Friday, November 16, 2012




LS Weekly Memo

Nov. 19th- Nov. 30th   




Welcome to Week 13 and looking ahead to Week 14. Thanksgiving Break is almost here.

COMMUNITY

Assembly
Thank you Kristen Haferbecker for the inspiration, organization and execution of a fabulous new assembly format.  Kudos to Margaret and Laura for creating such interest in art for all our students.  As always, our thanks to Dave Hall for sharing his musical talents at our assemblies. We will work on the timing and are looking forward to the next assembly.

Grandparents and Special Friends Day - 11/20
We are anticipating a significant gathering of grandparents and special friends as you may have seen in the latest email from Development.  Take a look at the number of grandparents planning on visiting your class so you can plan accordingly.

Note that :
Guest will start arriving in classrooms at 8:45
1st and 2nd recess is from 9:45 - 10:05
9:45 - All guest are invited to have a break, enjoy coffee in the LS Library or OES Chapel
Chapel is from 10:15 - 10:45
Look for a note from Jenny Cleveland about a seating plan.

Thank You to Parents Who Purchased Wish Lists
A number of  parents generously donated books to Beginning and Lower School classrooms. Travis and Donna Knight were especially generous donating books to multiple classrooms.  
It would be nice to take a minute in the next week or so to send a thank you note to the families that donated book(s) to your classroom.

Secret Santa
Jenny and Lyn, our party mavens, are putting together plans for our holiday party, Monday, December 17th.  Save the date! Dream about the special treats you wish your secret Santa will bring. Make a list. Check it twice. Watch for more details from Jenny about Secret Santa and Lyn regarding the holiday party pot luck in an upcoming WM.

PROGRAM

On-line Reading Subscriptions- Gentle Reminder
Thanks to those of you who responded to Chris’ query about RAZ.  We really need to know about ALL of the online subscriptions you plan to use this year and next (David is drawing up next year’s budget in the next two weeks). I sent out a link in an email today Please fill in your portion by next Tuesday.

Open Block- Tech Team Kudos
Our kudos to the Tech Team for putting together these informative cross-divisional tech workshops.  What a great way to move us along in the ever-changing world of technology.  They even provide snacks to keep brains functioning at the end of a long day.

January Report Writing
Our winter report writing season will approach quickly after winter break. We return to school on January 7 and our report writing day is January 18th, the Friday before MLK Day.

Of course this means that you will have one week less to assess your students.  You may want to think about doing a few assessments before going on break to get a jump on this all-important assessment work.

Budget for 2013-14
David is inthe midst of budget planning for next year.  Let him know if you or a teaching team have ideas that might impact the budget for next year.

LS Building
We have finalized plans for our first foray into the LS Building planning process.

12/5/12, 3:15 - 4:45; Team Leaders will meet with Suzy Cessor to prep for design planning 12/6, 3:15 - 4:45; All LS Faculty will meet to begin design process
12/11, 7:30 - 3:30; Teams will meet with Ashley Cadwell for 1.5 hour sessions to advance design thinking
12/12, 7:30 - 3:30; Teams will meet with Ashley Cadwell for 1.5 hour sessions to advance design thinking
12/12, 3:45 - 5:00; Teams will present design ideas to members of Building Committee

We will start off with a focus on program on 12/6 and then consider how it drives spatial needs.

Questions to consider for discussion on 12/6:
What aspects of the current LS program work really well?
What do you wish to be true of the Lower School program in 3-5 years?
What can you image could be true of the LS program in 20 years?

Faculty Meeting 11/29
Agenda
Self Study Summary -  read and discuss
Financial Aid
Google Drive


OPERATIONS

Special BS Team Meeting, Monday 11/26, 3:15-4:30 to Discuss Assistant’s Schedule
We will gather to discuss possible changes that will meet the needs of our programs and be more assistant teacher-friendly. Assistants, you will be paid for your time. Would someone be willing to host this meeting?

Final Site Calendar- All School Calendar Cancellations
If you remove a date from the Faculty Events Google Calendar, please alert Lyn or Chris.  We want to be sure to get the date removed from Final Site, the All School Calendar Anne Weston maintains.
Every week Lyn and Chris review the calendar. It gets confusing if a date is removed from the Faculty Events Google Calendar, but is left on the Final Site.  Let us know so we can get the calendars in sync.

School Start and Attendance
Just in case there is a lack of clarity:

Bell rings @ 7:50
School Starts @ 7:55
Attendance completed @ 8:00

Buzzers
You may have noticed that our buzzers have not been working this week. Jon von Behren tried to fix the problem but ran into trouble. He hopes to get the buzzers back on schedule next week.

Snack
Shirley is concerned that some people are not picking up their snack, and food is being wasted.  Please be sure to serve students snack in the morning and afternoon. If for some reason you can’t eat your regular snack, be sure to refrigerate it and serve as an extra special snack the following day.  

Snack Reduction
We are currently on track to spend $33,000 on snacks this year, with a budget of only $21,000.  We will be looking at ways to reduce the cost and amount of snack.

Giving Tree is Coming
Jenny Strode is coordinating Giving  Tree with Myra Clark. Giving Tree benefits AASK students and their families.  Look for tags in the faculty room some time in the next few weeks.  







