Winter Break

This will be the last Friday Update of 2023! The Friday Updates will resume on Friday, January 5. Thank you to everyone who takes time each week to read the Friday Update and stay up to date with the happenings at our school.

Note that school resumes Tuesday, January 2. See you in the new year.

From the Board

Hello Madrone Trail Family,

This last week has been a challenging one for our community. Mr. Roberts was a wonderful presence on campus and held his responsibilities so well. He is deeply missed, but he also left us with the ability to still be able to function well as a school. The board of directors have been hard at work doing whatever we can to help support the faculty, staff, and students in this difficult transition time. In collaboration with our incredible faculty, we are working to make things as seamless as possible so that our students can continue to thrive.

Mr. Robert’s passing probably leaves many questions about what is next and how we will move forward. This last week we had Julie Barry on campus helping out in an administrative capacity. Julie was long time principal out at Ruch Outdoor School and is now contracted with Medford School District to mentor new administrators. She was wonderfully helpful to us. As we head into the break, the board has commissioned Kelly Stofflet, Erik Johnsen, and Billy Hague as an executive committee to find an interim executive director to help us through the rest of this school year. This committee exists in order to work efficiently and not have to wait for monthly board meetings to make decisions that need to be made more quickly than once a month. The goal is to have someone in place by January 2nd if at all possible or as soon as possible after that date. Once that is in place we will begin our search for our new long term executive director. This is our number one priority at the moment.

In addition to that important piece, the board is still on top of the budget for the school and actively pursuing helpful grants and considering other ways to promote our school and its financial health. There have been many other small details that have needed to be addressed in this past week and we are doing all we can to respond to things as they come and anticipate things that may come up in the coming weeks and months.

Transition times can be difficult and at times can bring some anxious thoughts and feelings. While there may be some bumps in the road along the way we are confident that our school will continue to be a place for children to be formed and educated in the best ways. This community has been so supportive and resilient in this trying time and we are grateful and honored to serve our staff, faculty, parents, and students. 

If you have any questions or concerns that you would like to address feel free to send us an email at board@madronetrail.org.

For the good of our school,

Madrone Trail Board of Directors

From the Assistant Director

Dear Madrone Trail Community,

This week has been a whirlwind and as much as things were different, there was also so much that was the same. Rhythm and routine is a gift we give our students as it helps them thrive and feel secure in all they do. I, too, felt the comfort of being able to let the rhythm and routine of my weekly classes and the seasonal holiday events and traditions carry me through the week. I bookended my week by attending the Boys' Basketball game on Monday and seeing my child (who turned 13 on Tuesday!) perform in the Friday Assembly this morning. I also got visited in the office by the 2nd grade class celebrating Santa Lucia Day with songs and rolls. These moments are the culmination of the work we do with the children, and I feel so blessed to be a part of this community.

This week I also attended two IEP meetings and a School Test Coordinator training, all part of my normal admin duties, along with a budget meeting, the Board meeting, and many informal meetings with board members and teachers, which were not. As Assistant Director, it is my duty to step in when our Director is not available, and I am committed to helping hold this school through this time and assist and step up wherever needed. I am comforted by the fact that our board, faculty, and parents have also spoken to their commitment to step up and help out as well. The board spoke to the urgency in finding an interim director, and I am hopeful that they will be successful in finding someone that would be willing to see us through to the end of the year. The last thing I want to do is step into the role of Director again full-time and have to step away from Games for the second time.

Many have asked about memorial services for Mr. Roberts. His family is still formulating what that will look like and when it will happen. We will keep you updated. We have gathered all of the letters, cards, and gifts from the children and families and will be giving them to his family over Winter Break along with his personal items from his office, including his favorite red Swingline stapler (if you know you know.)

I hope you all have a restful and nourishing Winter Break, and I will try to do the same,

Cori Royer

Assistant Director and Games Teacher

cori.royer@madronetrail.org

Ski Club

Greeting Madrone Trail Snow Dragons!

Ski Club is on the horizon and will be starting right away in January. It is open to all students in good academic standing from grades 4-8 and doesn't require ANY experience or equipment aside from winter clothes! The mountain offers a package deal for gear, ticket and lessons that's very affordable. The dates are Fridays 1/5, 1/12, 1/19, 1/26 from 4-9 pm. 

Unfortunately, due to a shortage of bus drivers, parents will again be responsible for getting their kids up the mountain after school on Fridays. I will compile a list of everyone who's going and create a Google doc that will allow people to coordinate asking for and offering rides. The mountain has streamlined their registration system to make it fairly foolproof, and you can access this on the link below. Once you sign up, please email me with your name and phone number and how many children you registered and if you need a ride or have extra seats. The registration opens today, Dec. 8 and goes to the 29th of December. Please do not wait until the last minute to sign up. There might be complications with the website or you may forget to sign up and miss the deadline. That would be a bummer. 

