Month: March 2019

Greetings Vacationers,
A big welcome back, and big hopes that you had an amazing time away. Today begins that beautiful time of year when Spring has sprung, and we begin dreaming of long, sun filled days… and off in the distance is the faint glow of summer. I am really looking forward to this last stretch of the year!

It’s April Fool’s Day, beware of the fools!

Lots going on in April, here are a few notes for this week…

1) Grade 4 is off to OMSI on the coast today and will be gone until Wednesday. Brad will be joining them, Karima will be here for him in the afternoons and covering PE.

2) Grade 2 is off to High Desert Museum today. Grade 2 also hosts Cafe Amity this week.

3) Tuesday is lottery day. Patti and I will be at the district office from 8am until about the time school starts. Letters will be sent out on Friday.

4) SIW this week will focus on the schedule for next year. Come with some fresh ideas about how we can create a great schedule with our new start time.

5) I will be off campus a few times this week:
*Monday afternoon starting around 3pm for an admin meeting
*Wednesday AM from 9:30-11am at Highland
*Thursday from 11am on at the job fair in Redmond

6) April 9 is Free Cone day at Bend and Jerry’s! Let’s plan on heading there that afternoon. We can coordinate times next week.

7) Please be sure you are scheduling Conversations for next week!

8) I know you are all wondering…no word from Gary yet about hiring. I’ll let you know as soon as I know, which I am hoping is early this week.

Upcoming:
April 1-3: Grade 4 at OMSI
April 2: Lottery
April 5: Lottery letters mailed
April 9: Free Cone Day!
April 10: SIW–prep for Conversations
April 12: Conversations
April15/16: Pastini Fundraiser
April 17: EBISS
April 17: District SIW
April 17: Staff Appreciation Breakfast hosted by district, 8am
April 24-26: Spring Clothing Exchange
May 1-3: Spring Book Fair

Here’s to a great week ahead!
Andy

Good Morning!
I hope you a great weekend. I spent mine recovering from this the bug I’ve been fighting for the last week or so and I am glad to be back at near full strength! Sometimes we forget to really value our health, but I am really appreciating mine right now!

In hopes that Spring is really coming, a Spring joke:
How excited was the landscaper about Spring? So excited he wet his plants.

A few notes to get us going:
1) Grade 3 hosts Cafe Amity this week

2) Dale is out this week, Deb is here to cover for him

3) Fire Dril this Thursday at 1:45pm

4) Please work with Patti to make sure you get your Conversations on-line sign up out this week. Parents have been notified that we will only be hosting Conversations on Friday, April 12.

5) SIW this week: We’ll have some time to catch up on things and set our agenda for the rest of the year.

6) Just in case you have friends that are applying or anyone is asking, the lottery application deadline is this Friday, March 22. The lottery is April 2, and letters will be sent out April 5. Deadline to accept is April 19. We have lots of applications this year!

7) Lost and Found: We have notified parents that all Lost and Found left at the end of the week will be donated. We’ll have items on display towards the end of the week.

8) Grade 4 will be headed to OMSI for 3 days immediately after break–April 1-3.

9) The Spring Equinox is this Wednesday, a cool event to share with the kids. Here are a few sites to get info:
http://www.primaryhomeworkhelp.co.uk/time/equinox.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kaG6PTVrFP4
https://easyscienceforkids.com/vernal-equinox-facts/

10 In an effort to conserve energy please make sure to turn off all power strips and appliances before leaving for break–and please take a moment to clean out things you have in the fridge.

Upcoming:
March 20: Spring Equinox
March 21: Fire Drill, 1:45pm
March 22: Lottery Deadline
March 23–March 30: Spring Break
April 1-3: Grade 4 to OMSI
April 1: Grade 2 to High Desert
April 2: Lottery
April 5: Lottery letters sent
April 10/11: School days
April 12: Conversations


Here’s to a great week before vacation!
Andy

Greetings!
I hope the weekend was good to you. It’s been a very busy few weeks and I am truly grateful for all the extra time, effort, and love you have shared on behalf of the kiddos! I’m looking forward to the next few weeks of settling back into some calmness (Amity style calm) before the break.

As we have been discussing math quite a bit lately I’m sharing a math joke to start us off:
Q: Why is beer never served at a math party? 
A: Because you can’t drink and derive. 

