LS Weekly Memo Week 7: September 30 - October 4

Thanks for all the time, thought and energy you put into your Back-to-School Night presentations.  Clearly your passion for teaching, learning and love of children came shining forth. 

PE Team, our thanks to you for putting together our annual Fall Walk-for-Fun and Fitness.  Though the weather did not cooperate all had fun, whether sprinting, jogging, skipping or strolling, for as long as it lasted.

Now on to Spirit Week, Service Learning Week and Homecoming. If you plan to attend Homecoming and enjoy a picnic meal, be sure to RSVP.  The link is in the Wednesday Express. Scroll down to the info on Homecoming  RSVP Homecoming.

COMMUNITY

Homecoming

Moira Buckley, mother of Piper and Lily, with the help of SooLynn Chang, mother of Aaron and Nicholas,  have done an incredible job coordinating the AS Homecoming.  Come show your community spirit by attending a game, the parade , dinner or all of it.  

Spirit Week

The week is a uniform optional week.  Students may dress in the Homecoming theme or wear uniforms.

Students must wear PE/ Recess appropriate shoes each day

* Monday, 9/30: Tropical Day

* Tuesday, 10/1: Western Day (no weapons or sharp objects)

* Wednesday, 10/2: Clash Day

* Thursday, 10/3: Throwback Thursday (dedicated to trends of the past - 70's, 80's,  Roaring 20's, etc)

* Friday, 10/4: Spirit Day (wear OES Homecoming attire, or other OES gear)

Recess

Of the incidents reported through the Incident Report Form the majority are related to recess.  We all need to help with careful supervision and effective intervention.

SST Incident Response

SST members will review all incidents reported and make a plan of action.  For some incidents we  will email out a response that will include;  description of the incident, who was involved, actions to be taken.

Specialists are Invited to SST Meetings

Specialists, we’d love for you to attend SST meetings if you are free on Monday between 9-10 or Thursday, 10:50 -11:50.

Classroom Agreements

Please put them on your website.  Many parents adapt/ adopt them for home.

Service Learning - Preparing our home for homecoming - Service Learning Sign-up

Specialists Connect with Buddy Classes During Service Learning Spirit Week when possible

PROGRAM

PGD Plans

Remember to fill out the PGD PLans form that Debra sent you.

Learning and the Brain

9 LS faculty and staff attended the conference this weekend. Ask the 4th grade team, Kiah, Paula, Angela, Kathy Finn-Brennan, Margaret or me about it.  

3 ways to build better brains from Dr. John Medina:

1. Aerobic exercise, 150 minutes a week, builds better brains - Think the importance of recess, PE and your exercise routine

2. Reducing stress builds better brains - think Yoga Calm

3. Stable home environment builds better brains -think parent partnership

AS Faculty and Staff Meeting, Monday, 9/30 at 3:15 Mandatory Reporting

There will be an all school meeting on Monday, September 30th at 3:15 pm in the dining hall.

Jennifer Lushenko will present the plan for faculty and staff harassment and mandatory reporting training.

New Faculty and Staff Meeting- Mini- Service Learning Seminar, 10/1, 7:30-7:50

Faculty Meeting Thursday, 10/3 - Claire Kucera’s Classroom

FLG meeting - 7:45 - 8:45. All in FLG’s should attend.

Beginning School Team, 7:45 - 8:45-  Explore Use of Tools for Problem Solving

1st - 4th will meet in Claire’s Room to discuss the  admissions process for all day visitors from 7:45 to 8:45

5th Grade Team - Curriculum Design Work???

Parent Partnership Coffees

Classroom teachers and Specialists, be sure you know which coffees you are attending. Consult the Parent Partnership Document, to see who comes to which coffee.

Primary	Monday, September 30
PreK	Tuesday, October 1
K	Wednesday, October 2
1st	Monday, October 7
2nd	Tuesday, October 8
3rd	Tuesday, October 15
4th	Friday, October 18
5th	Tuesday, October 22

OPERATIONS

Outerwear Outside. Uniform Inside.

Remind your students that outwear is not to be worn in the classroom.  They may want to keep an OES sweatshirt or fleece in class incase they get cold.

Dining Hall Requests from Kelly Cowing

I hope you all had a chance to read the email Janet forwarded from Kelly.  Her points:

•Remind children of lunch choices beforehand,  so they are ready to make choices and move the service line along

•Children need to be reminded to walk, move about the dining hall safely

•keep their hands to themselves while waiting on line, potential safety issues

OES Shirts

Pick up your new OES shirt from the school store.

