October 20, 2025
Important Dates…
Monday, October 20-Friday, October 24: Visiting artist, Jake Lockwood of Muse Machine, at Overfield for week-long residency.
Thursday, October 23: Celebration of Jake Lockwood’s residency, 6 p.m.
Tuesday, November 11: Evening appointments for Parent-Teacher Conferences, 4:30-7:30 p.m.
Wednesday, November 12: School CLOSED for Parent-Teacher Conferences.
Thursday, November 20: Overfield Family Partnership Meeting, 6:30 p.m. in the Gathering Place.
Letters from Leadership
When people ask me what has kept me working at Overfield for over 20 years, I have a list of many items, but when I distill that down into one word, it is this: relationships.
These past few days have been a perfect demonstration of this. I saw our amazing OFP Co-Chairs, Leah and Annie, working hard with a bevy of volunteers–both teachers and parents–to host a wonderful fall event full of laid back fun for the whole family. The trail of jack o’lanterns that were lit later in the night illuminated alumni and current families’ smiling faces as they enjoyed a gorgeous and warm fall evening around the campfire, sharing stories, catching up, and building and renewing friendships. These personal relationships are impactful, lasting, and important.
I think back to our professional development day on Friday when we gathered as a community of teachers, where we reflected on our work with children, the purpose of why we do what we do, and how we can continue to grow as educators and caregivers. I consider how we spent time preparing for parent-teacher conferences, where we will have conversations with our families about the wonderful children we are privileged to work with each day, and how to best support these children in partnership as adults. We as teachers strive to be lifelong learners, and to promote dialogue, critical thinking, expression, and community–and to do all of this with joy. We care deeply about all of our Overfield families, and about doing the best work we can. Positive relationships among teachers, children and families is extremely valuable, and is at the very core of what we do. These collegial relationships matter.
Today, while I worked with our visiting artist, Jake Lockwood, and all of our children and teachers, I thought about the numerous talented artists who have brought their creative energy to Overfield over the years. I reflected on how they have inspired so many children, many of whom are now leading and innovating as artists themselves as adults. And I thought about all of the other children who may not have chosen a career in the arts, but who use the lessons of the arts in their chosen fields, and who are more creative, articulate, and collaborative because of it. Building a relationship with the arts is beneficial for all children, as it promotes voice, dialogue, and reflectiveness.
And now, as I sit and write to all of you with the gorgeous golden sun setting over the Hobart Urban Nature Preserve and the Overfield playground, with the trilling of a chickadee sounding in my ear, I am reminded of why I was first drawn to Overfield as a Naturalist 23 years ago: because the people of Overfield value a relationship with the natural world that sustains us all. What a privilege it is to be surrounded by the sights, sounds, and smells of nature, and to live each day with other people who regard this relationship as a fundamental right of childhood, and as the very foundation of our humanness.
Thank you all for choosing to be in relationship here–in the many unique, valuable, sustaining ways that these relationships manifest at The Overfield School.
Beth Poronsky – Program Lead
We had an amazing first day with visiting artist, Jake Lockwood! Jake will be here with us all this week, introducing the children to the wonderful world of theater through discussion, games, and practice. We will have a celebration of the residency on Thursday, October 23rd at 6 pm. All families are invited as audience members, as our full week children will be performing as a menagerie of animals as we make the school our stage. We can’t wait to create more this week with Jake! Many thanks to all of the families who are making food for us this week so we have time to collaborate, and to the Ohio Arts Council, whose grant funding makes this possible!
What a beautiful day for Autumn at Overfield! We hope you all enjoyed a lovely fall day playing games, singing, carving pumpkins, and spending time with friends.
Many, many thanks to all of our families and friends of Overfield who donated food, prizes, or volunteered to set up, work stations, or clean up. We couldn’t do any of this without you; your participation is so appreciated!
Thank you, Overfield Families and Friends!
