LS Weekly Memo Week 6: September 15 - 19, 2014

Thanks for a great first full week.  I appreciate your extra efforts to socialize with parents at BTSP.  With the social event behind us, on to BTSN we go.  Be sure to check in with Debra or Angela before you night if you have questions about a technological presentation.

COMMUNITY

BTSP

Thanks sharing your Friday evening to gather for our annual Back-to-School Picnic.  Our thanks to Janine Segal, Jonathan’s mom and Francis Phillips, Annie, Janie and Will’s mom,  for managing a team of parent volunteers to pull off another successful picnic.  Let us know if you have any suggestions for improvement.

Community Chapel

Thanks to Jenny Cleveland for a great Community Chapel, reminding us all to strive to bring our best selves forward.  We are fortunate to be at a school surrounded by students with such good intents.  I was also impressed that the vast majority of the comments were in the positive - what we want for our community.  Jenny is working on next steps.

Monday - HOT 95 Degrees

Keep your students well hydrated.

Recess Agreements for Primary through Fifth Grade - Keeping them in the forefront of your mind.

• Walk, Talk or Rock
• Be aware, walk around
• Recess Agreements - Be Safe, Kind, Fair and Fun
• Use the Incident Reports
• Refer recurring or more complicated situations to SST
• See the Recess Google Folder for additional details

Incident Reports

• Use the Incident Reports
• Tracking record for SST to look for trends
• Report after resolve situation
• Bullets/ short form, not long narrative
• SST reviews Incident Forms each week to look for trends
• May use to report positive behaviors as well

Student Safety

If a student’s behavior is unsafe for the student or others, Chris or I need to know about it

If a student breaks any of the Major Rules Chris or I need to be informed.

WFF Assembly on Friday

8:10 in the gym.  We will include a Homecoming kick-off video created by former LSer Ted Morissette.

Spirit Week and Homecoming - September 22 – 26

It si a uniform optional week.  Each day students have three choices; uniforms, OES spiritwear, or dressing in the theme.  Shoes appropriate for PE and Recess are still required.

• Monday- Hipster
• Tuesday- Tropical
• Wed- Clash
• Thursday- TeleV15ion (come as your favorite character)
• Friday- Spiritwear
• All School Pep- Rally 8:00 – 8:30 on Friday, 9/26 in gym

Dorm Student Buddy

Your class could adopt/develop a relationship with a dorm student! As you may or may not know we have a mini international school in the dorms here at OES. We have 58 students from all over the world. Some are as close as Bend, but the majority are from another country.  See Tasha Busick for details.

Parent Partnership Coffees 2014-2015

David and I will meet this week to finalize plans for our upcoming fall coffees. Look for more details in next week’s Weekly Memo.  Please let us know who is representing your grade level so Lyn can arrange a planning meeting this week. Click in the link above to access this document.

PROGRAM

Faculty Meetings

Plan on being available each Monday from 3:15 - 4:30 and each Thursday from 7:40 - 8:40 for faculty meetings.  See the LS Faculty Meeting Schedule for details.

Faculty Meeting

Teams Monday 3:15 – 4:30

There are several Mondays set aside for Teams.  See your team leader for agenda.

Thursday, 9/18 - No Lower School Meeting

Faculty Meeting Agenda 2014-15

Team Leader Notes

• Check-in about start of year
• THA plan
• Coffees/ PAL Meeting plans
• Inquiry common experiences discussion

Sending Students to the Library

Friendly reminder:  out of respect to our scheduled library classes, please consult the Library schedule before sending large groups down to the Library.  Heidi can assist 1-2 students briefly, but larger groups distract our classes.  We are happy to be of assistance during open library times.  Thank you!

THA Meetings

We are working though the final details of the building.  Most of this work will be done with the Team Leaders; Janet, Alysa, Debra and Chris.  Kirstin will also participate as Building Committee Member.

Classroom Dimensions

Tracy worked with the 5th grade to lay out the classroom dimensions for PK – P classrooms and 1st – 5th classrooms in the LSCH. Take a look and imagine what is possible with that space.

Volunteer Check-in

Thank you for your work with your room parents about volunteer opportunities.  I checked with Mary Lou Green on Friday and she believes all Room Parents have the information they need.  

Essential Competencies Posters

We have a few EC posters in the Faculty Lounge.  Help yourself.  If you have the original light green version please replace.

Changes to the Chapel/Assembly Schedule

There have been a few changes to the Chapel and Assembly schedule for the fall. The online calendars now list the correct information. The new events are as follows. Please correct your planning calendars. Thank you!

October 17--LS Chapel: 2nd-5th Grade

November 14--LS Chapel: 2nd-5th Grade

November 21--BS and LS Drop Everything and Read (DEAR) Assembly, 8:10-8:40

Assistant Teachers Meeting, Wednesday, Sept. 24th, 12:05-12:35

We’ll have five meetings this year, most will take place in the Morris House Conference Room.  

Look for details in the Weekly Memo.

OPERATIONS

BS Food Service

Chris and I met with Kelly and Jason. They estimate that last year the Beginning School had approximately $15,000 in food waste. We recognize there are many factors contributing to that waste, including menu items that are not child-friendly.  Jason, Kelly and Shirley are working on offerings that are more child-friendly.

     

• Sandwich making materials will be available daily - one or more of the following: cheese, turkey and soy butter
• Please encourage students to try the hot entree before offering sandwiches
• Encourage students to eat what they take, waste less food
• Jason will try to come down most Wednesdays to talk with students, teachers and parents about healthy eating and good choices. He is open to feedback.
• If you are interested in getting a tour of the kitchen and gardens, let Kelly know.  They love the opportunity to share their good work.
• They are also open to having farmers who serve Bon Appetit visit classes/grades to talk about farming and good eating.

Student Use of Office Bathrooms

At times we are having lines of 6 or more students at the bathroom in the LS Office.  Please limit the number sent up from PK - P lunch.

Dismissal Duty Help

Thanks to all for pitching in to get children into dismissal routines.  We no longer need the extra coverage.

Thanks to Specialist for Helping Out at Lunch Recess Duty

Thanks, Specialists, for helping out at lunch recess duty. We will go back to our usual routines, with teachers taking a lunch break when not on duty.

Sunscreen Application

This past week I noticed that a number of  students had  sunscreen stored in their cubbies. I was curious about this development and had  several conversations with Jenny Strode and Elaine Elliott. Here’s what  I learned.  

•Sunscreen, which has a variety of ingredients and varying levels of sun protection, can cause allergic reactions. It should be considered a form of over the counter medication.

•Parents who have young children should apply sunscreen brought from home in the morning.

•If parents want a second application during the day, they need to come in and do so.

•Older students may apply their own sunscreen, as requested by parents.

•Once applied, hands should be thoroughly washed.

•Sunscreen should not be stored openly in cubbies.  It should be tucked away in backpacks or in another safe location.

•Teachers, (and I know this will be hard for Beginning School teachers) you should not apply sunscreen.   

Your Announcements

Send any announcements you have for faculty to Chris or me by Thursday each week and we will include them in the Weekly memo.  This should help reduce the number of emails we are receiving, and to maximize our time to collaborate during meetings.