Friday, November 9, 2012



LS Weekly Memo

Nov. 12th- Nov. 16th   



Welcome to Week 12!  Thanks for all of the time, energy and effort that went into gettig ready for and attending Open House.  Many prosective parents got this look of bliss on their faces as they toured your classrooms.  You could just tell that they were imagining the possibilities, envisioning their child in our thriving learning community.  We had a great turn out.  More reflections to come. We’d love to hear your feedback on what went well and what we could do next year to improve on this year’s Open House.  

COMMUNITY

Grandparents Day - 11/20
Plan on having your students in your class from 8:45 - 10:00 am so grandparents can find their grandchildren.  Extra chairs will be available in the BS Hallway, 1st/ 2nd Grade and 4th/ 5th Grade common areas.

AS FOESL Fall Book Fair, Tuesday, 11/13 - Thursday, 11/15
Have fun selecting books for family, friends and you and support the great work of FOESL.

AS Faculty Meeting, Thursday 11/15 7:45 - 8:40am
We will be updating the faculty on strategic initiatives - Intercultural Competence, Professional Growth Plan and Inquiry.

LS Assembly, Friday, 11/16,  8:10 - 8:40
Following the Essential Competencies themes, the assembly will be about I Create. Kristen and her collaborative crew have another new interactive all community event planned for us. Look for details soon.

PROGRAM

LS Curriculum Task Force Meeting, 11/5, Reading Continuum Appreciative Inquiry
We had a great turn out. In addition to our usual CTF crew, a number of interested faculty joined us to share their thoughts on the use of the continuum at our latest round of parent conferences. Chris will send out the notes she took at the meeting.  

Revised Building Design sessions
Due to a scheduling conflict with Suzy Cessor, we are rescheduling our initial design session to Thursday, December 6 from 3:15 - 4:45, location TBD.  Sessions with the Ashley Cadwell will occur on 12/11 and 12/12. Plan on attending an afternoon faculty meeting on 12/12 to review initial ideas.

How Children Succeed, Ch. 2, 3 Discussion
We will meet in the LS Art Room form 11:00 - 11:50 on 11/15 to reflect on the reading.  All are welcome.

OPERATIONS

Special BS Team Meeting, Monday 11/26, 3:15-4:30 to Discuss Assistant’s Schedule
We will gather to discuss possible changes that will meet the needs of our programs and be more assistant teacher-friendly. Assistants, you will be paid for your time. Would someone be willing to host this meeting?

Field Trips
Be sure to get approval and submit the following paperwork for field trips before committing to payments;

Bus Request
Day Trip Form
Catering

Budget Planning
Next year’s budget is due to the Business Office on December 6. If you are anticipating any significant changes to your program that would have financial implication communicate with David.  This could include:
curriculum supplements - online resources, book sets, manipulatives
additional field trips
major purchases

Benefits Enrollments Due Friday, November 16

Gift Cards
The School is no longer able to distribute gift cards or other items redeemable for cash to employees due to IRS Tax issues.  See David if you have questions.

Friday, November 2, 2012



LS Weekly Memo

November 5th - 9th, 2012  



Welcome to Week 11.  Thank you for your diligent preparation for conferences.  I continue to be impressed with your understanding of and insights about our students.  Enjoy a restful weekend.

COMMUNITY

Substitutes - We have a number of new substitute teachers whom Jenny will be looking to try out in near future.  If you have a strong preference for a particular substitute clearly communicate that to Jenny Strode on your request form.  Please do not ask the substitute yourself.

Post-Conference Support
Talk with David or Chris if you had particular concerns arise during any of your conferences.  Contact an SST member if the question of support arose during a conference.

PROGRAM

LSCTF - 3:15 - 4:30 in DVR
We will be discussing the reading continuum; rationale, reflections on use during conferences, next steps.

Open House
Be sure to review Sarah’s email about details.  Remember to let maintenance know ASAP if you have issues that need to be addressed before OH.  

New Lower School Building
Over the next month we will be working to develop concepts for the new building.  We will begin the process on the afternoon of Thursday, November 29 with a Design Thinking exercise facilitated by Suzy Cessor, mother of Gracie Mosscrop in 5th grade. We will follow up with more intensive team work with Ashley Cadwell of Cadwell Collaborative on December 11 and 12. Please reserve the afternoons of 11/29, 12/11 and 12/12.
If you want to begin collecting your ideas think about:
What works in our current space
What you wish worked in our current space
What you could imagine in a new PreK - 5 building

OPERATIONS

Classroom Agreements
Thank you to those of you who posted your agreements on your websites. If have not done so yet, please do.

Doors and Attendance -  
In an effort to have more accurate records of student attendance and in hopes we can get more families to arrive at school on time, we are going to begin having the doors lock at 7:55 each morning, except Thursday. We will start this on Monday, November  12.  Please take attendance shortly after 7:55.   Be careful to accurately record each child’s status.  We have had some inaccuracies lately.


Professional Development
Let me know if you are interested or have other ideas.

Introduction to Digging In: Place-Based Food and Garden Education for Teachers
http://graduate.lclark.edu/live/events/13587-introduction-to-digging-in-placebased-food-and

PLAYFUL LITERACY: SUPPORTING THE CONNECTIONS BETWEEN THE ARTS AND LITERACY IN EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION

http://www.pnais.org/page.cfm?id=18&start=09/05/2013&verbose=7461