LS Weekly Memo
LS Weekly Memo Week 28, 7 - 11, 2016
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Thank you for your participation during Rosetta Lee’s visit. I was sorry I did not completely clear my schedule so I could attend all the sessions. The Team Leaders, LS Diversity group and I will be discussing next steps forwards. I feel greater responsibility and urgency to continue the work based on the research of how important the elementary school years are in our students formation of identity, stereotypes and empathy.
Congratulations to Laura Foster Flynn on the opening of her work at Gallery 114. I understand a rove band of LS teachers went to the opening and enjoyed 1st Thursday.
I hope some of you were able to see “Charlie’s Aunt”, the Upper School play this weekend. It was riotously funny with a small and skilled cast including Harper Hale and Ella Menashe, former Lower School students.
Congratulations to Stephanie Rankin for coordinating the first ever World Sports Stacking Northwest Regional Stacking Tournament on the OES campus. She had over 80 stackers and at least as many supporting parents.
CONSTRUCTION UPDATES
- One day the covered play space will be open and we will all be surprised and thankful.
- Tours of the building are happening this week. To make each tour a manageable size we will offer tours by floor group. Those without a designated space in the new building will be welcome to join a tour. Sign Up Below.
- Part of the point of the tours will be to get our heads around furniture. We will need to come up with a prioritized furniture list - need, wish, dream. Jon has an inventory of current furniture, both in use and in storage.
- The building continues to be on budget with an end of July projected completion date. Everyone will need to plan on having their rooms packed up before they leave for the summer. We are planning on making the week of August 22nd the official move in week with the LS Cafe open each morning. We will let you know as soon as moving in is a possibility.
COMMUNITY
Tours of the New Lower School Building
Click on the link to sign up or check to see that you are already signed up with a floor group. Groups will need to be small. If you don’t see your name, find a place that works for you.
Assistant Head Search Process
First I want to thank all six candidates who expressed interest in the position and shared their ideas for how to best move the Lower School forward. The Search Committee and I learned a lot from each of them. In the end we came to the unanimous decision to have three candidates continue as finalists:
Kirstin McAuley - Beginning Years Assistant Head
Chris Thompson - Beginning Years Assistant Head or Intermediate Years Assistant Head
Alysa Williams - Intermediate Years Assistant Head
Each finalist will have a day this week meeting with the school representatives indicated below. The Search Committee and I will meet on Friday to review feedback. The search committee will make a recommendation to me.
- Associate Head of School interview
- Head of LS interview
- Search committee (5 faculty to be selected based on who is applying)
interview, scenarios
- SST interview
- Team Leaders interview
- LS Administrative Assistant interview
Rosetta Lee - Inclusivity in the Younger Years
Thanks for your participation with Rosetta Lee. I am inspired by the conversations we had and the knowledge Rosetta had to share. Here are the links to her presentations:
Faculty Session
Parent and Guardian Session
TedX Portland
One aspect of intercultural competence is seeking experiences that expose you to cultures that are not your own. This year's TEDxPortland offers a few explorations:
- poverty's impact on women (Nadya from Catlin will talk about the Organization Camions of Care)
How to Raise an Adult - Author Julie Lythcott-Haims Speaks on Campus
Monday, April 18th at 7:00 pm in the Chapel
PCL is bringing author to campus.
This was in the New York Times this past week...another point of view!
Auction Volunteers
The Auction (Aardy Goes to Hollywood: Lights, Camera, Auction!) is coming up on March 12th. Please take a few minutes to see if you are able to give some time to the event by checking VolunteerSpot: https://www.volunteerspot.com/login/entry/287939724066.
Admissions
Letter go out Tuesday. Thanks for all of your hard work, time and talents. Admissions is truly everyone’s work and you made it happen.
4th and 5th grade Students
Please remind the 4/5 students not to congregate by the handicap parking space in front of the Scott House OR anywhere near the Scott House before 7:50 am:
· 7:49 am – the place for the students to wait is in the covered walkway
· Before 7:49 am – everyone must go to ACP or the library and join their peers
SST Site
- You have access. See Ari if you have difficulty accessing the site.
- The information is sensitive. Use professional discretion.
- Your feedback about the site would be greatly appreciated.
