WM 36 - May 7-13

Weekly Memo 36

Weekly Memo WM 36, May 7 - 13, 2018

I hope you all had a chance to witness the expression of our students' learnings during the 5th Grade Immigration Day and the three Kindergarten and Primary learning celebrations.
On we go to MHCSD, the 3rd Grade Living History Museum and the LEGO Show.

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, 5/8 - Mount Hood Climb Service Day story
LS Gathering, Friday, 5/11 - No gathering. Lego Show in LSPC
Attend. Be on time. Help with supervision.

Juidi Alongi Update
Juidi broke her wrist and knee cap when she fell last week. She will be out for the month of May recovering. For now she prefers to be contacted by email. Bob, her husband, is assisting her with communication while her wrist is in a temporary cast. Juidi is grateful for all your help and assistance.

97th LEGO Show - Friday, May 11

The Spring LEGO Show is Friday, May 11th, from 9 - 2.  We will be in the Science Lab, the hallway outside the lab, and in the Performance Commons.  I hope your class can come to view all the awesome creations from this year's 60 LEGO students.  Please follow the link for the signup sheet.

New Playground Plantings - Appreciate with Care
Thank you to all for helping supervise the new plants. 

EC3 Supply Drive - A Success

Thanks to all who brought stuff in. The EC3 Team is hard at work sorting and organizing. Need some stuff for a class project, look for notification when it is up and ready.

Hiring
4th Grade - Adelaide Wainwright has accepted our offer
1st Grade - Anthony Villaseñor has accepted our offer
2nd Grade - Resume review, interviewing 
5th Grade - Resume review, interviewing 

Moving Into Coffees - Have begun. 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

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.

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, 5/7 - No meeting. MHCSD preparation
Thursday, 5/10 - Division - MHCSD Reflection. Images of Play discussion.
Notes from the 5/3 meeting can be found here. 
The reflection sheet for documentation is here--you can save your own copy and use it electronically, or you can print it and paste a photo/handwrite your reflection. Please bring your documentation to the 5/10 meeting. 

All faculty should read this article.

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.
Articulation Planning Sheets 

Immigration Day - Thank you, 5th grade team for reimagining what Immigration Day could be. By reports from all involved it was a huge success.

Learning Celebrations - Kindergarten and Primary

How fitting to have all 4 classes engaged in presenting plays after our discussion of play in the faculty meeting. The students in Kindergarten and Primary showed us just how imaginative, creative and innovative they can be.

As we plan or reflect on Project Season...

Louise Cadwell recently posted this really useful blog post titled Patterns and Elements of a Great Project.  We thought it might resonate and inform you as you communicate about project learning to families and think about refining projects next year.

Summer Stipends - 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.

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 - Please reach out to Debra or Tracy if you are interested.  

Mount Hood Climb Service Day

Mount Hood Climb Service Day...has arrived!

Thank you for attending to the below details. This week's most important task...enjoy your day of service!

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 (Pri-5 recess)--you choose either (coverage provided) 

12:00-12:30 PK/Kinder 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.

1. Last Check: Take one last check to be sure you have all the details of the day accounted for--Do you know who your volunteers will be? Do you have in hand all the supplies you need? If you have any remaining wonderings about logistics, ask Kristen.

2. Continue framing conversations: 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. Photos: Please don't forget to snap photos from the day!

4. Community and Reflection Sign-Ups: Please note the sessions you signed up for. Access the sign-up here. 

5. Support larger projects: Kids can bring in art, picture books, and PSW donations all the way until Wednesday. Continue to encourage your class's efforts to support these community endeavors. 

MHCSD
Mount Hood Climb Service Day Belltower Gathering (8:15 am - 8:35 am): This all school event unites our entire community around the Belltower and, more importantly, around our common purpose and mission for the day. We are traditionally joined by parents, alumni and friends of the school. We will send out a seating chart on Monday, so that all know how we will gather around the Belltower.

Communications:

While this is the 32nd anniversary of the Climb, there is always the likelihood of interest from the media about our day of service. May I remind you that any inquiries from any media are to be kindly directed to Peter Kraft, Acting Head of School, or Karen Crandal, Director of Marketing and Communications. Please refrain from engaging in individual conversations with the media. Our priority as a school is to protect the families of the Climb and all who experienced this event, for whom this remains a painful season.

Second Annual Art Fair--May 9-10:

Ms. Busick's class is putting on the second annual Art Fair to benefit Refugee Care Collective. Some classes have signed up to attend on Wednesday (MHCSD), but the Art Fair will also be open on Thursday, May 10. Beginning Years classes--sign up for a 30 minute slot to visit just the Art Fair. Intermediate Years classes--you can also choose to sign up for a 45 minute slot to visit the Refugee Experience before being led to the Art Fair. Sign up here!

OPERATIONS

AP Exams
The Upper School is moving AP exams to Farris Hall this year
Help your students move quietly past Fariss for the morning exams on May 8, 14, 15, 23, and 25
Help your students keep away from Fariss Hall during recess on May 8, 14, 15, 23, and 25
Please do not use the Fariss Garden before 1:00pm on May 8, 14, 15, 23, and 25

Safety on the Playground
All rocks should be kept at ground level. One was accidentally dropped on a student's head from the rampart walk.
A student slipped while going up the double slide and chipped two teeth. Down the slide only.
Some of the 1st/2nd grade tag games are getting too physical. PE Team, can you help with some Tag games that would still allow the thrill of the chase, but could be more fun for more players?

Admissions Days in 2018-19: 
Thursday, February 7  - K, P, 1 Admissions Day
Friday, February 8 - PreK Admissions Day
We are going to try this new schedule next year. This will allow us to eliminate the Saturday PreK Admissions Day. LS Faculty who write reports will be scheduled for one of the two days. The other day will be available for report writing. Those faculty who do not write reports may be asked to work both Admissions days.  Plan subject to change fro unusual circumstances such as faculty illness or significant increase in application numbers. 

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.