LS Weekly Memo Week 36 : May 13-17

Thank you to all who helped make MHCSD such a success; from the opening Belltower gathering, to the great variety of projects you took on over the course of the day.  This was one of our best. 

May the 5th graders have a great week at Camp Hancock and the 4th graders enjoy the inaugural International Fair.

COMMUNITY

School Building Work

Thank you for your work with the THA team.  From the observations last Tuesday and the conversations on Thursday, they left campus with a lot of information about us to guide the design process.  They are reviewing what they learned and with whom they would still like to converse.  We will plan a report out meeting with THA and the LS Faculty on June 17 or 18.

School Building Ideas Submitted to David by May 17th

The Team Leaders and Kirstin McAuley, Building Committee Representative, with work with THA about next steps

Last 4.5 Weeks of School

This time of year is that challenging convergence for our students of special activities and projects, excitement about summer, and some fatigue and tired minds.  We have seen a recent increase in accidents and behavior issues. Be aware of the pace, stress and energy of your students.

International Fair

We are full of anticipation, wondering what the first International Fair  will look like. We hope that all of the grades/classes will get a chance to see and experience (on an age-appropriate level) this amazing event. Our thanks to the Fourth Grade Team for their hard work and dedication putting this massive project together.

Camp Hancock

As you all know, the Fifth Grade heads out Monday morning for their 5 day adventure at Camp Hancock.  David will join them from Wednesday through Friday. Chris will be in charge in his absence.   Please check the duty coverage list to see if you can help out with duties. Thanks in advance for your help.

Lego Exhibit at the Zoo

Jane and her Lego devotees will put on another spectacular show at the zoo next Saturday and Sunday (5/18 and 5/19). Come see our amazing Lego designers, builders and engineers in action!

PROGRAM

LSCTF, Monday, May 13th 3:15-4

Our final meeting of the year to talk about:

• Inquiry projects
• End of year meetings
• Agreements on what to hand up to the next year’s teachers
• 5-year curriculum plan for Pre-K through Fifth Grade.

Requests from Mark Henningsen- Raised Beds Gardeners

Mark asked that everyone clean up their raised beds this spring.  Raised garden beds are the first thing you see when you drive up to the main parking lot. Raised garden beds are the first thing families and visitors see when they approach the school from the Loop Road parking lot.  Mark asked that if you plant a summer crop, that you arrange for reliable help with watering.  They can’t take on extra watering jobs.

OPERATIONS

Recess Supervision

In recent weeks we’ve had a spate of broken bones, chipped teeth and excessive roughness. There have been issues in the lunch room too.  It is spring and energy runs high. Please circulate and be vigilant when on duty!

•We need extra supervision for a group of First Grade boys who have been engaging in rough and sometimes, unsafe and unkind play. Most of these boys are in Doug’s class, one is from Marty’s class.  We hope to give them new outlets for recess play with natural building materials. Doug is working on that early next week.  We hope that PE folks could introduce them to the rousing game of kickball, or other fast, active games that have rules and might promote teamwork.  Look for an email early next week identifying who these children are.

We would like one designated person at each recess to keep an eye on their play, be proactive and redirect them when necessary.  Please let Doug and/or Marty know right away if their play goes awry.

•Clarification of what is and is not safe on climbing structures

•Rock Hounds Unsafe Rock Smashing

A group of First Grade boys love to break open rocks to see what is inside. While we can all understand this fascination, it is an eye safety concern.  They are also removing large basalt rocks from WW to smash the rocks. Not good. Please talk to your students about these issues. Folks on duty, please be sure to supervise this area and keep children safe.

•Natural Builders

There is a group of First Grade boys that need positive play choices. It so happens that they love to build with natural materials.  Next week we plan to collect natural materials from around campus to use in their constructions.  They will come up with agreements on how they will use and store these materials in the shed.  

If you have Second or Third Graders who might be interested in this endeavor, please let Chris know. We want this to be an inclusive project. Stay tuned for more details.

Lunch Room- Mix and Mingle with Next Year’s Potential Classmates, First through Fourth Grades

Just a thought...

What if we assigned children to lunch tables, mixing and mingling them, with potential classmates for next year, or something less structured, with children who might not know each other, but could potentially be friends, share affinities.  Grade level teams would need to agree with this, of course.  We thought this might be helpful, especially for some fragile children who are having difficulties with challenging friendships.

Last Day of School Year for Faculty - Tuesday, June 18th

• All F/S Meeting              11:00 – 12:00 pm
• All F/S Chapel                 12:00 – 12:30 pm
• All F/S Lunch                   12:30 – 2:30 pm
• We may need a LS meeting in the morning to work with the architects.