Greetings! I hope the weekend was fantastic and that you’re feeling really good about the next two weeks. I had a great weekend in Portland with my good pal Louie–so much fun tripping around the city looking for mischief!
A few notes to get you going: 1) SLGG meetings this week. Please be sure you remember your time: SLGG Meetings. We’ll meet in my office.
2) Camp Amity on Wednesday–I’m super excited about this! A few logistics: *We’ll start at 9:30am, break for lunch at 11am (15-20mins), and then continue until it feels like it’s time to end. *No masks required outside, masks must be worn in studio (perler beading) *Limit numbers at your activity area if needed to make it manageable *Be sure all your materials are ready to go by 9am. Please put them o the stage in the gym and the EAs and I will take them out to the playground and get them set up.
3) SIW this week-1:30pm in Ray’s room. We need a volunteer to do the warm up–let me know if it’s your moment to shine! I’ll send an agenda tomorrow.
4) Grade 5 food drive starts today! A note and flyer have gone home and it would be greatly appreciated if you could include the info in your weekly letter. Food will be collected until Thursday, December 16. Feel free to use any and all of the following or create your own blurb:
Grade 5 is currently planning a food drive in partnership with a local food relief agency called The Giving Plate. Here are the basics: The Giving Plate provides food to over 2,700 individuals a month, between all three of their hunger-relief programs. As the largest food pantry in Central Oregon, they are committed to ensuring neighbors in need have the food they need not just to survive, but to thrive. The Giving Plate is now providing 150 meals a week to children at the Boys and Girls club, too. These children have been identified by the club as needing extra help and the Giving Plate has stepped up! Over 60% of the food given out by the Giving Plate is now going to help feed children in our community.
Grade 5 will be collecting items such as: *Individual sizes of soup/chili/stew *Mac and cheese cups *Ramen (In the square packets as they fit into bags and backpacks more easily) *Individual shelf stable milk boxes *Individual drink boxes *Individual peanut butter *Tea/hot chocolate *Granola Bars, raisin boxes, pudding packs, and applesauce cups *Trail mix or items to make trail mix
5) Community Time on Friday at 1:30 hosted by Kinder.
Upcoming *December 6-10: SLGG Meetings *December 8: Camp Amity *December 20-31: Winter Break *January 13: Student Support Meetings (most recently known as EBISS)
Greetings Team, I hope you had an AMAZING break and that you had good time with family and friends. I had a super low key break here in town and got lots of house projects done. At the end of the week my daughter, son-in-law, and grand daughter (Aurelia) came from Corvallis to celebrate the holiday with us. It was the first time my little family has all been under the same roof in almost 2 years–it was so much fun!
Here is one of the projects I got done over the break-removing my old, defunct hot tub. What a messy project! Just waiting for the new tub to arrive…
We’ve got 3 weeks between now and winter break and I always love this time of year. Have some fun and enjoy these 3 weeks!
A few notes to get you going… 1) Happy Hanukkah! Hanukkah officially began last night and ends the evening of December 6. We have several families who celebrate the holiday and if you’re interested in finding out more about the history and traditions of Hanukkah you can start here with these links (there are an endless number of links with out there if you’re interested): Hanukkah link 1, Hannukkah link 2.
2) Camp Amity is a go for Wednesday, December 8. We’ll have time to chat about this later this week at our SIW. In the meantime, please be sure you are signed up to lead an activity: Camp Amity Sign Ups
3) SIW this week starts at 1:30pm in Brian’s room. We’ll cover a few items: *Overview of our focus of the year (School Design, etc) *Check in on how you’d like to spend some of our meeting times *Future direction of Wednesday Team meetings *Camp Amity planning
4) Weather permitting, we’re still doing outdoor Community Time on Fridays at 1:30. Here’s what I have in my notes, please correct me if I am wrong: *December 3: Grade 4 *December 10: Kinder *December 17: Grade 2
5) SLGGs (Student Learning and Growth Goals) are back once again and need to be filled out by January 1. I’d like to meet with each of you for 15 minutes next week to get this done-please sign up for a time: SLGG Meeting
6) Please keep sharing photos with parents in your weekly notes–keeping them connected continues to be so important, and they love the pics!
7) Grade 5 students will be organizing a food drive that will take place between now and the winter break. Please do all you can to support their efforts. More info coming soon.
