At the welcome coffee, we watched a Moonshot Thinking video produced by Google [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0uaquGZKx_0&safe=active].  “The Moonshot” was our country’s successful effort to land on the moon.  At one point in our history, this idea most likely seemed preposterous to some; much as having telephones that we can slip in our pockets and an international network of computers that are searchable for information.  Those, and many other dreams, are a reality today because of the audacious risks of great thinkers.  They allowed curiosity and wonder to make “seemingly impossible ideas” real.

How does this apply to Almond?  We want to be a school of “Moonshot Thinkers.”  We want our students to have the courage to try, the persistence to work through challenges and to THINK BIG.  We want them to “choose to be bothered” about puzzles in life so that they become solution finders.

We look forward to your partnership in this effort and encourage you to engage in daily, rich dialogue with your children about how their efforts were spent in school.  Carol Dweck, of Stanford University, encourages us to not always focus on the answer, but on the journey towards that answer and to ask our children these questions, “What did you learn today?  What mistakes did you make that taught you something?  What did you try hard at today?”  At Almond Elementary this year, we will continually find ways to ensure our students are trying hard and stretching their thinking.

This great work will certainly take place in all of the academic areas, but it won’t end there.  Thanks to generous funding, we are able to provide our students with a well-rounded education by also focusing on health, music, art and the social emotional component of our student’s development.  We will be growing these critical elements of our students in tandem with our innovative STEM initiative.  Students will be programming robots, delving deeply into physical science and working together to use mathematics to engineer products that could potentially change the world.  Thank you to LAEF for making this dream a reality for our children.

I would be remiss if I did not remark on community when reflecting on Almond’s greatness.  This is a VERY special place!  There is a warmth and commitment to each other that permeates every conversation, handshake and smile.  It is a hallmark of our school and certainly one that continues to be nurtured through events that are organized throughout the year.  Thank you to all the returning families who reached out to an incoming family and demonstrated gracious hospitality.  We look forward to seeing you this Friday at the Ice Cream Social and next week at Back to School Night. 

It is going to be an extraordinary year!