LS Weekly Memo Weekly Memo Week 34 April 6 - 10, 2015

We have a busy week ahead of us with kindergarten and Spanish teacher finalists on campus, re-engaging with Louise Cadwell on our inquiry work and finishing up the week with 5th Grade Immigration Day.  

COMMUNITY

Incident Reports

As we begin the last 10 weeks of school, remember to use the Incident Reports to help SST with tracking and following up on student incidents.

Lunch Duty

Kelly let me know that she needs our help from duty teachers with spills, students’ special needs and at times with the beverage cups and serving dessert.

Patrick Cook-DeEgan - http://patrickcookdeegan.com/home

Cindy McEnroe arranged to have Patrick Cook-DeEgan, mindfulness and experiential education expert, on campus on Wednesday, 4/22 and Thursday, 4/23 for the events listed below. NOTE: There is an FLG meeting first thing in the morning, otherwise no am meeting.

4-22 - 7:00-8:30 - Parent/ Faculty Presentation (Optional)

4-23

8:45-9:4 5- MS Assembly-Grades 6-8

10:50- 11:50 - US Assembly-Grades 9-12

2:05-2:55 LS - Grade 5 Assembly or 3 rotating class size group experiences TBD

3:15-4:15 - LS Faculty Presentation

(MS and US faculty will be present for assemblies in each of their divisions)

LS Building

We had a final flurry of design meetings with THA before the break.  Jon von Behren and I have almost completed a final check of plans.  Stop by my office if you want to have a look at plans.

Special “Return to Campus” Event on 4/28, 6:00 - 8:00 pm

Alumni, parents of alumni, former faculty and staff and board members have all been invited back to campus to revisit the BS and LS before it all changes.  I am looking for a few volunteers, at least 2 faculty per wing of the school (BS, 1st/ 2nd and 3rd - 5th), to greet and guide visitors as well as answer questions about the Lower School.  Let me know if you are interested.

Hiring Updates

• Kindergarten -  finalist selection

• 2 finalist visiting after Spring Break
• Andie Cunningham- 4/7
• Jenny Youngblood- 4/9
• Spanish- finalist visiting after Spring Break
• 2 finalists
• Heather Cline - 4/6
• Alfredo Peche - 4/13
• Chaplain search
• 4 finalists have been selected

Students Who Needs Extra Support

Fifth Grade Boys on the Basketball Court- Competition is ramping up for these boys. Keep an eye on this if you are out on recess duty.

3rd Grade Soccer - same as above

Colton P - Boone S. has been saying unkind things and been physical with Colton recently.  Boone and Colton need careful monitoring to be sure play is kind and safe. They have been taking a break from one another this past week.  We will meet on Monday, and see if they are ready to reconnect.  Look for an email Monday. Continue to monitor when on duty or in class. Let Chris know if anything else develops.

• Communications - Casey Knopik, knopikc@oes.edu
• Spring Behavior - see previous WM
• Fifth Grade Expectations - see previous WM
• SST Meetings - see previous WM
• Things from Home - see previous WM
• Teacher Appreciation - see previous WM

PROGRAM

Lower School Diversity Group - Thursday, April 9, 10:50 - 11:50

Final gathering of year to discuss “Whistling Vivaldi”.

Not enough time to read?  Watch a discussion about Stereotype Threat  featuring the author.  See email from Dori to RSVP.

Cadwell Plans

Chris has finalized plans:

Cadwell Collaborative Protocol Groups Spring 2015
Ladder of Success,  one of the documents sent out last week, is actually a protocol separate and apart from the Charrette and the Collaborative Assessment Conference. At the faculty meeting we talked about the Ladder of Success being a place to record your observations and wonderings in preparation for the virtual coaching with Louise.  Please let Louise know which of the three  protocols you would like to use. 

Faculty Meetings

• Tuesday, 4/7, 3-5pm DVR -  HR Training on Faculty and Staff Evaluation for supervisors.
• Thursday, 4/9, Department and Team Mtgs.
• Thursday, 4/16 LS Faculty Meeting

Committee Meetings

• Inquiry Design Team- 4/8- Prepare for Faculty Meeting on April 16th, reflect and respond to virtual coaching with Louise

Team Leader Agenda

• No meeting this week. Spanish Candidate, Heather Cline, is visiting.

