Monday Memo
Week #2 Aug 31- Sept 4
~Have A Great Week ~
Dates to Note:
Tuesday, September 1: Soccer Game @ Oak Farm
Wednesday, September 2: Picture Day
Thursday, September 3: Picture Day
Thursday, September 3: Soccer Game @ Hamilton
Thursday, September 3: Cross Country Practice
Friday, September 4: Infants and Toddler Closed
Friday, September 4: Community Coffee with Megan
Friday, September 4: Health Insurance Meeting with Sarah
Monday, September 7: Labor Day- School Closed
Picture Reminder
All faculty need to stop by and get their pictures taken either Wednesday or Thursday before noon. Pictures are located in the gym.
Mandatory Meeting
This Friday there is a Mandatory Meeting for Everyone on Oak Farms Health Insurance Plan or anyone who plans on being on the Health Care Plan. This meeting is to go over the 2015-2016 Health Care Plan. There will be two meeting times you can chose from…
9 am Conference Room
3:50 pm MS dining hall
If you cannot make either meeting please see Sarah to make an appointment.
Classroom Teachers & Specialists:
If you have not already, please send out an email, newsletter or photos to your parents as a "welcome" to the new school year. This can be very brief. Consider including highlight(s) of the first week of school. You might also include a reminder of the best way to contact you. Need help to use RenWeb? Macy will assist!
Oak Farm Guiding Principles
Remember to go over with your students our new Oak Farm Guiding Principles:
Take Care of Yourself
Take Care of Each Other
Take Care of Our Environment
What do each of those look like - in the classroom? On the playground? In the hallways? Wherever they apply.
When you have them written out - send them to me, please. I will discuss our process and our new Guiding Principles in the first newsletter.
Donations
Raffle Tickets
Willing to sell raffle tickets for Tall Oak Raffle? Car lines, Montessori Journey, Fall Festival, etc. Please let me know and I will get you more details.
Field Trip Procedure
Friends, some of you may be thinking about taking your students out and about and wondering how to set up a field trip... here are the steps for you:
1. Check the OAK FARM BUS SCHEDULE that is a Google Calendar that has been shared with you (if you don't see it, please call Macy ASAP)
2. If the bus is available on the specific day, then fill out the FIELD TRIP INFORMATION FORM that is located on the w-drive > quick reference > field trips & permissions
3. Once the form is filled out (either by hand or electronically) submit to Abby
4. Abby will secure the bus and add it to the calendar
5. Abby will email you letting you know all is set and you can then inform the parents appropriately
1. Kelly & Jill need to know at least ONE MONTH ahead of time in order to let parents know for lunch ordering -contact Kelly directly with this information.
2. Small Bus seats 29, Big Bus seats 48 (+ one adult without a seat belt)
Good to Know about Sarah Holland
Sarah will be on campus Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays from 8:00 until 3:00. You can reach her at:sar@ballstate.bsu.edu or her extension which is 1104.
Some days this semester, Sarah will have a student intern with her. Her name is Jodie - welcome her as we do everyone else! Sarah has shared this information with all of her students' parents so they are aware of Jodie's presence.
Do you need a volunteer?!
Contact Macy if you need help with any school related project - email or call her extension which is 1560. She will do what she can to get you what you need when you need it! If you have something lined up on your own, just let Macy know via email so she can be sure to track hours and acknowledge the volunteers adequately.
Light the Night - Tuesday, September 29
This year Emma Leedy & Allison Burton are teaming up to lead the Oak Farm Acorns (along with Macy's help) How cool would it be for this to be a fun, active night for the Oak Farm faculty & their families?! This makes for some good memories and great community time. Macy will be meeting with Emma & Allison this week to discuss them coming into the Elementary & Middle School classrooms to discuss this event and how they would like to get the students involved. Stay tuned for more information!
