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From the principal’s desk…
Dear families,
A big transition in the way we communicate takes place this weekend. District-wide, our email server moves to the Google platform. There will be no change in the email addresses you type in – my email remains jonathan.wolfer@bvsd.org, for example – but storage capacity and other improvements will make our communication a lot easier in the coming days. This weekend, all messages and other items will be moved to the Google servers, so the district is asking staff and families to refrain from exchanging emails on bvsd.org until Monday morning, April 23. There may be some hiccups in this transition as our staff logs on to their new email for the first time on Monday, but we will be able to communicate again soon!
Spring time is a busy time at Douglass, and it’s a time for us to remind students that spring fever is not an excuse for inappropriate behavior. It’s hard to believe that students at Douglass can act in ways that they soon regret – this year, unfortunately, I’ve needed to address issues where students’ misbehavior targeted other students’ skin color, gender, or religion. We treat these incidents seriously and do not tolerate behavior that discriminates at Douglass Elementary School. Please see me if you have questions.
Spring time also means the beginning of sports for many of our kids, and lots of school-wide events. I know I’ll see many of you here at Douglass for Art’s Alive next week, at the Jog-a-Thon the next week, at 4th grade’s Shakespeare performances, and at other culminating classroom activities.
I have one more activity that I’d like to invite you to join me and my family in: National Screen-Free Week, from April 30 to May 6, 2012. As you know, one of our school-wide goals includes decreasing the gap in literacy achievement and growth between male and female students. In his book Boys Adrift, Dr. Leonard Sax discusses societal and educational factors that contribute to this gap. Among those factors is the amount of screen time that boys consume, compared to girls – from video games to television, and today I’d add iPads and cell phones.
Studies have shown some startling results about the impact of watching images moving on a flat screen on the learning brain: For every hour of television a child watched per day, the incidence of ADD and ADHD increased by ten percent. When children watch TV their young brains are not moving around and not physically interacting with the environment. Because the TV is doing half the work, the brain doesn’t fully develop the neural elements it would naturally develop if it were fully active, both physically and mentally, in the natural world.
Furthermore, in a study of nine hundred school children who reduced TV viewing to six hours a week, researchers found a 25 percent decrease in verbal and physical aggression among these children after six weeks. And, finally, in a study where students gave up all screen time for 30 days (75% of them actually made it for the whole month!), the study saw improvement in grades, sleep habits, mood, and time spent in physical activities, reading, and family bonding.
I confess that it won’t be easy for me to turn off the TV during playoff season, but I’m also looking forward to the quality and quantity of time I’ll be spending with my family.
Finally, a reminder that tomorrow (Friday, April 20), is a professional day for teachers to work on the new curriculum that is being introduced this fall; there is no school for students. Enjoy springtime in the great outdoors in our own backyard this weekend!
Your principal,
Jon Wolfer
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