Interested in private violin lessons? Learn from conservatory trained violinist and composer, Nathaniel Heyder. He teaches all ages and skill levels and is available for in-person or virtual lessons.
Contact: 703-477-4703 or nate.heyder@gmail.com
Archives for May 2024
Children’s Chorus of Washington
Murch students with a passion for singing are invited to audition to become members of Children’s Chorus of Washington. Extensive means-tested financial aid is offered each year, to ensure that any young person who wishes to join can do so.
Singers who are rising 3rd graders upwards can schedule a time to meet our music staff, share their vocal talents, and chat about why they want to be a member of the chorus. (Students in K to Grade 2 are not required to audition but can register to join our open-entry Prep class or Training Ensemble.)
Our audition is a welcoming and inclusive process, designed to get the best out of young people, celebrate their successes, and find the right ensemble for them. Singers do not need to prepare anything for the audition, but should arrive ready to respond with energy and enthusiasm to musical ideas from the director.
For more information and to sign up for an audition, please click here. Questions? Please reach out to Catherine Whitby: cwhitby@childrenchorusdc.org
CLS Aftercare Enrollment for SY24-25
Starting in the fall 2024, CLS will offer the following:
- Before and after school
- Camps during DCPS closings and some holidays
- Spanish twice/week
- Dance once/week
- Art once/week
CLS extracurricular activities will run all-year long and require a separate registration.
More information can be found on CLS website https://capitollanguageservices.com/murch-after-school-sy24-25/. You can also call CLS office 10 am – 2 pm M-F (202) 597-5453 or write an email to our registrar: carla@capitollanguageservices.com
CLS program is currently full. If you would like to be put on a waitlist, please contact our office or write an email to carla@capitollanguageservices.com
Wonders Aftercare Enrollment for SY24-25
Enrollment for Wonders extended day program at Murch for SY24-25 is now open. Wonders is exciting, educational, and fun-filled! Their program and great team utilize a hands-on, play-based curriculum that focuses on children’s interests. The program offers teacher-led interest/hobby clubs and activities throughout the year. Clubs meet once a week for 4-8 weeks and provide hands-on learning experiences, such as Sewing Club, Crochet, Yu-Gi-Oh! Club, Comic Book Club, Book Buddies, and more!
Questions? Email Gerald Bolden
Wonders at MurchMay 1, 2024: SY24-25 Class Placements & Reflections
Dear Murch Families,
As we head into our final term of the 2023-2024 school year, I want to update you all on one item, in particular, and take a moment to reflect on how I am feeling as a school leader as we complete only our second full year, post-pandemic.
SY24-25 Class Placements
Teachers have already started developing class rosters for next year. As you may recall, it has been our historical practice to release class rosters in early to mid August. For next school year, however, we are aiming to have class rosters out by early July.
In addition to using the latest scheduling software that better enables us to take into account various factors before creating class rosters, I am also asking for parental input, just as I have done in past years. My request to parents is that if you have input for your child’s placement next year, please take the time to communicate your thoughts with your child’s current teacher(s) before they close of business on May 17th. We are not taking specific teacher requests.
Reflections
I have worked in education for over 35 years, and as many of you know, this is my 13th year as the Principal of Murch. Pre-pandemic, I would have told you that this job, like most jobs, gets easier with every passing year, but not because there aren’t challenges and new and different hurdles to overcome each year, but because there are pieces that become routine and more predictable.
Since the pandemic, however, I have, in many ways, felt like a brand new Principal all over again – routine and predictability can be elusive, and external pressures on educators are extreme (trying to make up for years of learning loss in a finite period of time) and ever-changing demands are very real (health protocols, new curriculum, budget cuts at both the federal and local levels etc…). In our efforts to keep up, there are pieces of my job that have definitely suffered, most namely communication. In some instances the lack of communication has been intentional, perhaps as a way of protecting myself and my staff, but in lots of instances, it has been unintentional and simply a product of exhaustion.
Over the last few weeks in particular, I have had an opportunity to discuss this with a handful of parents and I am committed during this final term and as we move into the next school year, to figuring out protocols that address how and when information is communicated to the school community and/or to individual families that are being affected by a specific issue.
To this end, I will be creating a short survey to solicit feedback that will go out in the next week or so. I sincerely hope that our community takes time to respond, remembering that solutions will only reflect community input if there is actually input!
With Much Gratitude,
Principal Cebrzynski