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From the Director- State of the Union
Greeting Madrone Trail families!
I trust the warm Summer weather finds you relaxing, taking vacations, and spending quality time as a family! I myself have tried to slow things down a bit, but that is relative of course!
I wanted to take a few minutes and reflect on the past school year and provide some updates. When I arrived a year ago, things were still in a state of turmoil. The dust was settling, but there was healing that needed to happen. My main focus was bringing the staff into alignment, as well as developing a healthy working relationship with the board and staff. I feel that I made great strides in accomplishing this task. Staff want to be here, students feel safe here, and there is a general air of calmness in our school. What I didn’t quite accomplish, is bringing our parents along with this journey. I have much work to do in that area, and it starts with the Parent Council.
Parent Council
I want to extend a heartfelt thank you to Michelle Sanders for her years of service as the Chair of Parent Council, and to those that gave of their time in support of Michelle, and ultimately in support of our school family. Participation in the Parent Council has waned over the years but is a vital part of the overall health of our school. When establishing the original Waldorf School, Rudolf Steiner had this to say about parent participation:
Advisory parent committees (Parent Council at MTPCS) have proved workable and valuable in all Waldorf schools. Let the meetings of the advisory committee be open to all parents and teachers who are willing to come together with a purpose, provided they commit themselves to attend regularly for about one year. This makes for a healthy climate in which to work. Many schools have also included adequately chosen class representatives in the makeup of these meetings, in accordance with the principle that each class should be represented. This, for a number of reasons, is not only desirable, but even necessary.
So my battle cry is this… Please get involved! We need your help! At MTPCS we ask that parents volunteer for 20 hours per year in support of the school. This can be through committee work, stewardship days, fundraising, classroom support, or all of the above. Like the old adage states, “It takes a village.”
Where did our Upper Grades Math Teacher Go?
Mr. Barbee didn’t leave, he will still be here teaching the 6th Grade Blackberry class. The reason he is no longer our dedicated Math and Science teacher comes down to funding. When Covid hit, we were given large grants to fund programs and sustain our schools. That funding was used to create additional positions such as the Math/Science Teacher position. Those grants are going away, leaving us with the funding we receive through the District. The Medford School District takes 20% of our funding. When we renegotiated our charter contract we asked that MSD allow us to have more of our funding. They refused our request, leaving us to make some very difficult decisions. Typically, around 85% of school funding is personnel. That leaves little room to make necessary cutbacks that do not involve staffing changes. While not ideal, at least we were able to keep Mr. Barbee on staff as he is such a valuable asset to our team!
Early Release Time Change - Now 1:15 pm on Wednesdays
Please note that school will end at 1:15 pm this coming school year. We have been releasing students at 1:00 pm but found that we needed to adjust the time for two main reasons. First, it was too much of a scramble to get students out to the pickup line as lunch and school both ended at 1:00 pm. A 1:15 pm release allows for the end of the day routines to take place. Secondly, we have a state requirement for instructional hours. A 1:15 pm release will allow for some flexibility should we need to close school due to inclement weather.
We are Hiring!
We will be posting positions for an Instructional Assistant for our Kindergarten Class and a Kitchen Assistant.
Video Surveillance
Thanks to a grant from the West Family Foundation, we now have a camera system installed. This will help keep our campus more secure, as we are not exactly in town!
New Staff
We are pleased to announce our new staff members joining us this fall. Allison Casenhiser will be teaching the second grade. Allison was on staff a few years ago, and has helped us out as a substitute teacher, doing an excellent job in all aspects! Hillary Lowenberg will be teaching the third grade. Most recently, Hillary was a teacher at FolkSoul. She brings a wealth of knowledge, especially in the area of outdoor education. Hillary is also a returning staff member, so we welcome her home! Heidi Martin will be teaching fourth grade. Most recently, Heidi taught at the Siskiyou School in Ashland. Heidi is also a former MTPCS teacher that is returning to our team (See a pattern here!). We feel that we have the most amazing teaching staff, and are so excited to have these three experienced Waldorf teachers joining our team! Mr. Nicholas moves from Blackberry class (Now 6th Grade) to the first grade class. Additionally, Saul Harper who just graduated his 8th grade class will stay on as our dedicated substitute teacher three days per week or more as needed.
Have a wonderful rest of your summer,
~Kendall Roberts
Director
kendall.roberts@madronetrail.org
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