A few notes to get us going:
1) The Listening Sessions have been rescheduled for Tuesday of this week at 8am, 9:15am, and 5:30pm. If you can join one of the sessions (certified and classified) it would be great to have you there. If you can’t one of the sessions, the site council would still like your input. We’ll have a station set up on one of the hallway tables for the next week–there will be cards there to fill out. It’s anonymous and we’re hoping people will feel comfortable sharing their input–celebrations, concerns/questions, and ideas. The idea is to draw out input from as many community city members as possible.

2) Gearing up at lunch. If kids are going to be wearing snow gear out to lunch recess it would be extremely helpful if they could come to the cafeteria for lunch wearing their snow pants and boots so that after lunch all they need to do is grab their jackets and gloves. Your support of this will greatly increase kiddo time outside, and make it manageable for me and Mindy in the hallway helping get kids dressed. Thanks in advance!

3) Grade 4 hosts Cafe Amity this week.

4) I’ll be gone for most of the day on Thursday. In the AM Kille Hidlebrandt from Elk Meadow will be here visiting, and then later in the morning I’ll go to Elk Meadow for a visit. By noon we both have to be in Redmond for our workshop. Call or text if needed.

5) Stuart Little on Thursday starting at 2:15pm. Let’s shift things a little on that day and have afternoon Choice Time from 1:40-2:00 and then have kids return to your classes. You can remind them about the importance of being an awesome audience and then get them to the gym by 2:10, ready for a 2:15 start. Any reason this can’t work?

6) There is a Mountain Air fundraiser this Wednesday from 2-8pm. Please include in any communication you have with families before Wednesday.

7) SIW this week is district level

8) Everrett’s (Grade 1) dad, Andre, is interesting in supporting the creation of a mural for the wall ball wall (on one side). I’d like to solicit input from the kids on a theme so I will introduce the idea at Community Time this week. Over the next few weeks we’ll collect some themes, have a vote, and have kids submit some drawings related to the theme. I’ll share the drawings with Andre and he’ll be working with one of his employees to create a concept sketch for us to consider. Stay tuned.

Upcoming:
*March 12: Listening Sessions
*March 12: Scott celebrates a long time on this planet
*March 13: Mountain Air fundraiser
*March 14: Stuart Little, 2:15-3:15pm
*March 22: Lottery Deadline
*March 25-29: Spring Break

Here’s to a great week ahead!
Andy

Good Morning Amity Creek,
It’s show time this week and lots to do! Here’s a joke to make to start us off:
What’s the best way to kill a variety act? Go for the juggler.

FYI, Andrea was sick on Friday. Jim came in over the weekend to clean your rooms and the rest of the school. Please be sure to take a moment to express your appreciation.

A few notes to get us going:
1) Variety Show Thursday, doors open at 5:30, show at 6pm. We’ll need to get busy right after school to transport all props to Bend High.

2) Matt and Frans will need some extra time with skit groups this week so thank you in advance for being flexible when they request to work with certain students!

3) Dress rehearsal on Wednesday morning. At the moment I am assuming we will start right after Community Time. Please let me know if this is not the common assumption.

4) We’ll do Wheel of Talent on Friday AM at Community Time.

5) SIW this week: We’ve had to delay our wrapping up of Mathematical Mindsets for weeks now and I am looking forward to being able wrap it up this week–Chapters 8, 9, and have a look at the appendices. What will be our big take-a-ways and things we feel we can incorporate into our philosophy about teaching math?

6) It’s Woman’s History Month. I’m guessing we all feel somewhat the same in not wanting to confine this to one month of the year, but it is a good reminder to be sure you helping to deepen the understanding of the contributions of woman to the world at large, and highlighting sheroes near and far. It’s really about equity and how we are doing in terms of promoting equitable living! Obviously there are a ton of resources on line.

Two great, short videos:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hLr2GNRnmXM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G3Aweo-74kY

7) Lunch recess is going to have to be a mix of inside and outside. Classrooms 1/3/5 today.

8) The lottery tour that was missed last Tuesday has been rescheduled for this Tuesday.

9) Stuart Little comes to Amity next Thursday (March 14) courtesy of Summit High. The performance will be 2:15-3:15pm for all grades.


Upcoming:
March 7: Variety Show
March 13: District SIW
March 14: Stuart Little Performance
March 14: Andy off campus at workshop all day
March 25-29: Spring Break!

Here’s to a busy, but amazing week ahead!
Andy