Restore the Holidays at CRES

​Over the last few years, the administrators at Cumberland Road Elementary School have been transitioning the school away from any reference to the holiday season during the month of December, including a move away from "holiday" parties to "winter" parties. This year, the administrators have gone one step further and moved the date of now "winter" parties from December to January in order to move the timing of these parties so that they take place after the holidays.
According to school administrators, this transition is necessary in order to be more "culturally inclusive". However, the reality of this transition is that it is culturally EXCLUSIVE and has resulted in raised concerns among many parents of CRES students. We feel that these changes are culturally discriminatory, potentially politically motivated, and as such have no place in our tax-payer funded public school system.

Gone are the days of holiday themes, holiday parties, holiday musical performances, and even holiday decorations, all while other area schools are continuing these fun traditions. This is a concerning trend at CRES and we feel the need to no longer let this trend go unchallenged. Upon challenging the PTO and Principal, it became evident that this policy change regarding holiday parties is not enforceable as it is outside their jurisdiction to even mandate such a policy. Their response was to say that they're leaving it up to teachers to decide​.

CRES teachers have shown little-to-no willingness to reverse these party-related decisions. Although some teachers have decided to host a party in December (in addition to the winter party still scheduled for January), these parties are to be "end of the semester" parties rather than "holiday" parties that contain any reference to holiday-related activities.

Making ornaments for trees, cutting snowflakes out of paper, wrapping a gift for parents, eating holiday cookies, watching Frosty the Snowman, etc., are long-time and fun traditions that today's children of any culture should be able to enjoy and we fail to see any reasonable explanation for why they should be deprived of them or made to feel there is anything wrong with them.​

Therefore, we have launched this petition to respectfully demand that holiday parties be restored at Cumberland Road Elementary School.