Category: Uncategorized

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.

Here’s to a great week ahead!
Andy

November

Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
4 Andy out, Brad cover	5 Election…	6 Cafe Amity, Gr 3	7	8
11 Veteran’s Day NO SCHOOL	12	13 BINGO Night 5:30-7pm	14 Jammie Jam (afternoon)	15 Dental Screening Bread/Jam
18 	19 Picture retakes	20 Cafe Amity, Gr 2	21 Fire drill, 10:35am Gr 1 Stone Soup	22 Gr 1 Stone Soup
25 Break!	26 Break!	27 Break!	28 Break!	29 Break! 

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
14 Gr 5 Tamarack	15 Visiting Artist, K-2 G5 Tamarack	16 Cafe Amity-Gr 4 G5 Tamarack	17	18 Visiting Artist, 3-5 (Harvest Fest on 19th)
21	22-Fire/ Earthquake Drill, 9am	23	24 Amity Eats, Pastini	25-Bread and Jam
28	29 Conversations (3:15-7:15)	30 Conversations (3:15-7:15)	31 Conversations (7:15-3:15)	Nov 1 NO School

November

Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
4 Andy out, Brad cover	5 Election…	6 Cafe Amity, Gr 3	7	8
11 Veteran’s Day NO SCHOOL	12	13 BINGO Night	14 Jammie Jam	15 Dental Screening Bread/Jam
18 	19 Picture retakes	20 Cafe Amity, Gr 2 	21 Fire drill, 10:35am	22
25 Break!	26 Break!	27 Break!	28 Break!	29 Break! 

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
14 Gr 5 Tamarack	15 Visiting Artist, K-2 G5 Tamarack	16 Cafe Amity-Gr 4 G5 Tamarack	17	18 Visiting Artist, 3-5 (Harvest Fest on 19th)
21	22-Fire/ Earthquake Drill, 9am	23	24	25-Bread and Jam
28	29 Conversations (3:15-7:15)	30 Conversations (3:15-7:15)	31 Conversations (7:15-3:15)	Nov 1 NO School

November

Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
4 Andy out, Brad cover	5 Election…	6 Cafe Amity, Gr 3	7	8
11	12	13 BINGO Night	14	15 Dental Screening Bread/Jam
18	19 Picture retakes	20 Cafe Amity, Gr 2	21 Fire drill, 10:35am	22
25 Break!	26 Break!	27 Break!	28 Break!	29 Break!

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!

3) Our new counselor, Libby, starts next Monday.

4) Harvest Festival is Saturday, October 19. I’ve sent several notes to parents with a link to volunteer. It would be great if you could include this in your weekly communications as well. Here’s the link: Harvest Festival 2024 or here is the link without a hyperlink: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1vbvuUMQaFgYgBX8V4BVXLTivzM6kQtWDMmNiIto0usY/edit

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.

5) Bread and Jam this Friday after school!

Here’s to a great week ahead!
Andy

October

Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
Sept 3o	1	2 –DIBELS Cafe Amity, Gr5	3 EL Sancho lunch Amity Eats @ El Sancho	4-School Pictures
7 -Scholastic Book Fair Gr 4 Tumalo Falls	8-Scholastic Book Fair Gr 5 Dillion Falls to Slough Staff Meeting	9-Scholastic Book Fair Educator Network	10-Scholastic Book Fair Gr 3 Metolius	11-Scholastic Book Fair Gr 2 Fall River Bread and Jam
14 – Gr 5 Tamarack	15-Visiting Artist, K-2 G5 Tamarack	16-Cafe Amity, Gr 4 G5 Tamarack	17	18-Visiting Artist, 3-5 (Harvest Fest on 19th)
21	22-Fire/ Earthquake Drill, 9am	23	24	25-Bread and Jam
28	29 Conversations (3:15-7:15)	30 Conversations (3:15-7:15)	31 Conversations (7:15-3:15)	Nov 1 NO School

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!

Here’s to a great week ahead!
Andy

October

Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
Sept 3o	1	2 –DIBELS Cafe Amity, Gr5	3 EL Sancho lunch Amity Eats @ El Sancho	4-School Pictures
7 -Scholastic Book Fair Gr 4 Tumalo Falls	8-Scholastic Book Fair Gr 5 Dillion Falls to Slough	9-Scholastic Book Fair	10-Scholastic Book Fair Gr 3 Metolius	11-Scholastic Book Fair Gr 2 Fall River Bread and Jam
14 -Gr 5 Tamarack	15-Visiting Artist, K-2 G5 Tamarack	16-Cafe Amity, Gr 4 G5 Tamarack	17	18-Visiting Artist, 3-5 (Harvest Fest on 19th)
21	22-Fire/ Earthquake Drill, 9am	23	24	25-Bread and Jam
28	29 Conversations (4-8)	30 Conversations	31 Conversations	Nov 1 NO School

School-wide Theme: Community!

