LS Weekly Memo
Week 7: September 22-26, 2014
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Thank you for your great work launching the new school year; Open Classroom, Welcome Conferences, BTSP, BTSN. This week we join the whole school in celebrating all things OES, and send the first field trips off campus.
COMMUNITY
Student Safety
As students feel more comfortable at school, often new issues arise. If a student’s behavior is unsafe for the student or others, Chris or David need to know about it
OES Fund
Our theme this year is:
-Every student. Every day. (All students benefit from the OES Fund.)
· Goal: 100% participation by faculty by September 30. Once we reach this goal, we plan to announcement this in the Aardvark to inspire parents to give in October. And….you will have some special dessert waiting for you as a thank you!
· Financial goal for school: $900,000
Please use the online Google doc payroll deduction form. It is the easiest way to give (and easy for the Development Office too). The link is at LINK TO 2014-2015 Staff Payroll Deduction Form
Spirit Week and Homecoming - September 22 – 26
It si a uniform optional week. Each day students have three choices; uniforms, OES spiritwear, or dressing in the theme. Shoes appropriate for PE and Recess are still required.
- Monday- Hipster
- Tuesday- Tropical
- Wednesday- Clash
- Thursday- TeleV15ion (come as your favorite character)
- Friday- Spiritwear
- All School Pep- Rally 8:00 – 8:30 on Friday, 9/26 in gym
Spirit of Service
Another way of rallying around and expressing school spirit during this Homecoming Week is to engage in an on-campus service project. The Buildings and Grounds folks spend hours (days!) readying the grounds for Homecoming, and even 30 minutes of trash pick-up on Friday provides huge assistance to them. Jenny Cleveland will put plastic garbage bags just outside the LS Office. If you would like to lead your students in a low-key service project on campus and need particular supplies, let Jenny know by Monday afternoon.
Dorm Student Buddy
Your class could adopt/develop a relationship with a dorm student! As you may or may not know we have a mini international school in the dorms here at OES. We have 58 students from all over the world. Some are as close as Bend, but the majority are from another country. See Tasha Busick for details.
Upper School Helpers
They are available ONLY at these specific times:
Every Wednesday, 10:20-10:50, beginning Wednesday, Sept. 24 (note that this is only half an hour & adjust your expectations accordingly!)
Every Thurday, 10:50-11:50, beginning THIS Thursday, Sept 18
If you can use student help during those hours, please email me at least a day ahead of time, and give the location, the job description, and the number of students needed.
Robin Schauffler, schaufflerr@oes.edu
US Service-Learning Coordinator
Parent Partnership Coffees 2014-2015
David and I met this week to finalize plans for our upcoming fall coffees. Click on the link above to access this document.
Competitive Games on the Playground - Helpful hints
- Teams need to be fair and with equal numbers of student on each team
- Both teams need to agree the teams are fair before they can start playing
- We do not play grade vs. grade or Girls vs. Boys
Students to Watch on the Playground
There are three students we are supporting closely right now, and would love to have all folks on duty keep a special eye on them.
JB in Doug’s First Grade- Can be physical, some teasing, pretend play that is over the top
BK in Jackie’s Second Grade- New student, highly competitive soccer player, gets embarrassed and angry when called on unnecessary roughness. PE team will help supervise games on the field.
PG in Tina’s Fifth Grade- Can get physical, unaware of personal boundaries, can go to extremes when teased or in chase games that go ary.
It will be important to document any issues in an incident report. We are working closely with these students’ families. See their photo in PCR if you don’t know what they look like.
Classroom Agreements
As you finalize your classroom agreements b sure to post them on your website. Parents appreciate knowing the language you are using with their children.
PROGRAM
Digital Conferencing Notebook
Is anyone using Chronicle (a digital conferring notebook for the iPad)? If so Tonya would like to connect, see how you’re using it, and share some tools she has discovered. She would be happy to share her experience after using it all last year.
Faculty Meetings
Plan on being available each Monday from 3:15 - 4:30 and each Thursday from 7:40 - 8:40 for faculty meetings. See the LS Faculty Meeting Schedule for details.
Faculty Meeting This Week
Teams Monday 3:15 – 4:30 - See your team leader for agenda.
Thursday, 9/25-LS Library
Look for email with details. We will likely visit classrooms before meeting in LS Library.
Inquiry Design Team - 9/24, 3:15 - 4:15, Janet Schilling’s Room
Team Leader Notes
- Cadwell Proposal
- Summer Book Discussion
- Discipline
- Building Update
Sending Students to the Library
Friendly reminder: out of respect to our scheduled library classes, please consult the Library schedule before sending large groups down to the Library. Heidi can assist 1-2 students briefly, but larger groups distract our classes. We are happy to be of assistance during open library times. Thank you!
