Month: February 2024

School wide theme: Stewardship

Hey all,
What a week it was last week–thank you, thank you, thank you for all the hard work, love, and guidance you put in to make the Variety Show so special! I laughed and I cried, and I was once again reminded just how special Amity is!

An update from LA: My dad did well with the surgery and is recovering. He’ll be in the hospital another day or two and then will have to move him to a rehab facility for a few weeks. All in all things are moving in the right direction and I’m so happy that I’m here with him! I need to stay an extra day so I will miss school Monday but will be back Tuesday. Brad will be there again, and I am a phone call or text away–don’t hesitate to reach out.

A few notes to get you going:
1) Patti returns this week-need I say more?! Welcome back Patti!
And of course, we are so grateful for all that Kelli did while we were gone–a true angel! She genuinely appreciated all the love that came her way on Friday!

2) The Amity lottery info night is this Thursday from 5-6pm. We’ll chat about this at SIW this week.

3) Meetings this week: Team Collaboration Time on Tuesday (2:45-3:30), and SIW on Wednesday (1:30-3:30). I’ll send an agenda soon for Wednesday.

4) Are you using the Print Shop whenever possible? Currently we do 75% of printing here at school, 25% at the shop. The more we send to the shop for printing the cheaper the copies are, and doing so saves us vital funds that could be spent on other things! Please do your best to get copy orders to the Print Shop whenever possible. Thanks!

5) New end of year schedule: June 12 is now early release (SIW), June 14 is now a full day, June 18 (last day) is a 1pm dismissal. Obviously we have lots to discuss about those 2 new days but just wanted to get this to you now. We’ll talk!

6) Visiting artists coming in March and April–I have been coordinating with Gina and both will be during Enrichment. March 12/15, 19/22 will be drama and April 2 and 9 will be portraits with acrylic paint. I’m super excited for both!

Upcoming
March 5: Team Collaboration Time, 2:45-3:30pm
March 6: SIW in-house, 1:30pm
March 7: Lottery Info Night for incoming Kindergarten families, 5-6pm
May 4: Auction! May the 4th be with you…some type of space related theme
May 31: Summit High production of The Real Story of the 3 Pigs is coming to Amity, 8:30am.

Here’s to a great week ahead!
Andy

Greetings All!
I hope you had a great weekend and were able to enjoy the beautiful weather! It’s another fun-filled week ahead with the Variety Show on Wednesday! Thanks again for all the incredibly hard work you put in to supporting the kiddos so that they can really shine Wednesday night!

A few notes to get you off to a great start:
1) Dress rehearsal at 8:30am on Monday! For teachers of the Youngers let’s stay nimble and flexible in terms of when it will be time for your kiddos to leave rehearsals. There are always a few that want to stay for the whole rehearsal and they are welcome to stay! Also, let’s have a short meeting after school on Monday to sort out responsibilities at the show, just to be sure we’re all on the same page. 2:45 in Brian’s room.

2) On Wednesday, while you are at Ed Network, I will move all the props with the help of a few parents. Right after school on Wednesday it would be really helpful if we could get all the props out into the hallway near the playground door so everything is ready to load into volunteers cars.

Also, we’ll meet at Caldera at 5pm (15th Street entrance), and doors open at 5:30pm. We’ll start the show promptly at 6pm!

3) Wheel of Talent on Thursday morning. Grade 3 will incorporate this into their Community Time and then we’ll spend the first part of the morning enjoying abbreviated versions of the Variety show acts. There’s nothing you need to do to prepare for this, just leave Thursday AM a little open. It’s a great way to slow roll the day after the show!

Upcoming
February 26: Quick meeting to sort out Variety Show details, 2:45pm
February 28: Educator Network, be sure to sign up!
February 28: Variety Show, doors open at 5:30 with the show starting at 6pm sharp!
March 7: Lottery Info Night for incoming Kindergarten families, 5-6pm
May 4: Auction! May the 4th be with you…some type of space related theme
May 31: Summit High production of The Real Story of the 3 Pigs. 8:30am

Here’s to a great week ahead!
Andy

School wide theme: Kindness and Compassion

Team,
I hope you had an amazing long weekend–seems like it came at just the right moment! I took the extra time to go visit Kaila at OSU and my daughter Arielle and her family. It was a great visit all around, and my 3 year old granddaughter even read me a book…I swear this was not staged!

A huge thank you to all of you for the Student Success Meetings last week. The meetings were very productive and have given us some direction in terms of moving forward with support for students in the coming weeks. Thank you!!

A few notes to get you going:
1) Variety Show rehearsals this week: Per our conversation at lunch on Friday, we will have a regular (45 min) rehearsal on Tuesday and then meet for a few minutes on Tuesday after school to determine the plan for the rest of the week. Let’s meet in the Staff Room at 2:45 Tuesday.

2) SIW this week is a Teacher Work Day! I’ll be leaving for an admin meeting that day around 2:45pm.

3) SIW next week is Educator Network. I explored the possibility of being able to forgo the Ed Network since we have the Variety Show that night, but we’re not able to do so. Please be sure to get signed up for a workshop–Lori shared these steps to sign up: Pick a session from this list, Watch this video on how to sign up in UKG (watch first 2:00 minutes).

