Family Time started in 2024, and it was organized by Amanda Binetti, the school social worker. Once a month for 40 minutes, students from different grade levels came together for lessons, stories, and activities. Everything revolved around social-emotional learning. Through spending time together, students learned ways to better communicate with one another.
“It’s really sad that we won’t have Family Time, but it at least gives us more class time, so it is a negative thing, but it turned out to be positive,” Lis Hill, another sixth-grade teacher, said.
Why is it gone? Some teachers said they noticed that students weren’t truly enjoying their meet-up times. Social-emotional learning will continue through other ways such as the monthly O Shows and various speakers and assemblies throughout the school year.
“I was definitely let down by the idea of Family Time being taken away, because I missed seeing the kids, but it was a good thing to make up something new, so everyone can enjoy the activity,” Meagan Pritchard, a sixth-grade teacher, said, “but it is also nice that we get to meet up at the O. Show, and Mr. [Joseph] Gibbs can perform ‘Clap For That’ with Mrs. [Colleen] Malzhan and Ms. [Amanda] Binetti still doing social-emotional learning with other classes.”
