The new school year is upon us and I can’t be more excited to see everyone again and welcome our community/s newcomers. Summer is tremendous for teachers because we can relax and reconnect, but it’s also a time of reflection for us to look at things we did right the previous year and areas where we can improve. I am thrilled to be able to build on last year’s success and lessons learned.
First off, all of you should have received a packet in the mail. Please fill those packets out to the best of your ability by the time of our home visit. It will make the home visit less business like and more to the point, which is for me to establish a strong relationship with your student. If you have any questions about the packet you can call the school.
I have so much to tell you all and my giddiness about the content and activities we have planned are too much to bare. That will come in time and the Back to School Night will be a great time for parents to get a better understanding of what we do at Trillium and what our goals are for the year and beyond.
Megan Klepp and Courtney Brennan have once again agreed to be our parent liasons. They are totally awesome and can usually answer or field parent concerns. Thank you guys for doing the job again. It is so great to have consistency from year to year.
HOME VISITS
Here is the lowdown on the home visits. At the visit I will be talking with your student and will probably do some reading assessment. This is just a starting point for me, but lets me know where everyone is in their indvidual learning process. You can expect me to be there close to an hour.
COMMUNICATION
I am hoping to use a blog as a primary communication tool, but copies of entries will be also put in people’s folders until they tell me this is not necessary. It saves paper to simply post electronically, but if you can’t or don’t want to be connected to your computer screen all the time, you can simply check your folders or my Class Community Board outside the room. But it is important to check these weekly. Megan and Courtney will be developing a class roster and phone list for the parents.
HOMEWORK
Those of you who were with me last year have not yet experienced homework in our classroom. Available homework is a necessary tool for learning and extending the classroom to the home. There will be consistent homework and much of it will involve getting things from home or investigating their world. We will have optional spelling lists and parents will be involved in home science experimentation. There will be a signup in the classroom for parents to sign up for the SCIENCE PACK. Jackie used to use this as a way to integrate science and I think it will be great. Every week a family signs up to take home the pack and choose a science lesson to model on Friday after sharing time. It should be great fun.
FIELD TRIPS
For those of you new to Trillium, not only are we teachers, parents, custodians—we are bus drivers. We like to plan relevant and exciting field trips for our students, but Trillium doesn’t own a bus and PPS won’t let us use theirs. Therefore, we always need parents to drive for field trips. Already, you should be trying to free up all day on September 17th and the morning (early afternoon) of October 2nd. We will be riding on the Mount Hood Railroad and visiting the Bonneville Dam as part of our Pacific Northwest theme.
In order to drive on a field trip we will need your license and insurance information on file. Megan and Courtney will be handling this and will attempt to get as many people certified to drive as possible. If you don’t drive then we will need you as chaperones on MAX/Tri-Met trips. Field trips are usually fun and it is a great way to get to know other students in the class. Please get your information to Megan or Courtney.
VOLUNTEERING
If you want to volunteer before school I could really use the help. I have specific jobs to finish in the classroom. I may not be in the building much over the next two weeks, but that doesn't mean you can't help. If you let me know when you are coming and what you can do then I can prepare for you. Here are some of the things I need done.
Put handrails on loft.
Paint desk, bookshelp
Get shelf from Costco
Clean white shelf and cabinet.
Wash windows including scraping tape.
Apply frosting to garage windows.
Hang new white board.
Run power strip under carpet.
Carpet loft.
Cover new stage with oil cloth
wash dishes
If you are willing to help then comment or email me.
There will also be many ongoing opportunities to volunteer in class. Here are some of the available jobs.
Friday cleaner (could be every other Friday)
Reading Group Leader
Math/Literacy Menu Helper
Copier, Laminator, Stuffer
Photographer
Driver – I love drivers!!!
Recess or Lunch Duty
You could even teach a class during INTENSIVES or in the afternoons during ILP Time.
SNACK
We provide a healthy snack daily for the children. Nephyr Jacobson takes the lead with this attempts to get great snacks that are nutritionally sound, but cost can be difficult. We keep a snack donations folder out so that people can throw in a few bucks if they feel like it, which keeps our costs down. It is not a required fee, but if you can give a little we appreciate it. You can also send your student with their own snack, but please limit the sugar.
ARRIVAL/DISMISSAL
School starts Monday, September 10 at 8:30 am.
Students should be at school and in class no later than 8:30. I understand that students may need to eat their breakfast so there will be a choice/breakfast time until 8:45. At 8:45 class will begin and students should be ready for learning. In the afternoon, students will be dismissed to parents at 3:00. Please try to get your kids on time. If students are still in my room at 3:15 then I will take them to aftercare, which costs you money and stretches our aftercare numbers. If you are going to be late, please call me on my cell phone. Thanks!
I am sure there is a lot more that I need to tell you to be adequately prepared for the year. We are all very excited for the new year. Here is my contact information. You can feel free to contact me whenever.
Billy Menz
201-5550
billy@trilliumcharterschool.org
This blog will be continually updated to help keep everyone up to date on the happenings of the class.
