April 18
Kitchen opens
May Faire Mtg. 3:30 pm
April 19
Parent Night for incoming South Medford 9th graders, 6:00-7:30 pm at SMHS
April 25
May Faire Mtg. 3:30 pm
April 29
3rd grade play
Coffee with Admin- after play
April 30
May Faire
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Watercolor painting by Oak Fox, Kindergartner |
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Kitchen Update
Hot lunch is being served starting Monday, April 18! If you missed the deadline for pre-ordering entrees, your student can still have soup and salad. You do, however, need to have an account in EZ-App. To sign up, click here. We have also sent out an application for free and reduced lunch which can be accessed here. As soon as you complete the application, our kitchen manager will let you know if you qualify for free or reduced lunch. If you need help with either thing, contact Evan (evan.wilson@madronetrail.org).
The deadline for ordering entrees is Wednesday at 4 pm for the following week. You can order for the entire rest of the year if you’d like to get it out of the way. If you would like to add money to your account with cash or check, you can visit the kitchen any school day between the hours of 8:30-11:00 am and 2:00-3:30 pm. Also, if you have any concerns about dietary restrictions or allergies, please let Evan know and we can make a note in your child’s EZ app record so we can be sure not to serve your student anything they shouldn’t be eating.
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From the May Faire Committee
The next May Faire Committee is Monday, April 18 at 3:30 pm.
We are so excited to announce that our May Faire will be happening on Saturday, April 30 11am - 3pm. Here is some important info to know about the day. We start off with the students walking out to the May Pole at 11:15 am where they do their performances around the May Pole. After the May Pole has been braided, the May Faire booths and food trucks open up. There is a ticket booth to purchase tickets for the class booths - ring toss, fairy house making, etc. There is also a Bake Sale booth and a silent auction booth.
All children need to be at school by 11 am dressed in white clothing.
All parents are asked to sign up to work a shift or two at the Faire. Click the below link to sign up. We need people to help with set up, starting at 9am, with parking and with all the booths. Your class teacher and parent rep will have your class booth info.
We need 10 foot pop up tents for each booth. If you have one, please let your class teacher know.
Every family is asked to bring baked goods to sell at the Bake Sale booth. We prefer homemade goodies and will accept store bought too.
Wok Star will be selling from their food truck and Evan Wilson and Keegan Stoutenburgh will be selling tamales and tacos.
We will have a few live music and dance performers. Bring your blanket and be ready to set up and have fun for the day.
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Board Update
Greetings Madrone Trail Community,
Our update for last week crossed the published Friday Update in the interwebs, so this is a combined 2-week update:
Welcome back after spring break! We wanted to provide a brief update on board efforts. Kelly Stofflet and Erik Johnsen attended Parent Council last week, and listened and responded to questions from attendees. During the meeting, it was apparent that many people do not know how boards operate and what constraints they may have to adhere to, so we thought it might be worthwhile to share some basics that may or may not be common knowledge:
- Notwithstanding a handful of exceptions, public boards must do their deliberation and decision-making in public. We are technically a private non-profit organization, operating a public school under a charter agreement with the Medford School District, so we are a bit of a hybrid organization, but we follow public meeting laws just like other school boards. Accordingly, all meetings are open to public attendance, unless we are holding an executive session under one of those limited number of exceptions. Regardless of the format, formal votes must always be taken in public.
- As board members, we have no individual power and authority, that only arises when we come together as a quorum to do school business. The board may delegate authority to an individual or committee, but it requires a majority vote of the quorum to grant that authority. Some authority comes just by virtue of the officer position assigned to us, such as President, Vice President, Secretary, etc.
- A quorum of members together to discuss school business is what typically generates a “public meeting,” which requires notice, agendas, etc. Meetings may not necessarily be in-person, as phone calls and even email correspondence can constitute a public meeting.
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Many have submitted thoughts to us utilizing our email distribution list: board@madronetrail.org. This is a great way to share your thoughts, but it is not typically a good avenue for dialogue. For one, it goes to all members, which then creates somewhat of a dilemma for us to respond. Namely, who will respond, how to respond, and who to include. If we respond and copy all the other board members, it could constitute a public meeting, which would be problematic. If we respond individually, we may not know who responded, and how they responded, so you could get redundant or conflicting messages. So, our board email is a great way to share your thoughts and concerns, and should be best viewed as an alternative to offering a public comment during one of our scheduled board meetings.
