All Together Now

Aloha Island School ʻOhana,

Cheehoo! Our first full week of school! I have to admit, Iʻm a little tired. Perhaps you/your children are too. It has been great fun reconnecting with students and colleagues, seeing each other every day. And, getting back into the routine of things, heading to an athletic practice after a full day of school, completing homework, all the stuff…it takes time to adjust. I hope youʻre able to give yourself / your children care and compassion for making your way through the hard work of transitioning back to school. The road gets smoother, I promise. And how could it not, after feeling the joy in being All Together Now in our opening All-School Convocation this morning.

And with that, MAHALO to all who joined us for todayʻs first ʻOhana Association meeting and the All-School Convocation. Nico, Jeremy, and Annie officially rang in the new school year! I loved hearing the Kani Ka Pū (blowing of the conch shell) to call us to our gathering, the multi-lingual welcome in Spanish, ʻŌlelo, and English, experiencing the metaphor of the water ceremony, listening to our students lead us in Oli Aloha no Kauaʻi, celebrating Saebrie as the winner of the Shannon L. Graves Scholarship and taking in her words of wisdom, and closing our time by singing our school anthem together. Our students did such a great job of moving through traditions to start a new year! And I'm so glad we could honor our faculty and staff who are marking their 5th, 10th, 15th, and even 20th year anniversary at Island School. We are so very lucky to have such a dedicated team. If you werenʻt able to join us, consider seeing a “replay” here on our Livestream link for the event. (Ceremony begins at 17:30, and sound comes in at 18:27.)

We loved seeing the Elementary School families for Back-to-School night yesterday, and we look forward to greeting all of our Upper School parents / guardians next Thursday for their Back–to-School night. We believe in the power of relationship building and the partnership between home and school for our students to be most effective in their growth as learners and people. The opportunity for the adults in their lives to connect early in the year so we know who our partners are is a gift. Thank you to those who came this week and to those who will join us next week for an evening to celebrate learning and get to know each other better.

And finally, on Thursday I walked into the gym and had to join in with the 5th Grade and their line-dancing moves that they were learning with Coach Emily! It was so fun, and it made me start to already look forward to the Island School Carnival that's just around the corner on September 6! Please make time to join us that evening for a fun-filled night, a chance to make new friends, have a good time with old buddies, hear GREAT music, and help build community.

OK, rest up this weekend! I look forward to doing it all over again with you come Monday! Mahalo for the opportunity to walk with you through these important years.

In partnership,

Nancy Nagramada P’29

Head of School

n.nagramada@ischool.org