Finish Strong
Thanks Doug for reminding us all during All School Meeting that while we have a few weeks of school left we don't want to ease up - we want to finish strong!
And how perfect - Alex Frary said it best in his Adventure Education reflection in his portfolio. Don't you love how he stepped out of the normal reflection format and was creative with the way he expresses his learning! Notice how he uses font to give his reflection voice.
(if you click on the poem it will get larger)
Voyage Reflection
6th Grade
We are currently living in one phase of our work and working hard daily for a strong finish. In addition,we are also looking forward and putting structures and plans together so we can have a strong start to a new school year when we return from a rejuvenating summer break.
One of those structures is the formation of a new
Leadership Team. Noreene, Elisha, Jill, Pam and Julie will remain on the team for continuity. Hanni, Brittany, Kenny and Neil join the team. Each of these team members represents unique perspectives of our staff. We have representation for primary and intermediate levels; Discovery; Integrated Arts; Classified staff; and new teachers. These folks will also be our representation on district level committees. Information will be shared from the district level and it will be the role of these team players to make decisions about what initiatives fit our needs and how we will make plans for implementation. When you have concerns, ideas, suggestions, and input please seek out one of these folks to share your thinking so they can bring your thinking to the team.
The Leadership Team met for the first time Wednesday afternoon. Our agenda included:
* End of year plans
* Technology order
* Financial needs for the 13-14 school year
* Plans for the first days of school
* Enhancements to ASM and incorporating Service Learning into our Wednesday structure
Renaissance Educational Alliance (REA) is also undergoing some changes. There is new leadership on this team as well. Krista Zizzo has embraced the role of president, with Amy Stuart as Vice-President, Carrie Hinton as secretary, and Brian Barr remains on the board as treasurer. We've had a few meetings to develop a stronger structure and have some improvements underway. We have several more meetings planned so that we have a stronger start to the new school year.
Included in REA will be the addition of a marketing group. The marketing group will have several areas of focus. The outcome of this group is to promote our school. In addition, to be able to take the work we already do and see if there are some nationally recognized awards that we could receive for our work. Ryan Stuart is chairing this committee.
Would any of you like to take an active role in this group? If so, come visit with me and I can tell you more about the vision of this group. When it comes to marketing our school it will be essential to have some knowledgeable staff people involved. I'm sure it's easy to conclude why this is important.
Our
School Accountability Committee (SAC) has voted and has a few new voting members as others rolled off their term. Kerry Trietley remains the SAC President, Keith Harman is VP, Amy Stuart is new to the board and will be secretary, Jan McDonald is our community rep, and Krista Zizzo is REA rep. MarySue has served as our teacher representative and
we need a teacher representative to replace her. Please let me know (soon) if you are interested in serving on SAC. You would be making the commitment to attend four meetings (Sept. 10, Nov. 12, Feb. 11, April 15) from 5:30 until 7ish. Your role would be the voice of our teaching staff and a voting member on this board that serves as an advisory board to the principal.
We are making a shift in how we will collect all that
paperwork for Voyages. Julie will be preparing the packets of paperwork that parents need to complete for students to attend Voyages and giving them to you. They need to go home with students.
Here is what looks different:
* Students/parents will return them to the front office -
not to you.
* This paperwork is due BEFORE the end of school. If it is not returned, we will hold report cards. (We'll need your help communicating this important message to families)
* We will let you know which report cards need to be held back.
* Did you notice this is actually easier for you?
* We need to make this shift because we simply do not have adequate time at the beginning of the year to manage this huge task.
Enhancements to All School Meeting is a bit too complex to clearly describe here. But the gist is to consider how we might mix the kids up (matching with an older buddy) at All School Meeting and to add a structure of a service component, that follows ASM each time, where students will be assigned to a service group for 30 to 45 minutes. Small groups of multi-age students would have service projects throughout the school during that time, and each group would have an adult facilitator. Everyone - students and staff will all be involved in service of our school at that time. Some service projects would last longer than others. Again - a complex idea that's tough to really explain here. The purpose of bringing it up is to see if any of you are
interested in working on a task group to put the details and plans together for next year along with me. We wouldn't implement this immediately when school starts up (whew).
I'm thinking the task group would meet for the first time on Monday afternoon, July 29th, and there would be a stipend of $50 for that half day. Let me know if you get excited by this idea and would like to be apart of the development of the plan. :)
So what do the last days of school look like for teachers?
* Wednesday afternoon we will gather together in the library at 2:30 to honor those staff members who won't be with us next year. I'll be emailing you the details.
* Thursday morning we will gather in the library for a few minutes so I can give an information update on new hires, etc. then we will undertake assisting folks in moving classrooms, moving out and moving in! The rest of the day will be yours for cleaning up and checking out.
Fish - Do any of you have a passion for fish so that MarySue can hand over this responsibility as she leaves us? (This is a potential service job but would need an adult lead...)
Of course there's more to share....there's always more! However - enough for now!
Calendar
May 27th - 31st:
Monday:
* No School
Tuesday:
* RTI to review student assignments
* Lost Coffee for staff 7:45 a.m.
Wednesday:
* Page to Stage 9:00 - 10:00 a.m.
* 6th Grade Portfolio Showcase Presentations 1:30 p.m.
June 3 - 7th:
Tuesday:
*No RTI
* Sixth Grade Closing Ceremony 6:30 p.m.
Wednesday: Last Day of School for students
* All School Drum Circle led by 6th grade
* Kona Ice - see schedule
* Report Cards go home with students (hold report cards in office for those students who are on the list who have outstanding fees)
* Drums do not go home
Report Cards:
A reminder that you need to make TWO copies of both your report and IA report. One copy goes home to parents and one copy needs to be filed in their cum file.
Only on the copy being sent home, will you need to hand write the teacher assignment for next year.
Peek Into Classrooms
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| Kindies prepare to leave for Camp Elim |
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| Parents everywhere...who was experiencing the challenge? |
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| Gear everywhere |
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Look what is on the gear list!
(That's a stuffed cow) |
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| On the bus - Doug was driving |
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| On the bus - Julie was driving |
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| All School Meeting drummers |
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Providing the little extra for a student who needs it so much.
This is Madeline Frary in the lap of MaryBeth.
I use a quote from Maddie, that I stole from her brother's portfolio,
at the close of this weeks blog post. |
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| Amazing how the kids remembered all the wellness challenges! |
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Ga-Ga Ball pit - exciting service learning addition to our
Outdoor Learning Environment
Enjoy your Memorial Day Weekend!!
Deborah
"Your Crew is like your daytime family"
Madeline Frary
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