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IN THIS ISSUE:
message from the head / whole child approach / parent survey reminder / attendance notes/ día de los muertos / meet the staff / inclement weather plans / veteran's day / snapshots / events
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Message from the Head
Dear Gardner School community,
One of the important aspects of a Gardner School education is teaching children to be life long learners. As a school leader, I embrace continual learning, a growth mindset, and working towards improving the Gardner School, year after year. I've decided to try something new, and I am beginning to create videos as a way to add depth and detail to our school's communication strategy. It's incredibly important that our community understands what we do, why we do it, and how we follow through on that promise. In the coming months, you'll see a series of videos from me talking about different aspects of our school. The goal is to provide more insights for parents, teachers, and community members, and to answer questions that come up for them. As always, I'm open to feedback and would love to hear from you on if the videos are helpful in your understanding of the Gardner School. Below, you'll see my first video that explained social and emotional learning, and what it looks like here on campus! I hope you enjoy it.
With gratitude,
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Program Spotlight
Teaching to the whole child
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As explained in the video above, we understand that the emotional and social experience at school is as important as the academic experience. Children need to feel safe and connected in order to do their best learning, and we prioritize conversations and direct instruction that provides students the tools for emotional well-being, too. This might look like reading specific books and having discussions, implementing materials from social-emotional curriculum, or having students work through role play scenarios.
In the classroom, teachers provide language frameworks like "bucket filling", the concept of sharing kind behaviors and actions that can help a person's "bucket" be full of happiness and contentment. The analogy comes from the book How Full Is Your Bucket? by Tom Rath and Donald O. Clifton, and has been used in schools around the country to support younger students in social emotional learning. Classmates share how they like to have their buckets filled, like getting a compliment, or being invited to play a game.
As children get older, the language around sharing emotions, understanding personal needs, and communicating kindly continues to be taught. Children continue to get value from the direct instruction of practices like how to maintain friendships, how to talk to a friend if they've hurt your feelings, and how to be an "upstander", someone who is willing to speak or act in support of a person, or in support of what they know is right.
Parents can extend this work in their own homes, using language from the classroom instruction to reinforce family kindess practices, too. This kind of instruction at all ages reduces bullying, improves self-confidence, and delivers on our mission to cultivate authentic learning through integrated experiences in a supportive community. When students go from Gardner into the community, we hope they will transfer the skills they've learned here to be caring citizens and helpers.
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Parent Survey Reminder
We want to hear from you!
Survey results have been coming in, and this information will help the school develop our strategic plan. We value the community input from parents, and want to hear your thoughts.
Please complete this survey by Monday, November 14th.
We'd also love to connect in person! Join members of the admin team for a hot beverage and treat in the Farmhouse after drop off on Thursday, November 17th. |
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Attendance Reminders
The school day starts at 8:30 am for all classes, and our teachers are ready to engage children in active learning right away. When students are tardy, it can be disruptive for the class and challenging for the late student to settle in smoothly to the day. Please make every effort to drop off your child(ren) between 8:15 and 8:30 am.
Why is being on time important?
- Your child has time to greet friends and put away items before instruction begins.
- Early morning learning is often focused on literacy, and missing out on this time can impact academic growth.
- Coming in late can disrupt the class and can make your child feel uncomfortable.
- Being on time helps your child participate in routines and builds positive habits.
If your family is having challenges arriving to school on time, and you would appreciate any tips that have worked for other families, please reach out to your child's homeroom teacher to continue the conversation. We're here to support families, and are happy to reinforce the importance of arriving on time with the children, too.
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Attendance checks
Log into Alma
Did you know that the same system you complete back to school forms in also allows you to check your child's attendance? Login to your Alma acccount here and your child's attendance record should be easy to access. We strive for accuracy in our attendance records, so please contact Lisa Linderman if you have any questions or see any discrepencies.
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Checking in at the office
Coming in late?
