Weekly Notes: October 9, 2020
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COMING EVENTS
October 7-11
9 am
Book Fair
October 9
Parent-teacher Conferences
No school
October 12:
Fall Break.
No school
October 13:
Faculty Prep.
No school
October 14:
Return to Campus for K and 5/6
October 15
Return to Campus for 3/4
October 16
Return to Campus for 1/2
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IMPORTANT
RETURN TO CAMPUS INFORMATION
Dear LFS Families,
We are both excited and daunted by the prospect of welcoming all of our students back to campus next week. We know what a sacred privilege it is to be able to work with your children and to have them on this campus under our care, and we are aware more than ever of the awesome responsibility of doing so during this unprecedented pandemic.
I want to thank everyone who attended Wednesday evening's Return-to-Campus Parent Orientation. If you weren't able to be there, you can access the full recording here. You can also access all of our health and safety guidelines, as well as the schedule for next week's school re-entry here.
If you have not already, please review the guidelines carefully and commit to them. As Linda mentioned at the orientation, our integrity and willingness to follow these guidelines will be the greatest keys to our successful return to campus for all students and staff members. As a case in point, two weeks ago I woke up with minor muscle aches and a headache but no fever. Normally I would not have thought anything of it and would have come to work. Yet as I completed the daily health screen, I filled in the boxes for these symptoms--and was then directed by the form not to come to campus. I then called Linda, who directed me to get a COVID test, and I worked from home until I was cleared with a negative result and the requisite wait time. I wasn't surprised by the negative result, but I did what I am asking all of us to do... to strictly follow our procedures and to err on the side of safety, for everyone's sake. None of us wants to be responsible for spreading this dangerous illness.
We very much appreciated everyone's thoughtful questions and comments at Wednesday's orientation, and we respect the deep feelings expressed about whether to open our campus or not and how best to educate and keep children safe during this challenging time. One thing that matters a great deal to me is that we continue to share ideas openly and that we stick together as a tight-knit, nurturing community in spite of any differences of opinion we may have. If there's something that our Quaker community can model well for our children, it is our ability to disagree respectfully and to listen to one another.
Please continue to reach out to me and to attend the Friday virtual coffees. As I mentioned Wednesday evening, we also will be surveying families to gather more information about distance learning, our return to campus plans, and the prospect of moving back to "distance mode" between Thanksgiving and the winter holidays.
Speaking of holidays, enjoy this long holiday weekend, and we'll look forward to seeing your children next week. Don't forget that only Pre-K has school on Tuesday, as that will be a work day for faculty and staff as we make final preparations for in-person teaching.
Best, Tr. Neal
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5th And 6th Graders Zoom
with an Organic Farmer
Her name is Brindley Beckwith and her farm is Tanager Farm, located in Corbett, Oregon, near Portland. Brindley is also Tr. Amelia's cousin. She spoke to the class about care for the soil, beneficial insects, and the 100 family members of the CSA for whom she and her partner grow food. She answered many questions! Thanks, Tr. Jen and Tr. Amelia!
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Book Fair
This year, the LFS Book Fair will run virtually for a full week, from October 5-9.
Categories will be similar to the in-person fair, and families can also search by grade. Books will be hand delivered to each child when we are on campus.
When checking out, be sure to choose “Pick Up” for your shipping option. LFS will take care of getting your book orders to you–that’s why we need to know your teacher and grade!
The link is active until Sunday, October 11!
Here is the link (remember the case-sensitive password!)
password:
LFSRocks!
And if you are wondering how to support LFS and the library, here is a teacher BOOK WISHLIST
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Forms Return
For Kindergarten through 6th grades: Links to the Daily Health Screen were mailed on September 25th. Please check your link and save it/bookmark it in an easily accessible place as you will have to complete this each day before your child arrives at school, I recommend that you fill out the Health Screen as a test prior to the first day of school so that you are familiar with it, and also to ensure that it is working properly. You can submit it as part of the test. This will also flag any link that isn't working properly so it can be tweaked or re-sent if necessary.
The link was sent under the email address of Lansdowne Friends School. Any questions or problems that arise should be emailed to: lsena@lansdownefriendsschool.org
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Tr. Karen's 5th and 6th Graders Meet a Poet
The 5th and 6th grade language arts class had a guest speaker during class on Thursday, October 8. Tr. Chris has an MFA and EdD. He is a professor, poet, and father of our own Amelia Parker. He has taught poetry classes to children, teen-agers, and adults. Tr. Chris uses sounds and colors to help students create descriptive language and metaphor.
Below are two of many of the wonderful results. Thanks Tr. Amelia, Tr. Chris and Tr. Karen!
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Harmony
By Simone Y, Grade 5
I hear the sound of rain hitting my window.
I fix my eyes on the demure, antler white sheet of paper that sits on my desk. I begin to transform it into a masterpiece.
Colors pour onto the paper:
Orange Sherbert
Sunstone
Spinning Gold
Beacon Blue
Dulce de Leche
Slate
Banana Creme
Raw Honey
Names of different colors are Harmony with the sound of
Rain hitting my window
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Beautiful Sentence
By Simon B.- Grade 5
It was a cold winter evening
and the train was going by my log cabin
It was a beautiful color
a color you would only see in dreams
it was the most beautiful gold I have ever seen
So I got in my comfy chair and had some hot chocolate and watched the train go by.
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Pre-K is Hatching Chickens!
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Farmer Keith, from Quiver Farms, visited Pre-K on Tuesday. He shared a
chicken and a rooster with the class. He then left us with a dozen eggs and an incubator. We are hoping for baby chicks early next week!
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Tr. Jen and a student turn the eggs...very gently.
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Tr. Zac's Reads Aloud to 4th Graders
"Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky" by Kwame Mbalia is funny, scary and is even mysterious--perfect for 4th graders. Thanks, Tr. Zac, for reading in each character's voice!
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1st Graders Draw for
Day of the Dead
Students in Tr. Steve's 1st and 2nd grade art classes will be learning about the Day of the Dead, so we talked about how someone could celebrate not only deceased people in their family and community that they’ve known, but also ancestors that they’ve never met. We then looked at a variety of Mexican tapestries, fabric, and Day of the Dead decorations in order to get a sense of Mexican pattern and style. We then made sketches of our own sugar skulls.
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Notes from the SCA:
Thank you to everyone who joined our first meeting of the school year this week. It was great to see you all. Future SCA meetings will be at 7:00 on the third Wednesday of the month. The next three meeting dates will be 10/21, 11/18, and 12/16. We hope to see you there!
In further SCA news, please mark your calendars for Saturday, October 24th, at 5pm. While we will miss our annual Linvilla Hayride trip and our in-person Chili dinner this year, we’d like to invite all LFS families to a virtual campfire and fall extravaganza on Zoom. We’re looking forward to sharing an evening of campfire stories, songs and even, perhaps, some virtual S’mores. (The extravaganza is BYO chili/Mac and cheese.)
More detailed information will follow in the coming weeks.
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