…Celebrating our 10^th year of operation…

August 2009

Greetings, Parents!

I hope that you have all soaked in the benefits of long warm summer days and soothing, restful nights. We look forward to seeing you and your children in just about three weeks.

As the staff gears up for their preparation in-service days in just two weeks, we are in a celebratory mood. This is the School’s tenth year of operation! What started as a dream for a few teachers, children and their families a little over nine years ago is now a full-fledged K – 8 School!  Congratulations to those dreamers and all who followed them! We look forward to celebrating our success with all of you during the coming year.

This summer has presented a unique set of challenges, not the least of which has been how to respond to the fire that devastated one wing of our shared facilities this past June.

Response to the fire…

The fire that destroyed seven Ridgeline Montessori School classrooms has been both a huge catastrophe for their school and has, at the same time, mobilized their school community in heroic proportions. While the damage to the classroom building has been assessed as a total loss and the building is scheduled for demolition before the start of the school year, the Ridgeline community keeps marching forward with their unfolding, creative and brave plan to keep their school operating at its optimum best.

As a result of the fire, Ridgeline will be splitting their campus between here and the Dunn Center on Willamette Street – compressing their student population into seven classrooms versus the nine they would have had. In our effort to alleviate their dire need for classroom space, we have turned over room 6 in the upper wing to them. This is one of the seven classrooms from which they will deliver their program in 09 – 10. This concession on our part requires relocation of the computer lab and the marimba space. The computer lab will now be located in the back of room 10, behind the Handwork space.  Marimba classes will take place back stage in the cafeteria. Ridgeline’s Lower Elementary classes will now be housed in rooms 6, 7, and 8 in the upper wing.

Other circumstances arising from the fire include the logistics of when the damaged building will be removed. The most recent information is that the demolition crew will be here beginning August 24^th and that the process will take approximately two weeks with completion projected for September 4^th, obviously very close to the first day of school. Due to the potential for toxic exposure, District officials have advised Village and Ridgeline staff to stay away from the facility during the week of August 24^th – 28^th while the building is demolished and removed. We ask that all of you do the same. During the week of August 31 – September 4, the cement slab on which the building stands will be removed. Staff will be allowed back in the building while this part of the demolition is taking place.

District officials have assured us that utmost precautionary measures will be taken to protect our classrooms from toxic exposure during the demolition. There will be constant monitoring of the site by the contractors in charge for any toxic materials that might escape into the air as the building is taken down and removed.

Teacher in-service days…

The teaching staff will be in retreat for most of September 1, 2 and 3^rd off site as they prepare for the start of school the following week. Administrative staff will be in the School offices for regular business ours on Monday, August 31 and Friday, September 4 and parts of Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. If you need to come to the School during that week, please call before you make a trip to be sure the office is open – 345-7285. 

First day of school…

The first day of school is September 9 beginning at 8:30 AM and with early release at 1 PM.

Welcome to our new kindergarten assistant!

We are happy to welcome Erika Danforth to our kindergarten as Sarah Wetzel’s new assistant. Erika comes to us with a Masters Degree and Waldorf Teacher Training certification in Early Childhood Education.

The Fall All School Meeting will take place on Wednesday, September 16^th beginning at 5:30 PM. Refreshments will be served and child care will be provided. The agenda for this meeting will follow that of last year:

§  Announcements from the Administration

§  A report from the Board of Directors (including a progress report on our facilities search)

§  A report from Parent Council

§  School Festival planning information

Following this meeting, at 6:45, there will be class meetings in all grades, K – 8. Your students’ teachers will be waiting in their respective classrooms for you where they will provide you with important information designed to help your family navigate through the coming year.  In planning this event, we realize that many of you have more than one child in the School and will be challenged to attend more than one class meeting. For this reason, teachers have agreed to keep the meetings short and simple, to focus on distributing schedules, calendars, field trip information, etc., and to be willing to repeat information as needed for parents trying to cover more than one class meeting. We expect the evening’s events to end at 7:30 PM.  

Eugene Celebration Parade

“Strange We Can Believe In” – Saturday, September 5^th!

Yup! We’re gonna be there and we’re gonna do our best to be strange. Mark your calendars. Please note that the parade is a week earlier than last year! It normally takes place the Saturday after Labor Day. As usual, the Village School is entered in the parade on Saturday September 5^th. Our entry includes some of the usual elements – the School dragon and the marimba band.  Other elements including our response to this year’s theme are in the works. And there will be free tee-shirts for the first 100 people who show up that morning to march the parade route. This year’s tee-shirts, celebrating our 10^th year of operation and featuring another fabulous example of student art, promise to be a big hit.

Preliminary results of State Assessments…

The Preliminary results of last year’s Oregon Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (OAKS) are in.  Last year was the first time Village School students took the tests on the internet. I am delighted to report that our School not only met the required Average Yearly Progress (AYP), but also appears to have met all the goals we set for continued academic growth across the grades. You will receive more information as soon as the final report is available.

Mayor’s Teen Art Show at Maude Kearns Art Center

We are excited to announce that once again, art work from our upper grade students has been juried into the annual Mayor’s Teen Art Show. The colorful kites created by last year’s 7^th and 8^th graders in commemoration of Dia de los Muertos will be included in this show that begins on September 11 with an opening from 6 to 8 PM. The show will continue through October 2.

Enjoy your last sips of summer! We will see you on September 9^th.

Martha Collins

Administrator