There is much to be grateful for as our community brings the 2022-2023 school year to a close this coming week.
Tuesday’s 5th grade promotion ceremony celebrates the hard work of 68 students and families/caregivers in their Mundo Verde journey, whose learning has been supported by over 60 individual educators over the last eight years.
In the last three weeks, the school celebrated the learning of 938 students with expos across both campuses, welcoming families and friends to participate in showcases from this spring’s eight different expeditions: trees (PreK), animals and habitats (Kinder), our roles in producing /reducing waste (1st), geological changes on Earth (2nd), our rights and responsibilities to water (3rd), living within our means (4th), and design thinking (5th).
Every one of our 235 staff members work extraordinarily long hours to deliver an incredible experience for each of Mundo Verde’s 938 students – whether substitute teachers or cross-campus leaders, whether new to the community or experienced, whether the principal or the person responsible for feeding food to students or for nourishing students’ minds and hearts, or keeping students safe or scheduling events, or keeping track of addresses, assessments and grades. I am deeply grateful for the service of our staff and it brings me tremendous joy that at least 88 percent of them firmly intend to return to continue in service to their Mundo Verde for the 2023-2024 school year.
Mundo Verde’s parents and caregivers support students in innumerable ways; parents/caregivers are at times happy and at other times frustrated; parents/caregivers love the school and our ambitious educational model, and yet at times may doubt whether this is the right model for their children. I am grateful for each family/caregiver for your hard work and diversity of views.
I recognize the deep passion expressed by the 3rd grade parents that protested outside our J.F. Cook campus on Wednesday and Thursday the same days as our 4th and 5th grade expos. I understand the drive to be a part of our continued improvement – and I know we still have work to do to ensure that each and every student benefits from the promise of the Mundo Verde educational model at its best.
The school’s seven board trustees volunteer their time and skills to help the school navigate what has been an exciting, busy, productive, and at timesturbulent year. I appreciate the board’s determination to listen well, ask questions to understand deeply and make decisions for the long-term interest of our school and community. I also offer my thanks to the eleven parents/caregivers that applied and are being considered for service on the board for the coming two years.
The school’s facilities and finance committee, including school leaders and board members, spent the last two years working on a comprehensive long term facilities and financing plan for the school. Thanks to this diligent effort we have stabilized long-term facilities financing at an average interest rate of 3.6 percent, purchased the 4401 8th Street Calle Ocho main building, and recently purchased three acres of land to round out the space needs of the Calle Ocho campus. These steps ensure that all of our students and staff will have access to quality indoor and outdoor learning spaces!
Are we there yet? No. The road ahead is not simple and improvements need to be made. Though our job is not done, we have accomplished much together and there is tremendous promise in what more we can still do, together. I will be sharing more on that path forward in the coming weeks, in the meantime, all my gratitude and best wishes for a rejuvenating and restful summer break.
In community,
Kristin Scotchmer, Executive Director