It’s Week 4…wowza! The first 3 weeks were amazing and it feels like we are off to one of the best starts in years!

Not much to share from my weekend, I spent most of the time resting and trying to get healthy. I hope you had a lot more fun than I did!

Running Club is back, and such a fun community builder!

A few notes to get you going, another busy week:
1) Camp Amity on Monday and Tuesday! Busses will be her between 9 and 9:30am.

2) NO Invitations Monday as we’ll just be getting back from Camp.

3) SIW this week is site based and will include some Teacher Collaboration Time. 1:15pm in Brian’s room.

4) Pancake Breakfast on Friday starting at 7am. Please come earlier if you are able to help prep everything. Community Time will be a little on the later side since we have to get cleaned up–we’ll do this as quickly as possible. We’ll need to get tables folded up and cook stations put away so let’s do a morning recess in between.

5) Friendly reminder about Community Jobs:
*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

6) IMPORTANT: Lockdown Drill this Thursday at 9am. Remember it’s “Locks, Lights, Out of sight”. Door must be locked, lights must be off, and students must be out of sight. As we have done every year, this is something you must practice ahead of time. Have the kids practice being out of sight and then stand outside your classroom looking in and see if they are in fact out of sight. Communication is going out to parents first thing this week, see below:

Hello Creeker Families,
We will be conducting a Lockdown Drill this Thursday morning.  Lockdown drills prepare our students and staff for unexpected situations that may arise, such as unwanted guests or other safety threats. These drills help everyone understand the protocols to follow, and by practicing we minimize confusion and promote calmness. Additionally, drills foster a sense of security among students, knowing that we are prepared and can respond effectively when needed. 

We use the phrase “Locks, Lights, Out of sight” during this drill—locking the door, turning off lights, and having a place in the classroom that is out of sight of the classroom door window.  Each classroom has designated a space for this situation and teachers will review this with students. We emphasize that we practice lockdown drills just like we practice earthquake and fire drills at school so that we know exactly what to do to stay safe in an emergency. 

In terms of explaining why we do lockdown drills teachers will frame the discussion around the possibility that we may have an unwanted visitor in the building who hasn’t signed in and we want to clear the hallways and find a secure place to wait while we locate the person and remove them from the building.  I want to emphasize that this is not an “active shooter drill” nor do we discuss school shootings as part of this drill.  For most children in Grades 1-5 this is not something new, they have done lockdown drills each year they have been at school.  For our Kindergarten students this is likely something new and they may have more questions than older students. Below are some talking points that you may want to share with your child:
*Prepare your children by setting expectations. You know your child best and your guidance will help them. Let them know that school is a safe place and that part of the job of teachers and school staff is to practice safety skills. “Just like you practice fire drills at school, you also practice lockdown drills so that you know exactly what to do to stay safe in an emergency.”

*Let your child know the school made you aware that there was a lockdown drill scheduled for this week. Children feel safer when they know that families and schools are working together.

*Let your child know that schools perform lockdown drills each year and that they are announced as a drill.

*Make connections to safety habits you already practice. Explain that the lockdown drill is another safety habit just like the many safety habits you do on a regular basis; for example, wearing seatbelts and bike helmets. Though it may not be new to your child, the lockdown drill will be best learned through practicing.

*Follow your child’s lead. If they seem worried or uncomfortable, help them to identify their feelings and talk with them about ways of handling them. For example, taking a few deep breaths, reminding themselves the drill will end soon, asking the teacher for help, or staying close to a friend.

*Consider your child’s unique needs. If you are concerned about how your child will handle the lockdown drill, reach out to us and partner with your child’s teacher to address your concerns.

*Ask if they would like to talk about it and let their comments guide you. Children process events in many ways. Some children would prefer not to talk about it, which is okay, too. Some children may simply want to spend some together in a shared activity with few words. Young children often process through their play.  If they share that they felt okay about the drill, reinforce that the purpose of the drill is to keep them safe by knowing what to do.  If they share that they felt scared, sad, or nervous, acknowledge the feeling while directing the student towards positive coping skills. “Yes, sometimes we all have scary feelings. What helps you to feel safer when you are scared?” Some things that may help them feel safer might include knowing their teacher is there with them, or knowing they have responded in a way that will keep them safe. You can also share a time when you felt scared and what helped you get through it.