I will work with some parents to get the props delivered to Caldera that day, and then we’ll meet up at Caldera at 5pm to get things ready to go.

4) End of day release: The last few weeks have seen lots of kiddos wandering down the hallway 5-10 minutes before the end of day release time. I have been sending them back to class with the instructions to wait until it is clear that they have been excused. Please take the time at the end of each day this week to reinforce end of day expectations and be sure that students are staying with you until they have been “officially” excused. Thanks!

5) Amity Eats February fundraiser is at Cuppa Yo this Thursday from 4pm-close at the Westside location on Newport. Money raised goes to Friends of Amity (and therefore to us and our students!). Please encourage families to participate in any communications you send out this week.

Speaking of FOA, this would be a great time to request some things off your wish list! Let me know what you’re thinking and let’s see if we can get it ordered!

6) Bread and Jam this Friday!

Upcoming
February 21: SIW, Teacher Work Day
February 22: Cuppa Yo fundraiser, 4pm-close at the Westside location
February 23: Bread and Jam
February 28: Educator Network, be sure to sign up!
February 28: Variety Show, doors open at 5:30 with the show starting at 6pm sharp!
March 7: Lottery Info Night for incoming Kindergarten families, 5-6pm
May 4: Auction! May the 4th be with you…some type of space related theme
May 31: Summit High production of The Real Story of the 3 Pigs. 8:30am

Here’s to a great week ahead!
Andy

School-wide theme: Kindness and Compassion

Hello all you fine people!
What a great week it was last week with Camp Amity and the kick-off of the Variety Show! I know rehearsals can be a bit hectic, but the pay off is so grand! Thanks for all the upcoming extra work on getting the kiddos ready to shine!

Patti update: Patti and Jeff are settling in to routines at home and Jeff is showing good signs of recovery, albeit slowly at times. It looks like it could be a few more weeks before Patti returns to work, and I’m encouraging her to take all the time she needs.

A few notes to get you going:
1) Variety Show rehearsals start today–1:30-2:15pm! Here’s the schedule we agreed to: Variety Show Rehearsals
Gym (gymnastics, parkour): Lauren, Brian
Singing/dancing (meet in Grade 1 to start): Sara, Amanda, Lindsey
Skits (meet in Grade 3 to start): Ray, Frans
Non-participants (meet in Studio): Haley

2) No Tuesday meeting this week–Sara, Brian, and I have ICCL stuff to do.

3) Student Success Meeting on Wed/Thurs–please be sure your SSM Prep form is completed ASAP: SSM Prep Forms

Wednesday
8:30-9:00 Grade 5
9:00-9:30 Grade 3
10:00-10:45 Grade 4

Thursday
8:30-9:00 Kindergarten
9:00-9:30 Grade 1
10:00-10:45 Grade 2

4) NO SIW on Wednesday. You’re giving up your some of your prep times for the next few weeks for rehearsals, so this is the least I can do to give you back some of that time.

5) Cafe Amity on Wednesday, hosted by Grade 4

6) How are Community jobs going?
Kinder/Grade 1: Playground clean-up
Grade 2: Library caretakers
Grade 3: Hallway waste patrol
Grade 4: Green Team waste station
Grade 5: Office and cafeteria support

Upcoming
February 14: Cafe Amity hosted by Grade 4
February 14/15: Student Success Meetings
February 19: No School, President’s Day
February 28: Variety Show, doors open at 5:30 with the show starting at 6pm sharp!
March 7: Lottery Info Night for incoming Kindergarten families, 5-6pm

Here’s to a great week ahead!
Andy

New School Wide Theme: Kindness and Compassion

Hey all,
I hope Friday ended up being a particularly productive day and that you headed into the weekend ready to relax and revive.

A few notes to get you going:
1) Staff meeting on Monday (instead of Tuesday as per my email on Friday). 2:45-3:30pm in Brian’s room. Add agenda items: Staff Meetings 23-24

2) Tammy Doty will be here Monday morning from 8:30-9:30. We’ll be walking around and stopping in to a few classrooms. Anyone doing something spectacularly awesome you’d like to share?

3) DIBELS on Wednesday. Let’s get those kids warmed up with some good reading time before the assessments begin.

4) SIW on Wednesday–1:30 in Brian’s room.

5) Camp Amity on Thursday!

6) Variety Show launch at 1:30pm on Thursday in the gym! Snacks provided. Here’s the Variety Show rehearsal schedule we worked on last week: Variety 2024

7) Bread and Jam afterschool on Friday.

8) Valentine’s Day is next week–what plans do you have? Let’s chat at the Staff Meeting!

Upcoming
February 5: Staff Meeting, 2:45pm
February 7: DIBELS
February 8: Camp Amity!
February 8: Variety Show Launch, 1:30pm in the gym
February 9: Bread and Jam
February 14: Cafe Amity hosted by Grade 4
February 14/15: NEW Student Success Meetings
February 28: Variety Show
March 7: Lottery Info Night for incoming Kindergarten families, 5-6pm

Here’s to a great week ahead–always a good week when we have Camp Amity!
Andy