Month: April 2022

Greetings Team,
I hope you had an amazing weekend, especially on Sunday–what a beautiful day! My weekend was a combination of a little play, lots of yard work, and a bit of rest (still not feeling 100%!). It’s May, which means we have 7 weeks of school left!

A few notes to get you going:
1) It’s an exciting day for Grade 5-they’re headed to Camp Tamarack! They’ll be gone from about 9:30am until 7:30pm.

2) Grade 3-5 Pickle ball tournament starts today during afternoon Choice Time.

3) Artist in Residence brainstorming session on Tuesday at 2:45. As we begin envisioning what next year looks like, and with neither Korey or Nathan returning, I’m hoping we can come together and brainstorm a bit about what the program can look like. All are welcome to join the discussion! This is not mandatory but I hope you will consider joining. Staff room.

While we are on the subject of art, our last art sessions for the year will be Wednesday and Friday, May 25 and 27. Please be sure to get this in your calendars.

4) SIW this week is Teacher Prep time, but I would appreciate 15 minutes of your time starting at 1:30. We can meet in the staff room. Much appreciated!

5) We could use your help getting kids ready for lunch recess. We have a lot of traffic in the hallway at lunch recess and it’s for two main reasons (other than using the bathroom)-students forgot to take their jacket with them or they want their stuffed animals. Before leaving the classroom for lunch please be sure kids have:
*Jackets/sweatshirts
*Stuffed animals if they plan to play with them at lunch

It would also be helpful to remind students that the only reason to be inside at lunch recess is to use the bathroom or get medical help. Thanks for your support with this!

6) As you have already heard, visitors are now allowed in the building. I think the biggest upside to this at this point in the year is we can invite parents of students whose class is hosting Community Time. We’ll start this week by inviting Grade 3 families.

In order to accommodate families attending CT we will move it to the end of the day (2:00-2:25pm) on Fridays. We are also moving Invitations to Thursdays at 1:45pm. Thanks for your input on this! Please be sure to add your invitation for this week here

Lastly on this subject, I’d like to consider adding a few more Community Times for grades that have already hosted but did not have the opportunity to include families. This includes Kinder, Grade 1, and Grade 5. Tentatively (until I confirm with everyone) Kinder will be May 20 and Grade 1 will be May 27. I’ll work with Ray to figure out the best day for Grade 5 to host–Grade 5 has lots of end of year stuff going on!

7) End of year observations need to get done! For those on the formal observation cycle (Sadie, Brian, Lauren, Haley, Sara, Brad) I’ll be reaching out with more detailed info. For the others it will be a mini-observation some time in the next two weeks.

8) Open House is next Wednesday, May 11 from 5-7pm. I have shared a link with families so that they can pre-order pizza, and Grade 4 will be having a bake sale to raise funds for Ukrainian refugees. A few of you have already shared what you’re planning to do in your classroom and I’d love to hear from the rest of you about your plans for the evening! I am super excited for the event!

Upcoming
May 3: Artist in residence brainstorm session, 2:45-3:30pm. Staff room.
May 4: Brief staff meeting at 1:30pm. Staff room.
May 6: Grade 3 hosts CT
May 11: Open House! 5-7pm
May 12: DIBELS
May 13: Grade 4 hosts CT
May 20: Kinder hosts CT (tentative)
May 27: Grade 1 hosts CT (tentative)
May 25: Extended SIW, 1:30-5:30pm
June 3: Camp Amity, reaching out to parents for support!
June 7: Family BBQ, 5-7pm (tentative still waiting for approval)
June 15: Graduation–details to emerge in the coming weeks

Here’s to a great week ahead!
Andy

Greetings All!
I hope the weekend was good to you. I spent the weekend in Corvallis celebrating my daughter Arielle’s birthday and having some quality time with the youngest grand kiddo Aurelia. So much fun!

I wanted to thank you all for being so receptive to my sharing of the Bulletin article last week and for the way so many of you responded and took action. Your response really validated the sense of community that we try to build here every day, and the need for continuing our work with equity and diversity. Thank you for being so open-hearted and caring, and for having the courage to have challenging conversations with your students!

A few notes for the week:
1) New PE schedule starts this week! Here’s the new schedule starting this week:

Monday
12:00-12:45 Grade 1 PE

Tuesday
10-10:45 Kinder PE 
12:00-12:45 Grade 4 PE

Wednesday
No change

Thursday
10-10:45 Grade 3 PE
12:00-12:45 Grade 2 PE

Friday
10:30-11:00 Grade 5 PE

2) SIW this week is school based. We’ll meet in Ray’s room at 1:30pm.

Future SIW time for the rest of the year:
May 4-Teacher Prep
May 11-School based
May 18-Teacher prep
May 25-School based (See note below about this date)
June 1-School based
June 8-Teacher prep

I would like to use our May 25 SIW to do some future planning for next year and I’m hoping you are all willing to make this an extended meeting–until 5:30pm–so we can really sink our teeth into some important aspects of moving forward. Please let me know soon if you are not able to be available until 5:30 on this date. Thanks, I really look forward to having time to dream, brainstorm, share ideas, and work towards creating the future that we all want.

