Weekly Bulletin

IN THIS WEEK'S ISSUE:

Auction Update

Welcome Kathleen

Girls' Basketball News

Cyber Civics

Waldorf at Weill Hall

SunRidge Library Update

School Closed January 28th & 29th

Good Attendance Means $$$ for SunRidge

Pledge Report

Pick-Up Reminder

Rummage Sale

Chess for Kids

Lost & found

New Hot Lunch Forms

Whole Foods Scrip Made Easy

Parent Handwork Group Continues to Meet

Community Events

Classified

Calendar

Tuesday, January 12th, 6:30-8:30pm:

4th Grade Parent Evening

Wednesday, January 13th,

Depart 8:50am, Return 12:30pm:

Morning Star to Pastures

Thursday, January 14th, 6:30-8:30pm:

6th Grade Parent Evening

Monday, January 18th:

School Closed for Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday

Wednesday, January 20th,

Depart 8:50am, Return 12:30pm:

Dragonfly to Pastures

Wednesday, January 20th, 6-9pm:

Charter Council Meeting in Library

Thursday, January 21st, 5:30-7pm:

2nd Grade Parent Evening

Friday, January 22nd, 9-11am:

Foundation Meeting in Library

Wednesday, January 27th:

Waldorf at Weill Hall Orchestra Performance

Thursday and Friday, January 28th & 29th:

School Closed for Parent/Teacher Conferences

Auction Update
Welcome back and happy New Year! The school's annual on-line auction is fast approaching (is live March 3 - 17, 2016) and SunRidge really needs your help now! Here's what you need to know:
Kick-Off: The auction team is holding a kick-off morning tea this Saturday, Jan 6 in the school's library from 9.30 - 11.30. Please RSVP by email to sunridgeauction@gmail.com if you can attend!
Communication: Attached is the letter to use when making contact with companies for donations to the auction.
Donations: 350 - 400 items (new products or services) will make the event vibrant, so every one donated is very much needed and appreciated. Minimum retail value of ideally $25, no limit on the maximum retail value. Travel, food and wine items in particular are great to have.
Timing: Please have items or gift certificates delivered to the school by the week of Feb 22 (i.e. immediately after the school's February break).
Questions: If you would like a copy of the list of donors you contacted last year, let us know (email to sunridgeauction@gmail.com). If you are inspired to contact other companies, we can provide contacts and verify that someone else is not planning to ask them for a donation.
Other ways to help: The auction is much more than sourcing donations, so if your preference is to help with item system entry, promoting the auction, processing payment transactions or closing out the auction, please advise your availability by email to sunridgeauction@gmail.com.
Thank you for doing whatever you can for SunRidge kids and teachers.
~Robert & Cheryl
SunRidge Educational Foundation Board Members and Auction Advocates
Robert (707 823 3065 / robert24simmons@gmail.com)
Cheryl (707 481 4533 / cklocks@aol.com)

Welcome Kathleen
Kathleen Austin is thrilled to join SunRidge School as Choir Instructor. Kathleen comes to Sebastopol from the East Coast, where she directed the Apprentice Program at the American Boychoir School in New Jersey and instituted vocal music programs in Virginia and New York. Kathleen is a graduate of Westminster Choir College in Princeton, New Jersey with a B.M. in Music Education. As a teacher, she aims foremost to nurture a love of singing, while building a strong foundation in musical literacy and vocal technique. Kathleen is truly grateful to join the dedicated and vibrant staff of SunRidge School. It is her great joy to teach in a school where song is a vital part of the school curriculum and community.

Girls’ Basketball News
Valkyries have polished their armor and taken the court! Practice dates are 1/4, 1/6, 1/8; 1/11, 1/13, 1/15; Tuesday 1/19; 1st game is Wednesday 1/20. Cost is $85, see Theresa in the office is this is a concern. Our season runs through mid-March. This is our 14th season, and promises to be an exciting one!

Cyber Civics
Here's a FREE ebook on cyber civics: “5 Guidelines To Help Your Kids Build a Safe and Positive Digital Presence."
http://media.wix.com/ugd/f6bccd_27fae7baddd74fd69c107c55bebfe54e.pdf

Waldorf at Weill Hall
The SunRidge Middle School Orchestra led by Mr. Eddie Guthman will be performing this year at the beautiful Green Music Center's third annual Waldorf at Weill Hall Concert on January 27th at 6:30pm. Last year's performances created awe-inspiring images of each school's dedicated and artistic endeavors and the excellence, wonder and beauty inherent in a Waldorf education. Please respect the larger community by ensuring that any tickets that are ordered are used the night of the performance as there are nine schools' proud community members involved and this event sells out every year. Tickets are limited to 2 per household and will be available beginning January 11th.
Online orders: www.gmc.sonoma.edu
Phone orders: 1-866-055-6040

SunRidge Library Update
Thursday, January 14th, 8:30 - 10:30 in the library: Volunteers are invited to join Michael Powell, director of Sonoma County Office Library Services, to learn the steps involved in entering all the books we now have in our library into a digital system that is connected to the SCOE library system. Please come if this interests you, even if you have not been involved in the library up to this point. We welcome your interest and help! Questions? Call Dianne Namkung at 217-2640.

