SPOTLIGHT ON HALLOWEEN
Halloween Parade, Thursday , October 31, 2019 @ 1pm!
We are excitedly preparing for a fun Halloween Day next Thursday, October 31, 2019. Halloween is a great time for kids to have fun, express themselves, and to embrace their creative sides. At the same time, the holiday does present the potential for conflict. This is an excellent opportunity to be mindful of this year's theme, Embracing Our Humanity and our commitment to doing everything in our power to end discrimination based on race, gender identity, disability, or expression here at Redwood Heights School.
Halloween costumes are designed for fun but some can reveal harmful ideas beneath a playful surface. Some perpetuate stereotypes or reinforce limited and/or hurtful ways of thinking about people, Please take time to analyze the message of a Halloween costume.
Students can unintentionally create awkwardness or distress for their peers if their costumes seem to mock or degrade a classmate's culture or appearance. One example of this might be a student who is not of Native American descent donning a traditional headdress. Of course, there's no way to anticipate every costume that might give offense, but we do ask that you exercise cultural sensitivity when helping your child select their outfit. We realize no one in the RHS community wants to deliberately cause a child anxiety, so please take a moment to reflect upon the signal your child's outfit sends so all of our kids can have a fun and carefree Halloween!
For more information or guidance, check out the brief articles below:
- A Parents Guide to Navigating Questionable Halloween Costumes https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/parents-guide-navigating-questionable-halloween-174155223.html.
- We're a Culture, Not a Costume" @ https://criticalmediaproject.org/were-a-culture-not-a-costume-2/
Thank you for your understanding. If you have any questions, thoughts or concerns please reach out to me at 510-531-6644 or cynthia.bagby@ousd.org.
Best,
Principal Bagby-Ellison
Redwood Heights Halloween Parade @ 1pm / Classroom Halloween Parties @ 12:15 pm
We are looking forward to seeing you all! Please do not send your child to school in their costumes. Students will change into their costumes at 12:15 pm. All classroom Halloween parties will be outside until 1 pm. Then we will gather on the Alison yard for our annual Halloween parade.