LS Weekly Memo LS Weekly Memo Week 27, February 29 - March 4, 2016

Congratulations to Tasha and her students for a wonderful performance of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. The students clearly had fun with the performance, enjoying their costumes, glam-rock face paint and opportunities to make the audience laugh.

I hope many of you were able to visit the OES Science Fair on Thursday or Friday. I always like to go and see what topics former Lower Schoolers have chose for their research project.  I thoroughly enjoyed the Lower School display as well, particularly as several parents were impressed with what the Lower School students knew and how they represented their understanding.

I look froward to our work with Rosetta Lee this week. Best of luck to Stephanie as she hosts a major stacking tournament on Saturday.

CONSTRUCTION UPDATES

• One day the covered play space will be open and we will all be surprised and thankful.
• Jon and I are looking to coordinate faculty tours during the week of March 7.  To make each tour a manageable size we will offer tours by floor group.  Those without a designated space in the new building will be welcome to join either the ground floor or top floor group.  Part of the point of the tours will be to get our heads around furniture.  We will need to come up with a prioritized furniture list - need, wish, dream. Jon has an inventory of current furniture, both in use and in storage.
• The building continues to be on budget with an end of July  projected completion date.  Everyone will need to plan on having their rooms packed up before they leave for the summer.  We are planning on making the week of August 22nd the official move in week with the LS Cafe open each morning. We will let you know as soon as moving in is a possibility.

COMMUNITY

Tentative Tours of the New Lower School Building

• 3/8 Beginning Years, Art, Science
• 3/9 Fifth Grade, Spanish, Music
• 3/10 First and Second Grade, other interested specialists
• 3/11 Third and Fourth- Counselor, Chaplain, Academic Specialist

4th and 5th grade Students

Please remind the 4/5 students not to congregate by the handicap parking space in front of the Scott House OR anywhere near the Scott House before 7:50 am:

·         7:49 am – the place for the students  to wait is in the covered walkway

·         Before 7:49 am – everyone must go to ACP or the library and join their peers

Assistant Head Search Process

The Search Committee interviews candidates on Monday and Tuesday to determine finalists. Finalists will go through the process outlined below the following week.

• Associate Head of School interview
• Head of LS interview
• Search committee (5 faculty to be selected based on who is applying)

interview, scenarios

• SST interview
• Team Leaders interview
• LS Administrative Assistant interview

Rosetta Lee - Inclusivity in the Younger Years

Thursday 3/3

Presentations - Inclusivity in the Younger Years

3:30 - 4:30 pm - Lower School Faculty presentation - Inclusivity in the Younger Years

7:00 - 8:00 pm - Lower School Parent presentation - Inclusivity in the Younger Years

Friday 3/4

7:30 - 3:30 workshops with LS Faculty in the Platt Global Classroom

4 sessions with different groups of faculty, 6-12 faculty per group.

Each session could have two parts. One part focused on conversations with children.  Each teacher could come with an example of a conversation/ question that came up with their students that they want to discuss how to address.  The second part of the session would focus on creating a more inclusive curriculum.  Each grade has curriculum design documents describing their social studies/ project units of understanding that will help orient Rosetta to our curriculum work.  Groups are welcome to decide to focus on one or the other of the two topics.  We will need to let Rosetta know ahead of time.

8:00 - 9:20 - Specialist Teachers (12 teachers)

9:30 - 10:50 - 2nd & 3rd grades (6 teachers)

10:50 - 11:50 - Lunch

12:00 - 1:20 - 4th and 5th grades (6 teachers)

1:30 - 2:50 - Beginning School & 1st (9 teachers)

Rosetta Lee Schedule and Sub Plans

Lyn will provide your sub information on Tuesday.  Kudos to Lyn for creating a seamless, yet complex schedule.  She will create individual folders with schedules and sub plans for each sub.  She hopes to have all sub plans by Wednesday morning, 3/2.

How to Raise an Adult - Author Julie Lythcott-Haims Speaks on Campus

Monday, April 18th at 7:00 pm in the Chapel

PCL is bringing author to campus.

NYT Article - Reviewing How to Raise and Adult

This was in the New York Times this past week...another point of view!

