¡Felices fiestas a todos nuestros tigres!

As we wrap up 2025, there's so much to celebrate and be grateful for. First off, a massive congratulations to Sr. Salvador for an impressive Winter Showcase! It is a joy to watch our teachers continously refine their craft, and find ways to outdo themselves time and time again. This concert was no exception! The 3rd Grade choir showcased their new-found skill of singing multiple parts simultaneously, and even Pre-K had impressive soloists! Sr. Salvador made original arrangements so that we could sing a Chanukah song in Spanish, and introduced us to "El Hijo Ausente," a Latin-American song about the bittersweet experience of missing family members who have migrated away from home. Check out a 1 minute clip of our students here! It's hard to be heart-warming and politically incisive simultaneously! Thank you for holding our mission while singing with our children!

A huge shout-out to the Black Student Union at Adams! Last week's meeting was a beautiful cross-campus collaboration in which students celebrated and learned from Mr. Earl Williams, Oyster’s first Black student to complete grades K-6 at the school. His Kindergarten teacher, Ms. Betty Brooks was the first Black teacher at Oyster and she went on to have a long career in DCPS, including many years as a Principal. This incredible student club run by Ms. Grullón and Mr. Braswell is an affinity-based safe space for our Black Students (Black, Afro-Latino, and mixed race) where they explore history, culture, and help our community continue on its journey to be anti-racist. Students heard from Mr. Williams and asked him a series of thoughtful questions. Thank you to Mr. Bland and Mr. Benson for coordinating, being present at Adams, and helping make this moment possible for our young people! These moments remind all of us of the world of possibilities when we reach across campuses.

We're also excited to share in this school year's first full edition of our student newspaper! Check out the whole glorious PDF here: Oyster Adams Post - Diciembre 25-26.pdf. In it, you'll see full feature articles on everything from our Student Government (Asamblea) elections to weekend activity recommendations. You'll also hear about our Debate Team's outstanding first place results in the Washington Urban Debate League's first ever Spanish event! For more info on that, also check out the Athletics section of our newsletter. Thank you to Sra. Palacios for supporting the layout and execution of the publication!

And finally, we leave you with this little, joyful triumph. Our Before-School Run Club started with a handful of students in August, and is now bursting at the seams with members. Check out Sr. Castro and Sr. Sorto's crew as they celebrated their Holiday Party and basked in all of the collective wins for the year together--whether that win was going from walking to running consistently, or increasing the number of laps we can do without stopping--may we have many, many more joyful runs together!

Un abrazo fuerte,

Carolina Brito