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Our Community Auction Launches THIS THURSDAY!This year our online Community Auction runs Thursday, April 19th through May 3rd. Please help us spread the word! Tell your friends and family members, forward the school emails, pass out business cards to neighbors, and post it on Facebook and other social net-works.
Typically half of our winning bidders come from outside the school community, and we want to continue to reach out as much as we can. More bidders, means more funds for our children. Each year the online Community Auction provides important revenue that supports our cherished Waldorf programming including handwork, Spanish, practical arts, Eurythmy, and more!
Our tradition of providing a huge selection of high quality, local, artisan, and unique items continues including: • Activities for summer fun, including vaca-tions, movie tickets, passes to museums and shows, summer camps, and canopy tours;• Localgoodieslikeartisancoffee,wine,
and restaurants;• Pamperyourselfwithspavisits,fitnessand yoga packages, and all-natural personal care products.• Or just take care of business by pur-
chasing one of the many practical items or gift cards. Going to CVS, Fircrest, or Safeway soon? Buy a gift card and support our school!
The Community Auction also provides a great way to buy teacher gifts, get ahead of the holiday shopping rush, or celebrate a special anniversary together…all while supporting our school!
Thank you to everyone who has made this year’s auction possible through volunteer work and donations. This annual fundraiser really puts the UNITY in community. Now, let’s do this!
Save the Date!May Faire is this Friday, April 27 at 2pm at Ives Park. We hope you can join us for the festivities! Parents, grandparents and friends are wel-
come! Dismissal is at 3pm at Ives Park with the community picnic until 3:30p. If you are not able to attend, please make arrange-ments for your child to be picked up on-time. We hope to see you there! More details will be emailed closer to the date.
SEBASTOPOLCHARTERNOTES
Upcoming Events Apr 19-May 3: Community AuctionApril 19-20: 8th Gr. Project Presentations, 6:30p both eveningsApril 27: May Faire Festival at Ives ParkMay 7: Board Meeting, 6pmMay 10: Spring Concert, 6pm at Sebastopol Center for the ArtsMay 11: 5th Gr. Pentathlon at SWSFMay 11: Middle School DanceMay 16-18: 8th Gr. Class Play, 6:30pmMay 18: 6th Gr. Medieval GamesMay 19: Spring Fling Fiesta
April Issue Highlights Community Auction Pg. 1 Directors Column Pg. 2 Sip & Donate Pg. 2
New First Grade Teacher Pg. 3
Diversity Pg. 4 Pi Day Pg. 5 Notes from the Office Pg. 6 Parent Survey Results Pg. 7
April 2018Monthly Edition
2 CharterNotes April 2018
Sip & Donate at Sunshine Roastersby Christina Woodworth-Powell, co-Vice President of the Charter Foundation
Thank you to everyone who dropped by SunshineCoffeeRoast-ers for a tasty beverage! It was a cold rainy morn-ing which made it the perfect stop for a warm
coffeeconcoction.Thesunpeekedthroughinthe afternoon, as our Sebastopol Charter fam-ilies came by to partake in the fun. We kept the amazing Sunshine team on their toes with our smoothie and hot chocolate requests!
Our second Sunshine Sip and Donate surpassed last year, raising $1465.50 for our dear school. What a treat!
Big thanks to Mike and Crystal Doherty (Se-bastopolCharterparentsandSunshineCoffeeRoastersowners)forhostingthiswonderfuland successful event!
Pledge Program Annual Giving
Class Pledged RK 81% SK 82% 1st 87% 2nd 75% 3rd 78% 4th 80% 5th 91% 6th 83% 7th 77% 8th 80% School 81%
You can download a pledge form here. And for the conve-nience of making an online donation, please go here.
Anna O’Neil on behalf of The Charter Foundation Pledge Program Manager
Notes from
the Directorby Chris Topham, Executive Director
It has been an unusually sick-infested winter for many of us. Personally, I feel like I got hit with every possible illness bug, including the infamous flu that brought me down for the whole February break. I even had the flu shot in late fall!
