Community-The Sixth C

By Rose Helm
The energy on campus this week has been palpable. As I look out my window, I see students, with arms outstretched like airplanes, marching across the lawn to one of our outdoor specialist classes. Their teacher carries an iPad so our remote learners can “travel” with them to their next class. Balancing the remote and in-person experience simultaneously has been no easy task, but our teachers have worked hard to maintain the sense of community they worked so hard to cultivate all year.
In Kindergarten, our teachers often talk about there being a sixth C, Community. I like to think about the JTD community as three concentric circles. On the inside is the community that is established amongst our students and their teachers, the relationships made in the classroom. The next layer of community is comprised of our families, who are connected by their shared values and a commitment to their children. The outer circle encompasses the greater community of Los Angeles, which, through its rich diversity, offers our students an opportunity to broaden their perspectives.

It’s this last layer of community that we engage with in our service learning partnerships. Whether it’s learning about the partially sighted in first grade or a summer camp for those with chronic illness in fourth grade, these service learning partnerships give our children a glimpse of the world beyond JTD and offer them opportunities to build empathy. Our school-wide partnership with Big Sunday goes even further by bringing families together (in non-COVID times, of course) so that the volunteers and the recipients are mutually benefiting from their interactions. While the pandemic has limited these in-person opportunities, we can still do our part by supporting our greater Los Angeles community through our drives like supporting Big Sunday's socks and underwear drive or by donating your family’s gently used sports equipment to support Leveling the Playing Field!

Together, we can reach that outer circle of our Los Angeles community and make a difference.

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The John Thomas Dye School


11414 Chalon Road
Los Angeles, CA 90049
Phone: (310) 476-2811
The John Thomas Dye School admits students of any race, color, religion, sexual orientation, or national and ethnic origin to all the rights, privileges, programs, and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the School. It does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sexual orientation, or national and ethnic origin in the administration of its educational policies, admission policies, scholarship and loan programs, and athletic or other school-administered programs.

Located In Los Angeles, CA, John Thomas Dye is an independent school for grades K-6. Students benefit from a challenging academic program, fine arts, competitive athletics, and a wide selection of extracurricular activities.