Weekly Memo 32

Weekly Memo WM 32, April 9-15, 2018

These last 9 weeks of school always fly by. We include a lot in the coming weeks; trips, culminating projects, hiring, moving up coffees and special events. Pace yourself. Find some mindful moments. Express gratitude. 

Lower School Agreements

• 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

We continue our Weekly Memo format with repeat items in blue and new items in black.

COMMUNITY

Gathering and Chapel - Please be seated and ready at 8:10.
Close. We started at 8:15.
Lower School Chapel Schedule for 2017-2018
LS Chapel on Tuesday, 4/10
LS Gathering on Friday, 4/13

Tradition is So Last Season - Mary Duden's Class Play
Thank you Mary, Emily and your class for creating and performing such an entertaining play. 

New Seasons Earth Day Bag reminder

Please remember to complete your New Seasons grocery bags by Thursday, April 19 and return them to Kristen. Bags should be decorated with nature or Earth Day themes. 

Reminder: Scholastic Book Points for Service

Leading up to Mount Hood Climb Service Day (April 24-May 7) Ms. Akehurst's 5th grade class is having a book drive. We will take these books to Woodburn Family Learning Center to give to the kids during our Literacy Celebration we are planning for them. 

We were wondering that if you had any Scholastic Book Points you could use those points to order some books that we will bring to the kids at Woodburn. We'll be encouraging OES kids and families to donate, too, but we know it takes a while to get Scholastic book orders, so we wanted to tell you first. 

We would love it if you could look for diverse books to include in your order. Diverse books are important because kids can see themselves in the books, and see people like them and different kinds of kids. When we looked at our own class donations of books, a very small number of them were diverse. We also know only 22% of books published in 2016 show people of color. We feel we should change the amount of books the kids can see that show characters of diversity. Attached a book list from The Children's Book Bank of recommended diverse books if this helps you order. 

Thank you for helping us with our project!

Odessa, Ben K., Flynn, Lizzy, Margot (on behalf of Ms. Akehurst's 5th grade class)

Third Grade Overnight

Leave Tuesday, April 10th and return Wednesday, April 11th.

Best of luck with your overnighter. Duties are covered. Follow link for who is doing what - Duty Coverage for April 10th-11th

Ari Returns II
Ari returns to his regular teaching schedule this week. 

Beth Breiten Leaving at End of Year
Beth will be moving to Bend at the end of the year as her husband will be taking on a new position next year. Before opening a search, Colesie is considering options.

School Safety Response - Faculty Training

Thank you for your participation and engagement. Jon and Rebecca will be following up with a communication addressing several issues revealed during the scenario.

Hiring
4th Grade - Finalists begin visiting Monday, 4/9
1st Grade - Initial interviews continuing
2nd Grade - Resume review continuing

Playground Planting Day, Saturday, 4/14
We begin at 8:00am and plan to continue until noon or until all 400 plants are planted. Family sign-up's are limited due to the limited size of the planting areas. You are welcome at any time. 

Student Updates

The SST Site contains valuable information that is helpful in understanding a student’s history and action plans. You may want to review the entries in the site before writing a child's report. The SST Site is linked in the Weekly Memo and can only be accessed on campus.

PROGRAM

Faculty Meetings

Monday, 4/9 - Big Rock curriculum articulation work session. 
Thursday, 4/12 - Professional Growth Block

Curriculum Articulation Work
Thanks everyone for your work curriculum articulation! We've received Articulation Planning Sheets from many. You will find all your documents in the Big Rocks/P2P folder using the "LS Common Forms & Other Relevant Information" link on the right menu bar of the Weekly Memo.

Learning and the Brain Conference

Looking ahead to next week, we have a squad of LS teachers heading to NY for the Learning and the Brain Conference focused on Mindfulness.  Duty Coverage Doc for Chris and Melanie who do not have sub coverage.

Great OES Book Swap (GOBS)

GOBS will be held in the Middle School the week of April 9th, coinciding with National Library Week, and will welcome students and families from all divisions. The format planned is the same as last year. Book drop-off and setup will be Monday and Tuesday of that week. Kids will visit the event to get books Wednesday and Thursday. More Details Here.

PGD Links
Children’s Research Center for Development and Learning Conference - PD conference (link for conversations)

*Children’s Research Center for Development and Learning conference. CDL specializes in the development and dissemination of leading-edge scientific research, knowledge, and best practices that improve teaching and increase student learning.

US Mentor Pilot Program (link for description and sign up)
Thank you Ari and Kara Tambellini who have created a better structure for this program. Check it out.

Nike Innovation Summit
My take-aways from Innovate 18. Several useful to inspiring programs showcasing how organizations and schools are striving to have students learn differently.

OPERATIONS

Schedules
Please review your schedule here and on your google calendar. If there have been any changes or you see any errors, please alert Chris Thompson. Lyn and Kathy use your class schedule google calendars for scheduling and with parents. It is almost time to start thinking about next year's rotating schedule, having your up to date calendar is a necessary step. If you would like to discuss possible small changes within your calendar, please let Chris know.

Uniform Policy (p. 32 All School Handbook)

Print it out. Post it up in your classroom. Remind your students. They are getting a bit casual with the guidelines. What about sweatshirts, bows, jewelry, hats, footwear? It is all there.

Dining Commons  Request
The 10 minutes between lunch shifts, 11:15 - 11:25 is a crucial time for set up for the second lunch shift. Please do not ask to be served food nor come into the kitchen at this time. 

When possible, she would like staff eating in the LS commons to come before the start of service at 10:50, or after 11:30.

Sign out on whiteboard in LS Office when go about campus

We need to know where you are for safety reasons. Be sure to sign in and out on the office whiteboard. Thank you to those who are consistent

Take Attendance for PK-Primary @ 8:10, for 1st-5th @ 8:00

Doing attendance promptly simplifies the start of Kathy's day. Thank you.

Lacrosse equipment into the playground shed

We were overwhelmed the first week of lacrosse. We still need all lax equipment to be stored in the recess shed. New organizational structure coming.

Classroom Budget

• Division Heads will work on budget's this week. As always we are looking to manage spending in an effort to manage tuition increase rates. Let David know if you anticipate significant budget changes for 2018-19.
• Check your classroom budget shared by Lyn online. Review the budget entry and if you have questions, let Lyn know.
• Do not wait until late April to order classroom materials. Fill out the order form online in the LS Common Forms & other Relevant Information. Let Kathy know if you need assistance with the order form.

Your Announcements
Send any announcements you have for faculty to Kirstin, Chris or David by Thursday each week August-June 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.