For the 2024-25 school year, two new holidays were added to the New Providence School District calendar: Diwali and the Chinese New Year.

Mr. Henry, Principal of NPHS and NPMS, said:  “The District sent out some surveys to our community and got community feedback, and really, the decisions were made in line with what the community desired and with what our community needs.”

New Providence’s population includes many different origins and ethnicities, so choosing holidays to represent this diversity was a difficult, but important task.

Mr. Henry also explained that the District’s goal is that “every time that [the students] come into our buildings, they feel welcomed, and they’re able to have a positive and successful educational experience”

One way the District is working on this is by reinforcing the ideas of belonging and community.

“We’ve shared a lot of surveys in the past couple of years with our students, with our community [and] with our staff as well, related to the topic of belonging and community,  and making sure, at the end of the day, that all of our students and staff feel comfortable,” Henry said.

When presented with the new holidays, many students seemed to appreciate how the school was being more inclusive of the community by allowing students to celebrate certain holidays that might be recognized within their culture.