Dear Parents,
Welcome to another school year at Discovery Programs! I love September because it’s a blank slate. For those of us in education, arts, and sports, we start anew with fresh ideas, curriculum, training, energy, and enthusiasm. Sometimes, we teach the same class and age group year to year, but just as every child is different, every class and year is different as well. The best teachers are the ones that keep learning and changing their curriculum. We take what worked last year and we keep building on it.
We had many wonderful successes last year that will build upon our programs for this year:
- Our USAIGC Copper Team won first place at NY State Championships in June and we have 40 competing gymnasts this year.
- Our recreational program was at capacity last year and all of our coaches are returning this year.
- We celebrated 10 years of our Seido Karate program and saw our first student promoted to black belt.
- Our parkour program grew to over 75 students, we added adult parkour, parent and me parkour, and we will expand to teen parkour this year.
- Our ballet program soars to new heights with the dance class age expanding to 11 years and an increase in registered dancers age 5-7.
- With the consistency of our early childhood teachers and morning gym coaches, we have seen resurgence in our Almost on My Own, Gym for Tot classes, and camp programming.
With all of these successes, we can’t take anything for granted. This summer, the Gym Director, Mary and I went to a gymnastics conference to learn and meet leaders in the field. I really enjoyed the sessions on positive coaching and special needs. The keynote speaker, Dr. Allison Arnold, Ph.D., talked about presence, discipline, vision, and inspiration. I was truly moved and reminded of how our vision must be present through our everyday procedures, classes, and staff and teacher interactions. I love hearing from parents that their child is really part of a community here, how much their child loves a particular teacher, or how a staff person helped a family through their child’s transition to camp! I know we can strive to do even more!
Thank you for joining our “little village” at Discovery! I am looking forward to a wonderful year.
Warm wishes,
Katie Kheel
discovery programs 2024