• Community Meeting: March 4
• SELS Board Meeting: March 4
• Minimum Day: March 6
• PTC Meeting: March 6
• Community Meeting: March 18
• PEP Rally: March 25
• PTC Coffee Cart: March 25
• Middle School Minimum Day: March 27
• Spring Break: April 1-5

Please consider volunteering!

The PTC still needs volunteers for some of our biggest events of the year! Check our sign-up sheet to see how you can help with Staff Appreciation Week and The Great Skate.

PTC openings next school year:

We would love to see some fresh faces on the PTC next year! Dads are encouraged to join as well. Meetings are once-per-month at a local restaurant (food is included). We make decisions about where grant money will be allocated, ideas for upcoming events, and more. Email ptc@truckeecharterschool.org if you're interested in learning more about joining as:

• Co-chair
• Secretary

Coffee Cart

March 25 — Come join us for free coffee and treats and purchase SELS Spirit Wear!

Together We Are Crew,



The SELS PTC

The Minczeski crew has been learning about the world of weather. We had a couple of special visitors: an OpenSnow forecaster and 6th grade crew leader Mr. Worster, who demonstrated how clouds form from dry ice. The crew created the three main types of clouds: stratus, cumulus, and cirrus. It’s great to hear the kindergartners use their new skills to try and forecast the weather — not always easy in Truckee! Next we learn how the weather in the Sierra impacts animals, learning which animals migrate, hibernate, or stay and fend off the cold. We are lucky to host a Tahoe Institute for Natural Science educator to further our understanding of the topic.

The Telfer Crew finished our opinion writing unit with a lively debate using our opinions and reasons. We are excited to move into our final expedition, where we will be focusing on informative and narrative writing with our spirit animals as our guides. We have moved into our math unit on measurement and data, using owls to help us learn.

We have been enjoying the snow at recess, building caves and snow people, among other snow creations! The crew had a wonderful ski/skate week skiing, snowboarding, having sleepovers, and traveling to London, Cabo, Tennessee, Disneyland, Argentina, Palm Springs, Santa Cruz, and visiting family. 

Gallagher Crew News

This month Gallagher Crew students kicked off their spring expedition, Ready, Set, Go! Throughout this expedition, students will be learning about the science behind a wide variety of sports. We kicked off the expedition with a beautiful day of cross country skiing at the Tahoe Donner Cross Country Ski Center. In class students are investigating friction and how it impacts various sports, including ice skating and skiing, by experimenting with a variety of materials and analyzing their results. This expedition is sure to keep these kids active and smiling!!!

Welch Crew News

The Welch Crew wildlife ecologists have been learning about wildlife populations and why certain species decline in population when they have lived in that habitat for decades. Our crew spent a day in Reno investigating the decline in deer population and the reasons behind the decline. With the help of Sierra Nevada Journeys, their instructors and field guides have encouraged our young scientists to observe, make predictions, and offer solutions to help local wildlife. Students were on the hunt for evidence of a healthy habitat for deer and evidence of unhealthy habitats. 

Our expert visitors came to class to lay the foundation for our investigation. After spending a day in the field, our experts returned to the classroom to discuss discoveries we made and solutions to help restore the deer population. Our budding scientists have some great ideas to help solve the problem and will take this knowledge with them to investigate other natural habitats in our region. 

If you haven't had the chance to visit the Oxbow Nature Study area in Reno, our young ecologist would highly recommend a trip!

The Hansen crew kicked off our new expedition, H2oh! How Water Shapes the Land. We are learning about the water cycle, matter, snowpack water equivalent, and more. We were so excited to get that last storm, it made great conditions for research and play! 

The Brisbin Crew has been hard at work learning about the states of matter by delving into complex texts and completing boxing protocols. Next up, we explore the water cycle, and trace a water molecule through the cycle using a nonfiction narrative.

Students recently wrapped up recipe writing, DAST Scientist Drawings, and peer evaluations. Fifth-grade mathematicians completed a standards-based Jeopardy game to review content, and had a blast participating collaboratively. We are looking forward to this new expedition and spring fieldwork!

"Studying sublimation with dry ice is so boring," said NONE of the Worster Crew scientists. What better way to get a "solid" understanding of phase change as it relates to thermal energy transfer and conduction of kinetic molecular energy than through hands-on labs. Students got a deeper understanding of the molecular energy change during evaporation, condensation, freezing, melting, sublimation, and deposition which will be leveraged during our climate change discussions later this semester. And of course, a good debrief with a science-based fog machine is always popular. 

The Santos Crew has had a great time investigating living things in their expedition, Is Anything Alive in There? Students designed and tested various specimens to determine if they are living or non-living, and have been investigating various kingdoms by looking at their cellular structures under microscopes. This requires patience and precision to be able to see such tiny structures. 

Additionally, students have accepted the challenge to each read 20 books this semester. They get the opportunity to talk about the books they read and recommend great books to each other. 

Hall Crew is deeply immersed in the complicated and important history of the United States through our current expedition, Power to the People. We kicked things off with a close look at Amanda Gorman's poem, The Hill We Climb, and integrated math and art by creating a dilation of a mural of the poet. We also worked hard to create beautiful tessellation tiles on our classroom ceiling as we learned more about geometric transformations. Additionally, we spent a powerful few days learning about the history of Indian Boarding Schools and traveled to Carson City to experience one such school in person. We are excited to continue our learning about whose histories get told, whose voices get heard, and who has access to power in our country.

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