March 2020 Update
Dear May Center Community,
In many ways, it feels like the world has turned upside down. Our school community, along with almost everything else we know, has been forced to pivot and adapt to a new way of being during these challenging times. And yet, what remains the same is the core of what defines our May Center community: a commitment to approaching each learning relationship with presence, sensitivity, and empathy; a belief that when each of us is truly seen by others, we are supported in becoming our best selves. I am proud to be a part of this inspiring community of learners who continue to show up for each other daily. We look forward to the day when we can all gather together; in the meantime, we offer these updates about what we’ve been up to to keep our community together during this time of physical distance.
May School
The health and wellbeing of our community is our highest priority, and we are committed to doing our part to “flatten the curve” through social distancing. Our extraordinary faculty and staff have been working hard to develop distance learning and family/child support that aligns with our philosophy and pedagogy and best practices in distance learning, and provides a robust, engaging learning experience. We have been awed by the flexibility and resilience of our teachers, students, and parents during this time, all of whom have gone above and beyond to support the continuation of meaningful learning.
May School students are able to see each other each school day in their class meetings through the Google Meet and Google Classroom platforms. In addition to their academic classes, students have the opportunity to participate in virtual social clubs like Art Club and Dungeons and Dragons Club. We all look forward to Thumos Thursdays, when we get to have some fun with spirit days like “Crazy Hat Day”. Meanwhile, our teachers have continued their commitment to engaging curriculum adapted for this new setting. Ms. Kathy, for example, continues to provide video updates on our baby trout, which we continue to raise in the Intermediate science classroom.
Below are some reflections from our parents about this new adventure:
“I just wanted to quickly remind you that we are SO PROUD to be associated with a school that was among the first to take significant positive action to protect the community. We are in complete support of all the hard decisions you are navigating, and we appreciate you so much.”
“I want to reiterate how incredibly amazed we are by the May Center’s response to all of this. Your communication at this really difficult time has been so impressive. We are so grateful to be a part of this community!”
“We appreciate how you picked right up after spring break with distant learning so as to not have too much down time.”
“I want to thank all of you so much for the incredible work you've done to make distance learning work. Our son’s computer is set up in the kitchen so I've had a chance to peep in from time to time throughout the day, and I can see it's so hard . . . . I hadn't even begun to consider the challenges you all are facing. But, you've made it work! Our son is engaged and learning. Kudos to the May Center team.”
“The expectations have felt very sensible to me since this is a time when focus and concentration have become a problem for everyone.”
“It's like you have always taught this way.”
Addressing the Uncertain Times
Our school is both a caring community and a nonprofit organization. More than thirty employees depend on us for their paycheck and benefits. We recognize that the pandemic and social distancing orders have already put a tremendous financial strain on some families. Other families remain unsure of what the actual impact will be on their financial picture and nervous about what will come next for the entire economy. May Center is taking the following actions to support our community financially:
Upon request, we are suspending monthly tuition payments for those families whose financial circumstances have been negatively impacted by the pandemic. We are willing to work with each individual family to develop a flexible payment plan to fulfill your tuition commitment for the 2019-2020 school year.
We have had an unprecedented number of requests for financial aid for the 2020-2021 school year. If you have already received an aid award letter, it is extremely important that you accept your award and return the enrollment contract as soon as possible. Because we have already awarded our 2020-2021 financial aid budgeted funds, we have decided to create a financial aid waitlist for those families who qualify for aid but who have not yet received an aid award. Our hope is that we will be able to accommodate these additional requests through fundraising and other sources. We are committed to making an extraordinary effort to meet the financial needs of our community.
May Scholars Fund
If you are in a position to do so, please make a donation to our May Scholars Fund to provide financial aid to families facing hardship due to loss of income. Our generous campaign matchers have committed $75,000 to match each donation made through June 15, 2020. Click here to give now>>
Tutoring and Outreach
Our fabulous May Center tutors began distance tutoring April 1, picking up where they left off with their clients in academic skill building, GED and SAT/ACT prep, and academic language therapy for students with language-based learning differences like dyslexia. In addition, we have pivoted to develop online Executive Functioning curriculum for tutoring clients as well as individualized support for students who would like support with navigating their school’s distance learning program. We would love to talk with you about how we can support your student during this time and beyond. Please contact Heidi Schmidt at heidi@maycenter.org or 505-780-5439.
Summer LEAP
We are now enrolling for May Center’s Summer LEAP program. Our Summer LEAP Program, offered July 6-31, focuses on essential skills in reading, writing, and mathematics, with teachers creating an individualized program for each student in classes with a 6:1 student/teacher ratio. Appropriate for students in grades 1-7 who are in need of specialized support in their academics, students with diagnosed learning differences, and those students who want to keep their academic skills fresh over the summer, Summer LEAP empowers students to learn more about how they learn best, and explicitly teaches students the executive functioning skills to ask for what they need in the classroom.
We hope to be able to offer Summer LEAP in person at May Center’s campus. Should social distancing measures still be in place, Summer LEAP will proceed in the distance learning format. Click here for the Summer LEAP enrollment forms>>
We also hope to offer our Summer Early Childhood Program for children ages 3-5 with our award-winning Early Childhood Director Daisy Guranich June 22 through July 31. The Early Childhood program will not be offered if the stay at home order is still in place.
May Evaluation Center
We are currently booking appointments for diagnostic evaluations in July 2020. Call 505-780-5439 or 505-983-7407 or email heidi@maycenter.org to schedule an evaluation.
Teacher Training
May Center Teacher Institute continues to provide training for educators in evidence-based best practices for working with students who learn differently. We are currently working hard to bring these professional development opportunities to the distance learning platform. June 22-27, May Center will offer our Academic Language Practitioner Certification Program in cooperation with Shelton School of Dallas, our training affiliate. This training, which leads to national certification as a dyslexia specialist, will be offered in person if social distance learning measures are relaxed; if not, we will go on with the training in an online learning format. To register for the course, click here>>