2 December, 2004

I hope you all had a very happy Thanksgiving with your families.  It was very good to see the children again on Monday and school is in full swing again.  The holiday is only a memory now!

This Friday we have Art Studios again.  The studios being offered include: Weaving, Clay, Napkin holders, Art for Others, Glass Windows, Perspective, Art you can Wear on your Head, Painted and Pieced Mosaics, Two View Op Art, Friendship Bracelets, Still Life with Cooking, Container Art, Create your own Stuffed Creature, Wooden Tray Decoupage, and Unusual Personal Books.  Each child in the school has selected their top three choices and we have assigned them to one of these studios.  The Art Studios are taught by teachers, EA’s and parents and each studio has approximately 7 children in it.  If you are ever interested in teaching a studio please contact Nancy or Caroline.   This is a very fun way to be involved in the school and to also share your passion with children of mixed ages.

Special Person’s Day is next Tuesday, 7th December.  All of the Grandparents on our files have been sent invitations and we have already received a number of replies.  If you did not send us your child’s grandparents/Special person’s addresses it is not too late to invite them.  We will include an invitation with this newsletter.  We request that your child’s guest call us and let us know they are coming.  We are combining this day with our Annual Community Coffee and inviting our Castle Rock neighbors to the school in the afternoon.  So, we expect it will be busy at school next Tuesday!  Here is what the schedule will look like for the day. 

<>9:30am – 11:00am      Coffee and Cookies in the Gym Café
12:30am – 2:00pm       Coffee and Cookies in the Gym Café

Musical performances at 9:30 and 12:30 (approximately)

Throughout the morning and afternoon our children will greet and serve their guests.  Guests are welcome to visit classrooms and tour the school.  We ask that guests avoid the lunch hour from 11:00am – 12:30pm as this time is very noisy and busy at school.

COLD WEATHER REMINDERS!

            Now that winter is truly upon us there are a few things we would like to remind you of:

  • Our children go outside every day so PLEASE send warm clothing, hats, gloves, boots and scarves.  Help us also by labeling your child’s clothing!
  • We know it is a little harder to get out of bed on these chilly mornings but we need to remind families that school starts at 8:20am.  The bus arrives at about 8:15am and all of our classes get started on their morning meetings or morning routine by 8:30am at the latest.  We are noticing that some children are wandering into school at 8:40am, 8:50am or even later.  In order for your child to get a good start to their day they need to arrive by 8:20am.  It is very difficult for children to feel a real part of their classroom if they are missing morning meeting or other important morning routines.                                      
  • We are asking parents to park their cars on the road in the morning rather than in the parking lot.  We have very limited space and want to save that for our teachers.  We have a staff this year of 21 so we need all the spaces that we can have.  Please help us by parking on the street for the short time you are here.   If you are here to volunteer and there is a spot left in the parking lot feel free to take it.  Please park wisely, taking the next available place and not leaving big gaps between cars.  Thank you for your help here!

You may have noticed the article about the Northfield School District’s funding woes in the Northfield News and the implication that the charter schools in town have contributed to this situation.  As you can imagine my Irish feisty nature was aroused, which is not always a good thing!   Conversations with our Special Education Director, Cecelia Dodge, proved very helpful and Cecelia has crafted a letter to the News and to the Northfield School Board addressing the allegations in the articles.   This will be the official response from us on the matter.  I plan to meet with Dr. Richardson soon and will address this issue at that time.  As this is the year that we will have our contract renewed by the District it is important that we express our concerns respectfully and well.  I think you will agree, when you see the letters, that this is the case.  I will put copies of them on our parent table for anyone who wishes to read them.