WM 35 April 30 - May 6

Weekly Memo 35

Weekly Memo WM 35, April 30 - May 6, 2018

Thank you to the 2nd Grade Team for creating the new hero Presentations. Students were clear they had something important to share with their audience through their words, actions and convictions. 

May is full of special events; overnight trips, parent coffees, placement discussion, learning celebrations and culminating projects. review your calendar well.

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, Tuesday, 5/1
LS Gathering, Friday, 5/4 
Parent coffee in the Library. Help with supervision in Gathering

• Attend. Be on time. Help with supervision.
• No Gathering on May 11th. LEGO Show will be in the LSDC.

Hero Presentations

Congratulations to the 2nd Grade team and Emily Stone for their great work reimagining what Hero Presentations could be.

Lockout Drill 
We will have a lockout drill on May 22. The exact time is still to be determined. Between now and then be sure the safety features in your room are fully functional. If something needs attention, complete a maintrequest@oes.edu.

Emergency Signal - 3 Sharp Whistle Blast
Lower School will use 3 sharp whistle blasts as our emergency signal outdoors. If a child hears that he or she should come quickly toward the nearest known adult.

New Playground Plantings - Appreciate with Care
Keep up the good work.

EC3 Supply Drive

Keep supplies coming. Needs lists are at each of the collection bins.

Hiring
4th Grade - Adelaide Wainwright has accepted our offer
1st Grade - Finalist visit on Monday
2nd Grade - Resume review, interviewing this week
5th Grade - Search beginning

Moving Into Coffees
They start up next week with 5th grade on Monday, PreK on Wednesday and 1st Grade on Friday. See schedule below.

DATES	GRADE	TIME	LOCATION
Wednesday, May 2	Moving into PK	8:00 – 9:30	LS Library
Monday, May 21	Moving into K	8:00 – 9:30	LS Library
Monday, May 7	Moving into Primary	8:00 – 9:00	LS Library
Friday, May 4	Moving into 1st	8:00 – 9:30	LS Library
Wednesday, May 30	Moving into 2nd	8:00 – 9:00	LS Library
Monday, June 4	Moving into 3rd	8:00 – 9:00	LS Library
Wednesday, June 6	Moving into 4th	8:00 – 9:00	LS Library
Monday, April 30	Moving into 5th	8:00 – 9:00	LS Library

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.

 Staff Excellence Award History

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.

 Mary Stephenson Award History

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, 4/30 - Preofessional Growth Block
Thursday, 5/3 - Division - Lower School curriculum articulation work

The questions:Who are we as a Lower School? and What do we believe about how children learn? If you would like to reference the LS Big Rocks Patterns poster for your team meetings, here are the links:

LS Big Rocks Patterns

Article: Please read

As a follow-up to our Thursday morning conversation, we'd like to delve into one common 'big rock' that had a lot of energy around it: What do we mean when we say play, and why do we value it for learning? All faculty should read this article. As you read, mark sections that have the potential to expand or challenge your thinking about play as a vehicle for learning. Write down your questions/wonderings/ahas. Please bring your marked article to our meeting on Thursday, May 3rd.

For teams who want to delve further into this topic, try watching Stuart Brown's TED Talk "Play is More Than Just Fun," try this CNN article by Erika and Nicholas Christakis or read this NAEYC article on brain science and guided play.

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.

Summer Stipends - See Peter Kraft's email. Deadline, May 15

• Speak with your Division Head and, when appropriate Department Chair, about your preliminary idea(s).
• Fill out the following FORM so that we are aware of your request. (If you are applying as part of a team, your group only has to submit one form for all of you. Just be sure to include all participants names.)
• Be sure to pay particular attention to areas of All-School, Divisional and / or Departmental priorities. These will be important elements of determining what requests are funded.
• Funding for Summer Stipends is limited, so it may not be possible to fund all requests.

If you are interested in using PGD funds for summer work that involves a conference or work with another organization., please see your Division Head. 

Class Placement
Lyn has them all scheduled. Classroom teachers, please come prepared with the first draft of your of placement consider balancing:

• Gender
• Students from each of three classes
• Friedships
• Social dynamics
• Academic strengths and challenges
• Tutoring/ support services
• Behavior strengths and challenges
• Mix of former Primarians in each class
• Leadership
• Diversity
• Family structure
• Parental needs
• Volunteers
• Employee, volunteer leadership children

Placement Requests

If parents have placement requests please direct them to David to schedule an appointment.

LS HAC Representatives
It has been the honor for Debra and Tracy to serve on the Head's Advisory Committee (HAC)  for 3 years.  Since both of the lower school reps are ending their tenure on HAC, there is an opportunity for two new lower school faculty members to serve.  Please reach out to Debra or Tracy if you are interested.  It is roughly a one meeting a month commitment, and we would ask that you attend the May 23rd meeting to get oriented for next year.

PAL Content from Friday
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 - share the slides with you

Learning and the Brain Conference
Thanks Carole, Claire, Tonya, Tina, Natasha, Melanie and Chris T. for sharing some of your takeaways with us on Thursday.

Mount Hood Climb Service Day-Getting Closer

Thank you for attending to the below details. This week's most important tasks...select more afternoon sessions, begin framing conversations with your class, and support larger projects. 

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

(12:30-2:15) Akehurst lemonade stand open for pop-ins

2:25 Affinity Commons Gatherings

2:35 Popsicles

Overview Spreadsheet: Please visit the spreadsheet if you wish to see all the great projects planned for LS classrooms that day.

MUST do this week:

1. Community and Reflection Sign-Ups: Now that everyone has had a chance to sign up for their first choice of sessions, go back and select a second (and third, if you'd like!) session. Access the sign-up here. 

2. Begin framing conversations: The K-12 National Standards for Service Learning Practice recognizes that meaningful service "incorporates multiple challenging reflection activities that are ongoing (before, during, and after service) and that prompt deep thinking and analysis about oneself and one's responsibility to society." If you haven't done so, begin this week to talk with your class not just about what they will do on MHCSD, but why that specific work is important to others in our community, and how it connects to your learning in the classroom. We hope to unite this conversation under one umbrella question: "How did you leave your fingerprints on someone's heart today?" Tina's MHCSD lemonade stand will use this question, and by helping your students think through their potential impacts before MHCSD, you can deepen their experience and learning. If you would like to brainstorm reflection questions for your specific class project that lead students into deeper thinking, please ask Kristen. 

3. Support larger projects: Consider making an announcement or putting a reminder about Project Second Wind on your board; Ms. Busick's class wants student art of all sorts to sell at the art fair; Use your Scholastic Book Points to order diverse books for preschoolers at Woodburn. 

FYI:

1. US Student volunteers: I will have a list of US students (if you requested one) by Thursday. 

2. 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 me know.

OPERATIONS

Swing Safety

Just a reminder that we've had some injuries in the past from children twisting on swings or sitting more than one child on a swing at a time. Safe swing protocol is one child per swing, facing the same direction, swinging back and forth. Thanks for your guidance!

Absence Report

All LS Employees are required to create an absence in Smartfind with or without guest teacher request. For HR and for our division’s daily morning report, it is important to know who is out for the day.

HR/Payroll

 HR/Payroll requires timecard approval twice a month: 17^th & 30^th. It is to the employee’s advantage to learn how to navigate ADP and being aware of the information entered into the payroll system.  

Schedules
Please review your schedule here and on your google calendar. Be sure Kathy and Lyn have correct schedules. See Chris if you would like to discuss small changes within your schedule.

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.

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.