LS Building Update

The board approved the conceptual building design of the New LS Building at the last board meeting.  Now onto the hard work of fund raising.  There will be a long quiet phase as we build momentum and excitement about the project. How much we money we raise and how soon we can raise it will determine when we can build.  I will keep you informed about our progress.

LS Weekly Memo Week 6: September 23-27

Thanks for all the birthday wishes and songs on Friday.   Despite the threat of rain, the BTSP seemed to go well. Good luck with Back to School Night this week.  We end the week with the joyful Walk for Fun and Fitness. Then into Parent Partnership Coffees we go starting on 9/30 with Primary.

COMMUNITY

Walk for Fun Assembly and Launch of Spirit Week, Friday @ 8:10

We will celebrate our Walk for Fun and Fitness and launch Spirit Week, all in one assembly!

Spirit Week September 30 - October 4 - Uniform Optional Week

Students may dress in the spirit of the day or come in their uniforms.

All School Spirit Week Themes

• Monday- Tropical
• Tuesday- Western- No weapons of course
• Wednesday- Clash Day
• Thursday- Throw-Back Thursday, Wear Attire from Another Era
• Friday- OES Spirit Wear

Celebration of Spirit of Service Week Chapel, Oct. 4th at 8:10

Primary and First Grade are invited to attend next Friday’s Chapel, celebrating our week of service on campus.

Save the Date, Homecoming, Friday, Oct. 4th, 4:00 – 8:00

Come see the parade, eat food and watch the soccer games against Catlin while the Pep Squad cheers players on.

Labyrinth Walk

For many years, Shelley Stoffer made sure that 1st-5th grade classes had the opportunity to learn about and walk the labyrinth.   Jenny Cleveland would like to offer that opportunity again this year for classes to walk the smaller labyrinth in the LS Common Hall.  She will give preference to Primary - 5th grade for these times. Different times can be arranged for PreK and Kindergarten if that is of interest.

Parent Partnership 2013-2014 Google Doc-

https://docs.google.com/a/go.oes.edu/document/d/1EssCQUnX8gtG-Q5RTilxzMpr1EIIZH45INB1RwBAi1Q/edit

We’ve invited a number of specialists to attend coffees. Specialists please check the link to PPC document above to see if you are invited to give a brief intro (2-3 minutes) about your work with children.

Futrell/ Shotts Plan

We are working on a plan to have the Shotts boys ride the bus.  This would mean that most custody questions would be resolved off campus.  Andrew Shotts would only be on campus for special events.

PROGRAM

Upper School Helpers

See Robin Schaufler’s email

• Every Wednesday, 10:20-10:50, beginning NEXT Wednesday, Sept. 25 (note that this is only half an hour & adjust your expectations accordingly!)
• Every Thurday, 10:50-11:50, beginning THIS Thursday, Sept 19

They’ll do anything—indoors, outdoors, office work, classroom work, you name it.

Professional Growth and Development Day

Please complete the Google Form,  PGD - October 11 with your plans for our PGD Day on 10/11.  With many offerings around the Northwest you have a lot of good choices. NWAIS’s deadline for regular registration is coming up Tues., Sept. 24th. There are a number of enticing workshops this year.  With this being the state PGD day for both Oregon and Washington David would prefer everyone participate in one of the many offerings off campus.   See David if you wish to work on campus.

Check it out...NWAIS Conference

If you plan to attend NWAIS conference at Overlake School in Redmond, Washington, please get your registration in before the 24th to take advantage of the regular workshop fees.

Boys, Coyotes and Other Creatures, Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 26th and 27th

Jim Gillen, of Yoga Calm, has offered us a group discount. Let Chris know if you are interested in attending.  It might be great to have a number of people attend, and have them come back and train all of us.

Library

Lara is going to be working M - Th this year so she has more time to be with her family.  On Fridays Heidi will supervise the library, assisted by Katie Horton.

Author Barney Saltzberg Visits, Tuesday, Sept. 24th

9-9:30 Pre-K, K and Primary presentation

9:45-10:15 First and Second Grade presentation

10:15-10:45 Book Signing

http://www.barneysaltzberg.com

LSCTF Dates

All meetings are scheduled for 3:15-4:45, to take place in a Lower School classroom.

Meetings will take place in Claire Kucera’s room.

Oct. 7th

Dec. 16th

Feb. 24th

May 12th

BTSN

Thank you for all your good work getting ready for BTSN.  I hope last Thursday gave you a good jump start.

