Hey Team. Wow, I can’t believe we’re this far into the school year with just 2 weeks until Winter Break! Let’s enjoy these next few weeks and head into the break feeling good!
A few notes to get you rolling: 1) Just FYI, my bosses, Tammy and Karen (newly hired), will be here on Tuesday morning.
2) Brian, Sara, and I have a district ICCL meeting on Tuesday so we’ll be headed out around 2:30pm.
3) Cafe Amity on Wednesday hosted by Grade 1.
4) Originally we had a Fire Drill scheduled for this Wednesday but I’ve moved it to next Wednesday at 10:30am.
5) SIW this week is a Teacher Work Day–enjoy the time! I’ll be headed out to an admin meeting around 2:45pm.
6) Holiday gathering is scheduled for Friday, December 20 starting at 3:30pm at Diane’s house (thank you Diane!!!). Bring a beverage, tacos from El Sancho provided.
Hello Team! I hope you had a fantastic break and that you are recharged and ready for the gap in between breaks! I look forward to seeing you all and hearing about your break.
A few notes to get you rolling: 1) As mentioned a few weeks back, Lindsey and I will be working with some parents on creating some enhancements for the playground. Our first meeting is Tuesday (3rd) at 2:30pm. Please join us if you have interest in this!
2) Morning Choice Time additions. Several of you have volunteered to keep your room open once per week during Morning Choice Time–below is the schedule, which we will also post around school. Please share this with your classes before Choice Time on Monday. Thanks y’all!
Monday
3rd
5th
Tuesday
3rd
Wolf Den (Gina)
Wednesday
3rd
4th
Thursday
3rd
Wolf Den (Sara)
Friday
3rd
Running Club!
3) SIW this week is in house–agenda coming soon.
4) Bread and Jam on Friday
5) We are still in need of 2 more staff members to be re-certified in 1st aid. It’s part on line, part in person. I plan to be one of the two, anyone else? Please!
6) Holiday gathering is scheduled for Friday, December 20 starting at 3:30pm at Diane’s house (thank you Diane!!!). Bring a beverage, tacos from El Sancho provided.
Howdy Team! It’s hard to believe, but we’ve already arrived at the week before Thanksgiving Break! The last few weeks have been filled with fun, but have also been somewhat challenging, so I know we’re all really looking forward to a little break! Hang in there, it’s five days away!
With rain in the forecast this week, please take time to talk with your kiddos about rainy day things they can do in your room during lunch recess should we need to stay in. If the kiddos have this information it makes supervising multiple classes a lot easier. Thanks!
A few notes to get you rolling: 1) I’ve hope by now you’ve seen the email I sent to you (teachers) regarding signing up for a time slot on Monday for Libby and me to visit your classroom to chat about bathroom etiquette and safety. Last week we received a Bias Incident report related to safety in the bathroom and I’m sure we all want to find an age appropriate way to address this with students. We have a student who is feeling unsafe in the bathroom and it’s vital that we do all we can to make it feel safer. Please sign up ASAP. Thanks for your support with this!
2) I have something I’d like everyone to consider related to Choice Time. With the dropping temperatures, more and more students are wanting an option other than outside. As you know, at this time (on most days) we only have one room available for students to hang out in. This is a timely issue for 2 reasons: 1) It feels like we are moving further and further away from kids having a choice during the AM and PM breaks; 2) we have more kids on the playground, and perhaps coincidently we seem to be trying to manage more and more challenging situations and negative behaviors. I strongly feel that kiddos need more choices during these times. Lindsey and I will soon be meeting with a group of parents to begin work on a play area in and around the garden which should help with creating more choices. In the meantime, can we consider doing some sort of rotation to have at least one more room available each day, particularly in the AM? Let’s check in on this on Wednesday at SIW.
3) Picture retakes are this Tuesday. Patti is on top of who will be participating in this.
4) Jammie Jam pledge sheets with money collected are due back by the end of this week. If they didn’t go home Friday please send them home Monday. I’ll be sending a note to parents as well.
5) SIW is in house with the second half being a Team Collaboration Time. I’ll send an agenda out soon.
6) Cafe Amity this Wednesday hosted by Grade 2.
