Weekly Memo
WM 33, April 16-22, 2018
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The week begins with all of us caring for the 300 plants that were planted over the weekend on the new playground. Mid-week the school celebrates its volunteers and we send seven teachers off to the Learning and the Brain Conference. The week ends with a day of pampering and appreciation at our annual Teacher Appreciation Day.
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.
Lower School Chapel Schedule for 2017-2018
LS Chapel on Tuesday, 4/17
LS Gathering on Friday, 4/20
Gathering and Chapel
One of our agreements from the start of the year was to all be present at our weekly gatherings, Chapel and Gathering. These are important times to help build community, useful times to have extra adults to support students, and critical times to have us all available in the case of an emergency. Please make every effort to be present. Inform David if you are unable to attend Tuesday Chapel and Friday Gathering.
New Playground Plantings - Appreciate with Care
On Saturday, 15 families helped us plant almost 300 plants. Thank you Lyn (and Joe), Kimie, Austin and Jon von Behren for helping out as well. Michelle from Learning Landscapes and Brian from Cascadian Landscapers built the willow dome.
Please talk with your class about respecting the new planting areas staying out of thw planted areas. All the plants will need some time to establish themselves.
Duty teachers, please be extra vigilant so children stay on the paths and off of the plantings.
Beaverton Teachers NOT Visiting Monday
A small cadre of PreK-Grade 3 teachers from Beaverton Public Schools will visit OES, but not on Monday! Thanks for your willingness to host these teachers in your BY classrooms--we'll let you know when they reschedule.
Spanish Affinity Group
We have a second grade student, Enryc, who has recently been told that his Spanish skills are cheating in Spanish class; he is therefore wanting to stop speaking Spanish at home. He has also been questioned about his family's immigration status. He is feeling targeted due to his heritage and language skills--two things we would love to celebrate. Please keep an extra eye on him and these interactions.
Alfredo is exploring the possibility of gathering our Spanish speaking student population on Thursdays at lunch time to have a lunch and conversation together. We are working on the logistics and parent permission this week but hope to start next week.
Teacher Appreciation Day, Friday April 20
Be prepared to be pampered and maybe win valuable prizes!
EC3 Supply Drive
See Emily Stone's email for details or the information by the collection bins in Lower School.
April 20th - National Day of Action Against Gun Violence in Schools
There are no plans for special gathering on campus on this day. US students have the option of joining the rally at the State House in Salem or particpating in Cuture Schock. See Peter Kraft's letter for details.
Third Grade Overnight
Thank you to 3rd Grade team and chaperones who helped make the trip such a success.
Hiring
4th Grade - Offer has been made
1st Grade - Initial interviews continuing
2nd Grade - Initial interviews have begun
4th Grade - Offer has been made
1st Grade - Initial interviews continuing
2nd Grade - Initial interviews have begun
LEGO Show Friday, May 11th--no gathering that day
The LEGO show will be in the Performance Commons. We will gather at the Bell Tower for MHCSD on 5/9 that week instead of our regular Friday gathering. We will still have chapel on Tuesday, 5/8.
Faculty and Staff Awards - Nominations are open. For more details see Peter Kraft's email.
I. The OES Staff Excellence Award - The Staff Excellence Award is presented annually to a non-faculty employee who has exemplified the highest standards of mission-minded performance in her/his position. Submit your nomination here.
II. The Mary Stephenson Award - Annual award to the OES faculty member or members who has or have excelled in challenging and inspiring students to question, to think, to speak out, and to care. Submit your nomination here.
III. Grant for Graduate Studies for Faculty - A faculty member who wishes to pursue any graduate program leading to an advanced degree, may receive 50 percent of tuition costs, up to a program cap of $10,000 subject to limitations - Submit your application here.
IV. Grant for Graduate Studies for Staff - A staff member who wishes to pursue any graduate program leading to an advanced degree, may receive 50 percent of tuition costs, up to a program cap of $10,000 subject to limitations - Submit your application here.
SST
A reminder that the SST agenda and SST site are updated weekly and are a good resource for student concerns: links are in the WM sidebar.