Students of Concern
- HB - K- CB
- Has difficulty keeping up with the flow of things, can be disruptive. Let Carole and Chris know if he is having difficulties. We want to be consistent in our support.
- OB-K-CB
- Mourning the loss of her father, hasn’t wanted to be at school, has strayed away from the class, needs to be shadowed
- Giving her lots of love and support
- She is doing much better. Had a shortened day, but is now trying two full days, Tuesday and Thursday. We are exploring the possibility of adding a third full day.
- Please keep Carole and Chris in the loop if challenging behavior arises again
- NEW! First Grade Boys Sports- Read if you supervise the field at lunch recess for 1st and 2nd Grade
- First Grade boys are having heated arguments about soccer and football. One person on the field at lunch recess should oversee their games
- Try to be alert, and help problem solve before things escalate
New addition, please be sure to read if you teach or supervise Second Grade- Photos of these children to come out in an email on Monday
- JB and JP- 2G
- JB has been physically aggressive (kick, hit) with JP, threats of retaliation are a concern
- JP usually plays on ACP, JB usually plays on the field. Would one person be a designated shadow to keep an eye on each boy? We want to give them lots of support and be proactive whenever possible.
- The boys had a good week, the plan will stay in place for another week, then modify and eventually remove the structure
- Please let Tonya or Chris know immediately if there are any issues reported to you
- For the foreseeable future these two are to give each other space throughout the school day
- SG - 2 JB
- Let Jackie or Chris know if he is having difficulty in your class
- If he gets stuck and disrupts the class, let Chris know- call the office
- Specialists, we value your input and appreciate your feedback. Please input any rating and observations at the end of each day into the weekly googledoc. In addition to the daily communication with his family this document is also sent daily to Sam's outside support team. They appreciate the specific examples we provide and work through them with him (accomplishments and challenges). Thank you.
- Fourth Grade World Cup Soccer Games
- Track and Field Duty People, please continue to keep a close eye on these games. They made a plan:
- Gather at the beginning to organize teams. They will divide into two mixed ability groups with one soccer goal OR play one large game of soccer using two goals
- Teachers out on the field, please continue to monitor this situation. Last week I had to remind them of their agreements.
- SS and LB- 5 TA
- L and S have had challenges of late. Please keep an eye on them and let Tina know if you experience L saying or doing any unkind things- as well, if S is doing anything to annoy L.
Major Rules - If a student violates a major rule, Chris and David need to know and need to be part of the determination of consequences and reparations.
- Verbal abuse, physical abuse, bullying, or inappropriate physical touch.
- Lying, deceit, or other dishonest conduct
- Destruction of property belonging to the School, its personnel or another student
- Stealing
- Inappropriate language
- Possession or use of weapons or any object that is used in a threatening manner
Moving Into Spring Coffees
Yes, it is that time again. We’ve had to make some changes due to overnight trips. I’ll get a Google doc out to you next week’s WM confirming all of the dates. Look for planning meeting invitations when we return in April.
PROGRAM
Send DRA AND Fountas Pinnell Reading Assessment Data to Lyn
Please take a few minutes next week to gather and send your mid-year reading assessments to Lyn. We’d like to review the data and make plans to support students before spring break.
Please send this data before 3/11.
Scope and Sequence Work
We had hoped that the pertinent information from your three UbDs would be transferred to the scope and sequence document by the end of February. Please be sure to get this task done in the coming week. Department Chairs will meet soon to look at these Pre-K-12 scope and sequence docs.
Lunch and Learn 3/17 - 11:00 - 11:45
We will be offering a chance to learn about Webpath Express, easily creating citation lists and how our Destiny Library System can help in your work with student research on Monday, March 14th during Lunch (11:00 until 11:45) in the Lower School Library.
Your Recyclables (i.e. Instrument Parts) Needed!
Kristen is starting a few instrument-building projects in Kindergarten music next week, and she needs your help. Below is a list of items the Kindergarten classes think they will need. If you have any of these items around your house, please bring them in next week. Monday (Feb. 29) is preferred, since project planning and drafting begins on Monday, but we will accept items all week. You can leave items in the bin marked "Instrument Parts" in the Beginning School hallway, stash it in the Music Room (Scott House Room 22), or let me know and I will come by to pick them up from your classroom. Thank you for your help! Kristen and the Kindergarten students
Needed: Tin cans, Plastic lids, Small beads, Small wood rounds, Dowels, Small boxes (like jewelry boxes), Medium boxes (about the size of a small shoe box), Toilet paper tubes, Paper towel tubes, Plastic bottles with lids, Small containers (like yogurt containers) with lids, Milk jugs, Small metal objects—bottle caps, etc., Styrofoam, Plastic tubes, Or send anything else you think might make a cool sound component!
