Dear SUA Community,

It was great having our parents/adults on campus last Thursday for Taste of SUA and the Meet and Greet with teachers.  Thank you for spending the evening with us if you were able to make it!  Due to the informational meeting that followed, we tried a different format for the Meet and Greet this year:  parents and guardians had a chance to stop in teachers’ classrooms and informally introduce themselves rather than a structured program with presentations by teachers.  We hope that was a good experience for you.  Some of our early feedback is that people appreciated the more casual opportunity to interact with the teachers.  If you have any additional feedback, Lelia and I would like to hear it so that we can continue to plan events that meet your needs.

This seems like a good time to take a moment and share how much we appreciate our partnership with parents.  We know that behind each of our wonderful students are parents and caregivers who love her and want the absolute best for her.  Our faculty and staff have a great respect for the responsibility that is entrusted to us.  

As much as we appreciate our interactions with our parents/adults, at SUA we intentionally want to empower our students.  One of the things we do exceptionally well is helping students to develop their skills and confidence in self-advocacy and problem solving.  We always encourage our girls to have a conversation with their teachers if they are having any learning challenges or concerns.  Most importantly, we offer support for the students to figure out the best way to approach that conversation.  Our counselors are there to coach students on how to have a courageous conversation with a teacher or a peer.  It takes time for students to develop these self-advocacy skills, and of course, students progress at their own pace.  By the time that they graduate, our goal is that students are confident in using their own voice to solve problems and advocate for themselves.  This is one way that they are equipped for success in college - and life!

That said, there are times when students need parent and adult involvement. There are several ways that you can get in touch with your child’s teachers and counselor.  You are always welcome to call the school and connect via phone, and emails sent to the “contact” option on the website are routed to teachers for their response. 

There is a lot of information to share in this Parent Bulletin.  Please be certain to read about the new look of our website.  Also, the article about the new schedule introduction has a link to submit your questions as well as the first update to our Frequently Asked Questions about the new schedule.  As always, thanks for taking the time to keep informed about all of the great things happening at SUA.

Go Bulldogs!

Kathy