A Very Tessa January
2023 started off beautifully with many celebrations and learning opportunities. Here is what we have been up to at Tessa in January.
Lunar New Year
Celebrations are a big part of Tessa’s culture. And January has been very colorful thanks to the different activities and decors honoring the Lunar New Year. Some parents came to school to decorate, read stories or organize crafts for students. We also invited a special guest, who specializes in sugar painting, a form of traditional Chinese folk art. She demonstrated her art and created sugar animals for each student.
We also wanted to celebrate with our community at large. We organized a themed Open House, where Lina Liu Artists performed traditional acrobats. It really was a great morning!
Did you know? Lunar New Year VS Chinese New Year
Chinese New Year is only one festival under the umbrella term of Lunar New Year and refers to the celebration specific to Chinese culture. While Lunar New Year is widely celebrated by countries in Asia, Chinese New Year is only observed in China and celebrated by Chinese people. Read more here.
End of Unit Celebrations
Our PK4 parents were invited to Tessa to celebrate the End of Unit: How We Express Ourselves. These past few weeks, children studied how wonder within us can make us communicate in different ways. Where does wonder come from ? What are the different ways to communicate? What is the connection between wonder and feelings? Through these different ideas and questions, this unit facilitated a strong focus on Visual Arts, Performing Arts and Language.
A Unit of Inquiry in the IB provides schools with a curriculum framework of essential elements — the knowledge, concepts, skills, attitudes, and action that young students need to equip them for successful lives, both now and in the future. Learn more about End of Unit projects at Tessa on our blog.
Field Trips
January has been an eventful month, full of learning experiences. For their IB unit of inquiry study called “How We Express Ourselves”, our PreK3s worked on learning how colors and emotions can be expressed through art. They went on a field trip to Urban Arts in the Monroe Center and explored the color yellow. Our Primary students visited the Hoboken Public Library, and for their unit on “How We Express Ourselves Through Stories”, they also went to the New Jersey State Theatre. They enjoyed the play “The Ugly Duckling” by the UK based Tutti Frutti Prod.
Dental Hygiene at Tessa
The Bear Brook Pediatric Dentistry team came to Tessa to introduce students to dental hygiene and oral health. They reviewed healthy brushing routines and learned why they are important.
Dental hygiene is an essential lesson for preschool-aged children to learn in order to start good habits early. Through demonstration and a hands-on approach, we want to familiarize our students with appropriate ways to keep their teeth clean and healthy!
Registration is Open for Summer Camp and Afterschool Winter Semester!
We opened registration for our Summer Camp programs. Our Summer Camps are thoroughly enjoyable language immersion programs in the language of your choice – Spanish, French or Mandarin. With a new theme and adventure each week, take advantage of this perfect mix of fun academics and outdoor activities.
Who? Children ages 2 to 9
Where? Hoboken – Tessa International School
When? June 26th to August 25th 2023
Register by March 1st, 2023 and benefit from our Early Bird rates. Jumpstart your child’s future, engage them now! Learn more here.
A new semester also means new afterschool activities! At Tessa, we offer a wide range of afterschool activities, from soccer, to chess, to dance, to coding and more. Did you know? Our language activities are open to non-Tessa students. As part of our afterschool program, we propose French, Mandarin and Spanish classes. We also offer additional languages such as Russian and Hindi! Learn more here.
We hope you liked this glimpse of the life at Tessa. And there is so much more happening! If you would like to know our school better, we invite you to come visit us!