8) We’re still in zones at recess at least until after the winter break. This will be a little tougher now that the natural play area is completed, but I appreciate your help in keeping kiddos in their proper zones for now.
9) On December 14 my two bosses (Skip and Tammy) will be here doing some observations to get a better picture of what’s going on in the schools. As we get closer to the date I’ll be checking in with you to see who’s up for a classroom visit. Just putting it on the radar…
10) I’ll be away from school on Friday this week. I’ll send a reminder on Thursday.
Lastly, how about a delicious Holiday Potluck on the 17th before we head off for the holidays? I’ll post a sign up sheet if desired…
Good Morning Team, I hope you enjoyed the wonderfully warm weekend! I got out on my bike on Saturday, and on Sunday Michelle and I got in a great hike on the Six Lakes Trail (across from Elk Lake). We got to 3 of the 6 lakes–Blow, Doris, and Sanuj (in order below).
That short week sure felt long last week! But, the good news is we are in that special time of year–we have 5 more days and then a nice long week off, 3 weeks and then Winter Break! Hard to believe we are already at this point of the year!
A few notes to get you going: 1) Community Time on Monday at 2:15pm outside, weather permitting
2) Lockdown drill on Tuesday at 9:15am. We’ll follow it with the monthly Fire Drill and be done in time for recess. Please take a few minutes to talk with your class about the drill and be sure they know what to do. Here’s the info I shared with you last week: Talking with Children About Lockdowns
3) Camp Amity is postponed until Wednesday, December 8 (assuming the weather cooperates). We’ll revisit this after the break. I’ll share this info with parents in a note first thing this week.
4) Just a reminder that we are back to zones at recess. When you are on duty please take a moment to check the zone chart posted on the “Love” wall and be sure kiddos are in their zones. Thanks for your support with this!
5) SIW this week: They’ve scheduled an admin meeting for Wednesday at 1:30 so I will not be available for SIW. Please use the time as you wish.
6) One last note–please be sure to leave the hallways free of obstacles so we can exit the building quickly in case of an emergency. It fits in nicely with taking care of each other and this place! Thanks.
Upcoming *November 16: Lockdown and Fire Drill, 9:15am *November 22-26: Thanksgiving Break! *December 8: Camp Amity–new date *December 20-31: Winter Break *January 13: EBISS
Here’s to a great week ahead with a vacation on the horizon, Andy
Greetings! I hope the weekend was good and that you’re feeling energized as we head into these next two weeks before the Thanksgiving break. It’s a short week this week and we may have a fair amount of students out on Friday with the Thursday holiday.
A good friend of mine was in Glasgow at the Climate Change Summit this past week and sent this picture of Greta Thunberg (that’s her in the middle). It got me thinking about my commitment to living a more environmentally conscious life, and how we as a school could find ways to inspire and empower our students. Just thinking…
A few notes to get you going: 1) No School on Thursday in honor of our veterans.
2) Community Time today at 9:15am. Grade 5 hosts on Friday at 1:30pm.
3) No zones starting today! A few new things in place: *K-2 (only) Gaga in the AM, everyone at lunch, 3-5 (only) in the PM *Each group gets a wall ball spot: K-2 on the side closest to Broadway (back of wall), 3-5 on the owl side. Youngers can join Olders if they want to challenge themselves, but let’s keep the Olders out of the Younger’s game. We’ll use cones to split the field in 2 so multiple games can be played.
4) I’ll be out Wednesday. On that note, I am hoping we can trade SIW times–next week is supposed to be teacher directed but I’d like to switch that to this week, and next week we’ll have a formal SIW. Any objections? Please let me know.
5) Quick staff meeting on Tuesday from 3-3:15. With a Lockdown Drill coming up (see next note) I want to be sure we are all using similar language when we talk with students. We’ll meet in the staff room.
6) We need to do our annual Lockdown drill this month so I am scheduling it for Tuesday, November 16 at 9:15am. We’ll follow it with the monthly Fire Drill and be done in time for recess. We will discuss language to be shared with students at our quick staff meeting on Tuesday at 3. Here’s something I’d like you to read prior to our meeting: Talking with Children About Lockdowns
7) Ofrenda: We are setting up the Orfrenda starting this week. If you’d like to honor a loved one please share a photo–you can bring one in or send Patti a digital photo. If you’d like to share some words about the person(s) please do!