*Maintain routines. Following your typical home routines helps everyone feel calm and safe. Most children, when confronted with challenging feelings, will feel better with the passage of time and returning to their familiar routines.

If at any point you have concerns and would like to follow up with the school, please reach out. All of us at school are here to support your child and you!

September

Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
		4-First Day, dismissal at 2:15pm	5	6
9	10	11-SIW-EL, short check-in	12-Fire Drill, 9am	13
16-Bus evacuation drill, 9am *In house ICCL, 2:30	17-Staff Meeting, 2:30-3:15pm	18-SIW: TWD Back to School Night-5:30pm	19-Lion’s Vision Screen, 8:30	20
23-Camp Amity	24-Camp Amity	25-SIW/TCT	26 Lockdown, 9am	27-Pancake Breakfast, 7-8am
30

October

Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
	1	2 -DIBELS Cafe Amity, Gr5	3	4-School Pictures
7 -Scholastic Book Fair Gr 4 Tumalo Falls	8-Scholastic Book Fair Gr 5 Dillion Falls to Slough	9-Scholastic Book Fair	10-Scholastic Book Fair Gr 3 Metolius	11-Scholastic Book Fair Gr 2 Fall River Bread and Jam
14 -Gr 5 Tamarack	15-Visiting Artist, K-2 G5 Tamarack	16-Cafe Amity, Gr 4 G5 Tamarack	17	18-Visiting Artist, 3-5 (Harvest Fest on 19th)
21	22-Fire/ Earthquake Drill, 9am	23	24	25-Bread and Jam
28	29 Conversations (4-8)	30 Conversations	31 Conversations	Nov 1 NO School

Hey Y’all,
It’s week 3 already! The first two weeks were really fantastic and the community vibe is quite amazing. Thanks again for all the love and energy you put into welcoming kiddos and families back to school!

I had a great weekend with lots of good social time with family and friends. Saturday included a BBQ with these two…(that’s Lola, one of our new 3rd graders–she’s awesome!)

I hope you had a great weekend, too!

A few notes to get you rolling:
1) Bus Evacuation drill today at 9am–busses will be parked along Broadway! Usually takes 20(ish) minutes in all.

2) Back to School Night is this Wednesday, September 18.
5:30-6:10 in classrooms. 40 minutes, gotta be efficient with your time–focus on what’s most important/what parents most want to hear about.
6:15-6:30 in the gym to sign up for volunteer opportunities. Please make sure that parents are in the gym by 6:15pm.

Here are the Back to School Slides if you are interested. Childcare will be provided on the playground for school age children–thank you Karima and Diane!

3) Staff meeting on Tuesday starting at 2:30pm in the usual spot. Add to the agenda here: Staff Meeting Agenda. Who would like to volunteer to lead a quick warm up?

4) SIW is Teacher Directed this week–enjoy the time!

5) Vision Screening on Thursday-all grades. This usually goes fairly quickly. We’ll start at 8:30am.

6) New Buddies start this week until October 25. Pairings: K/5, 1/4, 2/3

7) We have our annual Lockdown Drill next week. I’ll be sending information out to you and to parents soon in preparation of the drill. Please be on the lookout.

8) Camp Amity next week, Monday and Tuesday! Make sure you have all permission slips in.

Here’s to a great week ahead! 
Andy

September

Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
		4-First Day, dismissal at 2:15pm	5	6
9	10	11-SIW-EL, short check-in	12-Fire Drill, 9am	13
16-Bus evacuation drill, 9am *In house ICCL, 2:30	17-Staff Meeting, 2:30-3:15pm	18-SIW: TWD Back to School Night-5:30pm	19-Lion’s Vision Screen, 8:30	20
23-Camp Amity	24-Camp Amity	25-SIW/TCT	26 Lockdown, 9am	27-Pancake Breakfast, 7-8am
30

October

Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
	1	2 -DIBELS Cafe Amity, Gr5	3	4-School Pictures
7 -Scholastic Book Fair Gr 4 Tumalo Falls	8-Scholastic Book Fair Gr 5 Dillion Falls to Slough	9-Scholastic Book Fair	10-Scholastic Book Fair Gr 3 Metolius	11-Scholastic Book Fair Gr 2 Fall River Bread and Jam
14 -Gr 5 Tamarack	15-Visiting Artist, K-2 G5 Tamarack	16-Cafe Amity, Gr 4 G5 Tamarack	17	18-Visiting Artist, 3-5 (Harvest Fest on 19th)
21	22-Fire/ Earthquake Drill, 9am	23	24	25-Bread and Jam
28	29 Conversations (4-8)	30 Conversations	31 Conversations	Nov 1 NO School

School-wide Theme: Community

What an incredible first week! Thanks for all the energy and love that goes into making the first week so special! Y’all nailed it! Week 2 brings Monday Community Time back, Invitations, PE, and Enrichment–should be a very fun week!