7) Amity Eats is this Thursday at MOD Pizza. Please include this any communications you have with parents this week. These little fundraisers add up! Thanks.
8) Fire drill–10:35am on Thursday.
9) Please remember to upload your SLGGs into UKG as soon as possible. I sent you all a link to the SLGG folder the week before last.
Hey All! I hope you are having a wonderful 3 day weekend, I always love the extra day! We’ve got a busy and exciting week ahead with BINGO Night and Jammie Jam!
A few notes to get you rolling: 1) BINGO Night this Wednesday starting at 5:30. We’ll have some set up to do so it’d be great if everyone was at school no later than 5:15pm. Dinner (bring your own or get pizza at the event) is from 5:30-6pm, BINGO from 6-7pm.
2) Jammie Jam on Thursday (kids are encouraged to wear PJs, and you can, too)-this is a big fundraising event! Volunteers will do almost all the work, but may need you to help out a little bit during the event. Angela Spaid is coordinating everything and I’ll check in with her prior to the event to get the last minute details. Here’s the plan: 12:00-1:00 course design & set up by volunteers (outdoors if weather permits) *We’ll skip afternoon Choice Time this day, as well as Gr 3 PE (Grade 4 and 5 may have to skip as well if we need to set up indoors. Game time decisions!) 1:00-1:25 (K-2nd grade run the course) 1:30-2:00 (3rd-5th grade run the course) *You are welcome to bring your classes out to cheer others on if you like
Jammie Jam pledge sheets are due back by Wednesday this week, but we will of course take them any time! Volunteers will do all the monetary tallying and get pledge sheets and envelopes back to you to send home with students.
3) Staff Meeting Tuesday, 2:30pm in Brian’s room. I’ll send an agenda soon. One thing we’ll definitely talk about are “Theme Months” (Black History, Women’s History, Indigenous People’s Monty) and it would be great if you could do a little thinking about your position on such months.
4) SIW this week is a Teacher Work Day–enjoy! I will leave for a meeting around 2:30 that day.
5) Dental Screenings on Thursday AM. Parents have been asked to provide consent on a digital form–something new we are trying this year, we’ll see how it goes.
6) Reminder that Bias Lessons need to be completed by November 15. Please email when you are done. Thanks to those of you who have sent me an email!
7) Bread and Jam this Friday!
8) Please remember to upload your SLGGs into UKG as soon as possible. I sent you all a link to the SLGG folder last week.
9) Christine Bachtel is our visiting artist this month–she’s doing some ceramics with the classes. She started with a few classes last week. It’s good to have her around!
Lastly, I’ll be arriving a little late to school on Friday, likely around 8:30am. I’ll be available by text or phone if needed.
Happy November Y’all (wow, already?!), I hope you enjoyed the long weekend and that Conversations were fantastic! Please take a moment to reach out to any family (families) that either did not sign up for a Conversation or didn’t make it to the one they did sign up for.
A few notes to get the week rolling: 1) Reminder that I am out Monday, Brad will be here to support.
2) New school wide theme: Belonging!
3) New Buddies (until winter break): K/4, 1/3, 2/5
4) Student Success Meetings on Wednesday, Brad will cover your classes: 8:15-8:45 Ray 8:45-9:15 Lindsey 9:45-10:15 Amanda 10:15-10:45 Lauren 11:40-12:10 Brian 12:10-12:40 Frans
I shared the SSM folder with you last week–here’s the link in case you need it. Prep forms should be ready to go for the meetings on Wednesday.
5) Cafe Amity on Wednesday hosted by Grade 3
6) Reminder that Bias Lessons need to be completed by November 15. Please email when you are done. To date, I have received only 1 email.
7) Pledge sheets for Jammie Jam are going home Monday with a return date of November 13 (day before Jammie Jam). Please include something in communications with parents. Thanks!
Lastly, I will be sending the following letter to parents on Monday. I am concerned about what things may look like post election and I am appealing to parents in hopes they can be supportive. Following the 2016 election (we were not at school in 2020) there were some uncomfortable moments at school (during celebrations–ugh!), and I’d like to try and keep the school free from the nasty political rhetoric that has been so ubiquitous. I would like us to consider more targeted celebrations on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday at Community Time to avoid unnecessary controversy.