3) Artist in residence brainstorming session–May 3. Korey will not be returning next year so at this moment we are a blank slate in terms of what our Artist in residence program looks like going forward. You are al invited to a brainstorming and idea sharing session on May 3 from 2:45-3:30pm. This will give us an opportunity to envision what our art (visual, performing, music, etc) could look like!

4) Open House is May 11 from 5-7 pm. Our intention is create an opportunity for parents and students to all be together on campus, tour the building, see what’s been going on in class, and connect with other families. Imagine–families all coming together at Amity for the first time! Based on our conversation at the staff meeting last week there was a shared sense that giving our students a little structure as to how they can share the space with their parents would be helpful. Ideas: scavenger hunt, a menu of activities, sharing a project and/or piece of writing, playing a game. We’ll also want to give some thought to freshening up the hallway and cleaning up classrooms as we get closer to the day.

5) Grade 5 hosts Community Time this week. We’ll have Invitations after CT. Here’s the link to sign up: Invitations

6) Last week I shared the Child Abuse Prevention teaching materials with all of you. Please let me know if you need a thought partner in working through how you will bring this to your class. Also, please share with me when you plan to start–I’d like to get a later out to parents before any of you start. Thanks!

7) Bread & Jam and After School Recess continue this week.

8) I have an admin meeting today (Monday) so I’ll be headed out around 2:45pm.

Upcoming
April 29: Grade 5 hosts CT, then Invitations
May 2: Grade 5 to Camp Tamarack!
May 3: Artist in residence brainstorm session, 2:45-3:30pm
May 6: Grade 3 hosts CT, then Invitations
May 11: Open House! 5-7pm
May 12: DIBELS
May 13: Grade 4 hosts CT, then Invitations
May 25: Extended SIW, 1:30-5:30pm
June 6 or 7: Camp Amity (very tentative, unlikely at this point)
June 14: Family BBQ, 5-7pm (tentative still waiting for approval)
June 15: Graduation–details to emerge in the coming weeks

Here’s to a great week ahead!
Andy

Hello All!
I hope Conversations went well last week and that you had a great 3 day weekend! I had a fantastic time in San Diego and it was great to spend some time with two of my oldest buddies.

A few notes for the week:
1) Please be sure to reach out to any family that may have missed their Conversation last week and see about rescheduling. It’s super important that we connect with each family!

2) We had planned to start the new PE schedule this week but we need to wait until next week as Brad will be out a few days this week. We will hopefully have a sub for the days he is gone (Thursday/Friday)–stay tuned.

Here’s the new schedule starting next week–this is just PE and does not impact Health and Well-being. This is giving everyone a little more prep time now that music is over.

Monday
12:00-12:45 Grade 1 PE

Tuesday
10-10:45 Kinder PE 
12:00-12:45 Grade 4 PE

Wednesday
No change

Thursday
10-10:45 Grade 3 PE
12:00-12:45 Grade 2 PE

Friday
10:30-11:00 Grade 5 PE

3) Staff Meeting on Tuesday at 2:45pm. Ray’s room.

4) SIW this week is Teacher prep–enjoy the time.

5) We’ll host After School Recess on Friday, 2:30-3pm. Bread and Jam begins!

6) Running Club returns this week! Amanda Olson will be here on Thursday afternoon to visit with each class and let then know about Running Club and then the running begins on Friday at AM recess!

7) Earth Day is this Friday! Any plans? Please share!

8) Grade 1 hosts Community Time this week. We’ll have Invitations after CT. Here’s the link to sign up: Invitations

9) May 11 will be our Open House. We’ll talk soon about what this will look like.

Upcoming
April 19: Staff Meeting, 2:45pm. Ray’s room.
April 19: Bend Science Station here with Grade 5
April 22: Earth Day
April 22: Grade 1 hosts CT, then Invitations
April 29: Grade 5 hosts CT, then Invitations
May 2: Grade 5 to Camp Tamarack!
May 6: Grade 3 hosts CT, then Invitations
May 11: Open House! 5-7pm
May 13: Grade 4 hosts CT, then Invitations
June 6 or 7: Camp Amity (very tentative, unlikely at this point)
June 14: Family BBQ, 5-7pm (tentative still waiting for approval)
June 15: Graduation–details to emerge in the coming weeks

Here’s to a great week ahead!
Andy

Greetings Team,

First, a big thanks for all the birthday love on Friday-it was a great way to kick off a fantastic birthday weekend! It was also chef Wendy’s bday this weekend- stop by and wish her a happy bday when you can.

It’s a short teaching week this week, and Conversations!

Mind blowing facts for the week:
*All the names of the continents end with the same letter they start with
*If a statue of a person in the park on a horse has both front legs in the air, the person died in battle. If the horse has one front leg in the air, the person died as a result of wounds received in battle. If the horse has all four legs on the ground, the person died of natural causes.

A few notes for this short week:
1) We have our MAC survey today (Monday). You will (or did) receive an email with all the info you need. Please take a few minutes at the end of the day to complete the survey.