As you know, fair or unfair, the state government gives funds to each public school based on attendance. If you know at least 5 days in advance of a planned absence for your child, you can request independent study and the school will receive funding during that absence. Unfortunately, we don’t receive any funding for absences without independent study, and of course, if you realize that your child is sick right before school, you cannot request independent study. When the school board sets a budget for the following school year, it will assume that we will have a certain number of students and that we usually assume a 96% attendance rate. This rate has been historically conservative for us, as we have always had a rate higher than 96%. So far, for the first time, we have an attendance rate less than 96%. This means that we are receiving less funds than what we budgeted. Sometimes, in the office, we hear about absences not related to illness, such as a “rest day,” and/or absences that could easily have been accompanied by independent study. These unfund-ed absences are hurting us financially and, more than ever, they need to be avoided, as we’re in this situation of having the lowest attendance rate in the school’s history. For the rest of the school year, please avoid unnecessary, unfunded absences. Of course we’re not suggesting that you bring sick children to school and we know that this has been an unusual year with illnesses. By the way, if your child has an extenuating circum-stance, like chicken pox or pertussis, we can grant independent study without a 5-day notice. More importantly, we wish for your children to not miss school so that your child can have the greatest access to learning in school, which their educa-tional success is dependent on.After Care UpdateWe plan to provide an After Care program in the fall of 2018. Most likely, we’ll have a kindergarten after-care program from 12:30-3pm and a grades after-care program that ends at 5 or 5:30pm. If you, or someone you know, is interested in working as a “teacher” in this program, feel free to email me at [email protected]. There is modest pay for this work, but rewarding in making a difference in children’s lives. I’m also searching for an experienced coordinator for this program. Photos courtesy of Christina Woodworth-Powell
April 2018 CharterNotes 3
2018-19 First Grade Teacher Announcementby Chris Topham, Executive Director
We’re excited to announce that Lynne Struye will be the first grade teacher in the fall. The upcoming first grade parents will meet her on Friday, May 4th, 6:30-8pm in the 1st Grade Classroom. In the morning she will meet the students.
Ms. Struye is currently a Waldorf class teacher at a Waldorf school in the Los Angeles area. She is currently completing a 1-8 grades journey with her class there. Besides her experience as a Wal-dorf teacher, Lynne has also been a teacher in a traditional public school, an Intervention Specialist for a school district and a therapist. She has a California multiple-subjects teaching credential, a Waldorf teaching certificate (from Australia), Bachelor’s degree in sociology from UCLA, and a Master’s degree in Marriage and Family Therapy from Loyola Marymount University. She looks forward to joining our school!
5th Gr. celebrating World Water Day by picking up trash along the Joe Rodota Trail. Photos by Ashley Radzat.
Changing the World One Morning Lesson at a Timeby Ashley Radzat, 5th Gr. Teacher
March 22nd was World Water Day, a day dedicated to in-crease awareness about the importance of water in our daily lives. The 5th grade was able to take part in World Water Day when Mia Stock-Cummings and Nolan Crichton, both alumni students, came from Credo High School with an organized watershed project. They arrived with buckets, gloves and trash graspers. Mia began by speaking to the engaged class about why water is important and how we, as humans, can change the world for the better. She focused on the im-portance of noticing trash in and around storm drains and gutters. By 9 am, 5th grade was in full rain gear and ready for the watershed project. Once we exited the campus, the class immediately noticed how much trash had been lying unnoticed.OurdestinationwastheJoeRodotaTrail.Foronehour the students hunted, gathered and picked up trash of allkinds.Notonlydidtheyfindtrash,buttheyfoundprideinwhattheyweredoingandrealizedhowmuchofaninfluencethey were able to make in a short amount of time. After an hour, the class was forced to return to the classroom. Some remarksthatcouldbeheardwere,“Ms.Radzat,wefoundsomuchtrash!”Or,“Ms.Radzat,canwedothiseveryday?”
5th grade is when our daily morning verse changes, and the students have developed through the 9-year change and begin to look outwards. They start to notice the world around them through a new set of eyes.
I look into the world, In which the sun is shining,
In which the stars are sparkling,Where stones in stillness lie.
Celebrating World Water Day allowed the students to feel purpose,prideandownershipastheypositivelyaffectedtheir world. I hope you too will feel inspired and take your child out to help them change the world.
