John De LaSalle School and treated to a tour of the neighborhood with a representative from the Alderman Beale's office -- all a part of a Big Shoulders Fund's tribute to Chicago's 100th anniversary of the Daniel Burnham neighborhoods plan. They brought back a lot of notes and photos to create our school neighborhood report to add to and present at the Big Shoulders Burnham Neighborhoods Project next month.
So, I'll wrap up my musings on community (yes, I know, these posts could be much shorter if I wrote more often) with a reminder and an open invitation to join us at this year's Annual Glimmer Auction - this Saturday, March 14th - a great way to see for yourself the great community that is SJB. The guest list is growing daily -- thanks to all of you who have already RSVP'd and donated -- and it promises to be a night of fun for sure. In the meantime, remember that you are always welcome to be a part of our school community -- as a student, a parent, a volunteer, a donor or just a friend. Hope to see you around the neighborhood!
