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Important Information
and News from
Madrone Trail Public Charter School
March 24, 2023
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March 25-April 9
Spring Break- No School
April 10
School Resumes
Parent Council Meeting, 6 pm, Zoom
April 11
May Faire Committee Meeting, 3:30 pm
April 12
Board Meeting, 4:30 pm
DEI committee meeting, 1:15 pm
Beautification Committee Meeting, 1:15 pm
April 14
Friday Assembly, 4th grade
Coffee with Admin
April 21
Friday Assembly, 6th grade
Coffee with Admin
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Watercolor Painting by Ruby Ficcadenti, 2nd grade | |
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Break for the Friday Update
The Friday Update will be taking a break over Spring Break. It will resume Friday, April 14. Happy Spring Break to all!
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From the Director
Dear Families,
You may find it hard to believe when assessing my current physique, but I used to be quite an athlete. I could dunk a basketball when I was in the 8th grade, and played football, basketball, and baseball through college. On top of that, I have a degree in Physical Education. Don’t get me wrong, I am still a stunningly beautiful man (Hey, quit laughing!)! I am just not the athlete I once was. Understandably, PE was the highlight of my academic day, as was recess! I couldn’t wait for the PE unit on football, or wrestling, or floor hockey. So why does PE look so different in a Waldorf School? And why do they call it “Games?"
In The Study of Man, Rudolf Steiner said, when we use our limbs, whether it be for useful or useless work we are “always splashing about in the spirit and (we) are connected with the spirit.” The spirit he refers to here is the external cosmic spirit, not our individual inner spirit-soul. He goes on to differentiate between senseless and purposeful activity. When activity is purposeful it connects us with the spirit in a deeper way, a way that allows for a healthy balance between sleep and wakefulness to develop. “We can guide a child’s external movements towards purposeful movements … so that the child does not splash around in the spirit, but follows the spirit as a goal” (1919, Steiner.)
Sometimes it is easier to define what something is by first describing what it is not. Games class is not only games. It is not only traditional PE. It is not strictly cooperative games or PE, nor is it strictly competitive. Like the rest of the Waldorf curriculum it changes with the age of the child and includes elements of traditional PE, cooperative games, competitive games, and movement exercises for the sake of bringing the child into harmony with their surroundings. Games class is a full, developmentally appropriate movement education program through the grades.
The whole Waldorf curriculum is designed to work together to bring the children the right amount of mental work combined with the right amount of physical work to harmonize the inner and outer forces working on the human being. Class teachers work to create lessons that will arouse the children’s interest and intellectual curiosity. This is the mental work. Handwork, Woodwork, and Games teachers work to bring the children purposeful movement activity. This provides the physical work. Music and Foreign Language classes go back and forth between physical and mental work in a harmonious weaving. This is why we witness Profe’ teaching Spanish on the ball field or playground. Together we strive to accomplish the goal of assisting the children to develop themselves into whole human beings full of intellectual and physical capacities as well as compassion for all of humanity.
A lot of the Games classes take place in full view of my office. I often step out and watch a few minutes of the class. What I see are students that are engaged in healthy activity, learning to be competitive, yet respectful. It's not always a perfect outcome, but that is how we learn. What is consistent, is the joy that our students experience with each Games class!
COFFEE WITH ADMINISTRATION - I want to hear from you!
I will be making myself available each week after our assembly for a “Coffee with the Administration” discussion. This will be an informal get together where you are free to ask questions, raise concerns, share ideas and provide me the opportunity to seek feedback from you. So I invite you to stay for a few minutes after each assembly and sample Chef Evan’s special blend while we chat!
Have a wonderful Spring Break,
~Kendall Roberts
Director
kendall.roberts@madronetrail.org
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Auction Survey
As our final wrap up for the Auction, we would like to hear from you! If you attended the Auction please fill out the survey to let us know your thoughts. If you did NOT attend the Auction, we would like to hear from you as well! Your feedback is valuable to us.
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Yearbook
It's that time of year to pre-order your yearbook! The yearbook committee, led by Mr. Barbee, is working hard on getting it put together. Yearbooks will be $20 and will be available to order online until April 14. The link is now live!
If you have any pictures that you have taken on field trips or at any other school event please send full size images to yearbook@madronetrail.org.
Cover art by Isaac Richardson, 7th grade.
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Beautification Committee
The school Beautification Committee is forming again and is inviting staff and interested parents to join us for our first meeting after school to go on a walkabout around the school building and grounds. Children are welcome to come along. We will envision together and share ideas to enhance and beautify our school. We are meeting on Wednesday, April 12, 1:15 pm in the first grade classroom.
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May Faire Update
Our May Faire will be on Saturday, May 6
Help with May Faire Food
Chef Evan is organizing a food booth and is looking for help, from food prep and taking orders, to rounding up tables and pop-up tents. Email him if you are interested! evan.wilson@madronetrail.org
We are also looking for craft vendors and/or other fun booth ideas. Forms to have a booth are in the office and are due by April 21st.
Our next May Faire Committee Meeting is April 11, 3:30 pm, in the 4th grade classroom.
