LS Weekly Memo Weekly Memo Week 38 May 4 - 8, 2015

Thank you 2nd grade team for your students’ amazing hero speeches.  They clearly connected with their hero in new and significant ways this year. Our thanks to the 3rd grade team for putting on the final Portland Musical production in the LSCH. The performance was terrific, all the more so realizing how much the students improved from practice on Monday to the performances on Wednesday. Congratulations 4th grade teachers, for having the good fortune of dry weather at the beach and for providing a great camp experience for your students on your final visit to Kiwanilong.

COMMUNITY

Nuts

Last week a parent brought in special treats for a class that contained nuts.  The ingredients were written in italian so it was not immediately apparent that the treats contained nuts.  Fortunately, the students tasted the nuts and let the teacher know. No one who ate the treats was allergic to tree nuts. 

Be sure to check ingredients of any snacks brought into school before distributing to students.

Safety Issues

We have had three safety issues occur related to day and overnight trips.  

1. One class left the emergency form binder left behind
2. Two classes took the medications for the wrong child on their trip

Follow the trip checklist carefully. Attend to all safety matters.

AP Exams and Lunch

May 5 and May 20 Have Lower School students enter and leave the dining hall through the entrance near the dorms and back parking lot. AP Exams in the US Library and Platt classroom.

May 7 Lower School students enter and leave the dining hall through the front door of the Upper School. Exams in US Library and Drama Lab.

Enter quietly on all three days.

Hiring Updates

• Kindergarten - making offer on Wednesday

• Spanish- making offer on Tuesday
• Chaplain search - reference checking
• Technology - finalists visits on Wednesday

Class Placement

Class placement conversations have begun.  Classroom teachers, please come to the meetings with your initial draft of placement. Consider:

• Gender balance
• Mix from all three previous classes
• Academic balance - low & high
• Try to have well-balanced classes & avoid “bi-modal groups”
• (high & low & few in-betweens)
• Look at language arts & math achievement – aim for balance
• Look at learning challenges: disabilities, differences, etc.
• Tutors – don’t overload one class with children who see tutors
• Motivation
• Balance of similar talents, interests
• Social – friends from current class
• Past social issues- check in with the grade below yours to see if there are past relationships to consider
• Children who play well together
• Children who work well together
• Good role models
• Behavior issues (think of a continuum from “never needs redirection” to “frequent redirection”)
• Family issues
• Parent needs
• Only children
• Diversity

LS Building - Congratulations

Start packing.  Get ready for the year of Flexibility and Creativity (otherwise known as the transition year).

LS Building Groundbreaking - Friday May 29, 8:30 -9:00

Planning is underway for the Ground Breaking on May 29.  All of LS will attend.

Moving Into Coffees

We have begun planning for the MIC’s.  Based on parent feedback, the majority of the MIC’s will be informational.  We will reserve the final 15 minutes for guided conversations for the parents.

Monday, May 4	Moving into 5th	8:00 – 9:30	LS CH
Tuesday, May 5	Moving into PK	8:00 – 9:30	LS CH
Monday, May 11	Moving into K	8:00 – 9:30	LS CH
Tuesday, May 12	Moving into P	8:00 – 9:30	LS CH
Friday, May 15	Moving into 1st	8:00 – 9:30	LS CH
Tuesday, May 26	Moving into 2nd	8:00 – 9:30	LS CH
Tuesday, June 1	Moving into 3rd	8:00 – 9:30	LS CH
Wednesday, June 2	Moving into 4th	8:00 – 9:30	LS CH

Building Event on Tuesday, 4/28, 6:00 - 8:00 pm

Thank you to those who prepared for our visitors and to those who came to host.  We had about 150 people come, the vast majority of whom stayed in the LSCH and talked.

 

Incident Reports - Incident Reports

Discipline

When students need interventions because of their behavior, we have varying levels of intervention:

• Teacher on the scene
• Classroom Teacher
• Chris O’Toole
• LS Office

Remember that Melanie’s role as counselor does not include discipline interventions, unless of course she is the teacher on the scene.

Lego Show - Friday, LS Library

The spring Lego display happens this Friday. See Jane’s email for details.

Students Who Need Extra Support

• Fourth and Fifth Grade Basketball Court- Competition is ramping up for these players. Keep an eye on this if you are out on recess duty.

• 3rd Grade Soccer - same as above

• Colton P - Let Chris and Tonya know if anything comes up challenges arise
• Simon W. and Gabriel H. need swift intervention if they are revving up.  No second chances. Provide place to cool down and reset.  See Chris or Erin for details.

• Deborah’s K Boys

The boys in Deborah’s class are working on being less physical with each other. Deborah or Chris will provide details.

PROGRAM

Summer Stipends

Department Chairs and Team Leaders will be soliciting summer stipend requests and helping prioritize requests.  We have 90 stipend days for the entire Lower School faculty and a lot of ideas for possible stipends:

UBD work

FLG needs

New Teaching Teams - K, 1st, 4th

Inquiry design

Literacy continuums

Team Leader/ Department initiatives

Grade level team initiatives

UBD Reminder

Each grade level should have three units of understanding designed by the start of school 2015.

LSCTF @3:15 in Tonya’s Class

We will focus on reading workshop. see LSCTF Readers Workshop document.

Cadwell Plans- Second and Fourth Grade, May 4th

We had great collaborative coaching sessions. Ask your colleagues for details.

Cadwell Collaborative Protocol Groups Spring 2015

Faculty Meetings

• May 4 - LSCTF
• May 6 - Inquiry Design Team
• May 7 - Department/ Team

Team Leader Agenda

• Plans for 2015-16
• IDT planning
• Summer Stipends

Inquiry Design Team - 5/6

• Debrief Common Inquiry Experiences
• Plan for EOY meeting

Safety - Students not alone in the classroom

Positive Discipline Workshop - Mind Map

Safe Schools - Previous WM

Giving to the Building - Previous WM

Math Feedback - Previous WM

UBD Reminder - Previous WM

Lower School Building – Previous WM

PGD – Previous WM

2015-16 Budget – Previous WM

Community Talks - Here is a link

OPERATIONS

Overnight Trips

Fifth Grade Camp Hancock- Mon., May 18th-Fri., May 22nd

Please sign up to cover chaperone’s recess and lunch duties the week they are away

Things From Home

Pokeman or magic cards need to stay at home and should not be brought to school – per LS Admin Team.  In general, toys from home should stay there.  See Student Handbook.

CHANGES to Room 10:

• to maintain the current organization in Room 10, the lock will be changed this week. The new key  to gain access in Room 10 will be in the office
• approval is needed from the office if you wish to store materials in Room 10
• Unaccounted items are discarded every Friday

Unsafe Use of Mini Aardvark- Please Be Vigilant

Jane pointed out to me that children of all ages and stages are sitting on the railings on the second story of Mini Aardvark.  This is really unsafe. Teachers, could you bring this to your student’s attention? Folks on duty, please redirect children if they continue to sit on railings.

Substitutes - Please do not contact our Substitutes directly

OES LS Uniform Policy - Friendly  Reminder

Catering Orders - must be ordered 5 - 10 Business days BEFORE the event

See - Ordering Catering

Monkey Bars and Green Rainbow

All School Calendar Summit to Be Rescheduled

Packing Boxes

Culling for our move to temporary spaces? Here’s Some Donation Ideas

Friendly Reminder About Toys Brought to School

Attendance input at 8:00

The Yellow Line and Safety

When to Use LS Division Only and All School

Recess Reminders

 

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.