WM 41, June 11-15

Weekly Memo WM 41, June 11-15, 2018

Best of luck with the final days of the 2017-18 school year, and then with report writing, packing, cleaning, sorting and tossing.  

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 

Thank you, Phillip for gathering our community together each week, reminding us how important it is to have a regular rhythm of gathering and reminders that we are part of something larger than ourselves.

Chris Thompson: Welcome back.

Admissions Video Shoot: They got a lot of good footage. I look forward to seeing what it becomes.

Hiring – With so many new teams next year, we will spend time next year getting to know one another and creating our faculty culture.

1st Grade - Anthony Villaseñor
2nd Grade – Kristen Zimmer

3rd Grade – Suzanne Lee

4th Grade - Adelaide Wainwright

5th Grade – Mariam Higgins

Students not Returning Next Year

The following student are not returning next year. This information is confidential, and seems important for you to have as you prepare to write reports.

Sullivan Pajor

Michelle Ji

Eleanor Wenrick

Rowan Chandler

Alexander Ji

Teal Chandler

Corbin Hartman

Elisabeth Dellit

Holden Pajor

Sana Shah

Boone Snyder

Moving into Coffees

Thank you to all who participated. We ended on a high note with the 4^th graders doing the majority of the presenting on the seasons of 4^th grade learning.  The coffee slide shows have been shared in the LS Express so any parents who missed the presentation can review the slides.

4th Grade Hamilton – 6/6 – 6/8

Thank you to the 4^th graders who put a lot of time and effort into preparing such great entertainment for us.

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.

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.

PROGRAM

Last Day of School Schedule and Promotion Ceremony Class Seat Assignment

Last Day of School Schedule

Promotion Ceremony Class Seat Assignment

Faculty Meetings

Wednesday, June 13, 12:00 - 3:00 - Closing/ Reflection meeting in EC3

We will have a special lunch, take time for appreciations and extend our thanks to those who are leaving at the end of the year. By meeting on Wednesday, we free up all of Thursday and Friday for you to focus on reports.

Thursday, 6/14 - Report writing

Friday, 6/15 - Report writing

Monday, 6/18 - Report Proofing, load into PCR

Tuesday, 6/19 - LS Faculty Meeting, 9:00 – 3:00

Wednesday, 6/20

PCR closes for the year at 8:00am

AS School Closing Meeting and Lunch – 11:00 – 2:00

Report Proofing Plan

PCR locks at 9 am on Wed. 6/20, so please make sure your reports have been submitted and double checked to make sure each child has the correct information.

• Grade Level Classroom Teachers - proof each others
• Primary - Shelley proofs Chris O's
• Art - Chris proofs Margaret’s grades 3-5, Kirstin proofs Laura’s and Margaret grades 1-2
• Music - Kristen and Amy proof each others
• PE - Proof each others
• Spanish - Kelola proofs Alfredo’s. Chris proofs Kelola's.
• Science - David proofs Jane’s
• PreK, K, P, you will email your reports to parents between 4-5 pm on Friday 6/22.  

Assistant Teacher Schedule for Last Days    

 June 13:  1/2 day with students and 1/2 EOY appreciation meeting in the afternoon

June 14 & 15 OR 18-19 (discuss days with your supervising teacher and notify the office about which days you'll attend) – 2 full days dedicated to classroom packing and organization:

1.0 FTE - 8 hours per day

.75 FTE – 6 hours per day

June 20 – Closing Chapel and employee lunch is optional, if you choose to attend you are paid 3 extra hours.

Published Articles

The latest issue of Innovations, the quarterly periodical of the North American Reggio Emilia Alliance, has reflections by our own Kimie Fukuda and parent Nan Hansen on their thinking around the Seattle NAREA conference. You can read Kimie and Nan's pieces here.  

Sending summer recommendations to families?

Consider suggestions for how they can enhance and practice executive functioning in their children! The Center on the Developing Child at Harvard has developed a guide for children from infancy to adolescence--you can download the whole thing or just the page/s for your age level.

Ellin Keene, author of Mosaic of Thought, has a new book about how to help kids find genuine engagement and her teacher-research question Can we teach engagement? Interested? Heinemann has a 23 min. podcast interview with Ellin about engagement and the book. 

5th Grade Book Love Projects – 6/6

Thank you, Lara for providing our 5^th graders with this way to share their love of reading.

Field Days

Thank you, Jessica, Scott and Stephanie for all your extra efforts to help our students celebrate fitness and movement during field days. I know you are already discussing how to make it even better next year.