Amity Families, Tomorrow, as it is every 4 years, is a significant day for our country. The outcome of every election plays a crucial role in shaping the policies and decisions that directly impact all of us, and tomorrow’s election is no different.
The recent election season has unquestionably been a polarizing one, and it has certainly created some uncertainty and unease within our community at large. However, I firmly believe that by working together, we can navigate the post-election period with a high degree of integrity and respect.
With the election coming tomorrow, I am kindly requesting your assistance in fostering a positive and inclusive environment for all of our students and families. Your support in promoting understanding and respect, regardless of political affiliation, will be instrumental in helping our school community remain free from the strong political emotions and rhetoric that have been present in our community and around the country. As we know, children tend to repeat what they hear at home, so your words in the coming days and weeks will make a big difference. Whether we agree or disagree about our political choices, the one thing I think we all agree on is that we want the best for our children. Let’s all strive to be our best selves regardless of the outcome of the election, and continue to show our children what a respectful and healthy community looks like.
Happy Monday All! I hope you an amazing weekend and that you’re feeling good heading into Conversations this week! These parent connections are so vital and I know more often than not you generally feel really positive coming out of these meetings. Enjoy the connection time!
Important note: I want to share a little information about one of our Kinders, Mabel. She has a condition called anteversion. In common terms anteversion means “leaning forward”, and it refers to a condition in which the femur rotates inward, causing the knees and feet to point inward as well. This is also known as intoeing or being “pigeon-toed”. As a result of this she is prone to falling which has occurred on a number of occasions already this year. She is receiving physical therapy support to help her balance and strength, but this is going to be an ongoing issue for her (and may result in a corrective surgery at some point). Mabel is a very active kiddo and loves to run and play at recess time, and she is actively involved in Running Club. She tends to get more tired in the afternoon and it increases the risk of her falling. On playground duty and around school if you do see her fall please attend to her as quickly as possible to be sure she is ok and then please report the fall to me–we are trying to track how often she falls and she is not yet self-reporting. Thanks for keeping an eye on her!
A few notes for the short week: 1) New school-wide theme for November: Belonging!
2) New Buddies start this week (until December 20): K/4, 1/3, 2/5
3) Please remember to email me when once you have completed the Bias lessons (by November 15). Thanks!
3) Safe Schools trainings (on line videos) are supposed to be completed by October 31. You can find these in your UKG. I’m still frantically working on mine!
4) I wanted to share this note from the tech department regarding Youtube access: YouTube Access for K-8 Students – Trial of “Allow List” Solution. As you know, we are currently blocking all YouTube content for students in grades K-8. Starting next week, we will be implementing a trial of an “allow list” solution, which will enable students to access a curated set of videos. At present, nearly 1,000 YouTube videos necessary for the SchoolLinks curriculum have been added to this allow list.
Why is this important? If this trial proves successful, we can explore expanding the allow list to include additional teacher-requested YouTube content.
We understand that limiting access to non-essential YouTube content remains a high priority for our staff, and this allow list solution is designed to support that goal without diverting from it.
5) I’ll be out starting Wednesday and will return next Tuesday. Brad will be here Monday. Raquel will lock up on Tuesday and Wednesday night.
6) Reminder that Jammie Jam is November 14th in the afternoon, kids will be invited to wear their jammies to school. We’ll be sending pledge information home on November 4.
7) Just future FYI, Grade 1 is making Stone Soup on November 21 and 22 and will be using the staff room off and on during that time.
Hello! Harvest Festival was a huge success, lots of fun had by all! Thanks to those of you who were able to attend.
It was a busy but super fun week last week with our visiting artist and Sudarshan. You’ll see some of the paintings that the kids did lining the hallway and we’ll get the rest out early this week.
A few notes to get you rolling: 1) First, and most importantly, Patti is out all this week. Kelli will be here covering for her.
2) Fire Drill on Tuesday at 9am.
3) Teacher Collaboration Meetings on Tuesday this week. K-2 please meet in Grade 2, 3-5 please meet in Grade 4. Be on the look out for an email to guide your conversations on Tuesday.
4) SIW this week is a Teacher Work Day.
5) Student Success Meetings will be on Wednesday, November 6. I’ll send out a schedule soon.