If your child is arriving after 8:40 am, please make sure to check in with the front office to let the school know your child arrived. We can update the attendance information and make sure your child is connected with their class, whether students are in the homeroom or other location on campus.
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Día de los Muertos Learning Opportunity
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We're grateful our students get to learn about different cultures and celebrations, and last week in Spanish our students learned about Día de los Muertos. From learning about ofrendas, to traditional toys, to delicious pan de muerto, our students are getting real world connections to the language studies they do as well. Every student, from preschool through 6th grade gets to benefit from Teacher María's Spanish classes!
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Meet the Staff
María Flores
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María, a native of Guadalajara, México, has been teaching for more than 20 years, with 14 years at the Gardner School. María loves teaching Spanish and works with all of our students, from preschool through 6th grade. She especially enjoys introducing them to her native language through games, songs and storytelling. If you've had a preschooler in one of her classes, you've likely heard those Spanish songs at home and learned something, too!
María holds a B.A. from the Universidad Pedagógica Nacional and a M.Ed. from Centros de Estudios de Postgrado from Guadalajara, México. She moved to the US in 1998. She lives in Vancouver with her husband and son. María loves traveling and enjoys good food with her family.
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Inclement Weather Plans
Communication about School Closures
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As temperatures drop, we get ready for inclement weather communication. Typically, our school follows recommendations for late start (2 hours) or closure based on the nearby public school districts of Evergreen, Battle Ground, and Vancouver. However, because our students and staff come from a variety of geographic areas, we take into account the safety of travel for those further out community members as well. We assess the situation early in the morning, typically around 6:00 am, and make a decision based on a variety of checkpoints around the area prior to 7:00 am.
If the Gardner School is going to be operating a late start schedule, school begins at 10:30 am, with drop off open at 10:15. There is no Before Care offered on late start days.
In the case of delays or closures, you will receive an automated email, text, and/or call from the Alma system. Additionally, we post the closure message on social media (Facebook and Instagram). Please check these sources before leaving for school if snow or ice has occurred. If our school is not operating a late start or closure schedule, but it is unsafe to travel to school from your location, please email your homeroom teacher to report your child's absence.
Stay warm, and stay safe!
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No School Friday, November 11th for Veteran's Day
We honor, appreciate, and recognize the parents, grandparents, and community members for their service, and to our own Sheila FitzPatrick who served in the Air Force.
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Campus snapshots
Along with Halloween festivites, students are making progress on projects for their Celebration of Learning presentations, and are continuing to work on their academic progress in reading, writing, and math.
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Keeping all of our students in school depends on our families following the requests below for screening for symptoms.
1. In the last 72 hours, has your child had one or more of the following symptoms: fever > 100.4 F, cough, shortness of breath, difficulty breathing, chills, fatigue, muscle or body aches, headache, sore throat, congestion or runny nose, nausea and/or vomiting, diarrhea, or loss of smell/taste?
2. Has your child been in close contact with anyone with confirmed COVID-19 or has a public health or medical professional told your child to self isolate or self-quarantine because of concerns about COVID-19 infection?
3. If any of the answers to these questions are yes, have you emailed health@gardnerschool.org and been cleared to be on campus? If not, please remain off campus until cleared.
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Upcoming Events
Friday 11/11
Veteran's Day, No School
Monday, 11/14
Parent Survey Due
Please complete this parent survey at your earliest convenience. The information gathered here will inform our strategic planning process, and we want to hear your voice!
Thursday 11/17
Community Check-In Chat, 8:30 am
Join Courtney and other parents in the Farmhouse after drop off for a hot beverage and pastries. Come share, chat, and ask questions!
Wednesday- Friday 11/23- 11/25
Thanksgiving Break, No School
Tuesday, November 29th
Giving Tuesday
Giving Tuesday is a global generosity movement, unleashing the power of people and organizations to transform their communities and the world. As a small nonprofit, we invite our community to choose the Gardner School to donate to on this important day.
To see and subscribe to our calendar of events, click below!
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