Digital Chapel #58

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DIGITAL CHAPEL

Issue #58 | September 2019

STUDENT WELCOME

MAKING READING PLEASURABLE

BOOK FAIR 2019

HIGH SCHOOL HANDBOOK

CAMPUS RENOVATIONS

NEWCOMERS

CHAPEL’S BEST UNDER 40

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Versão em Português

WELCOME! Excellence in new student and teacher integration program

In the first two weeks of the school year, the process of welcoming new teachers, families, and students has now reached the gold standard due to the quality of the school’s welcoming program. There is a tailor-made program for each new member - student, parent or teacher - to make sure they feel they belong to the school community. ‘Chapel really cares about the welcoming of new members. After all, we are an inclusive school which is focused on a greater good: our community. This is the reason why transitions must be smooth and trouble free to preserve everyone’s well-being’, explains Elementary School principal, Juliana Menezes. New teachers come to school two days before returning teachers and go through an immersion process geared towards professional development while also getting to know the school facilities, local culture, curriculum, assessments, and programs, in addition to meeting their peers and principals. ‘The adaptation to a new setting is facilitated when there is someone to mentor a newcomer and also when this person knows our expectations, what to expect and what is to come’, comments Ms. Menezes. All new teachers are assisted by a mentor during their first semester at school. Mentors are senior teachers who are trained by Character Education coordinator Luciana Brandespim. In early childhood education, parents receive guidance not only on norms and procedures, but also on the curriculum of each grade. They attend an opening session with the principal and then go to their child’s classrooms to meet their teachers. ‘In this meeting, families receive essential information for the first days of school of the little ones - it is a true survival guide’, explains Ms. Menezes. The reception of new students in Elementary School happens with a

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Versão em Português

FAMILIES Workshop promotes the pleasure of reading

The program ‘Making Reading Pleasurable’, designed by teachers Adelina Gebara, Leonor Guedes, and Cris Maesano with the goal of fostering in children the pleasure of reading, is celebrating its first anniversary. During its first year, the program promoted five meetings with parents from Kindergarten to third grade. ‘The idea came about from our passion for reading and our will to foster reading at home. In the workshops we share reading strategies and motivation tips for all age groups and grade levels with parents’, explains Ms. Maesano, the Elementary School A r t t e a c h e r w h o i s a l s o responsible for the project ‘Literacy and Art’, in which she merges reading and art with first and second graders. In the workshops teachers advised parents to create a reading corner in their homes, recommended age-appropriate books, discussed strategies to foster reading habits in the little ones, and also talked about reading time. ‘Parents participated eagerly and felt comfortable to share their questions and issues’, comments Ms. Maesano. She adds: ‘It is important to foster the pleasure of reading, rather than imposing it as if it was an obligation’. Ms. Guedes, Elementary School reading teacher, explains that the meetings were structured according to the parents' needs. 'The approximately one-hour long workshops were dynamic and interactive. We had the opportunity to show different ways of reading and exploring a story with children, and parents took part in several activities and were able to ask questions and clarify their doubts. Their feedback was fundamental to develop the following meetings. In the last workshop librarian Fernanda Caires introduced parents to the library and its resources - both analog and digital - for reading and research. The project also focuses on ways to create and maintain a reading routine while respecting the child’s individuality and the family routine. ‘We developed the workshop’s content and organised the most important tips into bookmarks that were printed and

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EVENT Book Fair 2019 is right around the corner!

Chapel’s largest book event is coming up. This year’s Book Fair will happen from the 25th to the 28th of September and preparations are underway at full speed. This edition’s theme is Comic Books and everyone will start getting in the mood with activities that will start on September 16th onwards. After last year’s success, writer and drama teacher Gu Braga is back to work with corporal expression with Pre I to 2nd grade students. First to 8th graders will participate in comic book character creation and design workshops with Ana Kirsten and Mauro Souza from Estúdio Maurício de Sousa. Ninth to 12th graders will have workshops in character design and comics’ language with comic artist Flávio Luis. On the week of the event, booths with national, international, new, and secondhand books will offer books at affordable prices. As usual, STUCO will coordinate the selling of secondhand books at the sebo booth. The closing of the fair will happen on Saturday 28th with a parent-child workshop coordinated by the Art teachers, who will use modelling clay to create comic book characters. Guests will be able to interact and take pictures with “Turma da Monica” characters who will be circulating around the school. Also in the morning, the Companhia Paulista de Teatro Bilíngue will present the play Hansel and Gretel. 'This year's fair will be fun because of its theme, comic books, but also very special because it celebrates “Turma da Monica”, a Brazilian comic that has influenced many generations', explains Fernanda Caires, the event coordinator.

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Versão em Português

IMPROVEMENTS Chapel goes through renovations over the vacation

While students and teachers enjoy their well-deserved rest, winter break is one of the busiest times for Chapel’s maintenance team. Even though campus maintenance is an ongoing job, big projects such as renovations, painting, cleaning of carpets, c u r t a i n s , c u s h i o n s , a n d upholstered furniture, and resodding of the grass field happen over vacation. ‘It is common for these changes to go unnoticed, since we work all year long to keep the campus well maintained’, states administrative manager Márcia Berkowitz. The two last months were marked by intense work in many areas of the campus. In high school the flooring of all classrooms was changed and the lockers were renovated. Ten air conditioning units were substituted by ones that are more efficient and the entire school was repainted. Both the early childhood education and the elementary school offices were renovated. The ES playground has a new big playground toy, and ‘children have started the school year playing with it and sharing their opinions on how to make improvements’, comments Ms. Berkowitz. The other playgrounds also received maintenance and older sunshades were replaced by new ones. The soccer field had p o r t i o n s o f t u r f re p l a c e d , w i t h t h e remainder fertilized and re-sown. The cafeteria t a b l e t o p s w e r e replaced by new ones and the table feet were repainted. The electrical wiring of the kitchen was redone, while the

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