It has been my joy and privilege to witness instruction in every homeroom in both buildings this week, and I am proud to call myself an Oyster-Adams parent and school leader. Our educators demonstrated deep commitment to language instruction, student discourse, community building, and honoring student identity. As one student said in Ms. Suarez's classroom: "My goal this year is to love Spanish even more, practice it A LOT, and keep growing." This young person's comment is an exemplary artifact of our collective work across both campuses, and the mark of a life-long language learner--which we should all strive to be.

Our team worked incredibly hard during Summer PD to create conditions for lifelong learning in every classroom. We normed classroom environments and expectations across campuses, recentered on what rigorous Dual Language instruction looks like, focused on oracy as a key lever for student voice and equity, and scrutinized our data from SY23-24. Our call to action was clear, as we saw which student groups we need to prioritize this year, and close an opportunity debt. I am eager to share all that data with you, as well as reflections on my entry meetings with OA families, in our first OCC meeting this year on  September 26th.

Moving forward, the Oyster-Adams Weekly Updates represents the whole Leadership Team's commitment is to streamline communications with you. You can expect a very brief Principal's update, highlights on what students are learning across the school from coaches + AP's, calendar and logistical updates from Dr. Fortson, OCC and LSAT reminders, and anything that would have come to you in disparate email communications from the school. It will take time to consolidate effectively, as this is a BETA version--but we will get better over time. Teachers will continue to communicate weekly newsletters about classroom and grade-level specific updates.

From a grateful new tiger,

Carolina Brito