Focusing on FAmily Wellness
Due to the rapid spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, schools and communities across the nation had to quickly move classes, events, and celebrations to a 100% online format. This historic move has shone a bright light on the importance of maintaining interpersonal relationships as well as our individual mental and physical health, despite the drastic decrease in in-person interactions many of us are experiencing today. Human beings are social creatures. We are not meant to live in isolation.
To that end, we’ve been hard at work on two larger-scale wellness initiatives that will benefit our families and students as well as our staff.
First, thanks to a generous COVID-19 relief and recovery grant from the Princeton Area Community Foundation, we are assembling a series of monthly online events that support the physical and mental health of both our families and students. Starting in February, we will be hosting focused discussions for parents on topics like parenting during COVID-19, stress management, talking to your child about current events, and self-care in communities of color. In addition, we are planning opportunities for the whole family to get moving together with family Yoga, and even a family cooking night.
Our first Family Wellness Workshop webinar entitled “Crucial Conversations” is happening Thursday, February 25, 2021 at 5pm. Click here to learn more and sign up to attend.
More details are forthcoming, so please stay tuned to our social media pages for more on these exciting programs.
For our educators and staff, we know that our instinct is to always put our children FIRST, but that can often come at a high cost to our individual wellness and self-care. However, we also know that as someone in such a service-driven profession, you simply cannot “pour from an empty cup.” We deeply care about the health and wellbeing of our staff and know that to be our best selves, a consistent plan for regular self-care is necessary. To that end, we are excited to share that Foundation Academies has created our first-ever staff wellness program!
Created using feedback gathered from staff surveys, this new wellness program offers monthly online physical activity sessions led by our very own FA staff as instructors, including a walking/step competition, boxing, Zumba, Yoga, meditation, and more. The program also offers an ongoing one-on-one self-care program led by a private health coach, and other monthly special events with guest experts in a range of topics surrounding wellness of mind, body, and soul.
We look forward to making 2021 a year of health, wellness, and FUN for our entire school FAmily!
“Those who say it can’t be done are usually interrupted by others doing it.” – James Baldwin
Michelle Lawlor, Marketing and Communications Associate, spearheads Foundation Academies’ marketing and communication efforts. Born and raised in Trenton, New Jersey, Michelle holds a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism/Multimedia Communications from Rider University.