6) It’s SLGG time once again. I’ll be sending you your SLGG to upload to UKG soon–be on the lookout. Please upload it as soon as you get it.
7) I sent you information about Bias lessons last week and this a friendly reminder that we want to get these done by November 15. Required Lessons
8) During Harvest Festival they once again sold raffle tickets for the opportunity to throw a pie in my face (0ver $600 raised so far!). We will do this at the end of Community Time on Friday.
9) We’ve set a date for Jammie Jam–please put November 14 on your calendar. We’ll do this in the last block of the day with K-2 doing the first 30 minutes and 3-5 doing the last 30 minutes (no Invitations, Frans/Lauren we’ll figure something out for Grade 3 PE). Kiddos will also wear PJs to school that day (earned by collecting enough coins at Harvest Festival 😉).
10) Amity Eats (fundraiser) this Thursday at Pastini. I’ll be sending a reminder to parents but it would be great if you could include in communications with parents this week. Thanks!
11) Lastly, but super important–we’re at that time of year when we need to remind kiddos to grab their jackets on the way out to lunch. Having to walk with a kiddo to get their jacket out of their classroom during lunch recess is a big hassle, especially now with their only being 3 of us on the playground. Your support with this is greatly appreciated!
I’ll be sending the following out to parents to introduce Libby to the community, just thought it would great to share with you, too:
Here’s to a great week ahead! Andy
PS: Yes, I know the formatting on the calendars is a little wonky–it’s not how it looks when I create it but it gets wonky in translation.
October
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Sept 3o
1
2 –DIBELS Cafe Amity, Gr5
3 EL Sancho lunchAmity Eats @ El Sancho
4-School Pictures
7 -Scholastic Book FairGr 4 Tumalo Falls
8-Scholastic Book FairGr 5 Dillion Falls to SloughStaff Meeting
9-Scholastic Book Fair Educator Network
10-Scholastic Book Fair Gr 3 Metolius
11-Scholastic Book FairGr 2 Fall River Bread and Jam
Hello! I hope you had an amazing weekend and that you are feeling healthy–so much going around right now! I got up to Lava Lake for an amazing afternoon on Saturday…I love the Fall!
A BIG welcome to Libby who finally gets to start today!
A few notes to get you rolling: 1) Grade 5 is off to Tamarack Mon-Wed!
2) We have visiting artist Sarah Swoffer here Tuesday and Friday during Enrichment. If you haven’t reached out for parent volunteers please do so! Frans and Ray please remember you are switching this week so use the new time when requesting support from parents.
3) We also have Sudarshan visiting this week from India! He will be doing story telling workshops with Grades 2, 3, and 4. He’s also planning on doing something fun with Kinders and Grade 1 on Friday (9:45-10:45). If all goes well, we’ll get to see a couple of kiddos telling their stories at Community Time on Friday!
4)Harvest Festival is this Saturday! Planning is moving along quite well and we just need a few more volunteers to sign up. I’ll continue to update parents.
5) SIW this week is a follow up to last week’s Educator Network Day. You will have planning time for EL!
6) Cafe Amity this week, Grade 4 is hosting.
7) It’s that time of year we need to go over bias and bias incidents with students. Be on the lookout for en email from me on Tuesday.
8) When you have volunteers for field trips please let Patti know who the volunteers are–we need to be sure they have been background checked for volunteering.
9) Conversations are coming soon, please be sure to get your sign up link out sooner than later. Remember, families leave town since it’s a 5 day weekend, so let’s get them signed up soon!
Looking very forward to this week! Andy
October
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Sept 3o
1
2 –DIBELS Cafe Amity, Gr5
3 EL Sancho lunchAmity Eats @ El Sancho
4-School Pictures
7 -Scholastic Book FairGr 4 Tumalo Falls
8-Scholastic Book FairGr 5 Dillion Falls to SloughStaff Meeting
9-Scholastic Book FairEducator Network
10-Scholastic Book FairGr 3 Metolius
11-Scholastic Book FairGr 2 Fall RiverBread and Jam
Hello Crew, I hope the weekend was fantastic! I had my whole clan, including my mom, in town to celebrate birthdays for my two youngest grandkids born a day apart (plus 3 years). A great weekend indeed! Here’s Raya and Teo with their cousin Aurelia who just turned 4.
