A Second New Year

Last Friday our 2/3 classrooms took the lead in celebrating the Chinese New Year.

They constructed a dragon puppet and paraded through the halls and classrooms dancing, making noise, and distributing lucky money for the new year. It is the year of the rooster and, according to the Chinese zodiac, people born in this year are hardworking, resourceful, confident, and popular.

I love the fact that we celebrate this event at our school. These celebrations give our students a perspective that, while there are differences in our cultures, there are more similarities. This is an important concept for all of us to be aware of. It is also nice to ring in a new year more than once. It gives us another chance to celebrate.

A new year also can signal change for people and organizations, and our school is no different. I am saddened to announce that we will be saying goodbye to two of our specialist teachers this winter. Tr. Kelly Gallery-Price (Spanish) has been offered a full-time position with the school district. She was very conflicted about leaving us mid-year, however, the district did not give her another option and, after much discussion and thought, she has decided to accept their offer. Tr. Lisa Jordan (yoga) will also be leaving us. With three jobs and little time for family, it has been difficult for her to juggle her responsibilities. She has decided that the best path forward for her and her family is to cut back on her work load.

I know you will all join with me in wishing Kelly and Lisa the best in their new directions. As you know, we will do everything we can to hire experienced teachers and maintain a high quality of instruction in both of these “specials” in the near future. 


ANNOUNCEMENTS

Open Houses - Our Admissions Open Houses are scheduled for the following dates and times.
First Wednesday of every month, 10:00 am - 1:00 pm: Walk Thru Wednesdays’
Friday, February 3rd, 10:00 – 1:00 pm: K-8 Open House
Wednesday, February 15th, 11:30 am – 1:00 pm: Middle School Lunch and Tour
Saturday, February 18th, 1:00 – 3:00 pm: K-8 Open House and Winter Play Day
Saturday, March 18th, 9:30 am – 12:00 pm: K-8 & Pre-K Open Houses / Winter Play Day
Saturday, April 29th, 9:30 – 11:30 am: Pre-K Open House
Please tell your friends and encourage them to take a tour.

The Friends School Seed Sale! - It’s that time again….time to dream about gardening. The 2-3 classes are kicking off the annual Friends School Seed Sale on Friday. Please look for a copy of the seed sale form in your child’s Friday Folder. You can also print forms using this link to the pdf: http://www.fedcoseeds.com/forms/friendsOG.pdf. Please attach payment to the form. This year, a portion of the proceeds will be used to support the Slab Cabin Run Initiative, an effort spearheaded by Clearwater Conservancy to preserve the farmland across the road from our school. You can find out more about the Slab Cabin Run Initiative at http://www.clearwaterconservancy.org/donate/slabcabinrun/.

In-service Childcare - Teacher In-service will be held on Friday, February 10th and Monday, February 13th . That means no school for our students, however, childcare will be available (for students) starting at 8:00 a.m. through 5:30 p.m. at our regular childcare rate of $4.50/hour. Please call or email to sign-up. To ensure safe ratios of childcare staff to students, we ask that you enroll in childcare no later than Friday, February 3rd . Thank you!

Free Winter Play Days - On Saturdays, February 18th and March 18th, Friends School is hosting Winter Play Days for children ages 3-7. The school‘s Community Room and a K/1 classroom will be open for supervised active and imaginative play. This is a great opportunity to bring a friend to the school and enjoy a morning out of the cold. Refreshments and snacks will be served. All are welcome. Check above for times.

Summer Help - We are currently opening our search for summer camp counselors and maintenance staff. If you or someone you know may be interested in working at Friends School this summer, please have them contact us at the school (scfs@scfriends.org or 814-237-8386).