8) Camp Amity Sign ups–if you haven’t signed up yet, please do so this week: Camp Amity Sign Up
9) I’m including the following as reminders: *I’d like to slowly start to bring back Choice Time (currently known as recess). Choice Time allows students to stay inside at break times (AM and PM, not lunch). We’re not ready for students to be able to wander from room to room yet, but you could pick a break time or two each week and stay in your room with students who want to stay in. Frans has already been doing this for a little while now and the students clearly appreciate and enjoy the opportunity. I only ask that you do not choose times when you have playground duty. Thanks for considering this, I think it will be really great to reestablish this, even if in small bits. You’ll still need to meet students at the end of break times so be sure to have students in your classroom clean up early and join you for a stroll to get the rest of the class.
*Keeping Taking Care of Yourself/Others/Place alive! I think that if it is not a regular part of your routine that you take some time to review work you have done with your class around Taking Care of Yourself/Others/Place. Values and agreements work best when we keep them alive and present in our daily lives-revisiting this each and every week will have the greatest, most long term impact. Thanks!
10) I’ll be leaving school around 2:45 today to get to an admin meeting at High Lakes. Call or text if you need anything.
Upcoming *November 9: Staff meeting, 3-3:15 *November 11: No School *November 16: Lockdown and Fire Drill, 9:15am *November 17: Camp Amity! Please sign up for an activity *November 22-26: Thanksgiving Break! *December 20-31: Winter Break *January 13: EBISS
Good Morning Campers, I have no idea how it happened, but it’s November! I hope the long weekend was good to you, and that Conversations were better than imagined or expected-I hope your time with parents (even through it was virtual) was rewarding and insightful!
No picture from the weekend, but wanted you to know you’re not alone on the day after Halloween…
A few things to get us going this week: 1) Monday Community Time starts today at 9:15am. Lindsey and Frans have graciously offered to get this going for us–thank you!! Remember to bring in a picture from your childhood!
Grade 1 hosts Community Time on Friday at 1:30pm
2) Candy, oh candy. The days following Halloween are always filled with candy at school. Some parents are great about monitoring what their children are bringing to school, and some are not. Some don’t bring any candy at all. Let’s be clear with kiddos that candy should only be eaten at snack and lunch time and should be limited to 2-3 pieces a day. Also, this is a good time to emphasize taking care of this place in terms of making sure students throw away those pesky little wrappers.
3) Often after Conversations there may be things to follow up on with families and students. If there is anything I can do to support you please don’t hesitate to ask! Also, please follow up with families who did not sign up (or show up).
4) Reminder: Nathan is out still out today and tomorrow. PE is still on, just no music.
5) SIW this week: We’ll use our time to discuss School Design (how we’ll spend our SIW time) and Camp Amity (Activity sign-up). I’m looking for someone to do a warm up activity at SIW this week. Who’s up for it?
6) I’d like to slowly start to bring back Choice Time (currently known as recess). Choice Time allows students to stay inside at break times (AM and PM, not lunch). We’re not ready for students to be able to wander from room to room yet, but you could pick a break time or two each week and stay in your room with students who want to stay in. Frans has already been doing this for a little while now and the students clearly appreciate and enjoy the opportunity. I only ask that you do not choose times when you have playground duty. Thanks for considering this, I think it will be really great to reestablish this, even if in small bits. You’ll still need to meet students at the end of break times so be sure to have students in your classroom clean up early and join you for a stroll to get the rest of the class.
7) Keeping Taking Care of Yourself/Others/Place alive! I think that if it is not a regular part of your routine that you take some time to review work you have done with your class around Taking Care of Yourself/Others/Place. Values and agreements work best when we keep them alive and present in our daily lives-revisiting this each and every week will have the greatest, most long term impact. Thanks!
8) A few of you recently received an email regarding MAC training (not everyone will need to train up). Please make sure you do the training prior to our next MAC survey day on November 15.
9) Pies arrive on Thursday and will be distributed at afternoon pick-up. Information will be sent out to families this week. FOA has it covered.
Upcoming *November 1: Communty Time hosted by Lindsey and Frans *November 4: Pies arrive-FOA to handle all logistics! We’ll send out an email to families with details. It all happens during Afterschool pick up. *November 5: Grade 1 hosts Community Time *November 10: Camp Amity comes to a school near you. *November 22-26: Thanksgiving Break! *December 20-31: Winter Break
Greetings All! I hope the weekend was good to you after what was arguably a challenging week. Over the weekend I went to Corvallis to visit my grand daughter (and her parents of course) and made a trip out to the coast in search of waves. No waves were found, but it was good to be at the ocean and great to see my grand daughter!
