There are many exciting events happening in the coming weeks, along with the beginnings of transitions into summer and then into new classes. I wanted to be sure you know about all of the various things happening around the school in the next few weeks.
Summer Learning Launch
May 31st at 6PM in our library. This event will be co-hosted by Cambridgeport and the Cambridge Public Library. Get inspired and make a plan for keeping your child reading, learning, and growing all summer long.
Portfolio Day
June 18th at 8:45AM. This is one of the most important celebrations of learning of the year. Each child in the school creates a portfolio of their work for the year. The process of creating the portfolio is a reflective process that allows a child to see how much they have grown over the course of the school year. The portfolio day celebration is a critical part of this reflection because children get to share this learning journey with you. You are invited to see not only your own child’s portfolio, but also the work of children throughout the school.
Unity Games
June 19th from 10AM-2PM. Formerly known as Field Day, Unity Games was invented last year as a way to celebrate diverse cultures and games from around the world and have fun together as a whole school. There will be an opening ceremony, a closing ceremony and activities both in school and at Sennott Park. If you are interested in helping out at Unity Games, please contact Ms. Sturgis by emailing
[email protected] or Mr. F by emailing
[email protected].
Fifth Grade Moving on Ceremony
June 21st at 1PM. This event is our opportunity to honor the 5th graders as they move on to the Upper School. The event is very casual and home-grown, and focuses primarily on acknowledging the gifts these students have given us as a community.
Last Day All School Share
June 22nd at 8:45AM. This will be our last all school share of the year, including a slide show. Families are welcome, but if you have to choose between this and Portfolio Day, you should come to Portfolio Day.
Last Day is an Early Release Day
New this year, the last day of school will end at 12:25PM.
Transitions of Staff
Angie Uyham, who has been at Cambridgeport for over a decade as a teacher and a literacy coach, will be moving into a district level position next year. As you all know, she has been working as a Design and Innovation Coach this year, and next year will be able to fully devote her time and effort to that passion. We will miss her tremendously, but are very lucky to know she is only a design challenge away whenever we need her!
Another incredibly difficult loss is that
Phil Fousek (lovingly known to all as Mr. F) will be leaving Cambridgeport after over a decade as our PE teacher. Mr. F has been pursuing leadership opportunities in Physical and Health Education, and to that end, accepted a new position in the district. In this new position he will be teaching both Physical Education and Health to elementary and middle school students. He will also have the opportunity to pursue leadership opportunities in the P.E./Health Department, as well as the CRLS Athletic Department.
Deborah Barolsky, who has been teaching 3rd and 4th grade, will be moving on to pursue other teaching opportunities at the end of the year. After an intense selection process including interviews and demonstration lessons, we have hired
Witney Christie to teach 3rd and 4th grade. Witney was an intern with Maisha Sport in 1st grade last year. This year she has been teaching 1st grade at Graham & Parks School. While Witney enjoyed her time in first grade, she always knew she wanted to teach older students. She is thrilled to return to Cambridgeport, the school she considers home.
Bobby Brown and
Lindsay Caputo, who have been co-teaching art during this interim period, will be moving on. Bobby will hopefully continue to come back and volunteer when the time and interest arise. Lindsay will be leaving before the end of the year to begin a graduate degree. I am thrilled to announce that we have hired
Larry Wynn to teach art next year. Larry comes to us from MATCH Community Day Charter School. He received his Bachelor's degree at Wheelock College studying Counseling Psychology and Visual Arts. Later, he decided to pursue his Master’s in Teaching at Tufts University in partnership with The School of the Museum of Fine Arts. He came in last week to do a demonstration lesson, and he captivated the third graders with a lesson on Salvador Dali and Surrealism. He will be a wonderful addition to Cambridgeport.
Liz Soiero, our librarian, will be taking a partial leave of absence next year to attend Harvard Graduate School of Education. Liz received the Conant Fellowship to pursue her studies! She will only be working part-time next year, and will focus her attention on curriculum and collection development. We have hired someone to teach the library classes next year. Her name is
Emily Litman, and she is currently a library assistant at the Tobin School. Emily has a strong background in story-telling that she is excited to bring to her work in the Cambridgeport library.
Our interns always move on at the end of the year, so we will be saying good-bye to
Megan Porter,
Pearl Kerber,
Allie Ryan, and
Mei Cornue-Hollander. We will have a new crop of interns starting in August and I will look forward to introducing them to you.