From the Director

Dear Madrone Family,



I have coached many sports over the years. Before I lose you as an audience, this is not a testosterone driven, sports themed message. It is about simplicity. When teaching students the proper form for shooting a basketball, I ask, “What is your focal point?” They respond with the obvious, “The rim.” I then ask them what part of the rim, to which I usually get a confused look as a response. I tell them to focus on the net hook at the back of the rim, and block out everything else. This forces them to put an arc on their shot, which drops the ball straight through, nothing but cotton! This works in life as well. Sometimes we get so caught up in the rat race that we can barely breathe. Life forces its distractions upon us until we almost collapse. 

We see what excess has done to our planet, our economies, in the realm of technology and also education. Now, people are waking up to the effect of the post-excess era on families. They see that it’s had a large and stressful effect on their families. It’s creating a “soul fever." Families are living their lives at a feverous pitch of emotion. The problem is that the fever is the new normal. The layers have been burnt off our families like the layers around our planet. People are recognizing this more and more and are seeking to strengthen and repair the layers around the family. 

Waldorf schools have been leading the way in honoring childhood and promoting balance in family life. Our job is to communicate this message to the wider public. Our roots go deep in this area. We know it, we’ve studied it, and now our task is to articulate it. We need to encourage each other and get out there and spread the message of what we do. Sometimes we forget that Rudolf Steiner was a social activist and a radical in his time. He was constantly engaged with spreading the message of a new education and social order. Rudolf Steiner said that teachers were charged with the two tasks of educating children and social renewal.

How often does our day unravel because one shoe cannot be located, or a glass of milk is spilled, causing us precious minutes? Our society, with its pressures of “Too much," is waging a war on our childhood. The bottom line is, we need to simplify our lives. We need to de-clutter in order to allow our children to develop at their pace. By simplifying, we protect the environment for childhood’s slow, essential unfolding of self. 

An excellent book for all parents to read is “Simplicity Parenting” by Kim John Payne, M.ED. A lot of what I have presented comes directly from this text. It opens your mind to the benefits of simplicity as a means to growth and child development. I guess you could say it is another case of Occam's razor. How often have you bought a fancy toy for your child and they end up playing with the box it came in? Or you cook an elaborate meal and they eat a piece of toast? Keep it simple, and you might be surprised at the results!

Have a wonderful weekend,

~Kendall Roberts

Director

kendall.roberts@madronetrail.org

From the Office

Please let the office know no later than 2:30 pm if plans change for the pick up of your children after school. Leave a detailed message who will be picking your child up (or what bus they need to ride) with your name as well as your child's full name and grade. After 2:30 pm, we may not get to your message in time.

We have been having issues with our afternoon bus service to Jefferson and Lincoln. We apologize for any inconvenience this has caused. Unfortunately it is out of our control and due to lack of drivers for First Student. If there is any way you can pick up your child next week if your child normally rides the Jefferson/Lincoln bus, that would be appreciated.

The office sent home registration packets for all returning students the first week of school. If you haven't gotten one by now, let Ms. Sherrie know. (sherrie.gasper@madronetrail.org / 541-842-3657) Please DO NOT register your student using Medford School District's new online registration system. They are still working out some glitches and at this time cannot accommodate Charter School student registration.

Board Update

Greetings Madrone Trail community!

Our next Board meeting is Wednesday, September 13 at 4:30 pm in the Gym. As a reminder, all Board meetings are open to the public and community (except for executive sessions.)

We are hoping to see many parents before our regular board meeting. We are going to be available to answer questions and get to know the community while letting you all get to know us. We will be meeting in the gym at 3:30 pm and invite any parents who would like to attend. We look forward to seeing everyone Wednesday. This will be an opportunity to have a conversation between board and community members, which is not possible during board meetings.

board@madronetrail.org

Library Update

Thanks to our Library Committee and dedicated staff, the Madrone Trail Library will open on September 18! Your child will have an opportunity to visit the Library every week. Each class will have a special time to check out books once a week.

In order to check out books, you must fill out our Library Parent Policy Agreement Form before their first visit! Please take a moment to sign the agreement so your child may access these services. We appreciate your cooperation. This form can also be found on our website here.

If you would like to assist in the library and help keep it open and running smoothly, please consider joining the Library Committee.

Thank you for your support!

From the Athletic Director

Hi Madrone Trail families,

I am very pleased with our initial participation in Volleyball and Cross Country. We currently have eighteen of our seventy-four 6th-8th students participating in these 2 sports combined or roughly 25%. Way to go Dragons!

