Dear UA Parents,
It was a pleasure to see so many of you at this week’s Meet The Teacher event. We hope you were able to learn a little bit more about your child’s experiences in the classroom and the teachers who will be working closely with them. Another highlight this week was the Senior School parent meetings that were held to share some more details about the upcoming travel opportunities for our senior students. Many of our students are looking forward to the Grade 8/9 Quebec trip and the Grade 10-12 Japan trip taking place in 2024. These are optional trips, but we are happy to be able to offer travel experiences such as these to support our students in becoming global citizens.
As the Associate Principal with a focus on our Junior School, I also wanted to thank you for your support in the installation of our new 4th-floor playground—what a difference it makes during recess and lunch times! Having more space for our Middle School students keen to play hockey is also a significant shift this year with the deck upgrades. It is wonderful to see your children having so much active time throughout the day. This helps them absorb more when they are in the classroom. You may enjoy this article, Active children are more resilient which focuses on the impact of physical activity on children’s stress levels. The results revealed that children who engaged in over an hour of daily exercise, in line with WHO recommendations, demonstrated lower cortisol levels during the stress task compared to less active peers. Even in non-stressful situations, active children exhibited lower cortisol levels, indicating a reduced physiological stress response overall. Daily movement is a win, and we are grateful for the community support to build the playground so that our students can move!
Speaking of physical activity, for the golfers in the community (or those who would like to walk around a beautiful golf course for a social afternoon trying their hand at golf) we know that the golf social on Tuesday will be a great time to connect and have a little bit of fun with our community. Registration will remain open until noon on Saturday, so please see the details below if you would like to take part.
In recognition of a significant event in the Jewish calendar, I would also like to wish our families health and prosperity as they celebrate Rosh Hashanah this weekend. Shana Tova! We wish you a happy new year!
Yours,
Khatereh Dadar
