Wednesday, March 7, 2012

From DeLillo--an author to surely read--a comment on our symbolic mascot, the oh-so-interesting spider:

"Time seems to pass. The world happens, unrolling into moments, and you stop to glance at a spider pressed to its web. There is a quickness of light and a sense of things outlined precisely and streaks of running luster on the bay. You know more surely who you are on a strong bright day after a storm when the smallest falling leaf is stabbed with self-awareness. The wind makes a sound in the pines and the world comes into being, irreversibly, and the spider rides the wind-swayed web."

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Read the heartwarming words of our newest SpiderSmart directors, who just opened a center in Cypress, Texas!

Dear Mrs. Jung,

Our one month opening was this past Saturday. I am still in the learning phase (which is not hard with Mr. Chung's positive thoughts, words and knowledge) but it is a wonderful feeling to open our center every day and know that the waiting was well worth it! We have now enrolled 19 students, the majority in elementary. They have enrolled in the Reading & Writing program mostly. It is nice progress and parents are coming every day with positive comments about SpiderSmart. Some of the comments are as follows:

• My son is on his third chapter book! He loves reading and enjoys coming to SpiderSmart. I have never seen him read so much and so fast.
• My daughter just received this paper and she received an 84% in writing!
• One parent came in and wanted me to hear a message her son left from school (it made me cry). His teacher allowed him to use her cell phone to leave this message:
"Mom you know how you always say that I have to study hard to get good grades and you know that I can do it. And you’re always telling me to think. I got an 85% on reading today, Mom--that is a B. Okay, bye."

I just wanted to share the wonderful things everyone is saying. I am proud of the teachers here and of this wonderful program that allows students and parents to feel informed of what their child is learning. My hope and goal is that SpiderSmart becomes even more well-known for the quality it has in its method.

I feel blessed to have found this bond with you and your creation. Thank you as a parent, teacher, and representative for SpiderSmart.

I hope that when I write again I have more positive comments (which I have no doubt of) and more enrolled students.

Sincerely,

Sunil and Gouthami Patel

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Parent Testimonial of the Month:

Dear Mary,

My son successfully completed a reading and writing assignment in school. I forward his teacher's email to you to share the joy. He would not have achieved this without such help from you and your teachers.

"Dear Parents,

Recently in Advanced English 7 the students completed an open-ended writing assignment related to the novel, Friedrich. This was a challenging writing assignment because the students completed the reading of Friedrich completely independently. Your child did an excellent job writing this paragraph reflectively, earning 10 out of 10 points on the assignment. I have approximately 140 students, and only 9 of them earned this score, so it is a real success. Please take time to congratulate your child on this terrific accomplishment which demonstrates excellence in both reading and writing!"