Positive Discipline Workshop - Mind Map

Take a look at the map in the Faculty Lounge.  Attendees, feel free to add.  Everyone, consider next steps and add a sticky note with your thoughts.  We will revisit at end of year faculty meetings.

Safe Schools - Previous WM

Giving to the Building - Previous WM

Math Feedback - Previous WM

UBD Reminder - Previous WM

Lower School Building – Previous WM

PGD – Previous WM

2015-16 Budget – Previous WM

Community Talks - Here is a link

OPERATIONS

Monkey Bars and Green Rainbow

Children have been climbing on the top of these structures. It seems that some of you allow students to climb up there. While we hate to discourage exploration, we think it best to not allow them to climb on top of the ACP Green Monkey Bars and the Green Teeter Totter Rainbow.

Science Discovery Room

Renovations are underway in the Scott House. The Science Discovery Room will be a Fourth Grade classroom next year. Everything must go, including the plant grow light stand.  First and Second Grade team, please discuss what you plan to do with this valuable item and let me know.  I know it hasn’t been used in years. Baskets and other supplies and materials will be collected by CO’T.

Room 10

Room 10 will be cleaned and organized before we enter into the busy months of May and June.

April 13 – 17 – Label it or LOSE it week

Sandy, with Miriam’s help, will create colored “keep” labels for you to put on the items stored in Room 10 that you wish to keep.

April 18 – Sandy and Miriam will DISCARD or REPURPOSE items with NO Labels

FUTURE – Room 10 will not be a free for all storage anymore. A sign-in system will be in placed if anyone wishes to store items in Room 10 and on the same note, items that are not on the sign-in system will be discarded each Friday

Lacrosse

It is that time of year again when students are interested in playing lacrosse at recess. I will await word from the 3rd - 5th grade about how they want to manage it.  Last year we following the guidelines below:

• lunch recess only on particular days (coordinated with lacrosse practice?)
• sticks stored in recess shed
• designated area on field
• tennis balls only
• no checking or goalies

Catering Orders - must be ordered 5 - 10 Business days BEFORE the event

See - Ordering Catering

OES LS Uniform Policy - Friendly  Reminder

Just before break I noticed that many students were stretching the limits of our uniform policy.

•Students wearing knit beanies in classrooms and Chapel

•Students wearing Spirit Wear sweatshirts indoors, not as outerwear.

•Students wearing sports caps

•Girls wearing all kinds of headbands and hair adornments

Please take time to review the uniform policy with your students.

All School Calendar Summit Canceled to Be Rescheduled

After the meeting we will have the bones of the 2015-16 calendar determined.  It should be updated on the OES Web calendar by the following week.

Packing Boxes

There are packing boxes ready in room 10.  They are on the smaller size, good for packing books. If you need larger boxes let us know and we will get them.

Culling for our move to temporary spaces? Here’s Some Donation Ideas

•Woodburne Family Learning Center- Let Kelola know

•Mary Darin, Ari’s wife, works at a school that could use gently used materials and books, talk to Ari about what you have

•Angela Hancock’s sister is an educator who could use gently used materials and books, Angela is willing to pack and send them to her.

Friendly Reminder About Toys Brought to School

It came to my attention this week that children may be bringing toys to school to use at recess. The only toy we OKed was the Rubic’s Cube. All other toys need to stay at home.

Attendance input at 8:00

After hearing from some of you and discussing with Team Leaders, we are going to return to our original attendance request so we have an accurate accounting of students in school and who arrives on time.

• 1st - 5th grades complete attendance at 8:00.  students who arrive 8:00 are tardy.
• Pk - P complete attendance at 8:15.  Students who arrive after 8:15 are tardy.

The Yellow Line and Safety

Keep students back from the yellow line under the covered walkway during pick-up.  We had a student fall into the street during pick-up time when they slipped off the curb.

When to Use LS Division Only and All School

Remember lsdivisiononly@oes.edu is for confidential email ONLY

Use alllsfaculty@oes.edu for regular communication to entire LS faculty

Recess Reminders

• Students are not allowed on ACP until adult supervision arrives
• Duty teachers - be on time

  

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.