At the retreat you all shared a goal that you have for this year. I want to share my goal that entails being able to answer the following 3 questions every day. Please help keep me honest in my daily assessment by letting me know when I don’t appear to be on the right track!
1) Who most needs my support today–children and adults?
2) How can I best support those in need today?
3) Am I leading with kindness, enthusiasm, and integrity; and, would I want to be under my leadership?

A few notes to get you rolling:
1) Monday Community Time is back (Mindful Monday) starting this week! As a reminder, we’re shooting for short and sweet when possible. Birthdays, celebrations (or touching on the monthly theme when there are no birthdays), and a song or mindful movement. Gina has generously volunteered to lead the mindful portion this week.

2) PE and Enrichment start this week. Please remember to escort your kiddos, it really helps with setting the tone and getting them off to a good start.

PE reminders: Please be sure students have their water bottles!

4) Invitations start today! I know you usually sign up at lunch but if you want to get a head start here’s the doc: Invitations 24-25

5) SIW this week is School-based. I’m setting this time aside for you to work on EL. I’d like to have a very short check-in meeting stating at 1pm and then the rest of the time is yours to dig deeper into EL, share resources that you are discovering, and get some of the planning and prep done.

6) Fire Drill on Thursday, 9am. Please make sure you have your class list, first aid, and Emergency booklet (red/green) ready to go.

7) Just getting this on your radar and making sure it works–Family Bingo Night on November 13 from 5:30-7pm. Brown bag dinner (or FOA pizza) from 5:30-6, then Bingo from 6-7pm.

8) Inside pick up begins this week:
Monday-Kinder and Grade 1
Tuesday-Grades 3 and 5
Wednesday-ALL outside
Thursday-Grades 2 and 4
Friday-ALL outside

9) Fall Outdoor Ed Trip Dates–Darek will reach out soon Patti is working on bus requests:
Oct 7: Grade 4
Oct. 8: Grade 5
Oct. 10: Grade 3
Oct. 11: Grade 2

10) Creeker alumni Callie Thomas is considering a career in education and wants to see what it’s all about this year (her senior year!). She’s aiming to be here every week on her Silver Days (Summit High). Her first day will be this Monday (originally was going to be Thursday but she contacted us over the weekend). She has a good friend, Kenna, who is also planning to join her but will be in a different classroom. Callie is thinking Grades 3-5, Kenna is interested in the Youngers. Please put them to work! Thanks for welcoming them and showing them what an amazing profession education is.

11) Back to School Night is next Wednesday, September 18. 5:30-6:10 in classrooms, 6:15-6:30 in the gym to sign up for volunteer opportunities. The K-2 team has been keen to have a sample agenda and some slides to create a presentation. Sara got this one started, please feel free to use it if it will be helpful. Thank you Sara! Back to School Slides

Here’s to a great 2nd week!
Andy

September Calendar

Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
		4-First Day, dismissal at 2:15pm	5	6
9	10	11-SIW-EL, short check-in	12-Fire Drill, 9am	13
16-Bus evacuation drill, 9am *In house ICCL, 2:30	17-Staff Meeting, 2:30-3:15pm	18-SIW: TWD Back to School Night-5:30pm	19-Lion’s Vision Screen, 8:30	20
23-Camp Amity	24-Camp Amity	25-SIW/TCT	26 Lockdown, 9am	27-Pancake Breakfast, 7-8am
30

It’s the first week! I always love the start of the school, so much promise lies ahead! A big thanks for the retreat last week, it felt so great to connect about some really important things at the heart of what we do!

A few notes to get you going these first 3 days:

*School-wide theme: Community…what else could it possibly be?!

1) Be sure you are up to date on the First Two Weeks

2) We will have Community Time on the first day at 8:45am. Prior to bringing your students down please spend a few minutes (if you can!) setting expectations. Last week we talked about the importance of focussing on this– let’s start with the following traits of good audience members (this can also easily transfer to outside performers/experts who come to school). Asking your class what makes a good audience member would be a great way to start the conversation, and they will likely nail every one of these!

Good audience members:
*Sit next to people they feel will also be good audience members
*Quietly listen when the hosts/performers are speaking, singing, or performing
*Let the hosts/performers know they appreciate their efforts by clapping and cheering when they are finished
*Politely ask their neighbors to be quiet if needed
*Leave their snacks and any toys in their classrooms

3) CT on Thursday this week will be hosted by K-2 teachers, on Friday by 3-5 teachers. Let’s set the tone by starting at 7:45am!