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Food Program Update
New pre-order deadline
We have moved the deadline to order meals to Saturdays at noon (so we can remind you in the weekly Friday Update). Ordering for the week of April 10 will be possible until noon on Saturday, April 8. As a reminder, you can order many weeks in advance, and can make changes at any time for future weeks. The Saturday deadline is for additions and changes for the following week.
Regarding holiday specials
A few students have asked why we didn’t have our St. Patrick’s Day special as advertised on the menu we sent home. Due to a staffing shortage, we had to unplan this special meal. We are so sorry to those who were disappointed, we’ll get there! We will not have our April 10th Easter special, but we hope to celebrate Cinco de Mayo in style. We’ll keep you posted!
New hire
An additional kitchen assistant will be starting on Monday, April 10, which is critical to keeping up with the demand we’ve encountered! We’re excited to welcome one of our own MT parents to the team, Lisa Murphy! Chef Evan is very excited for the extra help!
Week of April 10 featured items:
Featured salad bar veggie: snow peas
Featured jam: blueberry
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From the Athletic Director
Track and Field
Our meet schedule so far is out. We may add one or two if possible. Come out and support your Dragons on the following dates:
April 6th 3:45 Ashland Middle School
April 25th 4:00 Saint Mary's (Might be 6th only)
April 27th 3:45 Illinois Valley High (7th and 8th; 6th at Medieval Games)
May 1st 3:00 Ashland High (6th grade districts)
May 10th 4:00 South High (7th and 8th districts)
From our Coach, Mr. Zeller
I would like to thank Mr. Joe, Sergio, and Mr. Andrew Oropeza for helping develop and install the Track and Field facility on the Madrone Trail campus. It allows us to offer students training in Shot Put, Javelin, Long Jump, Hurdles, and the 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600 and 3000 meter runs.
I would also like to thank Mrs. Richardson, Mr. Roberson, Ms. Cori, Mr. Roberts, and Mr. Stewart for helping me coach as we have grown from 9 track team members last year to 25 members this year. We could use one more coach to help the students after school on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday from 3:15 to 5:00 pm. If you think you could help, please contact our Athletic Director, Mr. Roberson, as soon as possible.
Reminder: We will continue with the same practice schedule during spring break. Both weeks we will practice Monday, Tuesday and Thursday 3:15-5:00 pm at Madrone Trail.
We understand that not everyone will be able to make every practice. Come to what you can.
Track Sponsors
Last week we announced our first round of sponsors. They were Body Right Studios, Rise up Artisan Bread, S & D Performance, New Foundations Property Management, and CALYX CPA.
Our 2nd round of sponsors were Alpha Heating & Air, West Orthodontics, and Red Lily Vineyards.
I am proud to announce 1 more sponsor-
Thanks to these amazing companies. Your commitment to youth fitness and sports is commendable!
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Curtius Plumbing and Mechanical: Curtius Plumbing and Mechanical, Inc. (CPMI) is committed to providing our community with the highest levels of customer service, quality of work and value for the dollar spent.
We pledge to put our clients needs first and do all in our power to meet those needs. At CPMI our clients really do “come first”.
CPMI is also committed to the betterment of our employees, we will provide a safe and positive work environment where our employees can thrive and grow. CPMI will support our community by providing assistance to non-profits and charitable organizations.
CPMI will be the company of choice for clients and employees who seek to hire and work with a contractor that makes integrity its highest priority.
We will not be satisfied until we are viewed by our community as being the standard to which all other businesses are measured. CPMI will continue to make community involvement a high priority. 541-857-8988 https://curtiusplumbingandmechanical.com/
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Animal Projects
It is a tradition in 4th grade for students to pick an animal to do a report on. This year we had many beautiful projects come to school.
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Kittens Looking for a Home
Miss Coull has kittens! There are 2 more kittens that still need homes! They will be ready for new homes in April. If your family would like one, please call or text Michelle at 541-944-4152 or send an email to michelle.coull@madronetrail.org.
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Sprouts Program 2023-2024
Families interested in the Sprouts Preschool Program should submit their Sprouts Program Interest Form. This is required to confirm your child meets the criteria for the program. Submitting this form will also allow your family to receive updates, notices about the program, applications, and enrollment information.
As we look towards next year, families interested in the program are invited to one last Open House offering on April 14th from 11:00am - 12:00pm. This is an opportunity to see both classrooms and meet the teachers. This is not an informational session or interview, so for more information or details about the program, please contact the Office Manager: taurie.michele@madronetrail.org
You can read the teachers' bios on our website here. We look forward to meeting your family!
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State Testing
The window for taking our state-wide assessment, the SBAC, opens when we get back from Spring Break. Students in 3rd-8th grade are tested annually in Language Arts and Math, and 5th and 8th graders are tested in Science as well. As per Oregon law, parents and guardians have the right to opt their children out of this assessment. In order to do this, you will need to meet in person with our School Test Coordinator, Ms. Cori, to sign the opt-out form. Please email her to set-up a time to meet if you wish to opt your child out of state testing, cori.royer@madronetrail.org. New this year, 3rd, 5th, and 8th graders do not have to take the Spring I-ready assessment so they can focus all of their attention on the SBAC.
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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. | | | | |