Saw this tree while out walking in Corvallis and had to share. There’s something so beautiful about the strength, majesty, and grounding nature of a tree! Oh, and the Fall colors on Highway 20–wow!
A few notes to get you going: 1) Conversations are this week on Wednesday and Thursday (Friday off!). If you had a chance to read the message from the district you know that Wednesday you are required to work from school, but you can work from home on Thursday. Please reach out to families that have not signed up yet and encourage them to do so early this week. If there is not a time that works for them please work out an agreeable time that will work for them, which may be outside of your Wednesday/Thursday schedule. Hopefully you won’t have to do this for very many families (usually most families make it work within the schedule). If questions come up you are not able to answer please don’t hesitate to reach out to me or direct parents to me-I’m here to help!
2) Reminder that Nathan will be away from October 26-November 2. During this time there will still be PE, but no music classes. So, no music this Tuesday, and next Monday/Tuesday.
3) It’s likely to be pretty wet Monday and Tuesday so please be prepared for the possibility of inside recess and lunch. We’ll make the call in real time…
4) We still have a lot of students coming into the building during recess times and milling around in classrooms (on their way to and from the bathroom). If you plan to be out of your classroom during recess and lunch it would be very helpful if you could lock your door on the way out. Thanks!
5) Reminder that on Monday, November 1 students can come to school in their PJs and each class is planning some low key Halloween Recovery activities. This can include movies (G rated for K-3, can be PG for 4/5 with parent permission–see me for more details). K, 1, and 2 could do something together in the gym.
6) Let’s start planning for Camp Amity (November 10)! Here’s a link to generate ideas and sign up: Camp Amity Sign Ups
7) New Buddies start next week.
8) Future Community Time *November 5: Grade 1 *November 12: Grade 5 *November 19: Grade 3 *December 3: Grade 4 *December 10: Kinder *December 17: Grade 2
Upcoming *October 27-29: No School for students, Conversations *November 1: Post-Halloween Recovery activities *November 4: Pies arrive-FOA to handle all logistics! More info coming. *November 5: Grade 1 hosts Community Time *November 10: Camp Amity comes to a school near you.
Here’s to a good week ahead, great Conversations, and a 3 day weekend! Andy
Good Monday to all! I hope the amazing weekend was good to all of you! Michelle and I got out to Alder Springs (between Terrebonne and Sisters)on Saturday and it was incredible! Have any of you been there? It’s a crazy little oasis fed by a series of springs and Whychus Creek.
Normally I only share a photo from the weekend but today I just have to share this photo, truly my highlight from last last week–lego time with Grade 1! It’s so important to have these joyful moments with our students!
A few notes to get you going, be sure to have your planner and calendar handy:
1) Please collect Pie Order forms today and make sure you put them in the envelope that was given to you. After tomorrow (Tuesday) we won’t be able to accept any more orders. We’ll send out one last reminder today. Thanks for your help with this!
2) New schedule begins this week–please refer to the email I sent towards the end of last week.
3) A big thanks for all your efforts with end of day dismissal, it’s making a huge difference. Please continue to be vigilant with this, it’s a significant safety issue that is easily avoided with your efforts. I also hope it will continue to foster opportunities for you to connect with parents.
4) Grade 2 hosts Community Time for the first time this week-a big moment for Sadie and her crew! Remember, CT is now on Fridays at 1:30 for everyone.
5) Walking Field Trip forms: Please continue to collect these as they come in and keep track of who has turned it in. We’ll need to make contact with families that have not signed and returned the form so we can start taking some walking trips.
5) Conversations are next week! Please be sure to get out an on-line sign up form early this week. If you need help, just ask! A reminder that we are doing Conversations Wednesday and Thursday; however, if you want to start earlier, or push a little into Friday, that is your choice.
7) We will have our first EBISS (student support) meeting this Thursday, October 21. Brad will be covering your class during the 30 minute meetings. Here’s the schedule: 8:00am: Frans 8:30am: Sadie 9:00am: Lauren 9:30am: Lindsey 10:00am: Brian 10:30am: Ray
Please spend some time prior to the meeting deciding which of your students is of most concern (social/emotionally and/or academically) and gathering up work samples as well as jotting down your concerns. Your preparation will help us make the best of our time together and get needed support in place.
