The Weekly What: Friday, May the 17th, 2019

August 23rd, 2019

Last Week of School

It’s the last week of our first year at New Harmony, hooray! To kick-out the school year we have several outings and activities planned for the week including:

  • Canoeing on the North Shore
    • Please be sure your student is wearing comfortable close toed shoes and brings sunscreen, sunglasses, a water bottle, and a hat. 
  • Advisory Olympics and relay races
  • Advisory Bonding Trips
  • Picnic at the park

Parents, please be sure to complete the permission slip form here.

In addition, this is a reminder that we do not have school on Friday, May the 24th. Thursday the 23rd we release at 2 p.m.

Lovely artwork by our student Sofia

A Letter From Our
School Leader

New Harmony Families and Supporters,

The end of the year is upon us! It seems like just yesterday I was thanking you all for being pioneer parents and risk-taking students laying the groundwork for all those that follow in your footsteps. We’ve watched the dream design come to life through our students and staff. Almost all of our first freshman class has had the experience of a fellowship in the field. We’ve enjoyed an array of leaving-to-learns. Individual projects have been incredible to witness. Rigorous academic course work has been balanced with individual needs. But the work here has just begun. Next year we’ll have our second class of incoming freshmen, another round of new hires, a new-to-us building on the bayou, and a new set of challenges as we navigate our way.

In our plans for next year, I’ve thrown in a wrench. My husband Tyler and I are welcoming our first baby this summer in July. We’re super excited, a little freaked out, but mostly just busy trying to ready for our new baby, while I still plan for year 2 of my other baby, New Harmony. Luckily I have a great deal of support. Parents, families, our school board, our staff, local organizations, consultants, our funders, and my coach Danique have all been such a wealth of kindness, knowledge and guidance. Danique has been on site with us all year as a doctoral resident, and has graciously agreed to step in as interim school leader while I’m on maternity leave. Danique has just finished his doctoral program at Harvard and is bringing his 20+ years of expertise in teaching, school founding and school leadership to us in a new role. My hope is that we won’t miss a beat during my brief time out. If the baby’s on time, I plan to ease back in during the last week of September and be back full time in October.

Thank you for all the love and well-wishes and gifts, but mostly for continuing to trust us with your children. It is truly an honor to be serving you all as New Harmony’s school leader.

The door is always open.

All the best,

Sunny

And From Our Interim
School Leader!

To New Harmony High School families and community members:

My name is Danique Dolly and I will be serving as interim principal during Sunny’s maternity leave. I am proud to be able to support New Harmony High during this time of transition as I have gone through a bit of a transition myself.  Recently, after 20 years of teaching and leading in education, I attended Harvard University to pursue a doctorate in education leadership (EdLD). This past school year, as part of Harvard’s residency program, I was placed here in New Orleans to help New Harmony launch and to act as principal coach to Sunny Summers. New Harmony is a wonderful school with tremendous potential and I only hope to be able to help as the school adds another class of students, new faculty and a moves to its new location. I understand what it takes to start up a school from scratch; I have done so as a teacher and as a principal.

From 2010-2016 I was the founding principal of City Neighbors High School in Baltimore City – a school similar to New Harmony that is still going strong. There I created a progressive school with a culture built around relationships, an advisory model, and internship model.  These same design elements were first introduced to me while working as a teacher/advisor for Big Picture Learning’s Met School in Providence, RI.  Basically, my areas of expertise revolve around leading startup schools and progressive school models. As I continue my own transition as a new Harvard graduate, I only hope my expertise will be useful in supporting a seamless transition during my time as interim.

If you have any questions or would like to reach out I can be reached at danique@newharmonyhighschool.org. Thank you for taking time to read this and I look forward to meeting and working with you.

Best wishes,

Danique A. Dolly, EdLD

Parent Survey

Current NHH parents,

We value your input and feedback. Please complete our end-of-year parent survey at your earliest convenience. You can access the survey here. Thank you!

HARMONY HIGHLIGHT:

DOUBLE-FEATURE!

Nalani

What is something you do well?

I am really good at organizing my school-life.

What is something you have learned in the past week?

Don’t get too into your head, but also don’t play around too much.

What is a misconception people have about you?

People misinterpret my race, and people think I am really unapproachable.

What is the biggest dream you have for yourself that you do not often say aloud?

To make a difference in general. I don’t want to be the stereotype of this generation; I want to do something in the world.

Who has had a positive influence on your life so far and why?

My friends: Emily, AJ, etc.; they keep me going everyday. Also, music helps me tune out people and gives me something to relate to.

What would you do differently if you knew nobody would judge you?

I’d stay quiet more often. Most of the time I speak my mind, and people think I’m crazy and are judging me.

What do you like about New Harmony?

I really like how diverse and open the school is. I think next year, we will have more resources and be able to align with our mission statement more because I really like our mission statement.

Jalayah

What is something you do well?

Cook. I know how to make macaroni, alfredo pasta, and baked chicken the best.

What is something you have learned in the past week?

I learned a formula for math.

What is a misconception people have about you?

That since I get distracted a lot, they think I can’t handle myself.

What is the biggest dream you have for yourself that you do not often say aloud?

Being a chef.

Who has had a positive influence on your life so far and why?

Gordon Ramsay because I watch him all the time, and I want to be like that one day: owning my own restaurant. I want to be an entrepreneur and make eggs all kids of different ways like him. I want to learn to make healthy food.

What would you do differently if you knew nobody would judge you?

I would talk about how I feel more. I have trouble doing that because I think most of the time people wouldn’t care.

What do you like about New Harmony?

That the people here are accepting, and the kids are very different from other schools. Other people would talk about you a lot, but here, we get questions asked so we get to have an opinion here.

Happy Weekend!

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