Dear Morningside Center friends,

As September is coming to a close, we hope that your perhaps first full month back to school has begun with warm seeds of belonging and inspiring ideas in the classroom!

Morningside is celebrating Hispanic/Latinx/e Heritage Month – join us with some of the lessons below.

Also, find articles below on absenteeism, the NYC Chancellor, and more.

Celebrating Latinx & Hispanic Everyday Resilience & Joy

In honor of the brave ones who have left behind everything they know, for an uncertain search of a chance to survive and, ultimately, thrive, I invite you to think of this: In times of crisis and desperation, how can one find joy?

Hispanic Heritage: Culture Community Gallery

Students celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month by uplifting – and making a gallery of – all things Hispanic in our lives.

Latinx? Hispanic? Exploring Identity through Art

Students experience how a range of Latinx illustrators touch on language, identity, and self-expression through their comics – including an exploration of the meaning and significance of terms such as Latinx, Hispanic, Latino, and Latina.

Student Facilitated Restorative Circle to Address Lateness

RP Video Library: This video shows a peer facilitated restorative circle to problem solve around lateness in school. The Circle is implemented with fidelity, according to the key restorative circle components found at our introduction to circles.

Is It Time to Reform the Supreme Court?

This lesson consists of two readings on the issue of President Biden’s proposal to reform the Supreme Court. His proposal would implement a binding ethics code and instate 18-year term limits for judges on the high court. Questions for discussion follow each reading.

What We're Reading

Reducing Chronic Absenteeism: Lessons from Community Schools

"Although attendance has started to improve in some states, chronic absenteeism remains 75% higher, on average, than prepandemic levels. California mirrors this trend, with chronic absenteeism rising to 30% in 2022 before decreasing to 25% in 2023, still well above prepandemic levels." By Emily Germain, Laura E. Hernández, Sarah Klevan, Rebecca S. Levine, and Anna Maier at Learning Policy Institute

Melissa Aviles-Ramos expected to take over as NYC schools chancellor, sources say

"Melissa Aviles-Ramos, who helmed New York City’s efforts to incorporate thousands of migrant students into city schools, will take over as schools chancellor following the departure of David Banks, according to sources familiar with the situation." By Michael Elsen-Rooney, Julian Shen-Berro, and Alex Zimmerman at Chalkbeat

“And at last you'll know with surpassing certainty that only one thing is more frightening than speaking your truth. And that is not speaking.” 

― Audre Lorde