Volleyball

The first volleyball match is set for next week on Wednesday, 9/13 @ Rogue Valley Adventist. Varsity plays at 4:00 pm and JV around 5:00 pm.

Cross Country

The first cross country meet is on Thursday, 9/14 @ Ruch Outdoor school. The girls’ race starts at 4:30 pm and the boys start at 5:00 pm.

If you want to come support our runners, please park at Ruch Community Bible Church and walk to the school. It is marked by a big yellow star on the map below.

Community Opportunity

On September 30th, there is an 1851 Gold Rush themed Run/Walk at Woodland Trails in Jacksonville. There is a 2k, 5k, and 10k option. Register at 1851goldrushrun.com. See the flier below for more info.

Go Dragons,

Jeff Roberson

jeff.roberson@madronetrail.org

From the Parent Council

We had a great turn out for Parent Night last night! Our big focus is to bring more parent involvement into our school. During Parent Night we had volunteer sign-up and so many people answered the call for help! But we still have a vast need for volunteers. If you missed Parent Night, take a moment of introspection and ask yourself what you want to contribute to our school community. Below are the Volunteer sign-up sheets, with descriptions of each committee in the link, as well as a link to become registered as a volunteer, which is needed to work with children and log your volunteer hours (please log your volunteer hours!!) If you volunteered last year and forgot to log your hours, in can be done retroactively.

Also, our next Parent Council Meeting is this coming Monday (9/11) at 6pm at Bella Union in Jacksonville. I task each parent to make an appearance to at least one parent council meeting this year (no strings attached!). Come see what the Parent Council is all about!

Thank you to those who have signed up and thank you to all of those who are clicking the links and signing up now!

Sincerely,

Megan Shaw

meganzshaw@gmail.com

Lunch Program Reminders

Click here to apply for free breakfast and lunch 

Free lunch applications are being accepted and are essential to complete if you qualify, even if you were approved last year. 

New parents: Click here for instructions to register your EZ app meals account 

PRE-ORDERING IS NOT CURRENTLY REQUIRED FOR ANY MENU ITEMS!

Cans & Bottles Recycling Fundraiser

The Blue Heron Class has started to fundraise for their 8th grade trip!

Madrone Trail is now registered as a non-profit with BottleDrop! This means we have new guidelines, with a system and process for donations. Please make sure to review the details below and reach out to our office manager if you have any questions. Thank you to our parent (and staff member) Sarah Bevers for stepping up to be our parent representative for the BottleDrop 8th grade fundraiser.

Our blue bins will go out on Monday for collecting on campus for use by our staff and students.  Please do not place large donations in our blue bins.  

If you would like to donate cans or bottles, please make sure to drop off your sealed/tied bags in plastic trash bags (please no paper or open bags). These will be bagged and tagged in our special blue BottleDrop bags and taken to the center for redemption with our special coded tag that will be donated into our school account.

Parents may drop off sealed bags to the area between the dumpster and the greenhouse, at the end of the bamboo fence on the edge of the parking lot between the kinder yard and 7th-8th grade modular. Bags will be taken to the BottleDrop once a week.

If you are able to assist with transport of large quantities of bag donations, please contact the office manager:  office@madronetrail.org

If you have a personal BottleDrop account, and would like to send online donations to our Give Account, you may login to your BottleDrop account and search for Madrone Trail.

Please review the list of acceptable items:

Included, in sizes 3 liters or less:

Soda, Beer and malt beverages, Water, Kombucha, Hard Seltzer

Included, in sizes from 4 ounces up to 1.5 liters:

Coffee and tea, Energy and sports drinks, Fruit and vegetable juice, Hard Cider

Not Included:

- Distilled spirits / liquor

- Wine

- Infant formula

- Liquid meal replacements

- Non-beverage foods

- Beverages that list dairy milk or plant-based

milk as the first ingredient

- Beverages in a carton, foil pouch, or metal

container that require a tool to be opened

Thank you for supporting our 8th graders!

Handwork Needs Containers!

The Handwork program is looking for empty quart size yogurt containers. If you have any, please bring them to school and drop them by my classroom.(next to the Kinderyard).

Thanks, Ms. Nancy

Wednesday Aftercare Offering

Elements Nature School is offering a Wednesday Aftercare program for Madrone Trail students! They are offering transportation to their location, with parent pickup at 4 pm in South Medford. See their website for more information: https://elementsnatureschool.com/wilderness-wednesdays. There's a few more spots open. Contact them soon!

Quote of the Day

Handlettered by Ms. Cori

MADRONE TRAIL PUBLIC CHARTER SCHOOL

www.madronetrail.org

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.