2) I’m off to the fairgrounds to help with interviews at the job fair today (Monday) and will be leaving school around noon. Call or text if you need anything!

3) The kids are enjoying having the mobile water fountain on the playground and it’s greatly reducing the traffic coming in and out of the building. Please take a moment to talk with your class about the following:
*The water is for drinking only, not playing
*Encourage them to conserve water by holding it on only when they are drinking. We’ve had kiddos chatting with their friends and holding it on.
*Let the kids know that emptying the buckets is for the adults only (or kids emptying with adult supervision if you are inclined).

4) Looking ahead, we’ll have a Staff Meeting on Tuesday, April 19 at 2:45. That Wednesday is a Teacher Prep SIW, and we’ll have our next team SIW on April 27.

5) Earth day is coming up April 22. Are you planning anything? I’d love to hear your ideas and it would be great to share with each other!

6) I’ll be at school Wednesday morning but will leave around lunch time and will be off on Thursday as well. Again, call or text if you need anything.

Upcoming
April 13/14: Conversations
April 22: Earth Day
April 22: Grade 1 hosts CT, then Invitations
April 29: Grade 5 hosts CT, then Invitations
May 2: Grade 5 to Camp Tamarack!
May 6: Grade 3 hosts CT, then Invitations
May 13: Grade 4 hosts CT, then Invitations
June 6 or 7: Camp Amity (very tentative, unlikely at this point)
June 14: Family BBQ, 5-7pm (tentative still waiting for approval)
June 15: Graduation–details to emerge in the coming weeks

Here’s to a week of connecting with parents!
Andy

Happy April Y’all!
Friday was good fun with lots of pranks and some good laughs! I hope you had a fantastic weekend, Saturday’s weather was incredible. I got out for my first real ride of the season and the trails are riding very well!

Believe it or not it’s April–yikes! While energy begins to ramp up this is really one of my favorite parts of the school year, always filled with lots of outdoor time and fun activities.

Mind blowing facts for the day:
*Termites are the longest living insect–they can live up to 100 years
*The world’s biggest tire producer is…Lego! 306 million tires per year

A few notes to get you going:
1) Conversations at next week! Please be sure to get parents signing up early this week.

2) We’ll continue with a shortened afternoon Choice Time (1:15) on Fridays and Community Time at 1:20, followed by school-wide Invitations. That was a lot fun last Friday! Grade 2 hosts CT this week.

3) Volunteers! Many of our parents have now been cleared to volunteer in your classes. Patti is reaching out to parents on a daily basis as new applications are approved. I’ve asked Patti to get a list out to all of you to see who has been cleared so you can begin reaching out to parents and getting them into the classroom. Still looking for ways to engage parents? Please ask, I have ideas!

4) After School Recess begins this Friday, 2:30-3pm. This will change the end of day pick up on Fridays to more open ended. Let’s spread ourselves out around the playground to help provide supervision. I’ll chase everyone away at 3pm.

5) For now we’ve agreed that Buddies will be within the cross grade (K-2, 3-5) activities you all have planned. We’ll revisit this in May. Of course you are ALWAYS welcome to partner up with another class at any time!

6) SIW this week is teacher prep. Good time to get a jump on preparing for Conversations. I’ll be doing transfer interviews at Pine Ridge that afternoon (all admin are required to participate).

7) As we discussed at our meeting last week we’re focussing in on dates in May to host an Open House. We have permission to host the event and I’m leaning towards one evening–May 11. We’re technically not supposed to serve food, but I am exploring how FOA could sell pizza and/or get a food truck or two to participate. This way we are not serving food, families are purchasing it from an outside group. Keep May 11 from 5-7pm reserved on your calendars. This should be a lot of fun!

8) Please continue to revisit the Choice Time Guidelines with students, specifically about use of the hallway. After Conversations I’d like to open up Choice Time so that students can be in any classroom. 👏🏽

9) SafeTOUCH is back. This is a sexual abuse prevention curriculum that is taught in every elementary school in the district. In the past I taught the 3-5 curriculum and Tammy Short (former school psychologist) taught the K-2 lessons. While I am happy to continue to do the 3-5 lessons, ideally this would be passed along to classroom teachers (with my support at first). With Tammy gone I’d also like to work with K-2 teachers to get you going with this. We’ll make time after Conversations to get this going. In the meantime I will share copies of the curriculum with you so you can begin to have a look.

10) We’re having our A/V system in the gym overhauled on Tuesday–it should work a lot better once the work has been done. A/V systems in classrooms are supposed to be done this month–I’ll keep you updated.

Upcoming
April 8: Grade 2 hosts CT, Inviations afterwards.
April 13/14: Conversations
April 22: Earth Day
April 22: Grade 1 hosts CT
April 29: Grade 5 hosts CT
May 2: Grade 5 to Camp Tamarack!
May 6: Grade 3 hosts CT
May 13: Grade 4 hosts CT
June 6 or 7: Camp Amity (very tentative, unlikely at this point)
June 14: Family BBQ, 5-7pm (tentative still waiting for approval)
June 15: Graduation–details to emerge in the coming weeks

Here’s to a great week ahead, and fun-filled April!
Andy