Also during Parent Council, it was shared that we have posted the position for Executive Director for next year, and have received a few submissions over the break, with a couple more coming in this week. Board President Erik Johnsen has had some introductory phone calls with interested people to answer questions and share information about our school. We have also been proactively reaching out to people in our network who we think might be a good fit.
At our meeting this week, we considered and voted to add Eric Cerecedes and Jo Ferneau to our board, so please welcome and thank them for stepping up to board service! We will provide bios for them in the coming weeks. If we don’t see you at a board meeting or sooner, we’re looking forward to seeing everyone at May Faire!
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From the Athletic Director
Madrone Soccer Club- Not too late to sign up!
Well, the weather delayed our start to soccer club (and our track meet). Hopefully we will be able to start next week. We will have soccer club if it is a light sprinkle. You should have received a text about the cancellation if you had your student’s registration form turned in. Please email me if you did not get the text and the form was turned in.
Coach Sergio will be working with students to help improve their soccer skills and provide opportunities for competitive scrimmages.
When: Wednesdays 1:00-2:30 pm April 13th-May 25th.
How much: $50
Who: The program is open to current 3rd-6th graders.
Registration forms went home Thursday to interested students.
If you have any questions let me know.
Thanks everyone,
Jeff Roberson
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The Seven Core Principles of Waldorf Education
Founded in the early 20th century, Waldorf education is based on the insights and teachings of Rudolf Steiner. Guided by these insights, the Alliance for Public Waldorf Education has adopted Seven Core Principles for Waldorf Schools. These principles articulate the most important values that inform the policies and practices of Waldorf schools in North America and are held as a central tenet of our school.
As part of our school’s membership process to the Alliance for Public Waldorf Education, the faculty is currently participating in an extensive "self study" process, looking deeply at the Seven Core Principles of Waldorf Education and how each of those principles is living in our school. We thought we would share these with the wider school community as well. We will share one Core Principle each week in the Friday Update for you to ponder. This will be our last one of the series.
Principle 7: Schools as Learning Communities
Public Waldorf schools cultivate a love of lifelong learning and self-knowledge.
Public Waldorf education emphasizes continuous engagement in learning and self-reflective practices that support ongoing improvement. At the individual and classroom level, teachers reflect regularly on their observations of the students and of the educational process. Essential aspects of school-wide work and professional development include self-reflection, peer review, faculty and individual study, artistic activity, and research.
Rudolf Steiner is a primary, but not exclusive, source of guidance for developing an active inner, meditative life and an understanding of the dynamics within society.
Public Waldorf schools encourage all community members to engage in active and ongoing ways to enhance their capacities as human beings through self reflection and conscious social engagement.
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State Testing Coming Up
We will begin State Testing in late April. 3rd-8th graders are tested in Language Arts and Math, and 5th and 8th graders take a Science test as well. This is the first year since the pandemic that the students will take the full test and participation rates will be tracked. Parents have the right per Oregon Law to opt their child out of the test. If you would like to do so, please contact our School Test Coordinator, Ms. Cori, cori.royer@madronetrail.org, to arrange to sign the opt out form.
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Easy Ways to Support Madrone Trail
If you shop at Amazon and/or Fred Meyer there is an easy way to earn money for our school! Both options only need to be set up once, then you are good to go!
For Amazon: The Amazon Smile program donates 0.5% of eligible purchases to organizations. Go to smile.amazon.com and choose Madrone Trail Initiative as your charity of choice. Every time you shop 0.5% of eligible purchases will go to our school. You can now use Amazon Smile on the Amazon App. Open the app and click on the 3 bars. Scroll down to Programs & Features, click on see all. Scroll down until you find Amazon Smile. If you have already set it up through the website, follow the directions to activate it. If you haven't picked a charity of choice, follow directions to select Madrone Trail Initiative as yours. Last quarter our school earned $99.81 from participating families.
For Fred Meyer: The Fred Meyer Community Rewards program donates to local schools, community organizations, and non-profits. Go to their website and click on the link to "Link your Rewards Card now." You will need to create a log-in if you don't have one already, or sign-in if you do. Search for Madrone Trail Public Charter School, and select us as your charity of choice. Every time you use your Fred Meyer Reward Card it will donate a small portion to our school. Last quarter our school earned $49.08 from 23 families, the more families we can get to do this the better!
Thanks for your support!
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Handlettered by Ms. Cori |
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MADRONE TRAIL PUBLIC CHARTER SCHOOL
www.madronetrail.org
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Madrone Trail Public Charter School does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, marital status, sexual orientation, religion, disability, or age in its programs and activities. |
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