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, 4/16 - Big Rock curriculum articulation work session.
Thursday, 4/19 - Division meeting
Thursday, 4/19 - Division meeting
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.
PAL Content from Friday
The LS PAL meeting on Friday concentrated on the idea of balance and the Healthy Mind Platter. Chris presented on the Healthy Mind Platter. Parents Asha Singh (Shay and Anika's mom) and Kate Fox (Kai Olson's mom) presented on the effects of sleep and nutrition on children's brains. The content was very interesting and we had good parent turnout, with specific recommendations for how parents could improve both sleep and nutrition for their children--we wanted to share the slides with you. Please contact Chris, Kirstin or David with questions, or Asha and Kate!
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.
The LS PAL meeting on Friday concentrated on the idea of balance and the Healthy Mind Platter. Chris presented on the Healthy Mind Platter. Parents Asha Singh (Shay and Anika's mom) and Kate Fox (Kai Olson's mom) presented on the effects of sleep and nutrition on children's brains. The content was very interesting and we had good parent turnout, with specific recommendations for how parents could improve both sleep and nutrition for their children--we wanted to share the slides with you. Please contact Chris, Kirstin or David with questions, or Asha and Kate!
Learning and the Brain Conference
A reminder that Carole, Claire, Tonya, Tina, Natasha, Melanie and Chris T. will be at the Learning and the Brain conference April 18-22 in NYC. Melanie and Chris are still looking for duty support here. We appreciate your generosity for helping to cover these duties and support our PGD experience.
A reminder that Carole, Claire, Tonya, Tina, Natasha, Melanie and Chris T. will be at the Learning and the Brain conference April 18-22 in NYC. Melanie and Chris are still looking for duty support here. We appreciate your generosity for helping to cover these duties and support our PGD experience.
Great OES Book Swap (GOBS)
Be sure to thank Rebecca Thompson and Carol Bull for their good work organizing another successful GOBS fest.
Mount Hood Climb Service Day is coming--action steps below!
Mount Hood Climb Service Day is coming on Wednesday, May 9. By now Kristen has heard from all classrooms about your plans for the day, and is impressed with how each plan builds directly from classroom learning. That is true service, true learning, and we thank you for that!
Starting this week you will see weekly notices in the WM with info, action items, and deadlines. Your attention to them is appreciated, and feel free to ask any questions!
General Schedule:
8:15-8:30 Belltower
8:55 (3rd-5th grade only) Classes staying on campus will pack lunch in MS commons
11:00-11:25; 11:30-11:55 (1-5 recess)--you choose either (coverage provided)
12:00-12:30 PK/Kinder/Pr recess (coverage provided)
12:00-2:15 Afternoon Community and Reflection Sign-Ups (sign-ups next week)
2:25 Affinity Commons Gatherings
2:35 Popsicles
To do this week:
1. Overview Spreadsheet: Please visit the spreadsheet by Friday, April 20 and fill in your specific times of service. This will be crucial so we can connect staff/parent volunteers with you, or keep track of your whereabouts.
2. Parent/Specialist volunteers: Please think through the number of parent and specialist volunteers you want/need for your project and place those numbers in the spreadsheet by Wednesday, April 18. Kristen will then communicate with your room parent to get that number into Sign Up.
3. US Student volunteers: We will have a number of US Student volunteers available that day. If you feel your project would be supported by US hands, please email me by Wednesday, April 18. Kristen will then distribute US volunteers to classrooms when she knows the exact number.
4. Materials: If you and Kristen have discussed your project and supplies, please order/acquire them. If you need any materials from me, please indicate them on the spreadsheet. We have many sets of gardening gloves, some garden tools, and plastic bags available if they are needed.
MHCSD FYI:
Lunch: All students will have a sack lunch. Please note, due to volume, the dining hall staff can only pack very simple lunches of three types--bagel and cream cheese, turkey, soy nut butter. See the attached catering form. Keep a list of your students' orders for easy reference on May 9. Dietary restrictions will be honored--specify name of student on order form. Lunches will come in two deliveries--7:30am for those leaving campus; 10:30am for those staying on campus. Lunch request forms should be emailed to Kristen no later than Monday, April 30. The sandwich bar in the dining hall will be open for faculty and staff.