School Closed January 28^th & 29th
On Thursday and Friday, January 28^th and 29^th, SunRidge School will be closed for parent/teacher conferences for students in grades 1-8, however, both the grades and Kindergartens will be closed those days. Kindergarten parent/teacher conferences are being held in the fall (already completed) and the spring. Please be sure to sign up for a parent/teacher conference for your child/ren in grades 1-8. Teachers will be posting schedules soon.

Good Attendance Means $$$ for SunRidge
Did you know that SunRidge receives no funding from the state for any child that is not present at least part of a school day? At about $40 per child per day that adds
up quickly to a big loss of income. Last year, we had an average of 94% of our students attending each day. Every additional percentage point we can improve attendance, the school gains about $17,000 in state revenue. We can increase our attendance rate if parents only keep their children home from school when they are sick or have some other vital need, and also have them attend a partial day if they need to do something time-limited like see the doctor or dentist during the day. While a child recovers from a lingering illness, this could mean that they attend just for main lesson and the school still receives credit for their attendance. If everyone did that, we could easily increase our attendance rate to 95% or higher. Please do your part!

Pick Up Reminder
To facilitate ease of pick up for both schools, please review the pick up times for each grade:

Grade	Pick-up Window*

Kindergarten	12:40-12:50


1st Grade Regular Day	2:15 – 2:25pm

2nd Grade Regular Day	2:30 – 2:40pm

3rd Grade Regular Day	2:30 – 2:40pm

4th–8th Grade Regular Day	3:05 – 3:15pm

1st – 3rd Early Release Day	12:50 – 1:00pm

4th – 8th Early Release Day	1:00 – 1:15pm

Rummage Sale
The 7th Grade is holding a Rummage in April in the SunRidge Multipurpose Room (the gym) to raise funds for their 8th Grade field trip. If you have anything you would like to donate that is in reasonable to good condition, please drop off in the 7th grade class room before or after school with a note stating "rummage" or call Rosalie on 823-3065 or email rosalie.simmons@gmail.com if you want items picked up from your house or office.

Chess for Kids
Beginning January 21^st, Chess for Kids will offer a 7week session of instructional chess classes at SunRidge School. All skill levels welcome. Studies have found hidden rewards for students of chess: Critical and logical thinking skills; improved concentration, pattern recognition and memory; patience, decision-making, planning, and sportsmanship skills.
Classes are held on Thursdays after school from 1:05-2:05 in the SunRidge library. Cost is $85 per child, siblings always half price (scholarships considered). Sign up early to ensure space! Enroll online at www.chessclubforkids.com
For information only, call (707) 527-6427.

Lost and Found
Please take a moment over the next week or so to go through the lost and found items to see if anything belongs to your family. Photos of some items can be viewed through the following link: https://www.dropbox.com/sunridgereachlostandfound
All lost and found items will be donated to a charitable cause on Friday, January 15^th, 2016.

New Hot Lunch Forms
For December and January Hot Lunch, grades 3-8 can order by filling out the following forms and attaching payment. Forms and payment can be dropped in the Hot Lunch folder that is attached to the front of Erin’s desk in the office. NOTE: Though we are terribly sorry for the inconvenience, we will NOT be able to provide hot lunch for 3^rd grade on Fridays at the farm campus. Unfortunately, for the handful of orders we receive, it is simply not possible for our Friday delivery parent to drive out to Watertrough Rd.
http://www.sunridgeschool.org/hot-lunch-program.html

Whole Foods Scrip Made Easy

Whole Foods scrip/gift cards are now available for purchase in the school office. Using scrip/gift cards when shopping at Whole Foods Market is an easy way for SunRidge to raise thousands of dollars each year for school needs (WFM donates 3% of every dollar to SunRidge). If you shop regularly at Whole Foods, we want to make this easy by providing individual reminders when Whole Foods scrip cards are available for you to pick up in the school office. It is also possible for you to “re-load” a WF card through the scrip website on your own, and you can re-load up to $400 on your existing card at one time, so you don’t need to keep buying new cards each month or to carry around multiple cards. Want to receive personal reminders or learn more about reloading your own card? Go to: http://www.sunridgeschool.org/whole-food-market-scrip-e-scrip-and-store-cards.html scroll down to the bottom of the page to download the form. Send or bring in the completed form. We’ll take it from there.

