Dear OA Families,

I'd like to start the week with massive gratitude for our families and faculty who drove from every corner of the DMV to support our students over the last few days of delayed start school days. While many schools were operating with a bare bones skeleton crew due to dangerous road conditions, 96% of our staff came in, and made remarkable sacrifices to be present for our kids. Folks carpooled, took Ubers, braved public transport conditions, and walked crazy distances in the cold to prepare our building and teach our children. Our families did much the same, and it communicates a remarkable collective commitment to serving and belonging to our common home. Over the last week, families have supported each other with food, coat donations, rent support, and carpooling as the snow has not only made transport challenging, but daily living too. Thank you for keeping hope alive for each other.

In honor of that commitment, this week I want to showcase a few things that made coming to school last week worthwhile:

The Art of Song

Last Friday, the whole Main Office sprinted into the Oyster Cafeteria during Kinder lunch to see Sr. Salvador live serenading nearly 90 Kinder students with "Dos Gardenias," the classic Cuban bolero composed by Isolina Carrilo in 1945. It was the calmest lunch I've ever seen, as even the 5 year olds were transfixed. See a live clip here, as Sr. Salvador and Sr. Garces (turning the cafeteria tables into drums) managed to make a chaotic snow day into a performance.

The Visual Arts

This Saturday, 8th Grader Annika Pinol, had an impressive showing at The Line, where she exhibited her original collection of framed prints, clothing, and canvas bags--with all proceeds going to the 8th Grade Costa Rica Trip! What a joy to see one student's gifts be for the benefit of all our tigers! If you didn't get a chance to purchase your original piece, check out this link.

The Art of Generosity

This Sunday, 8 families led by Aviva Jacobs showed up on a frigid morning to start clearing the Oyster blacktop space and the soccer field to prepare for days when students will finally be able to go outside! Thank you for gathering the community together to tackle an impressively challenging task on behalf our little ones.

The Art of Teaching

Ms. Kleinmann was honored with the prestigious Standing Ovation award from the DC Ed Fund for her three decades of service as the Bilingual Librarian at Oyster! Check out the video DC Ed Fund compiled to honor her at the Standing Ovation Gala held last Thursday at the Andrew Mellon Auditorium in downtown DC.

We look forward to a full week ahead (finally!), and kicking off our celebrations for Black History Month! More news on that to come!

Un abrazo,

Carolina Brito