• Doors will unlock at 6:20
• One session each night, instead of two, so there may be more sibling conflicts.
• Chris and David will come around at 8:00 to usher parents home
• Have you coordinated with your grade level team about expectations?
• social/ emotional
• homework
• communications
• Let David or Chris know if you have questions

No Faculty Meeting on 9/26

Either rest up from or get well rested for BTSN.

OPERATIONS

Fifth Graders at Lunch Recess and Lunch

There were reports of trouble on the soccer field and in the dining hall.  Please, if you are on duty, especially on the field, keep a close eye on their interaction and body language.  Be proactive and intervene if tempers seem to flare.  

Please remind all students that it is not acceptable to move around from table to table. Once they set their tray down they need to stay.

Write an incident report if you see or hear anything.

Bus Safety Training This Week

Thanks  to all who offered feedback and helpful suggestions. Jon said that he will restructure future bus safety trainings, and be sure to have one grade level at each session, not two.  He liked the idea of taking the younger children on a brief ride to practice safe bus riding techniques.

Emergency Drill Calendar

Angela sent out Rebecca’s emergency drill Google calendar to all of you.  Please check from time to time. Know that we will put reminders in future WMs.

Specialists and Drills

Specialists should stand with their buddy class during drills so we can quickly account for everyone.  Classroom teachers should join their class if the class was at a special during drills.

Scott House and Morris House Fire Drills, Monday, Sept. 23rd @ 9am

There are fire drills for Scott House and Morris House, not just the divisional Fire Drills.  Amy, Kristen, Kelola, be aware this will happen when you may have class.

New Substitutes

Chris is interviewing a new pool of sub candidates in the coming week.  There will be a sub training in early to mid-October.  Welcome two new subs, Erika Pollack, OES parent mother of Emily and John, and Jackie Jaffe.

Clarification – lunches for Parent Volunteers and Trip Chaperones

• Classroom Parent Volunteers –No FREE Lunhc. Parents should sign in on the meal sign-up sheet; lunch will be charged to the family’s school account
• Lunch Parent Volunteer (Dining Hall) – Get a FREE lunch, paid for by the LS Budget (Student Services). Parents sign in on the meal sign-up sheet and indicate “Lunch Parent Volunteer”.
• Lunch Parent Volunteer (LS Common Hall) – Get a FREE lunch, paid for by the LS Budget (Student Services). Parents sign in on the meal sign-up sheet and indicate “Lunch Parent Volunteer”.
• Adult Chaperone for Field Trips – NO free lunch – teachers should specify in the catering request: how many are parent chaperones and how many teachers and staff going on the field trip. Lunch for Parent Chaperones are paid for by the Grade Level field trip budget
• Parents eating with their child – NO free lunch – will need to sign in on the meal sign-up sheet

LS Weekly Memo Week 5: September 16-20

We seem to be off to a good start with the first 8 days of school under our belt.  Thanks for your extra efforts at pacing the start of school right for our students and the building of your new learning community. This week we have the Back to School Picnic;  next week the Back to School Nights.

COMMUNITY

Back to School Picnic, 5 - 7 on 9/20

This Friday is the annual BTSP.  All faculty are expected to be there.  RSVP to the dinner offered from 4:00 - 5:00 pm if you prefer to eat before socializing.

Shotts Incident

Andy Shotts was arrested Thursday afternoon for violating the restraining order.  This will likely result in a change of his access to the campus.

• Jenny Furtrell will provide us with new documentation about Andy’s access once the legal process is complete.
• In the future, the days that Andy picks Elwin up will be listed in the afternoon plans
• For now, Elwin will be escorted by an adult to the LS Office at the end of each day.  He will be picked up from the LS office each day at the end of school.

Search for Missing Child

Thank you to all who helped in the search for Elwin Thursday afternoon.  Elwin was found outside the Middle School in the company of his father.

In the future, if we have a child missing, we will be well served to have a more organized effort.

• The parent of the missing child will come to the LS Office
• Jenny and Lyn will remain in the office to coordinate communications
• Volunteers will be coordinated to conduct the search
• Volunteers will call into the LS Office with updates
• Jenny or Lyn will communicate out updates

Citizenship and Discipline

To help distinguish between Chris and Patti’s role with students, think of Chris tending to disciplinary interventions when issues go beyond what the classroom or specialist teacher would handle on their own.  Patti is responsible for tending to the long term social emotional development of our students and is available to work with groups, classes or grades about these issues.