THA Meetings
We are working though the final details of the building. Most of this work will be done with the Team Leaders; Janet, Alysa, Debra and Chris. Kirstin will also participate as Building Committee Member.
Classroom Dimensions
Tracy worked with the 5th grade to lay out the classroom dimensions for PK – P classrooms and 1st – 5th classrooms in the LSCH. Take a look and imagine what is possible with that space.
Volunteer Spot
I met with PAL Grade Representatives on Wednesday. NExt year’s VS process will be simpler.
Essential Competencies Posters
We have a few EC posters in the Faculty Lounge. Help yourself. If you have the original light green version please replace.
Changes to the Chapel/Assembly Schedule
There have been a few changes to the Chapel and Assembly schedule for the fall. The online calendars now list the correct information. The new events are as follows. Please correct your planning calendars. Thank you!
October 17--LS Chapel: 2nd-5th Grade
November 14--LS Chapel: 2nd-5th Grade
November 21--BS and LS Drop Everything and Read (DEAR) Assembly, 8:10-8:40
Assistant Teachers Meeting, Wednesday, Sept. 24th, 12:05-12:35
We’ll have five meetings this year, most will take place in the Morris House Conference Room.
Look for details in the Weekly Memo.
OPERATIONS
Review Fall Conference Schedule Over the Weekend
Jenny will send out classroom teacher and specialists’ conference schedule Friday. Please review the schedule and send her any changes you wish to make by Monday morning. Jenny will send out schedules to parents that have more than one child on Monday with the aim of sending the schedule to all parents by Wednesday.
Students Need to Be On Time for Dismissal
We noticed this week that older LS siblings arrived later than they should (3:00-3:05) which clogs up the Pre-K and K Loop Road pick up area with cars waiting for older siblings.
Please get your children out the door either a little before 2:50 or at 2:50.
Late Start Thursday Reminders
Please be sure to include Late Start Thursday reminders in your next newsletter or communication to parents. There seemed to be a lot of confusion last week.
Thursday Morning Schedule
Beginning School Students
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1st and 2nd Grade Students
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3rd – 5th Grade Students
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7:30 – Choice Time in LS Common Hall
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7:30 – Academic Choice in 1/2 Wing
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Quiet Reading in LS Library
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7:30 – Study Hall in 4/5 Wing
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Quiet Reading in LS Library
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8:10 – Outdoor Recess Option
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8:15 – Outdoor Recess
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8:15 – Outdoor Recess
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8:45 – School Begins
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8:45 – School Begins
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8:45 – School Begins
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The two front doors and the back library door will be locked after students go out for recess. The library will not be open from 8:15-8:45.
Field Trip Guidelines Please read!
There are two documents to review: a field trip check list and medical field trip info.
Volunteer Spot Update
Volunteer Spot is up and running. Lucy Shanno and Georgina Miltenberg have set faculty up to receive updates so you know who is coming in to volunteer in your classroom. There is an opt out button if you do not wish to receive these notification.
OES Book Sale - Wish List
The book fair is taking place off campus this year at Annie Bloom’s Books in Multnomah Village. We are asking each grade level teaching team and LS Specialists to generate wish lists for their respective classes. LS parents will have the opportunity to gift these books to each classroom. The Book Fair Committee would love to make this process as easy and painless as possible! With this in mind, it would be great if each grade level teaching team would designate one contact person to communicate your wish list to the committee.
A member of the Book Fair Committee will be contacting you to learn the name of the point person you have selected. Your designated point person will then submit the Wish List to their committee liaison in whatever form is most convenient - an email, a wish list created at Amazon.com or Powell's.com, a handwritten list...we simply need the title and author.
If you have questions or ideas, please direct them to Margueritte Kim at kimfamilypdx@mac.com.
BS Food Service
Chris and I met with Kelly and Jason. They estimate that last year the Beginning School had approximately $15,000 in food waste. We recognize there are many factors contributing to that waste, including menu items that are not child-friendly. Jason, Kelly and Shirley are working on offerings that are more child-friendly.
- Sandwich making materials will be available daily - one or more of the following: cheese, turkey and soy butter
- Please encourage students to try the hot entree before offering sandwiches
- Encourage students to eat what they take, waste less food
- Jason will try to come down most Wednesdays to talk with students, teachers and parents about healthy eating and good choices. He is open to feedback.
- If you are interested in getting a tour of the kitchen and gardens, let Kelly know. They love the opportunity to share their good work.
- They are also open to having farmers who serve Bon Appetit visit classes/grades to talk about farming and good eating.
Student Use of Office Bathrooms
At times we are having lines of 6 or more students at the bathroom in the LS Office. Please limit the number sent up from PK - P lunch. It would help if children used the bathroom before lunch too
Your Announcements
Send any announcements you have for faculty to Chris or me by Thursday each week and we will include them in the Weekly memo. This should help reduce the number of emails we are receiving, and to maximize our time to collaborate during meetings.