4 CharterNotes April 2018
Pi Dayby Rebecca Davenport, Math Teacher
On March 14th, we celebrated the num-ber known as pi, which is a constant derived from the ratio of the circumference to the diameter of any circle, otherwise known as 3.14 -- though we believe that the digits ex-tend to infinity without ever assuming a repeating pattern. March 14th gives us a reason to celebrate the amazing qualities and occurrences of this num-ber as well as numbers in general....as well as a good excuse to eat some pie with an ‘e’!
In 7th and 8th grades, the festivities in-
cluded a few contests. One was to find out who could recite from memory the most digits of pi: In 8th grade, Mitra Ruel ruled with 53 (!) digits recited. In 7th grade, Talulah Juniper was just a few digits behind her. There was also a poetry contest to find out who could write the best math-themed haiku (the students were the judges of anonymous entries): In 8th grade, Shane O’Neil took the prize and, in 7th grade, Celia Goldstein won. In 6th
grade, the students used number beads to string several hundred digits of pi.
Here are some of the haikus that were entered into the contest:
Pi is very coolIt’s used for math and eatingPi goes on and on
Pi the infinitethe neverending (so far)ever wandering
Math is very funIt can also be quite hardWe have much to learn
One two three four fiveSix seven eight nine ten-eleven twelve thirteen
DIVERSITY DIALOGUES
Diversity Dialogues is a monthly feature hosted by the SCS Diversity Equity and Inclusion Alliance (DEIA) a parent-led advisory group with the goal of engaging in meaningful discussion and resource sharing. We are looking for new group members and welcome contributors to this column! Please contact Mia ([email protected]) if you would like to be added to the group’s email list and or if you have a column or a resource to share. We are in the early stages of a SCS Diversity Equity and Inclusion Alliance website and we always welcome new faces at our monthly meet-ings: Third Fridays of the month from 2-3pm in Chris Topham’s office.
Join Parents and Faculty working to Create the Diversity Equity and Inclusion Alliance By Mia Wallach
The Sebastopol Charter School Diversity Equity and Inclu-sion Alliance (DEIA) has been drafting our mission state-ment and we are excited to share our developing vision.
Mission Statement:The Diversity Equity and Inclusion Alliance (DEIA) is a group of parents and faculty/staff who are actively working towards a school where diversity, equity and inclusion are integral to the learning community. We believe this makes the best learning environment for all students, families and faculty. We advocate for social justice in the curriculum and also in events, offerings to parents and faculty trainings. We want all children and families to feel welcome and valued and will do this by bringing awareness in particular to racism, white privilege, gender inequity, LGBTQ rights and physical and neurological differences. In collaboration with school staff and administration, we hope to bring educa-tional and parenting resources and address any unintended
blindspots and bias in programming. Our goal is to support the community of students, families and faculty to increase self-knowledge, cultural sensitivity and build alliances.
Our current email roster includes about thirty parents and several faculty/staff members and we would love to grow and spread word to the whole school community. We meet monthly on the third Fridays of each month with the school Director, Chris Topham and Pedagogical Coordinator, Antje Bojarsky from 2-3pm. Many of our members cannot make that time and participate via email and google docu-ments.
We are looking for more support with some of our current action items including:-Polishing our mission statement and vision-Creating a diversity, equity and inclusion-oriented library for faculty and families-Hosting an informal monthly social hour for parents at a cafe-Developing an online survey for students/families to assess for successes and areas for growth around inclusion, diversi-ty, welcoming, etc.-Gathering content for a DEIA website which will be hosted by the school to promote our projects and share resources.
On a personal note, this type of social justice work is near and dear to my heart and being a member of this group has helped me feel more connected and committed to this learning community as a parent to a new kindergartener. I also really appreciate learning more about how the school is working on areas of diversity and inclusion and is willing to collaborate with parents and community groups. Please let me know ([email protected]) if you have any questions or feedback and if you would like to be added to our email roster.