Library News

The LS Library will be open on June, 11, 12, and the morning of the 13th for parents and faculty to come in and stock up for summer reading.  Materials can then be returned at the start of the school year.  

Please return any library books in your classroom which you are no longer using 

Lara will be happy to print out or email a list of books on your classroom or personal account.

Share this link with book recommendations and details about summer reading in your parent communication

Summer Stipends

Stipends have been announced. Before you leave be sure you put your stipend dates on the faculty calendar. Chris, Kirstin and I would like to join you for part of the time if we are available. In addition, we will be offering a suggested stipend agendas for new teams in the last WM.

People of Color Conference Applications

The theme: Equitable Schools and Inclusive Communities: Harmony, Discord, and the Notes in Between, will be held in Nashville, Tennessee 11/28th to 12/1.   Prior to the conference attendees are expected to attend two to three pre-meetings.  Post the conference attendees are expected to attend two post-conference meetings and facilitate an unconference session about a topic of their choice from PoCC.  If you wish to apply, please complete this application. Applications are due by 5:00 p.m. on June 15, 2018.

Class Placement

Class placement is done for now. We will revisit in August if enrollment changes happen during the summer.

Placement Requests

If parents have a placement request, please direct them to David to schedule an appointment.

OPERATIONS

END of YEAR meetings MEAL plan – please pay attention to the breakfast order*

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 13 – Appreciation and Farewell Meeting

12:00 pm – Lunch provided by Raul’s Restaurant – Upper Fariss Hall

Note: Bon Appetit is not including the LS Employees in the lunch budget for June 13.

Thursday, June 14 – Monday, June 18, regular lunch

TUESDAY, JUNE 19th – end of year meeting and Facilities/Tech Appreciation Day

*7:00 am – place your EOY Hot Breakfast Order . Orders are due Tuesday, June 12.

12:00 pm – regular Bon Appetit lunch in the Dining Hall

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 20 – All School Closing Meeting

12:30 pm - Lunch provided by Bon Appetit (see Sage’s email for more details)

Ready for Summer Checklist

Below is the list for preparing your classroom for summer. Anyone who is leaving Lower School or changing classrooms has additional responsibilities.

End of Year Room Expectations

If you’re leaving you get a checklist from Tammy and prepare your room

·      Remove personal items

·      Cull and organize files and cupboards

·      Clean out teacher desk

·      Organize curriculum materials

·      Complete work orders for any maintenance needs

·      Check out with Chris, Kirstin or David by end of June

Everyone - Summer Programs may use any space as needed

·      Student assessment files to Ari’s Office

·      Reports to PCR (1-5) OR print copy to LS Office and email home on designated date (PreK-Pri)

·      Update SST files as needed

·      Remove all work from walls, windows, surfaces

·      Store all materials in cupboards or mud rooms unless they can be used by Summer Program

·      Take home or use locking cupboard for personal items

·      Make a plan for your plants

·      Remove all open snacks your room. Do not put in the LS Office or Teaching Kitchen

·      Unplug all electrical appliances

·      Clean, unplug and prop open refrigerators

·      Check with custodial or maintenance about any unique storage or disposal needs

·      Complete maintenance requests

·      Manage your own donations (check with Kelola about Woodburn or donate to Goodwill)

·      Make sure emergency clipboard, flip chart and posters are visible near your entry

·      Make sure your storage area in the large store room is in good order, labeled with your classroom name on your shelves. Untidy or unlabeled items or items on the floor may be eliminated.

·      Submit summer stipend dates to Lyn.

Last Day to turn in Reimbursement Request – June 11

Summer Use of Space Plan

Here is Kati's space use plan for the summer. Know that other spaces may be used as needed and as new programs are developed.

2018-19 Orders

Look for an email from Kathy Finn-Brennan with directions for setting up your orders for next year.

Young Alumni Party in LS on 6/22

The Young Alumni reunion will be happening in the LS Friday evening, June 22. While the party will be in the Performance Commons and Dining Commons the building will be open for all to explore. Please tidy up common spaces and classrooms before then

Safety on the Playground...

...the list is growing. Please help support these guidelines when you're on duty!

• 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?
• Monitor the energy of the tag games on the new playground boulders. We had a slip, fall and head scrape Friday.
• Swings: please play safely with swings at the approved height, swinging back/forth, one child per swing, facing in the same direction so others can navigate around the swings. 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.