Growth Mindset Presentation for Parents

The beginning of a new school year can be a challenging transition for families. We're pleased to offer a parent education session on “growth mindset” to set the tone for the year.

Growth mindset, the belief that your basic skills and strengths are things you can cultivate through your efforts, has been linked to greater achievement as well as greater enthusiasm for new learning and challenges. It has led to parenting approaches that are quite different from the way many of us were raised. Instead of punishing failure and rewarding success, parents learn to reward effort and attitude. They move away from "You’re good at math" or "You’re not a good athlete" to praising effort and improvement. In doing so, they instill in their children a love of learning and resilience in the face of difficulties.

This presentation is for parents. It will be conducted by psychologist Wendy Ritchey and first grade teacher Karima Hastings, who uses growth mindset in her work with students. They'll give an overview of growth mindset and show how parents can use this knowledge to help their children. There will be opportunities for parents to ask questions.

The presentation will be held via Zoom on Monday, August 21, at 7:30 p.m. Current families, please check your email for the Zoom link.

Graduates Explore the Nation's Capital

Keeping with a 20-year-old Meher School tradition, our recent graduates went on a whirlwind tour of Washington, D.C. As it always is, it was a rich and inspiring experience for all. Students, along with chaperones, parents, and elementary co-principal Vince d'Assis, saw almost two dozen sites, including the MLK Memorial, the JFK Memorial, the Jefferson Memorial, the Albert Einstein statue, Ben's Chili Bowl, George Washington's home at Mount Vernon, the National Archives, the Air and Space Museum, the World War II Memorial, the Korean War Memorial, the Vietnam Veteran's Memorial, the Iwo Jima Memorial, Arlington National Cemetery, Ford's Theater, the Natural History Museum, the American History Museum, the Lincoln Summer Cottage, the African American History Museum, the Native American Indian History Museum, the Hirshhorn Museum, and the Library of Congress.

Baby Backpack Drive: Family Volunteer Day

Some two dozen Meher Schools students and parents spent Saturday morning at the White Pony Express distribution center in Pleasant Hill filling backpacks with goods donated by school families in our Baby Backpack Drive.

The volunteers made cards with love notes for the new mothers, which they put in goodie bags filled with chocolate and protein bars. These were included with the other donated items – diapers, onesies, socks, shampoo, blanket, a stuffed animal, and more – they placed in the backpacks.

Kindergarten mom Karina Madrigal, who organized the drive, said, “It was beautiful to see the ripple effect of people engaging in acts of kindness.”

A professional photographer captured the flavor of the event on video, and Erin Brockman, the mother of a first grader and a graduating fifth grader, shared her video on Instagram.