How to Raise a Creative Child. Step One: Back Off

Auction Volunteers

The Auction (Aardy Goes to Hollywood: Lights, Camera, Auction!) is coming up on March 12th.  Please take a few minutes to see if you are able to give some time to the event by checking VolunteerSpot: https://www.volunteerspot.com/login/entry/287939724066.

Admissions

• We are nearing the end. Acceptance letters go out March 8th. Next event is Welcome Night on March 15th. Our thanks to faculty who have agreed to attend.

SST Site

• You have access.  See Ari if you have difficulty accessing the site.
• The information is sensitive. Use professional discretion.
• Your feedback about the site would be greatly appreciated.

Students of Concern

• HB - K- CB
• Has difficulty keeping up with the flow of things, can be disruptive.  Let Carole and Chris know if he is having difficulties. We want to be consistent in our support.
• OB-K-CB
• Mourning the loss of her father, hasn’t wanted to be at school, has strayed away from the class, needs to be shadowed
• Giving her lots of love and support
• She is doing much better. Had a shortened day, but is now trying two full days, Tuesday and Thursday. We are exploring the possibility of adding a third full day.
• Please keep Carole and Chris in the loop if challenging behavior arises again.

New addition, please be sure to read if you teach or supervise Second Grade- Photos of these children to come out in an email on Monday

• JB and JP- 2G
• JB has been physically aggressive (kick, hit) with JP, threats of retaliation are a concern
• JP usually plays on ACP, JB usually plays on the field. Would one person be a designated shadow to keep an eye on each  boy? We want to give them lots of support and be proactive whenever possible.
• Please let Tonya or Chris know immediately  if there are any issues reported to you
• For the foreseeable future these two are to give each other space throughout the school day

• SG - 2 JB
• Let Jackie or Chris know if he is having difficulty in your class

• If he gets stuck and disrupts the class, let Chris know- call the office
• Specialists, we value your input and appreciate your feedback.  Please input any rating and observations at the end of each day into the weekly googledoc. In addition to the daily communication with his family this document is also sent daily to Sam's outside support team.  They appreciate the specific examples we provide and work through them with him (accomplishments and challenges).  Thank you.

• Fourth Grade World Cup Soccer Games
• Track and Field Duty People, please continue to keep a close eye on these games. They made a plan:
• Gather at the beginning to organize teams.  They will divide into two mixed ability groups with one soccer goal OR play one large game of soccer using two goals
• Teachers out on the field, please continue to monitor this situation. Last week I had to remind them of their agreements.
• SS and LB- 5 TA
• L and S have had challenges of late. Please keep an eye on them and let Tina know if you experience L saying or doing any unkind things- as well, if S is doing anything to annoy L.

Major Rules - If a student violates a major rule, Chris and David need to know and need to be part of the determination of consequences and reparations.

• Verbal abuse, physical abuse, bullying, or inappropriate physical touch.
• Lying, deceit, or other dishonest conduct
• Destruction of property belonging to the School, its personnel or another student
• Stealing
• Inappropriate language
• Possession or use of weapons or any object that is used in a threatening manner

PROGRAM

FLG’s on 1/29

For those of you who are in Year 1 of your evaluation cycle, John Holloran will be hosting a get-to-know-each other meeting in Room 60 in advance of our April 4th in-service day when we will form the FLG groups for your Years 2 & 3.

For those of you who are in Year 2, you will meet with your existing FLGs.

Your Recyclables (i.e. Instrument Parts) Needed!

Kristen is starting a few instrument-building projects in Kindergarten music next week, and she needs your help. Below is a list of items the Kindergarten classes think they will need. If you have any of these items around your house, please bring them in next week. Monday (Feb. 29) is preferred, since project planning and drafting begins on Monday, but we will accept items all week. You can leave items in the bin marked "Instrument Parts" in the Beginning School hallway, stash it in the Music Room (Scott House Room 22), or let me know and I will come by to pick them up from your classroom. Thank you for your help! Kristen and the Kindergarten students

Needed: Tin cans, Plastic lids, Small beads, Small wood rounds, Dowels, Small boxes (like jewelry boxes), Medium boxes (about the size of a small shoe box), Toilet paper tubes, Paper towel tubes, Plastic bottles with lids, Small containers (like yogurt containers) with lids, Milk jugs, Small metal objects—bottle caps, etc., Styrofoam, Plastic tubes, Or send anything else you think might make a cool sound component!

