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
Home and School Association
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
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 registrations are now open for school year 2024-2025.
To register, please click here: https://capitollanguageservices.com/murch-after-school-sy24-25/
Current Murch families:
Murch newly enrolled families:
Next school year CLS will offer the following:
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
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 MurchDear 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
Dear Murch Families,
I hope this newsletter finds you and your families in good spirits. I would like to provide an update on the school budget process and share a bit about how I approached this very challenging budget cycle. However, I will be sharing the details of budget decisions first with the faculty/staff and our Local School Advisory Team (LSAT) before sharing specifics publicly, so please be patient with me.
In mid-February, Murch received its initial school budget for the 2024-25 school year, after which the LSAT and I began reviewing the allocation and soliciting feedback from the school community via a parent survey and two LSAT meetings. As of this week, our budget has been submitted back to, and approved by, DCPS Central Office. While this is not necessarily the end of our budget process – things could change between now and when the DC Council approves all budgets in June – I am pleased to announce that while tough decisions had to be made, our budget continues to reflect our school vision, which states that, “Every child will feel safe and welcomed as they develop as a compassionate person and inquisitive learner. All children will be celebrated for their individuality and will be prepared to contribute positively to our school and the world.”
Every day, we strive to ensure that EVERY Murch student, along with their family, can see themselves in this vision. We also recognize that every decision made (and there are many) will not necessarily be reflective of individual priorities. I wish that our budget was infinite and that we were able as a school (and as a society) to meet every need of every student, but with what we have been given, I feel confident that we are continuing to move in a positive direction.
The following four areas of the budget are a reflection of our continued efforts to realize our school’s vision:
Continued Investment in Academic Programs: We are dedicated to maintaining and enhancing our core academic programs to ensure that every student receives a well-rounded education that meets their individual needs.
Support for the Arts: We understand the importance of a vibrant arts program in fostering creativity and receiving a well-rounded education.
Maintaining Resources for Student Support Services: We are committed to providing comprehensive support services to help every student thrive academically, socially, and emotionally. Our budget allocates resources for counseling, special education, multilingual learners, development of our core principles as a member of the TRANSCEND group which focuses on the development of the whole child, and other support programs.
Staff Professional Development Opportunities: We believe in the importance of ongoing professional development for our educators to stay updated on best practices and innovative teaching methods. Our budget provides resources for staff training and development programs.
I want to express my gratitude to our school community for your continued support and collaboration throughout the budgeting process, particularly to the Murch staff and our LSAT. The input and feedback from everyone has been invaluable in shaping our priorities and decisions. Planning for next year will be underway soon, and together we will make the upcoming academic year a rewarding and successful experience for all of our students.
As always, should you have any questions or would like more information about our approved budget, please do not hesitate to reach out to me, Assistant Principal Hawkins, and/or the LSAT. As I mentioned, more budget details will be forthcoming in the next few weeks.
Warm regards,
Principal Cebrzynski
Hope Johnson teaches one-on-one and small group lessons, and is looking to take on a few more students in the months ahead. She focuses on building strong foundations of rhythm, posture, intonation, music reading, and sound production skills for beginner students.
Call/text 206-909-7183
Email hopecaneel@gmail.com
GirlsUP offers extraordinary summer programs for girls aged 10-13 focused on developing character, confidence, and critical thinking through an innovative journey toward self-discovery. GirlsUP is a proud partner of the UN Foundation Campaign for Girls.
For more information on summer programs, please visit their website.
The Lafayette Tennis Association has just opened its 2024 tennis season for youth and adults!
We believe that tennis is one of the greatest sports and can be played for a lifetime! Our Winter, Spring, Summer and Fall programs offers one-hour classes for boys and girls (ages 5-17) for beginner, advanced beginner and intermediate players. Our tennis instructors will focus on teaching tennis techniques and strategies, building strength and endurance, improving agility, and enhancing players’ coordination and speed. And we’ll make sure our players are having fun and getting lots of exercise!
All of our programs are held at Lafayette-Pointer park located at Lafayette Elementary in Chevy Chase, DC. All ages and area schools welcome!
We are offering the following programs:
-Spring afterschool youth (starts week of March 11, one-hour classes held at 3:30, 4:30 and 5:30 pm for kids aged 4-17 years of age).
-Summer camp (starts week of June 24). Half-day camps (Morning camp: 8:30 am-noon/Afternoon camp: 1:00 pm-4:30 pm). Full day option available too and we also offer pre and post-camp care. Get our early bird discount if you register by March 1!
-Winter tennis: We still have slots open for our youth (indoors at Chevy Chase Community Center) and adult Winter tennis programs which you can pro-rate.
You can register for all of these programs by visiting lafayettetennis.org
Thank you and hope to see your kids on the courts this year!
Interested in sending your younger child to camp or giving your older child a new experience, but overwhelmed by the myriad of options that exist? Well, stress no further. Camp Specialists is a company that works with families to help them find the “best fit” sleepaway camps and travel programs for their kids. There are no obligations and it’s TOTALLY FREE (Camp Specialists get paid by the camps/summer programs).
Camp Specialists can provide support with:
If you are interested, reach out to Lauren Wolfson at:
laurenwolfson@campspecialists.com or 202-321-1766