From left to right: August O’Neil, Mitra Ruel, Talulah Juniper, Celia Goldstein
April 2018 CharterNotes 5
Notes From
the Office by Barbara Philipp & Carrie Vazquez
Next year’s school calendar is on our Google cal-endar found on the school website. Please note the change of the first day of school (Sept. 4) to accom-modate our school-wide move over the summer. This gives you more time to volunteer for us during the month of August! Hee, hee
Speaking of volunteering for the new campus, we will be sure to let you know what we need help with when we need it. Between the Charter Foundation and the school, we are utilizing the volunteer forms you filled out last year listing your specific skills and tools. If you have anything you want to add, or are es-pecially excited about a project to help with or lead, please contact Carrie. It’s an exciting time and we are glad you’re with us!
As we come closer to the end of the year, it means field trips! Please check in with the office to make sure you have all of your paperwork in. Most of the forms are on our website, under ‘Forms and Publica-tions,’ or we have paper copies in the office. Finger-printing can take up to two weeks to get results, so please plan accordingly.
We are preparing to send immunization requirement reminders to our future 7th grade class (current 6th grade). As you might know, 7th grade entry is the next immunization check with the state and each child must be accounted for before they are allowed to move on. If you are unsure where your child stands with immunizations, please check in with Barbara.
Please stay tuned for re-enrollment packets for the 2018-19 school year. We are in process of getting them to you as soon as possible!
Spring Mini-Session Photo FundraiserPhotographer and SICS par-ent, Sara Press, will be offering mini-sessions on Saturday, April 28th and Sunday, April 29th, out-doors in Sebastopol, with possi-bly another day in May. 25% of the proceeds will be donated to the Charter Foundation.
See http://www.sarapress.com/mini-sessions/ for details, exam-ples of photos, and to reserve a spot.
FREE portable buildingAt our K-2 campus, we have a storage portable, sin-gle-wide, 12’ x 36,’ that we need to get rid of this summer when we vacate the K-2 campus. We’re bringing all the other portables from K-2 to the new campus, but we didn’t include the storage portable as part of our permits. However, the district wants all portables gone. If you’re inter-ested in inspecting and/or acquiring this building, please contact Essie at [email protected].
It has electric outlets throughout the two rooms. Although the building is free, the new owner will be respon-sible for the cost of removing it and transporting it to a new location. We suggest you do some research about the cost of removing it by a profes-sional and installing it.
6 CharterNotes April 2018
Parent Survey Results 2017-18Introduction by Chris Topham, Executive Director
Part of the introduction to the school survey, which parents were invited to participate in, included the following: “Each year the school develops an annual plan (Local Control and Accountability Plan) to address state and local school priorities. The school solicits and receives feedback on its performance and the needs of stakeholders on an ongoing basis. The results of the survey are reviewed with the school’s Board of Directors as well as with faculty and staff and published for the school community to review.”Both the board and the faculty have reviewed the 165 responses received. We thank everyone who took the time to respond to survey questions! We keep in mind that 385 were invited to participate, and that some participants skipped some questions, but we find the results of the survey very helpful and informative for our planning process for the future. We’re including a summary of the results for your information.
1) Waldorf Education2) Academics3) Arts4) Social and Emotional Program (Three Streams Student Sup-port Program)5) Music6) School Community7) Spanish8) Class Teacher Stays with Same Class9) Charter School (as alternative to standard public school)
April 2018 CharterNotes 7
8 CharterNotes April 2018
1) Gardening and Agricultural Program2) Landscaping and Playground Equipment
3) After-school Athletic Opportunities4) After-care program5) Parking Spaces
April 2018 CharterNotes 9
1) Attract and retain high-quality teachers and staff.2) Commitment to a high-quality, public Waldorf education.3) Continue to develop our social and emotional student support program.4) Offer more academic assistance to struggling students.5) Focus more on various diversity topics in student education.6) Offer an after-care program (at the new site).7) Provide more parent involvement opportunities.8) Implementation of Common Core standards (state testing).
Closing comments: “I love the school and am so appreciative of the entire faculty and staff.”
“Thank you so much for creating an amazing school for our children. I am so incredibly grateful. I know how hard each of you work and how much of your hearts you put into the school and it shows.”
“I love the self-assuredness the young people who graduate seem to possess. This has been my biggest positive influence regarding the school.”
Please indicate if you agree with these diversity-related statements.