8) SIW this week: *Civil Rights training (district required) *Conversation about toys at school *Check-in on 2×10 students *Time for you to prepare for Conversations
9) Nathan will be away from October 26-November 2. During this time there will still be PE, but no music classes. Please make note in your planner
10) We have a lot of students coming into the building during recess times and milling around in classrooms. If you plan to be out of your classroom during recess and lunch it would be very helpful if you could lock your door on the way out. Thanks!
Upcoming *October 18: Pie orders are due! *October 22: Grade 2 hosts Community Time *October 27-29: No School for students, Conversations *November 1: Post-Halloween Recovery activities *November 5: Grade 1 hosts Community Time *November 4: Pies arrive-FOA to handle all logistics! More info coming. *November 10: Camp Amity comes to a school near you. Sign ups coming soon…
Greetings Team! I hope the weekend was fantastic! Two great things happened for me this weekend: first, this beautiful new SUP surf board finally arrived from Thailand after months of waiting. Can’t wait to get it in the surf two weeks from now!
And two, I did a great ride I’ve been wanting to do for long time-Skyliner Snow Park to Shevlin Park via Tumalo Falls. Wowza, so much fun! Also, it’s rare that I get to ride with my son-in-law (Raya’s dad John) these days so it was extra special!
Before the notes, a huge thank you for the check-in meetings last week. The meetings were extremely insightful andit was nice to have some dedicated time with each of you. All in all it feels like we are on a great path, with lots of amazing things happening! I sincerely appreciate the feedback that was offered to me during our check-ins, I always want to be on a path of growth and finding new ways to better support you and our students. I hope you also know how important each of you is to me, and that I will always work to make our little school the best it can be!
To borrow a phrase I brought out at some point in the early stages of the pandemic, which also feels appropriate now that we’re officially starting our 6th week of school, it’s time to move from surviving to thriving. As we all know and share with children, mindset is important. Let’s all shift to a thriving mindset and watch it unfold! We have a lot of fun and adventure ahead of us!
A few notes to get you going-be sure you have your planner and calendar: 1) Super important note about end of day dismissal. It is vital to keep your students in your designated waiting area (where they eat lunch) until they are picked up by their parent/guardian for several reasons: 1) Last week we had students of all ages trying to dash out of both gates to meet their parents; 2) Sometimes parents send someone else to pick up their child and we have to make sure that person is allowed to do so; 3) Pick up time is essentially the only time for us to make contact with parents–if the kids are not with you it’s possible their parents will bypass you altogether.
2) DIBELS on Tuesday. We’ll pull small groups starting at 8:30 (maybe a little earlier if everything is ready to go). This will be a great time for some independent activities!
3) Pictures on Wednesday. We’ll do each class in 2 parts, so you’ll have half your kiddos for about 20 minutes each.
4) Reminder, NO ART this week, but you will have your common planning time. Please have a plan ready for me and the EAs. Lexia and Dreambox have been good options so far for the Olders, and might work on a smaller scale for Grades 1 and 2 if desired.
5) SIW this week is Educator Network. You should have received communications from the district about this. K-1 will meet together here at school from 1:30-3:00. For the rest of you please remember to sign up for Educator Network sessions on Performance Matters – Employee.
6) Kinder hosts Community Time for the first time this week–always a big deal! Grades 2/4 on Thursday, 1/3/5 on Friday. Please chat with your classes and remind them about just how big a deal this is for the Kinders.
7) I think most of you heard at the end of last week, but we are now allowed to consider walking field trips! This is exciting! We’ll be sending home Walking Field Trip permission slips this week, so hopefully by next week you’ll be able to take some small adventures. The big rules are: *No parents can join the trip (even “coincidentally”, as in they just happen to be at the garden when you arrive), so we’ll need to be creative in staffing up for trips. *All activities still have to be lead by the teacher.
Denise (Nora’s mom, Grade 3) has sent me a note that I am forwarding to all of you with information about the Environmental Center Garden.
8) It’s official, Conversations will be virtual and we’ll do them October 27 and 28. As far as whether or not you need to be at school to do the virtual conference we should know by the end of today–I’ll keep you posted. I will inform parents of this and you can start sign ups for meeting times as soon as you are ready. Given that they will be virtual you are welcome to start meeting with parents as soon as you’d like, you don’t necessarily need to wait until the 27th and 28th. If you need help with sign ups please reach out to Patti and she can help you set up an on line sign up.