Chaperones
We have a chaperone plan. Trip leaders will be reaching out to you to confirm availability. We are going to need more help than usual as we have some overlapping trips.
Monday, 3/7 - NO AS Faculty Meeting
Diversity Gathering: Anti-Bias Framework/ Rosetta Debrief
Thursday, 3/10 - No Divisional Meeting
Make Learning Visible: Inquiry and the OES Essential Competencies
OPERATIONS
Important Safety Issue: Visitors Must Have Visitor Badges or Stickers to Enter the Building
All visitors must sign in and get a visitor badge or sticker (we use them when we run out of key cards).
If you see someone at the door wearing a visitor badge you may let them in. Otherwise, politely say “I’m sorry. You need a visitor’s badge or sticker to enter the building.” David plans to put a friendly reminder in the Wednesday Express.
Assistant Teacher Substitutes
After hiring a great pool of Assistant Teacher subs this fall, we lost most of them in recent weeks for various reasons. Tammy posted the opening in numerous places, but I haven’t gotten a single response. This is a hard time to be hiring subs. Please know that we are in a pinch, and we will need everyone to be flexible.
Pet Peeve - Dirty Dishes Left Around
Do not leave your dirty dishes for Shirley to pick up. Please return your dishes to the the dining hall each day. The Dining Hall is open from 10:45 - 1:15 every day. In addition, there is a tub outside the dining hall after hours for the collection of dirty dishes.
Duty Changes Coming
I will need to revise the duty schedules in the coming weeks (Meredith co-teaching with a long-term sub, addition of the new covered area, etc). Look for more info on these changes.
Emergency Drill Substitutes
In the future these people will be the designated helpers if David and Chris are unavailable.
· Scott Corris – in charge of public announcements and dismissal
· Class attendance – Lyn and Tracy
· Faculty & Staff attendance – Ari and Miriam
· Debra Thomas stays with Donna (Schilling’s class)
Friendly Reminder About Calendar Updates
Please remember to get your important dates on the Faculty Google Calendar, and where appropriate, Anne’s All School Calendar when parents need to be notified.
Believe it or not, while there are more than 3.5 months left in the school year, the calendar is filling up quickly with special events.
Before you go on Spring Break, be sure to get your culminating events on the calendar(s). I will create a Google doc that lists all of these important end-of-the-year events.
We hope this type of calendar will help us all make good choices as to when we want to host a culminating event (for families, buddies and other classes), and help plan which culminating events you hope to attend with your classes.
Change in Lunch Routine
Kelly needs at least 72 hours notice if you need to change lunch plans (not eat in the dining hall, need sack lunches, etc)
Take Care of Your Cheese
Rainy Mud Season at Aardvark Community Park- A few things to keep in mind
- Designated Excavation Area
- Children Must Have Some Type of Footwear on At All Times
- Excavation Tools Cleaned Up at the End of Recess
Emergency Closure Communication
Phone tree - we are no longer using the phone tree. We are relying on Instant Alert.
If you encountered any issues with your Instant Alert notifications, contact Rebecca Williams.
Students on Covered Walkway and Loop Road Pick Up by 2:55
Thanks for the extra effort. It makes a difference.
Friendly Reminder About Sub Requests
Miriam continues to get requests late at night. Please do not text Miriam after 7pm. Contact her:
Evening: Sunday through Thursday 5:00-7:00pm
Morning: Monday through Friday 6-6:15am
Parent Volunteers Must Sign In at the LS Office When They Volunteer
Please remind parents in your next communication about the importance of signing in at the office. This is critical for two reasons:
•For security, our community expects visitors to wear visitor badges (BS lunch helpers will wear an OES sticker)
•In the event of an emergency- fire, earthquake, lockdown, we need to know who was in the building.
Please don’t let parents in the building without a pass. Remind them politely that they need to check in at the office.
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.