Chaperones

We have a chaperone plan.  Trip leaders will be reaching out to you to confirm availability. We are going to need more help than usual as we have some overlapping trips.

Scheduling Task Force - Thursday, 2/25, 7:35 - 8:35

We met to begin articulating schedule elements that work across the Beginning Years, the Intermediate Years, Specialists and the entire Lower School.

Faculty Meetings

Thursday, 3/3am - Department Meetings

Thursday 3/3, 3:30-4:30pm - Lower School Rosetta Lee Presentation

Assistant Teachers Meeting Wednesday, Mar. 2nd at 12:30 in the Platt

Reflect  back- looking ahead to the close of the school year

Make Learning Visible: Inquiry and the OES Essential Competencies

Our Sense of Place Matters  Check it out. I had fun writing this one!

Scope and Sequence and UbDs Completed by 2/29

Classroom teachers, please enter the last unit of understanding in the Social Studies  Scope and Sequence spreadsheet.  Your three Social Studies UbDs should be completed by then as well, including the Essential Competencies you strive for at the end of the document.  See Team Leaders if you have any questions.

Optional times available to finalize these tasks

•Monday, Feb. 22nd (ICC is also meeting) after school

•Thursday, Feb. 25th (Scheduling Task Force also meeting) before school

•Monday, Feb. 29th (FLG also meeting) after school

Of course, there is your weekly lunch time Team Meetings.  

OPERATIONS

Pet Peeve - Dirty Dishes Left Around

Do not leave your dirty dishes for Shirley to pick up. Please return your dishes to the the dining hall each day. The Dining Hall is open from 10:45 - 1:15 every day.  In addition, there is a tub outside the dining hall after hours for the collection of dirty dishes.  

Duty Changes Coming

I will need to revise the duty schedules in the coming weeks (Meredith co-teaching with a long-term sub, addition of the new covered area, etc). Look for more info on these changes.

Emergency Drill Substitutes

Last week when, David and Chris were in admissions meeting in Morris House, we needed to find folks to fill in with the emergency drill procedures. In the future these people will be the designated helpers.

·         Scott Corris – in charge of public announcements and dismissal

·         Class attendance – Lyn and Tracy

·         Faculty & Staff attendance  – Ari and Miriam

·         Debra Thomas stays with Donna (Schilling’s class)

Friendly Reminder About Calendar Updates

Please remember to get your important dates on the Faculty Google Calendar, and where appropriate, Anne’s All School Calendar when parents need to be notified.  

Believe it or not, while there are more than 3.5 months left in the school year, the calendar is filling up quickly with special events.

Before you go on Spring Break, be sure to get your culminating events on the calendar(s). I will create a Google doc that lists all of these important end-of-the-year events.

We hope this type of calendar will help us all make good choices as to when we want to host a culminating event (for families, buddies and other classes), and help plan which culminating events you hope to attend with your classes.

Change in Lunch Routine

Kelly needs at least 72 hours notice if you need to change lunch plans (not eat in the dining hall, need sack lunches, etc)

Take Care of Your Cheese

Recess Reminders

• Designated Excavation Area
• Children Must Have Some Type of Footwear on At All Times
• Excavation Tools Cleaned Up at the End of Recess
• Lincoln Logs- designated area only. Logs no larger than child's arm span.

Emergency Closure Communication

Phone tree -  we are no longer using the phone tree.  We are relying on Instant Alert.

If you encountered any issues with your Instant Alert notifications, contact Rebecca Williams.

Enrollment Instructions

Instant Alert Sign-in Page

Students on Covered Walkway and Loop Road Pick Up by  2:55

Thanks for the extra effort. It makes a difference.

Friendly Reminder About Sub Requests

Miriam continues to get requests late at night. Please do not text Miriam after 7pm. Contact her:

Evening: Sunday through Thursday 5:00-7:00pm

Morning: Monday through Friday 6-6:15am

Parent Volunteers Must Sign In at the LS Office When They Volunteer

Please remind parents in your next communication about the importance of signing in at the office. This is critical for two reasons:

•For security, our community expects visitors to wear visitor badges (BS lunch helpers will wear an OES sticker)

•In the event of an emergency- fire, earthquake, lockdown, we need to know who was in the building.

Please don’t let parents in the building without a pass. Remind them politely that they need to check in at the office.

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.