Recess Agreements

The Second Grade team is broadening their agreements to include recess. They will create recess agreements for their own classes and later share these with students in First and Third Grade. Look for more details in the coming week.

Parent Partnership Coffee Planning and Prep

Classroom teachers representing their grade at this round of coffees  are invited to attend a planning and prep meeting with David and Chris.  Thanks for working this, and the actual coffee into your busy schedule.

Those attending coffees, please arrange for coverage of your class. If you need help, let Chris know.

LS DEAR

Kristen Haferbecker will send out details on next week’s DEAR.  This will not be held in the gym. As we arranged last year, our first DEAR will be held in more intimate spaces like the classroom, common areas, library, or maybe in an outdoor classroom, if weather permits.

David Off Campus 9/18 after 10:00

Chris will be in charge.

PROGRAM

Intentional Curriculum Design

During Team Meetings some questions arose about where this initiative came from.  The initiative is a direct outgrowth of:

• The strategic plan - coordinating curriculum PreK -12
• The self study recommendation about coordinating and articulating Prek - 12 curriculum
• Mo’s goals related to committing to change this year
• The initial steps forward  and the commitment of the work this year were decided at the Department Chair/ LS Team Leader retreat this summer

I will discuss this further at our next All LS Team Meeting this Thursday.

LS Team Faculty Meeting, 9/19, 7:40 - 8:40 am

We will start in the 3rd - 5th grade common area to provide context for the PreK - 12 curriculum work and then meet in teams.  3rd - 5th grade students will need to go to the library until 8:15 for Late Start Thursday.

LSCTF Dates

All meetings are scheduled for 3:15-4:45, to take place in a Lower School classroom. Would someone volunteer to host our meetings?

Oct. 7th

Dec. 16th

Feb. 24th

May 12th

Website Updates

Thanks to all who have included us in your updates or let us know your plan.

Assessment Support for Assessments

Ari Sternberg is making his tri-yearly offer of help with any tricky assessments, and/or questions/discussions post assessments.  Contact Ari to make arrangements.

Yoga Calm Workshop for Teachers- Boys, Coyotes and Other Creatures

Oct. 26th and 27th.  Check it out!

PGD Plan for 2013-14

October 11 -

• IC Training - FLG participants and designated others will participate in IC training.

 

All other faculty are free to attend the conference of their choice.

• The Case for Curiosity - Susan Engel, NY Times reporter is the keynote speaker at a lecture Thursday night and daylong workshop. Both are free to those who register.  Complimentary  lunch is provided. The Beginning School Team plans to attend with their Assistant Teachers.

http://www.arborcenterforteaching.org/school-leadership/the-case-for-curiosity-a-lecture-by-dr-susan-engel

• NWAIS Annual Conference - Gathering with Purpose: Participate, Collaborate, Innovate
• Location: The Overlake School, Redmond, WA
• Oregon Social Studies:  http://www.oregonsocialstudies.org/fall-conference-registration to register for this year’s conference.

Monday, March 31 - All Faculty IC Training

Monday, June 16 - LS Inservice

OPERATIONS

Calendars -

Please be sure to get events parents attend on All School calendar.  See Lyn’s notes in last week’s email. These instructions can also be found in Google Drive in the Important Docs folder.

Tag at Morning and Afternoon Recess

We do not like to restrict childrens’ fast active play, but tag around mini Aardvark is just not safe.  Children ultimately run full bore around the amphitheater concrete steps or up into the structure itself...accidents waiting to happen.

Going forward, please tell your students that they can play tag games on the turf field at lunch only.

Field Trips

Please go directly to Lyn for field trip forms, not to transportation.  Lyn tracks the budget and needs to know what your expenses are, including transportation.

LSLT  Dates

All meetings are scheduled for 3:15-4:45, to take place in a Lower School classroom. Would someone volunteer to host our meetings?

Sept. 23rd

Dec. 2nd

Mar. 10th

Apr. 28th

Student Incident Forms

Thanks to those of you who have filled out forms. This will help us track students having behavioral issues and difficulties making the transition back to school.  Again,  the form is intended to be a quick update, taking no more than 5 minutes to complete.

Friendly Reminders

• Only uniform wear is to be worn in the classroom
• Keep supervising for fun and safe play at recess
• Remind parents to stay with their cars at Pick-up and Drop-off
• School day begins at 7:50 and ends at 2:55
• Doors lock at 8:00 am for the start of school and at 3:15 pm for the end