Email me at mateo.tryllium@madronetrail.org with any questions or call the mountain at (541) 482.2897. Time to dust off those skis, throw some wax on 'em and as always, dance for snow!!!

From the Athletic Director

Boys' Basketball

On Monday, we played the Valley School and were able to extend our win streak to 6 in a row, winning 47-29, which was awesome. Unfortunately, our boys fell to Lorna Byrne by 1 point on the road in our last game, 26-27. We ended the season 6-2. Enjoy a few pictures from our season below.

Notable Madrone Performances

Monday vs. The Valley School

Titus Stewart: 18 points, 4 assists, 4 rebounds

Theo Gerig: 12 points, 15 rebounds

Roman Roberson: 9 rebounds, 5 steals

Solomon Stricker: 6 points, 6 rebounds

Wednesday vs. Lorna Byrne

Luke Walker: 7 points, 9 rebounds

Titus Stewart: 5 points, 3 rebounds

Roman Roberson: 6 points, 10 rebounds

Theo Gerig: 4 points, 10 rebounds

Girls' Basketball

Girls’ Basketball is starting right after the break! What an exciting time!

Registration deadline: January 3rd. Cost $100 (Scholarships available)

Practices: 3:30-5:00 pm at Sacred Heart beginning Thursday, Jan. 4th and continuing on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays.

If you would like to see some high school Girls’ Basketball before then, my high school Lady Challengers are playing three home games at Cascade Christian High School.

Thursday 12/21 @ 7pm. vs. Klamath Union

Friday 12/22 @ 5:30 vs. Phoenix

Saturday 12/23 vs. Santiam Christian

Meet our Girls’ Basketball coach-- Leila Jones

As an incredibly shy child, her parents put her in sports at the age of 5. She attributes this to her lifelong love of sports.

She started playing basketball in middle school. She played basketball during high school and into the first year of college. 

Leila has coached a variety of students. She has coached junior Olympics. She was an amazing “athletes” coach where she coached pre-school students in a variety of sports, basketball being one of them. She has six children; 4 of which played basketball where she was coach or assistant coaching of their teams. 

She has a passion and love of sports and looks forward to introducing the team sport of basketball. Nothing is more rewarding than to help new players develop their skills and become the best they can be. 

Community Opportunity

Well…more basketball

YMCA winter basketball registration has opened and closes January 20th.

When: The season runs 1/20/23-3/09/23

Who: K-6th grade boys and girls

         (Kinder teams are coed, 1st-6th separate boys and girls league)

Cost: $75 (Scholarship and reduced fee options listed application process explained on the website)       *Free for volunteer coaches

Registration is open now

Register at https://rvymca.org/programs/120033?locations=13

 

Go Dragons!

~Jeff Roberson

Athletic Director

jeff.roberson@madronetrail.org

Library Wish List

Many families have expressed interest in donating books to our school library. We have received several donations already! The Library Committee has put together an Amazon Wish List for books we would like to have in our library. This is not an exhaustive list, more books will be added from time to time. If you have any of these books at home you would like to donate, we would love to have them. You can also easily purchase any of these books off this wishlist by adding them to your cart, and then selecting Madrone Trail as your shipping address (it will be one of your options as you checkout). Thank you for supporting our library!

Winter Weather Procedures

Madrone Trail follows the decisions made by the Medford School District regarding severe weather procedures. Please refer to social media or media announcements for guidance from MSD.

In the event school needs to be delayed, canceled, or released early (due to an unexpected weather event occurring during school hours), the following decisions are possible:

Normal school hours – snow routes: some bus routes in higher elevations change due to snow or slick road conditions. Snow routes are posted ahead of time at: www.medford.k12.or.us/snow

Cancellation:  School and district are closed.  

Two-hour delayed start – regular routes OR snow routes: School begins two hours after regularly scheduled start time. Regular bus routes or snow routes may run, depending on road conditions. 

Releasing school early – normal routes OR snow routes: School is released early due to hazardous road conditions. Buses may run regular routes or snow routes, depending on road conditions.

We will do our best to send updates to families as Special Announcement emails as well as on the homepage of our website, but just remember, is MSD closes, we do too!

Auction Update

Auction planning is coming along. We can’t wait to share more details about the 2024 auction! We will need a solid group of volunteers to ensure the event goes smoothly and is fun for all. Volunteering means a complimentary ticket and dinner! There are many roles to fill including work leading up to the event that still qualify for comped tickets.

Email auction@madronetrail.org and our volunteer coordinator will reach out to you with details. 

The auction will take place on Saturday, March 2 at the Historic Ashland Armory. Be sure to save the date!

State Testing

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, we are required to give parents and guardians notice regarding this assessment. Please read the attached notice.

Substitute Teacher Assistants Wanted

We are currently looking for more Substitute Teacher Assistants to be on call throughout the year. If you are interested, please check out our Indeed job post

here:  Substitute Teacher Assistant

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.