Hello Duniway Parents,

For those of you who are new to Duniway – welcome! My name is Melissa Ewbank and I am the president of the Duniway PTA. I have 4th and 2nd graders at Duniway and am in my 3rd year as president of the PTA.

As we head into the Back to School Picnic and the start of the new school year, I want to acknowledge the challenges I have been hearing from many of you leading into the school year. Large class sizes, the shift in rules around leveraging foundation funds for classroom aids, and how this will impact our kids’ experience at Duniway and long-term enrollment are at the top of my mind, as well as many of yours. Please know that your PTA is here to serve as a liaison between families and school administration, and we work to create opportunities for parents to provide regular feedback and to learn about concrete ways we can work together as a community to advocate for long-term change and increased funding to support Duniway and the broader PPS community. 

I’ve been reflecting as we head into the new school year, and one thing we’ve shown time and time again is what an incredible place we make Duniway for our kids, even amongst periods of challenge… from ice storms to the Teachers Strike, to the pandemic.  Our constant has been community. We show up at principal coffees, volunteer events and host fundraising parties and PTA meetings because we care. The reason parents are upset is because they care. Our teachers have been advocating for smaller class sizes and more resources because they care. And our kids are watching us care, and show up, every day and this is such an incredible gift. 

I hope we can go into the school year leaning on this foundation of community and setting a tone for our kiddos to help their return be a joyful, positive experience despite the challenges we may be feeling as parents. Some kids may be nervous about returning, or bummed to not be placed with their buddies this year, or brand new to Duniway as kinder families or new students. This is our opportunity to welcome them and show them what it means to be part of our community. 

As we know, our kids are always listening, so I encourage everyone to be intentional about how you are speaking about back to school and some of the challenges we may be feeling as adults to make space for them to be kids, and experience the joys of back to school with their friends. 

I am looking forward to celebrating this together at the Back to School Picnic. I hope to see many of you there.

Melissa