  {"id":2737,"date":"2025-04-04T11:34:24","date_gmt":"2025-04-04T18:34:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wellesleyps.org\/hunnewell\/?p=2737"},"modified":"2025-12-05T14:17:44","modified_gmt":"2025-12-05T19:17:44","slug":"principals-message-28","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wellesleyps.org\/hunnewell\/2025\/04\/04\/principals-message-28\/","title":{"rendered":"Principal&#8217;s Message"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"postie-post\">\n<p data-end=\"227\" data-start=\"199\"><strong data-end=\"227\" data-start=\"199\">Dear Hunnewell Families,<\/strong><\/p>\n<p data-end=\"398\" data-start=\"229\">This week, as I was walking through our building, a simple sign outside of KP (Ms. Powers)&nbsp;stopped me in my tracks. It read: <strong data-end=\"398\" data-start=\"370\">\u201cWe Can Do Hard Things.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n<p data-end=\"700\" data-start=\"400\">At first glance, it\u2019s the kind of message you might expect to see in a kindergarten space \u2014 short, encouraging, and just right for young learners. But the more I stood there and reflected, the more I realized just how important that message is \u2014 not just for five-year-olds, but for all of us.<\/p>\n<p data-end=\"728\" data-start=\"702\"><strong data-end=\"728\" data-start=\"702\">We Can Do Hard Things.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p data-end=\"880\" data-start=\"730\">That\u2019s not just a feel-good phrase. It\u2019s a life skill. And it might be one of the most important lessons we can teach our children \u2014 especially today.<\/p>\n<p data-end=\"1340\" data-start=\"882\">In a world that often promises ease, convenience, and instant gratification, the ability to face challenges with courage, perseverance, and resilience is becoming rare \u2014 and more valuable than ever. Whether it\u2019s learning to read, standing up for what\u2019s right, dealing with failure, or navigating difficult emotions or friendships, our kids are going to face hard things. That\u2019s not something to shield them from \u2014 it\u2019s something to prepare them for.<\/p>\n<p data-end=\"1414\" data-start=\"1342\">And we do that in partnership \u2014 parents and educators, working together.<\/p>\n<p data-end=\"1468\" data-start=\"1416\">So how do we prepare our children to do hard things?<\/p>\n<ul data-end=\"2268\" data-start=\"1470\">\n<li data-end=\"1661\" data-start=\"1470\">\n<p data-end=\"1661\" data-start=\"1472\"><strong data-end=\"1498\" data-start=\"1472\">We model it ourselves.<\/strong> When our kids see us struggle, persist, and keep going, they learn that setbacks are normal and that strength isn\u2019t in never falling \u2014 it\u2019s in getting back up.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li data-end=\"1843\" data-start=\"1662\">\n<p data-end=\"1843\" data-start=\"1664\"><strong data-end=\"1694\" data-start=\"1664\">We stop rushing to rescue.<\/strong> Sometimes, the best thing we can do is let them feel discomfort, confusion, or even failure \u2014 and let them discover they\u2019re capable of handling it.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li data-end=\"1996\" data-start=\"1844\">\n<p data-end=\"1996\" data-start=\"1846\"><strong data-end=\"1885\" data-start=\"1846\">We praise effort, not just outcome.<\/strong> When we celebrate hard work, grit, and persistence, we reinforce the idea that success is earned, not given.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li data-end=\"2119\" data-start=\"1997\">\n<p data-end=\"2119\" data-start=\"1999\"><strong data-end=\"2033\" data-start=\"1999\">We talk openly about struggle.<\/strong> Kids need to hear stories about our challenges \u2014 and how we\u2019ve grown from them.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li data-end=\"2268\" data-start=\"2120\">\n<p data-end=\"2268\" data-start=\"2122\"><strong data-end=\"2149\" data-start=\"2122\">We stay in the process.<\/strong> Learning to do hard things doesn\u2019t have an endpoint. It\u2019s a lifelong journey \u2014 and as adults, we\u2019re still on it, too.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p data-end=\"2498\" data-start=\"2270\">We are a school that believes in high expectations and strong support. We want our children to become confident learners \u2014 not because everything comes easily to them but because they know how to work through things that don\u2019t.<\/p>\n<p data-end=\"2609\" data-start=\"2500\">Let\u2019s keep helping them \u2014 and each other \u2014 lean into the hard stuff because that\u2019s where the growth happens.<\/p>\n<p data-end=\"2672\" data-start=\"2611\"><strong data-end=\"2622\" data-start=\"2611\">Dare to Dream,<\/strong><br data-end=\"2625\" data-start=\"2622\"> <strong data-end=\"2638\" data-start=\"2625\">Mr. Dees<\/strong><br data-end=\"2641\" data-start=\"2638\"> &nbsp;<\/p>\n<hr data-end=\"2677\" data-start=\"2674\">\n<h3 data-end=\"2702\" data-start=\"2679\"><strong data-end=\"2702\" data-start=\"2683\">Important Dates<\/strong><\/h3>\n<ul data-end=\"2873\" data-start=\"2704\">\n<li data-end=\"2753\" data-start=\"2704\">\n<p data-end=\"2753\" data-start=\"2706\"><strong data-end=\"2718\" data-start=\"2706\">April 5:<\/strong> Hunnewell Auction Gala \u2013 7:00 PM<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li data-end=\"2789\" data-start=\"2754\">\n<p data-end=\"2789\" data-start=\"2756\"><strong data-end=\"2772\" data-start=\"2756\">April 7 &amp; 8:<\/strong> 4th Grade MCAS<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li data-end=\"2827\" data-start=\"2790\">\n<p data-end=\"2827\" data-start=\"2792\"><strong data-end=\"2810\" data-start=\"2792\">April 10 &amp; 11:<\/strong> 3rd Grade MCAS<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li data-end=\"2873\" data-start=\"2828\">\n<p data-end=\"2873\" data-start=\"2830\"><strong data-end=\"2846\" data-start=\"2830\">April 14\u201316:<\/strong> Hunnewell Used Book Fair<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Dear Hunnewell Families, This week, as I was walking through our building, a simple sign outside of KP (Ms. Powers)&nbsp;stopped me in my tracks. It read: \u201cWe Can Do Hard Things.\u201d At first glance, it\u2019s the kind of message you&hellip; <a class=\"continue\" href=\"https:\/\/wellesleyps.org\/hunnewell\/2025\/04\/04\/principals-message-28\/\">Continue reading <span> Principal&#8217;s Message<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":85,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_cbd_carousel_blocks":"[]","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2737","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","","tg-column-two"],"aioseo_notices":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":true,"date":"2026-07-31 23:59:00","action":"change-status","newStatus":"trash","terms":[0],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wellesleyps.org\/hunnewell\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2737","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wellesleyps.org\/hunnewell\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wellesleyps.org\/hunnewell\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wellesleyps.org\/hunnewell\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/85"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wellesleyps.org\/hunnewell\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2737"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wellesleyps.org\/hunnewell\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2737\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3233,"href":"https:\/\/wellesleyps.org\/hunnewell\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2737\/revisions\/3233"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wellesleyps.org\/hunnewell\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2737"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wellesleyps.org\/hunnewell\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2737"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wellesleyps.org\/hunnewell\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2737"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}