Go here to donate, or even better, join the team: http://pages.lightthenight.org/in/NEInd15/OakFarmAcorns
Gala Update
You will be getting an email this week, separate from this memo, that will give you some information regarding student made auction items. This will be sent to all faculty members. In the mean time if you have any questions, feel free to email Macy (mmcnaughton@oakfarmschool.com) or Kim Davidson (kdavidson@oakfarmschool.com)
A Moment from Macy...
This week a little video to check out... our Oak Farm Community has been affected by blood cancer - our founder, members of the faculty, and the families. We can do a little part in raising awareness and maybe even a few dollars to help the cause. We can for sure make it a night out on the town having fun and spreading the love to those around us. See you there! :)
Faculty Childcare - September 18
Do you need childcare for this month's inservice? If so, you MUST RESERVE YOUR SPOT BY WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9! Email Macy letting her know if your kiddos will be staying for the afternoon (this is free... however, lunch is not provided)
September Tall Oak Leaves Due-Date
Please email newsletter submissions (text & photos with captions) to Macy by Wednesday, September 16. Contact her directly if you have any questions or need help.
If you are having trouble deciding what to submit - here is a little process to help:
1. Think about your classroom/level - what is something that is super cool going on or that you are preparing for?!
2. Snap a few pictures of what you see happening (call Macy at 1560 if it is a one time photo opportunity, or snap it with your cell phone and then reference it for step 3)
3. Later in the day - look at the picture, and write down/type out your thoughts of what is happening in the picture.
What is happening? Why is it cool? Why is it special to Oak Farm? What can parents do with this information?
4. Take your notes and form it into an easy to read paragraph or two. This doesn't need to be much
5. Gather more pictures that capture the topic of your paragraph - these need to be "high quality" - either taken with an actual camera, or emailed to Macy via a smart phone and sending "actual size" image rather than the smallest image size.
6. Write a few captions for the pictures - include an action of what is happening as well as the first names of the students in the image6. Email paragraph(s) and photos (at least 5) to Macy by the above date.
Vision Screening - Tuesday, September 22 from 9am - Noon
The students who will be checked are:
Pre-K (2nd year Primary), Kindergartners, 1st, 3rd, 5th, and 8th graders and anyone else that teachers are concerned about
Students who already wear glasses or contacts DO NOT need to be screened.
Arrangements as to where this screening will take place will come soon - more than likely this will be in the Victorian House upstairs nap room and somewhere in the Middle School.
Green Team News
Monarchs
09/04 Friday
Jody Heaston from the DNR will talk with students about Monarchs and Milkweed.
2:00 LE1
2:30 LE 2 and LE3
Cleaning Supplies
Order forms for several safer cleaning products are available on the W drive. It often takes about a week between placing your order and receiving your order, so when you notice you're running low fill out a new order form and place it in Janet's mailbox. We welcome suggestions for improvements or for new product ideas.
Composting
As discussed at the end of last year, students from each classroom are to be involved in the composting process. Each level/ building should have their own composter or compost pile. If the composter is getting close to full, please let myself know and we can have it finish at the large MS pile, if necessary. Daily emptying of the compost bucket keeps the smell and bugs at bay. I have noticed classrooms are including "Empty Compost Bucket" on their chore list. It might not be a favorite task, but it sure is an important one!
Please remember that even dairy and meat, which is not usually composted at home, can be composted at school. Our compost areas are far enough away from the buildings that the normal critter and odor problems shouldn't be an issue. Therefore, nearly all edible and organic matter can go in the compost. Napkins, peels, cores, even paper scraps are fine. No weed/non-native plant seeds, though.
Would your class like a composting lesson? Please contact Janet to schedule a time.
Teachers and Specialist
Please email a 50 word professional Bio to Sarah by October 1st .
Things to Include:
*Education Credentials and years in Education along with year at Oak Farm.
*Special Areas of interest.
*Personal Tip
Couple Reminders:
*Gym and Primary PE closed on Wednesday & Thursday due to picture days. It should be available again on Thursday by 1:00 p.m.\
*Please make sure before using the conference room you are checking the calendar. Also if you are planning on using the conference room be sure to add it to the Conference Room calendar .