4) Please review Playground guidelines!

5) Reminder about our conversation regarding Choice Time: Students can stay in but must be in a classroom (more often than not, Frans’ room)

6) Here is the after school in-class pick up rotation for this year
Mondays: Kinder and Grade 1 families 
Tuesdays: Grades 3 and 5
Wednesdays: ALL outside 
Thursdays: Grades 2 and 4 families
Friday: ALL outside (Bread and Jam every other week–coming soon!)

Note: Kinder and Grade 1 families will do inside pick up every day the first week.

7) I sent you all an email about how we will approach gate duty–please read it!

8) Attendance: EAs will continue to take care of this each morning. Karima will do Kinder/Grade 5/Grade 4, Diane will do Grades 1/2/3. Please help them provide reasons for absences if you are in the know. Eventhough lunch is free we will still take a count every day. Thanks!

9) Afternoon duty help needed first day! Normally we don’t have afternoon Choice Time on Wednesdays, but we do on the first day. Since no one is assigned to duty on Wednesdays I kindly request that everyone try to be out on duty the first day–you’ll probably need the break and some fresh air! As a reminder, here’s the duty rotation–be sure to grab a vest and fanny pack, and have your keys and phone:K-2 Teachers (including Lauren) on Mondays and Thursdays, 3-5 Teachers and Haley on Tuesdays and Fridays.

10) Classroom agreements: Please make time this week to create classroom agreements with your classes, and find ways to tie it to Taking Care of Self/Others/Place.

11) As a reminder, Specials (Enrichment, PE) and Invitations start next week.

12) You will be provided with some paper work for each student to take home on the first day (including a Camp Amity permission slip). Please be sure it goes home and that you let parents know to expect it and to sign and return forms ASAP. Please collect and track the Camp Amity permission slips as they come in, and keep them in the folder. Please also collect all other forms and pass them along to Patti and she will track them.

13) Just FYI, a message about birthday treats went home to parents last week. It outlines the decision we made last year to discontinue treats in favor of other, more lasting ways of celebrating.

14) Speaking of treats…we’ll get Cafe Amity and Bread and Jam up and running in the next few weeks.

September Calendar
As requested, here’s my first shot of including a calendar in my posts. I’m sure it will evolve, let’s see how it goes!

Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
		4-First Day, dismissal at 2:15pm	5	6
9	10	11-SIW	12-Fire Drill, 9am	13
16-Bus evacuation drill, 9am In house ICCL, 2:30	17-Staff Meeting, 2:30-3:15pm	18-SIW: TWD Back to School Night-5:30pm	19-Lion’s Vision Screen, 8:30	20
23-Camp Amity	24-Camp Amity	25-SIW/TCT	26 Lockdown, 9am	27-Pancake Breakfast, 7-8am
30

Here we go–let’s have an amazing, joy-filled year!
Andy

Well, we made it! Time always moves so quickly at the end and so much has happened in the last few weeks of school–thanks for all the fun and celebrations, the community feel has been amazing!

I can’t end the year without sharing my deepest gratitude for all of you. This is a special group of people and I couldn’t feel more fortunate to do the work we do together. The children of Amity are so lucky to have you in their lives, loving them, inspiring them, guiding them, and being there for them in some of their most challenging moments. You are a truly extraordinary, compassionate, funny, silly, inspiring group of people and I am so proud to be a part of this team.

A very few notes to get you going:
1) Invitation Bonanza today. 3 rounds: 9-9:30, 10-10:30, 12-12:30. Be sure you have signed up: Invitations June 17

2) Memory Book signing on Tuesday starting at 10am. A couple notes on this:
*We talked about not using sharpies as they end up making a big mess, and no signing of clothing. Please review expectations prior to signing time, this will help to avoid books being defaced (we’ve struggled with this in recent years!)
*Best to have your own class do their signing of each other’s books prior to the 10am start time.

3) I owe all the classes popsicles on the last day for their stewardship efforts at Aspen Hall–they did a good job cleaning up after themselves. Let’s do this at 12:45pm and then send ’em home.

4) Please let me know when you are done with your Grows and Glows so I can do a quick read through before you print-just another set of eyes looking for anything you may have overlooked. Mostly I’ve been fixing minor formatting things.

5) Let’s meet at BBC at 2:30pm on Tuesday. This will give you a little time to tie up loose ends after school and perhaps keep you from having to come back!

Upcoming
June 17: Invitation Bonanza
June 18: Memory Books from 10-11, popsicles at 12:45, out at 1pm.
June 18: Staff gathering at BBC, 2:30pm

Here’s to a great last 2 days!
Andy