A is for Activity

As we all know, Dalat is a pretty busy place with a lot happening every week. Recently a committee of staff has been reviewing and evaluating certain aspects of our “after school” programs to see where we can improve and to ask some big questions. One of the big questions we asked was, “Why do we have all these activities?” As we talked through this question, we kept coming back to the point that these activities are “education for life.”

Dalat believes strongly that extracurricular activities are an important part of teaching and educating our children. The activities themselves really are not “extra,” but instead are an enhancement of our educational curriculum. They enhance our educational curriculum in numerous ways:

Activities Support the Academic Mission of the School. They are not a diversion but rather an extension of a good educational program. Students who participate in activity programs tend to have higher grade-point averages, better attendance records, lower dropout rates, and fewer discipline problems than students that don’t.

Activities are Inherently Educational. Activity programs provide valuable lessons for practical situations – teamwork, sportsmanship, communication, hard work, etc. Through participation in activity programs, students learn self-discipline, build self-confidence, and develop skills to handle different situations. These are qualities that parents want to see in their children so that they become responsible adults and productive citizens.

Activities Foster Success in Later Life. Participation in high school activities is often a predictor of later success – in college, in their career, and in becoming a contributing member of society.

One decision that came out of this committee’s work is the creation of a new part-time position at Dalat. Next year we will have a part-time athletics coordinator for our first-sixth grade students.

We are excited to announce that Robin Frohlich will fill that position. Robin will help organize and develop athletic offerings for our younger children and will work closely with our KICs and MS coordinators.

Through the work of the committee, we will also make some changes to the scheduling that will create more possibilities for our ES and MS students. These and other changes will be communicated to parents as we draw closer to the end of the year and begin to prepare for next year.