Recess Coverage: We will provide lunch recess coverage for mixed age 1st-5th grade groups from 11:00-11:25 and 11:30-11:55, and from PK/K/Pr from 12:00-12:30. No mid-morning or afternoon recess coverage will be provided. You are welcome to take your class out at any time under your supervision.
Before/After School Duty: If you have a before- or after-school duty, please plan to do that duty. If you are unable to do your duty due to service, please let Kristen know.
Mount Hood Climb Service Day is coming on Wednesday, May 9. By now Kristen has heard from all classrooms about your plans for the day, and is impressed with how each plan builds directly from classroom learning. That is true service, true learning, and we thank you for that!
Starting this week you will see weekly notices in the WM with info, action items, and deadlines. Your attention to them is appreciated, and feel free to ask any questions!
General Schedule:
8:15-8:30 Belltower
8:55 (3rd-5th grade only) Classes staying on campus will pack lunch in MS commons
11:00-11:25; 11:30-11:55 (1-5 recess)--you choose either (coverage provided)
12:00-12:30 PK/Kinder/Pr recess (coverage provided)
12:00-2:15 Afternoon Community and Reflection Sign-Ups (sign-ups next week)
2:25 Affinity Commons Gatherings
2:35 Popsicles
To do this week:
1. Overview Spreadsheet: Please visit the spreadsheet by Friday, April 20 and fill in your specific times of service. This will be crucial so we can connect staff/parent volunteers with you, or keep track of your whereabouts.
2. Parent/Specialist volunteers: Please think through the number of parent and specialist volunteers you want/need for your project and place those numbers in the spreadsheet by Wednesday, April 18. Kristen will then communicate with your room parent to get that number into Sign Up.
3. US Student volunteers: We will have a number of US Student volunteers available that day. If you feel your project would be supported by US hands, please email me by Wednesday, April 18. Kristen will then distribute US volunteers to classrooms when she knows the exact number.
4. Materials: If you and Kristen have discussed your project and supplies, please order/acquire them. If you need any materials from me, please indicate them on the spreadsheet. We have many sets of gardening gloves, some garden tools, and plastic bags available if they are needed.
MHCSD FYI:
Lunch: All students will have a sack lunch. Please note, due to volume, the dining hall staff can only pack very simple lunches of three types--bagel and cream cheese, turkey, soy nut butter. See the attached catering form. Keep a list of your students' orders for easy reference on May 9. Dietary restrictions will be honored--specify name of student on order form. Lunches will come in two deliveries--7:30am for those leaving campus; 10:30am for those staying on campus. Lunch request forms should be emailed to Kristen no later than Monday, April 30. The sandwich bar in the dining hall will be open for faculty and staff.
Recess Coverage: We will provide lunch recess coverage for mixed age 1st-5th grade groups from 11:00-11:25 and 11:30-11:55, and from PK/K/Pr from 12:00-12:30. No mid-morning or afternoon recess coverage will be provided. You are welcome to take your class out at any time under your supervision.
Before/After School Duty: If you have a before- or after-school duty, please plan to do that duty. If you are unable to do your duty due to service, please let Kristen know.
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 so 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 is a book
Thank you for helping us with our project!
Odessa, Ben K., Flynn, Lizzy, Margot (on behalf of Ms. Akehurst's 5th grade class)
Art Fair--Student art welcome! Ms. Busick's class is doing the second annual art fair this year on May 9 and 10. We are selling art and giving the money to Refugee Care Collective. Please remind your kids to bring in art to be sold at the art fair. If you'd like to make art as a class, feel welcome to do so! The deadline for bringing this art is Monday, May 7. Thank you! Sincerely, Ms. Busick's class.
PGD Links
NAREA Conference - ???
Learning and the Brain- ???
OPERATIONS
Vision Screening Results
Elaine and Laura are working on a cover sheet to explain the new vision screening results to parents. Participating classrooms, please wait to send home vision screen results until you have more info. from Elaine and Laura.
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.
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.
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. the PE Team is on it.
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.
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.
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