Tuesday Note - Spring Garden Waldorf School

Tuesday Note: October 18, 2022

Knitting Buddies

First graders begin their year in hand work class making their own knitting needles. Then, once those are complete, they are ready to learn to knit. And who better to teach them than their eighth grade buddies who learned from their buddies all those years ago?

It helps to remember the saying: Under The Fence, Catch The Sheep, Pull Em Through, And Off We Leap!

School News

School Photos

Fall photos are available!

Here is the link: https://vando.imagequix.com/g1000967811#login

The password is fall2022

There is also an individual password for each class. Please find here.

-A class photo is included with packages A through D

-Digital downloads may take up to 24 hours to process

-Some cropping may occur with 8x10 or larger prints.

Any orders now place will be sent to your home with a shipping fee. The gallery COMPLETELY expires on Oct. 25, 2022. Requests for photos after this date will be subject to handling fees.

Photo retakes will be October 19th. Please let Jess (learn@sgws.org) know if you would like for your child to have their photo taken.

If you have any questions, please contact Cindy Jones (bslphotos@yahoo.com).

Oct. 26th Parent Meeting: Compensation & Tuition Input

The Board of Trustees and Compensation Task Force are working to improve wages and benefits for our faculty and staff. In an effort to help us gather additional input, we invite you to attend a Parent meeting on October 26th at 6 PM here on campus. We will also have a virtual option.

The goal of the meeting is

to gather feedback and ideas about possible approaches to increased

compensation and benefits while continuing to support our families. The ideas

put forth at our October 26th meeting will inform the Compensation Task Force

as they create a recommended strategy for faculty and staff compensation and

benefit increases.

Please RSVP HERE.

Children’s Festival & Artisan Market: Saturday, December 3rd

Calling All SGWS Alum

One of the wonderful memories from the Children’s Festival is winding through the lighted maze to make a wish and receive a special star cookie. We invite our alumni to be part of the delightful tradition this year by signing up to be one of our Cookie Sprites. Sprites can be any gender, and you are invited to create your own beautiful costume to enthrall our young guests (we can provide costumes if that is preferred). The festival is Saturday, December 3^rd from 10am – 3pm, so we have five shifts available for an hour each. Please contact Tyra Scott (tscott@sgws.org) to sign up for your preferred time slot. Be sure to send a photo of your costume for our review.

Accreditation Overview Presentation

Thank you to everyone who stopped by and heard about our AWSNA Accreditation process between class meetings in October. Many have requested a copy of the presentation and you can access it here:

https://sgws.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Parent-Accreditation-Overview-2.pdf

Parent Council Update

Last week’s October Parent Council meeting was well attended by PC reps and other SGWS parents. We met at the school directly after drop off on Friday morning. As an activity, we created decorations for the upcoming Children’s Festival.

This school year’s PC calendar is a hybrid of morning in-person & evening online zoom meetings. November’s meeting will be held via zoom on Wednesday 11/9 @ 7pm.

Below is the list of PC reps for this school year. These parents act as a bridge between the group and individual class families.

2022 - 2023 Parent Council Representatives

Early Childhood Reps:

Dahlia Garden (Ms. Sarah) — Emily Miller & Caleb Gillombardo

Bluebell Garden (Ms. Stephanie) — Reena Chatterjee

Lavender Garden (Ms. Olga) — Julia Markovic

Lilac Garden (Ms. Julie) — Tricia Cottrell & Ashley Taylor

Grades Reps:

Class 1 — Erin Montgomery & John Harrison

Class 2 — Susan Hudson

Class 3 — Dionne LaRue

Class 4 — Katie Strnad & Jen Vereb

Class 5 — Anita Travis

Class 6 — Suzanne Reich

Class 7 — Danielle Gilbert

Class 8 — Kara Hoffman & Julie Grant

Parent Council Leads:

Kelli Wright, Tricia Cottrell, & Suzanne Reich

Update School Calendar

Here is our updated key dates 2022-23 School Calendar.

Please check the calendar often as some dates could change. March assembly is now moved to 17th at 9 a.m.

School Directory 2022-23

Here is our current School Directory and Early Childhood Directory for 2022-23.

Community News and Events

Join Us Fireside This Friday

Unless it’s pouring rain, we’ll have a fire and coffee and tea waiting for you around the fire at the Sportsman Club lot adjacent to our parking area. If you see a fire burning, stop by after drop off and say hello! All are welcome.

Copley Township Halloween in the Park

Copley Township is hosting Halloween in the Park on Saturday, October 29th, from 2:00 p.m. - 4:30 p.m. Located at 3333 Copley Road (rain location is Copley-Fairlawn Middle School). There will be trick or treating for children 10 years old and under, games, crafts, donuts and cider.

SGWS Athletics - Basketball Season

It is almost basketball season and time to register your athlete!

SGWS basketball is open to all students in grades 6-8. The cost is $100/athlete.

The season begins October 25 and runs through the month of February.

Practices will be 2-3 days/week after school. Games are on Sunday afternoons.

Information regarding our sports programs at SGWS and registration forms will be sent home with all interested students this week.

Forms should be returned to Kristen Oberhaus by Oct. 21. A sports physical signed by a doctor is required for participation.

If your student participated in cross country, they do not need to fill out forms again, but an email should be sent to koberhaus@sgws.org indicating their commitment to join the basketball team.

Any questions should be sent to koberhaus@sgws.org. GO JAGS!

We Are Hiring!

Math Teacher: We are seeking a part-time middle school Math Teacher for three mornings a week to join our faculty beginning in the 2022-23 school year to teach math to grades 6 & 8. We value excellent teaching, expert classroom management techniques, an understanding of child development, and a joy for teaching. Requirements: Bachelor’s degree and experience teaching middle school grades math.

Spring Garden Waldorf School is an equal opportunity employer. To apply: Please email a cover letter, resume, and three references to learn@sgws.org, attn: Hiring Committee.

Athletic Department Opportunities

Spring Garden is hiring the following positions within our athletic department:

Assistant coaches for cross country and basketball (CYO designates these as girls and boys basketball): Duties include supporting head coach, leading and assisting with practice sessions, attending practices and competitions within the season, and maintaining team statistics.

Head coaches for basketball (CYO designates these as girls and boys basketball.): Duties include planning and executing practice sessions, setting practice schedule, communicating with parents, attending practices and competitions within the season, distribution of uniforms and equipment.

These are seasonal, part-time positions of Spring Garden Waldorf School, paid by stipend. All positions report to the athletic director. Qualifications include a high school diploma and previous experience as an athlete and working with students. Previous experience coaching middle-school age students is preferred.

Cross country season runs approximately from the end of July through mid-October. Basketball season runs approximately from November through early February.

Please send resume and letter of intent to koberhaus@sgws.org if you are interested.

Volunteer Opportunities

SGWS Work Days

Mark your calendars for upcoming Work Days during the 2022-23 school year! This is a great opportunity to connect with your fellow SGWS community and earn your family service hours.

* Students 5th grade and up may attend the work days with a parent or guardian!*

Volunteer Hour Tracking

For this school year, we will be using a binder in the school office to log volunteer hours. Each family will have a sheet to log the date, description of activity and total hours. If you are unable to come in to the office, please email Jess (learn@sgws.org) with name, date, description, and total hours and she will update your family sheet. Thank you for all you do for our school community!

Children's Festival Volunteers Needed

We are looking for volunteers to do some “at home” work for the Children’s Festival. It would involve wrapping prizes for the Boat Room and Pocket Person. In order to keep these items a surprise for the day of the Children’s Festival, we ask that this work be done without children knowing about it. If interested, please email Tyra at tscott@sgws.org.