In terms of preparing for Conferences I have created a notebook for each of you with a single copy of the Conversations Prep form–you can fill in a few notes in the writing and math section and then make enough copies for your class. Please keep the notes for reference in the Spring.
9) We will have our first EBISS (student support) meeting on October 21. I will share the schedule with you later this week. Brad will be covering your class during the 30 minute meetings.
10) Pie fundraiser is underway The only help we’ll need from you at this point is to include a reminder in your weekly notes until the 18th. And, collect the forms as they trickle in–each of you should have an envelope to collect these (if you don’t let me know). Thanks!
Upcoming *October 12: DIBELS, 8-11am *October 13: Picture Day *October 14/15: Kinder hosts Community Time *October 18: Pie orders are due *October 21/22: Grade 2 hosts Community Time *October 27-29: No School for students, Conversations (conferences) *November 1: Halloween Hangover Party *November 4/5: Grade 1 hosts Community Time *November 4: Pies arrive-FOA to handle all logistics! *November 10: Camp Amity comes to a school near you. Sign ups coming soon…
Good Morning All! I hope you enjoyed the glorious weekend! Who doesn’t love Fall in Central Oregon?! On Saturday I finally got on my bike again after 6 weeks of rehabbing from my surgery, and on Sunday Michelle and I got up to No Name Lake up near Broken Top. It’s good to be alive! Here’s a look from No Name Lake:
A few notes to get you going: 1) SIW this week will be part Staff Meeting, part School Design work. We’ll start at 1:30 in Brian’s room.
2) Check-in meetings are this week. Please be sure you have your time written in your planner. Forgot already? Here’s the link: Check-ins. Things to think about for our meeting: *Overall feeling at this point *What are you most excited about at this point in the year? *Schedule and how it’s working (or not working) *How you’re feeling about your workload/cognitive load *Ideas you’d like to share *Tier 1 LEAD activity-what activity have you chosen? *Support you are needing during this first part of the year *What do you need to feel more successful, happier, and/or more fulfilled?
3) As we enter week 5 of the school year it is extremely helpful for those in support roles (Haley and Sara) to know your daily/weekly schedule. As they are beginning to set up support groups, it’s crucial they know the best times to pull students from your class, or push in to support classroom activities. By the end of this week (or sooner) please be sure to send me, Sara, and Haley a copy of your schedule. A huge thanks!
4) As of this moment, Conversations (Amity version of conferences for those that are new) will be virtual. This could change if COVID numbers drop us from High or Substantial risk into Moderate or Low risk; at lower levels we would most likely offer a hybrid which would be in-person conferences for families that want it, and virtual for everyone else. The district will use numbers from the week of October 15 to decide. I will inform parents of this and I think it would be best to wait until October 18 to start sign ups for meeting times.
In terms of preparing for Conferences I will share some information with you at SIW. In terms of what days we will conference, I’d like to propose we do what we’ve done in the past–do conferences Wednesday and Thursday and take Friday off. I’ll check in with you at SIW.
5) Fall DIBELS is next week on Tuesday, October 12. Just know that at some point during the morning we will be pulling students from your class. A good time to shift to an independent activity!
6) We will have our first EBISS (student support) meeting on October 21. I will share the schedule with you next week. Brad will be covering your class during the 30 minute meetings.
7) Halloween update: Halloween falls on the Sunday after Conversations which means we have a 2 day week with students that week. It feels to me that we don’t necessarily have to do anything related to Halloween and instead should focus on what the Monday after Halloween should look like. Have a good think about it and share with others what you plan to do to accommodate comatose students that Monday morning. In the past we have done PJs and movies mixed with a variety of other not-so-demanding activities in the classroom. Would it be wrong to call it a Halloween Hangover party?
8) Pie fundraiser begins today! The only help we’ll need from you is sending the order forms home at the end of the day today (they will be delivered to you), and to collect forms as they are returned (by October 18). All the rest will be done by Friends of Amity. We’d also appreciate a reminder included in your weekly notes until the 18th. Thanks!
Upcoming *October 7/8: Grade 4 hosts Community Time *October 12: DIBELS, 8-11am *October 14/15: Kinder hosts Community Time *October 18: Pie orders are due *October 21/22: Grade 2 hosts Community Time *October 27-29: No School for students, Conversations (conferences) *November 4/5: Grade 1 hosts Community Time *November 4: Pies arrive-FOA to handle all logistics!
