Weekly Memo
Week 39, May 22-26, 2017
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We are into the final 4 weeks of school. With summer like weather coming, be sure your students are drinking plenty of water.
Thank you Kirstin for supporting all of Lower School while Chris and I were away at Camp Orkila. Kudos to the 5th grade team, Chris Thompson, Tom Handel and his support staff and all the adults who helped make the 5th graders’ trip such a positive experience.
This week we have another flurry of activities; coffees, learning celebrations and special events. PreK and 1st celebrate their learning. 3rd grade heads up to Mt. Hood on their Oregon History overnight. Primary to 2nd have an afternoon of experiential learning with Discovery Day. On Wednesday we bring together the Senior Lifers, PreK students and their parents for the Lifer Lunch. Thursday, note LS does not have a morning faculty meeting, but rather an afternoon social at the Racoon Lodge Beer Garden. I hope you can join us.
As a collaborative professional community Lower Faculty Employees will strive to:
- Do what is best for the students
- Assume we are all doing our best at the moment and our intentions are positive
- Be present, participate, contribute, include many voices
- Create a safe space that encourages sharing different opinions, ideas, perspectives
- Seek understanding, be curious about what others think
- Express gratitude, joy and encouragement
- Communicate with compassion, clarity and effectiveness
- Demonstrate respect
COMMUNITY
Duty Plea
A team of teachers is helping support 3rd grade students away at camp this week. Please review the 3rd grade googledoc for duties that need coverage and take one for a colleague. We appreciate the support.
Moving Into Coffees (MIC)
While we reserve 8:00 - 9:30 for coffees, the agenda is only planned for an hour. Blue links take you to the slideshows if you’d like to preview the content.
For 2-5 grade classrooms, we rely on support and specialist teachers to help cover classrooms. You can trade your class time for earlier or experience a morning homeroom schedule. Please help support at least one classroom coffee. Thank you!
See schedule below:
DATES
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GRADE
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TIME
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Specialists
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Monday, May 22
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8:00 – 9:00
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Science, Academic Support, Library, Art, Science
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Wednesday, May 31
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Moving into 3rd
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8:00 – 9:00
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Outdoor Ed, PE, Theater
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End of the Year Library Info
- All LS Library books are due Friday, June 2; books used for teaching can be returned after this date, but please return them as soon as you are finished.
- There will be no checking out the week of June 5-9 so we can gather and inventory the collection.
- Everyone can check out for the summer during the week of June 12-16.
Care of Building
Please take good care of our new building. Ben Starbuck and the custodial crew have had to put in extra time cleaning up rooms after some projects ended up with paint on the floor and cabinetry.
Promotion, 6/16, 9:00 - 10:15
Promotion timing will be altered this year to accommodate all divisions ending on Friday, June 16. Lower School promotion will be from 9:00 - 10:15 and dismissal at 11:00.
Student Support
Some of our First Grade students need some extra support. We would like to ask that you keep a particular eye out for Alex Ji, Aaron Stein, Andy Bryant and Juliette Bull. Specialists, these children will also require heightened supervision in your classes. See Kirstin’s email for more details. Please check in with Katherine or Kirstin if you have questions or observations.
APRIL & MAY BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION
On Thursday, May 25th, we are celebrating our colleagues who were born in April and May with mocha cake* from Baker & Spice!
*coffee & chocolate were made for each other. Devil’s food cake brushed with espresso syrup, layered and finished in espresso buttercream.
Happy Birthday!
APRIL
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Arensberg, Tracy
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4/7
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Foster-Flynn, Laura
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4/7
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Breiten, Beth
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4/2
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Schock, Austin
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4/15
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Bennett, Jeanna
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4/16
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Haferbecker, Kristen
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4/21
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Wild, Paul
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4/11
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MAY
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Kenney-Norberg, Jane
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5/5
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Taylor, Rachel
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5/10
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Clark, Melanie
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5/21
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Weiller, Shelley
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5/28
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Kathie Kimmy
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5/31
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Major Lower School Rules
The following infractions are considered serious and could result in a range of consequences including dismissal from the school. Unless otherwise stated, these rules apply to conduct at all school-related events both on and off campus.
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
Faculty Meeting Follow-up
Thanks for your participation in the faculty meeting on Thursday morning. If you missed it or need the link for the resource slides that Kirstin shared, you can access it here. Here are links to the books she referred to:
Additionally, a number of faculty across divisions are reading Thanks for the Feedback, which may also be of interest to you. (If you are on the Essential Competencies Task Force a copy has already been ordered for you).
Faculty Learning Group Survey
Thank you to the 15 faculty who have completed this short survey.
The information will help us guide our new Associate Head of School, Peter Kraft as we
evolve the PGD/evaluation system.
Here is the link to the survey.
Summer Stipends
The Division Heads and Chairs met Wednesday to work on funding Summer Stipends.
We are budgeted for 250 stipend days and have requests for 350.
Sharing YouTube Videos Safely
A reminder that creating a safe share link is the best way to share or show a You Tube video. It creates a safe link that doesn't have the distracting and potentially inappropriate sidebar of other videos. Lara uses it for her blog and when teaching and strongly recommend it. https://safeshare.tv/
Database Survey
Thanks to all of you who filled out the Database Survey! LS had the highest number of responses of all the divisions. If you haven't yet filled it out, please take a moment to do so. https://goo.gl/forms/L4sxeC2M38D33sTm1
English Language Learners
One vibrant trend happening at OES is an increase in students who are learning two or more languages at home. Teaching Tolerance just released a new guide on Serving ELL Students and Families that you may find helpful as you navigate how to best support English Language Learners.