Parent Handwork Group Continues to Meet
The handwork group is open every Tuesday morning from 8:30-10:30. Come join us for all or part of the time, have a cup of tea, and slow down from the busy time of the year. Come nourish your creative spark! It brings us much joy and strengthens our will.
We are planning our next project: wet-felted wool birdhouses for the Spring Fling Dinner & Auction. Of course, any donations of wool and/or wool roving would be greatly appreciated.

COMMUNITY EVENTS

Club Credo Poetry Slam: January 8th at 7pm. Sophomore class to perform. This is a great opportunity to hear original work from our students. Appropriate for 8th graders and above. Credo High School, 1290 Southwest Blvd., Rohnert Park. FREE!

Immunization Informational Meeting
French Garden Restaurant is hosting Dr. Debra Gambrell as part of their Science Buzz Café series Wednesday, January 13^th at 7pm.

PIANO LESSONS AVAILABLE after school / at school
$35 per month -- Affordable & Accessible
Move Over Mozart Est. 1988 Lynn Fleck (707) 824-0307. Click here to download the sign up form: http://www.sunridgeschool.org/forms.html

CLASSIFIED
(We can list rentals, parents selling used items, free items, lost and found, or trades. With the exception of private, after-school care available for SunRidge students, we do not list for-profit business ads)

Gabion Cage Experience Needed
Do you have any experience installing gabion cages or know someone that does? I want to have a gabion cage/basket retaining wall installed where a runoff ditch enters a culvert. Let me know if you have any info regarding this type of project.
Callie Almand - 824-2276 message okay

Free Piano!
SunRidge School has a piano up for grabs to a good home. The lucky recipient will need to arrange their own pick up and transport of the piano from school to it's new home. Contact Kalen Wood if interested: kwood@twinhillsusd.org.

REQUEST FROM A STUDENT:

When I was 9 years old I wished to have the parts to make my own computer. While 10 and 11 years old, I pet sat a neighbor's dogs and earned enough money to buy my first computer on Craigslist. I am 13 now and am excited to be working on my end of the year project - creating a 3D animation short story - with a hand me down 2013 Asus laptop from a Credo High School student. Then tragedy struck, and the computer needs to be replaced. In October I attended a lecture: Digital Storytelling and Waldorf Education: An Unlikely Encounter. I had the opportunity to ask questions and meet Guido Quaroni and Mr. Klocek, Art Director of Pixar Animation Studios. That event made me so happy and clear regarding what I want to do. I want to be an animator. I am hoping someone can help me obtain one of the following computers to help me to finish my end of middle school project and beyond! Please contact Ms. Kalen if you can help me obtain new or used a:

Dell Inspiron 15 7000 Series Touchscreen Laptop
ASUS ROG, GL552VW laptop
Alienware 17R3 Laptop

Table Missing
A table donated for Falling Leaves has been mistakenly taken from the Library. It is a white folding table with black handles and adjustable legs. It belongs to Vivian Dickson and she can be reached at 707-479-9801. Please call if you know where it may have ended up. There is another folding table left in the library (older, with red handles) that may belong to someone else.

Carpool Needed
Carpool Interest from Highway 12 / Stony point Road area. Single Mother, self employed (flexible schedule) wanting to put together a carpool for the morning and/or afternoons, depending. My daughter is 8th grade SunRidge student. Please call Laura 707-291-7270.

Babysitter Available
I'm Sam White, a graduate from SunRidge last year. I am looking for same babysitting opportunities. I am really good with children and have experience. References available. Please call 707-483-3006

Childcare Offered
33-year-old nature mentor with experience working with many Sunridge families is available for part-time childcare, after school and babysitting. First-aid certified, trustworthy, owns a reliable car, and has flexible hours. Group childcare is available with rates depending on the number of children. Contact Lindsey Whited at 330-212-3616 or lindseymariewhited@gmail.com.

Part Time Nanny Needed

I am looking for a part-time nanny for my son, who is age 10 and in Class 4. This person needs to pick him up from school two or three days per week, take him home (we live a block away), and take care of him until I return from work. During that time he does a simple chore and completes some homework, and the rest of the time is for play; he usually likes some alone time and some social time. When he plays alone, I ask that you do a little light housework, such as washing dishes. Please call Alissa at 707-236-0747 if this sounds like a good fit for you. Thanks so much.