A few notes to get you going: 1) Book Fair this week. Here’s info I already shared with you via email on Oct 1: Schedule for each of the grades to preview the book fair & write their wish lists on Monday, 7th October: 8:15-8:35 Fourth Grade 8:35-8:55 First Grade 8:55-9:15 Second Grade 9:45-10:05 Third Grade 10:05-10:25 Kindergarten 10:25-10:45 Fifth Grade
After CT schedule for the week—please note your time: –Tuesday, 8th October, after Community Time for 30 minutes: Grades 2 and 4 are invited to shop the book fair –Wednesday, 9th October, after Community Time for 30 minutes: Kindergarten and 1st grade are invited to shop the book fair –Thursday, 10th October, after Community Time for 30 minutes, Grades 3 and 5 are invited to shop the book fair –Friday, 11th October, after Community Time for 30 minutes, anyone who was not able to attend earlier in the week is invited to shop the book fair
Last year, we invited teachers to shop for their classrooms when school opened on Tuesday morning, but few showed up. Teachers can create their wish list on Tuesday morning (before school starts) of you can shop during first Choice Time on Monday 7th October. You can grab any books you’d like, and Angela. can check them out using the Scholastic Dollars that the school has already accrued to get free books for their classroom libraries. (Is there a specific teacher that might also like to shop for books to add to the school library in the hallway?) You could also shop during your class’s preview that day, or Angela is open to other suggestions, but we have over $2600 credit going into this fair, so you are STRONGLY encouraged to get lots of books for your classrooms!
Alternatively, you can shop directly online at this site: https://bookfairrewards.scholastic.com/. You can add any books you want to your individual Wish lists, which have already been set up for you, then Patti or Angela can approve the purchase. Teachers should have received a reminder email from Scholastic with their individual links 2 weeks ago.
2) Outdoor Education trips this week for Grades 2/3/4/5, please make sure you have permission slips signed!
4) Conversations are coming up in a few weeks. A few quick notes: *Be sure to get info out to parents sooner than later as many of them will likely be leaving town as it will be a 5 day weekend. *The district-wide expectations for Conversations are as follows: ~Tues, Oct 29, 3:15 to 7:15pm ~Wed, Oct 30, 3:15-7:15pm (the rest of the day is a teacher work day) ~Thurs, Oct 31, 7:15-3:15pm
If you choose to use your teacher work time on Wednesday to do some (or many) of your Conversations you can alter your schedule accordingly. It’s important that, at a minimum, you offer several evening times for parents who are not able to take off work.
School-wide Theme: Community (soon to change to Problem Solving)
Morning All! I hope you enjoyed the amazing weekend. We had a super busy week last week and I’m hopeful you can better settle into routines this week with less interruptions.
A few notes to get you going: 1) FOA is treating us all to lunch this Thursday, October 3. El Sancho!
2) We kick off Cafe Amity this week, coordinated by Gina (thank you Gina!!!). Grade 5 hosts. Cafe will be from 7:25 to 7:45am. I’ll do my very best to get everyone into Community Time as quickly as possible.
3) DIBELS on Wednesday morning.
4) SIW this week is site based. We’ll meet for a few minutes to gather info about your daily schedules, discuss the new school wide theme for the month (Problem Solving), and then you’ll have the rest of the time to continue to dive into EL planning.
5) Picture Day is this Friday!
6) Book Fair is next week, look for a detailed email coming Tuesday. Please read it all the way through and let me know if there are concerns about the plan.
7) Our first visiting artist, Sarah Swoffer, who created the portrait project last year will be here October 15 and 18. Like last year she’ll be working with students during their enrichment time.
8) Amity Eats, our dine out for Amity program, kicks off this week. This doesn’t impact the school day as all the events are in the evening. Information will be going out to families today. Just so you know, October 3 is at El Sancho, October 24 is at Pastini’s, and November 21 is MOD Pizza.
9) Harvest Festival is Saturday, October 19th. As always you are invited to join in the fun, but it is not required. Please be sure to include the date in your weekly communications with parents. Of course I’ll be sending out info as well, especially to recruit volunteers. Thanks!