Monday, May 22 – there are 2 simultaneous events happening:
- LS Specialists class placement meeting – LS FLEX Room
- All School Calendar Task Force – Tina’s classroom
- Monday, 5/22, 3:15, Flex Classroom - Specialist Class Placement
- Thursday, 5/25, 3:30, LS Social at Racoon Lodge Beer Garden
Whole Brain Child, Half Day Workshop with Tina Bryson--highly recommended by the team who saw her at an NWAIS event this fall!
June 26, 9:00 - 12:00, June 26
If interested, complete a PGD form
The Science of Learning–What Every Teacher Should Know
Teachers College, Columbia University and the Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL) are relaunching The Science of Learning–What Every Teacher Should Know MOOC (massive open online course) as a self-paced course on the edX platform. Created by Professor Pearl Rock Kane and Dr. Kevin Mattingly, both faculty at Teachers College, the course explores, through current research, how we learn — the way our brain makes, stores, and retrieves memories.
Office White Board
Please make sure you write your class location when leaving the building. This is for field trips, walks to wetlands/woods, visiting other divisions, etc. Thank you.
Teacher Searches
LS Chaplain - Phillip Craig
PreK Teacher - Kimie Fukuda
5th Grade Teacher - Mary Duden
6th Grade Plays
6th graders who have some stories they would love to share with LS Students. These stories are generally for the younger members of our community but all classes are welcome.
We have two dates:
Monday 6/5 8:25 - 8:55
Tuesday 6/6 9:10 - 9:40
OPERATIONS
Purchases - Order by May 31
We are asking that all purchases on this year’s budget by completed by the end of 5/31. Next year’s budget begins July 1st. Classroom material orders are due this week!
Fidget Tools and Toys - See Ari’s Email
Ari has sent out "What is a Fidget" and "Fidget Rules". They are useful for discussion with your students and families.
He is happy to come into your class and talk with students about fidgets.
Fidget Spinners are toys. They are amazing, fun - but toys. Ari and Debra thought you might enjoy this brief spinner humor.
A fidget is a small object that keeps your hands busy, so you can pay attention to the teacher.
A paper clip is a fidget.
Kindergarten and Primary Recesses (ACP)
We’re considering adding a large bucket to hold water for the children to use to fill their smaller buckets on warm days, but in the meantime the K-P teachers would like to ask that the faucet near the gym be used only by adults at Kindergarten-Primary recesses (adults can fill a bucket for a child to use in the sandbox or turn the faucet on on to wash very muddy or sandy hands--the children are finding that flow hard to manage). Thanks for your support!
SAFETY ISSUE: Shelves 4’ and Above Need to be Secured to Wall
Recent safety audit let us know any shelves 4’ or higher need to be secured to a wall. Please submit work orders by May 12 for any shelves needing to be secured.
Jewelry at School
Please remind your students that necklaces and earrings other than studs are not allowed at school. This is for safety reasons.
Uniform Policy:
For safety reasons, only watches and studs for pierced ears. Please refrain from sending the Lower School students to school with necklaces, drop earrings, bracelets, multiple scrunchies worn as bracelets, rings, etc.
Your Announcements
Send any announcements you have for faculty to Kirstin, Chris or David 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 maximize our time to collaborate during meetings.
Reminders: (New section for still-relevant information that was posted last week)
SST meetings are available on Thursdays from 3:15-4:00 for anyone who would like a whole team approach to supporting a student or students. Please contact your Assistant Head to request a Thursday afternoon SST. Also let us know who you’d like to request to attend.
Playground Safety
If cement is under the bars/wall/etc., you know these were not meant to be played on and is not part of our play area. The bike rack area is off limits for playing. It is hard to supervise and is a storage area for bikes.
Slide Tag Guidelines
4th graders have started a game around the slide. No jumping off the top of the slide or stairs. No climbing onto the platform from the side of the slide. You cannot go down the slide if someone is standing at the bottom.
Mini Aardvark Tag Guidelines
A collection of 3rd graders having been playing tag around Mini Aardvark. SImilar guidelines to Slide Tag; no jumping from the upper deck to the ground. No climbing the outside of Mini Aardvark.
Yoga Offerings
Adding to the Faculty Calendar
We’ve had some accidental deletions from the Faculty Calendar lately, so access has been modified to allow teachers to view the calendar but not make changes. If you need an event added or modified, please email Lyn with your changes. Thank you!
Recess Duty
Be on time, walk around, cover all zones of the playground
Performance Commons - check to be sure it is available
Field Trips on or off Campus
Inform the LS Office when you take your class on a trip out of the building. We need to know where your class is at all times during the school day. Take with you what you need; cellphone, 1st aid, emergency forms and more as needed.
Calendar Updates
Update grade level events on the faculty calendar and the Finalsite Calendar. The spring is a very busy time. We want to be sure all know what is happening when with sufficient time to work through conflicts and plan on attending
Early Morning Supervision
A helpful tool is created in the OES website for employees to save time searching different sites when you need to access the basic forms like check request, catering, maintenance requests and other resources.
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