Happy Week 4! I hope you all had a fantastic weekend! Mine was especially good because it included a visit from my daughter from Corvallis! I got to spend time with my amazing daughter and her hubby, but more importantly I got to spend time with my adorable granddaughter Aurelia who I haven’t seen in over two months.
Before the we dive into the wildness of the week, I want to say a huge thank you to all of you and acknowledge how much I am loving the way this crew is coming together and how supportive everyone has been these first few weeks. This is an amazing team of people and it feels really good to be at school!
A few notes to get you going, so grab your planner and list of things to do: 1) Thanks for your weekly efforts to keep parents updated on what’s going on at school. I am appreciating the blend of what is going on academically and all the other great things going on–new songs, activities, art, buddies, SEL activities, etc. Feedback from parents is that they LOVE the photos and it’s helping feel more connected–so let’s keep sending photos every week!
2) A few important reminders: *It’s important that we are keeping windows openand fresh air circulating in the classrooms, even as the temperatures are cooling. Also, please do your best to remember to turn the air purifier on as soon as you arrive in the morning (and turn it off before you leave).
*Please always, always, always have your phone and keys with you when you are on duty on the playground. In the case of an emergency you may need to unlock the gate(s) to get students off campus, and/or you may need to call 911.
*A reminder that there is NO ART again this week. Kinder, Grade 1, Grade 3, and Grade 4 please have a plan ready for this Wednesday during your art time (common planning time). Sadie and Ray, no art this Friday.
*If you have not already done so, please have a look at the Tier 1 LEAD activities and find something as a first step for yourself. Here is the link: resources. All teachers in the district are being asked to take one small step during September, I am interested to know which you are choosing!
3) SIW this week will be math focussed and supported by Anna (instructional coach) and Kerry Morton. Please be sure to do the survey before the end of the day today if you haven’t already done so. Thanks! Math survey for SIW
4) I’m still looking for a few volunteers to continue working on the framework for Take Care of Yourself/Others/Place. I anticipate that this is about 1-2 hours of work and then bringing it back to the group. We’ll start by blocking a 1 hour meeting time in the next few weeks once I know who is interested. Please email or speak with me early this week.
5) Huge thanks to Ray and Grade 5 for hosting Community Time last week–a great kick off! This week Grade 3 hosts on Thursday and Friday. K/2/4 on Thursday, 1/3/5 on Friday. 1:30pm start.
6) FOA is looking for a teacher rep to attend monthly FOA meetings (just one per month). The teacher rep simply brings the teacher perspective to decisions about fundraising and shares ideas from the staff. Please let me know if this is something you could commit to. Meetings are usually the last Thursday of the month at 4pm (but this does vary).
Speaking of fundraising, FOA will soon be launching a pie fundraiser in partnership with Willamette Pie Company. Grade 5 students did this a few years ago and it was very successful. We’ll be sending home information to parents next week. In terms of support needed, we are kindly requesting that you include a reminder in your weekly notes once the info goes home, and we’ll need some help gathering the paperwork when it returns to school. All the hard work will be done by FOA–calculating totals, placing the big order, organizing the distribution when the pies arrive. More details coming next week, thanks in advance for your support. With no in-person fundraising opportunities available to us right now, this one is important!
7) As you all know we are looking for an EA. The posting that has been up for the last week or so has only yielded ONE applicant! If you know anyone you think might be interested please have them contact me–via email or text. Thanks!
8) Camp Amity. Unfortunately, we won’t be able to go to Camp Amity this Fall (fingers crossed for Winter!) so I got to thinking about how we might be able to bring Camp Amity to school. I think it would be really fun to host an afternoon of camp-like activities out on the field. This could include rotations to various activities like fort building, adventure tales (campfire stories), pearler beading, and so much more. I’m thinking late October. We have a staff meeting on October 12 and we could plan during that time. Start your creative engines and let’s start sharing ideas!
9) I’ll be leaving campus right after school gets out today to attend an Elementary Admin meeting at Ensworth. Call or text if you need me.
Upcoming *September 30/Oct 1: Grade 3 hosts Community Time *October 7/8: Grade 4 hosts Community Time *October 14/15: Kinder hosts Community Time *October 21/22: Grade 2 hosts Community Time *October 27-29: No School for students, Conversations (conferences) *November 4/5: Grade 1 hosts Community Time
