Aug 7, 2014

Hi all SELS families,

Three weeks until school starts (Thurs, Aug 28). Hope everyone is having a nice summer. Also hope everyone is spending some time reading, particularly the all-school and crew summer reads.

I wanted to also connect and provide some info as we get closer to our return to school:

  1. Work day, Tuesday Aug 19 from 5-7 pm. Sample of jobs needing help: raking woodchips, painting part of the Office, checking/fixing the play structure, moving the Library from M-2 back to M-6, sweeping, cleaning up bushes/trees… and more. Please bring the whole family; these work days are fun and a great way to get involved and meet other school families. Tools/supplies you could bring to help: hard rakes, wheelbarrows, big outdoor brooms, loppers for trimming bushes/trees.

**Jobs with specific tools/expertise needed:

  • fixing the equipment shed door; falling off hinges ; if possible, adding some shelves to this shed as well

  • adding a small wood barrier to play structure and cutting off large metal bolt ; also tightening all bolts

  • replacing one bench seat on a picnic table

  1. Back to School Night, Tuesday Aug 26 from 5:30-7:30. Meet in the Gym. MANDATORY – PARENTS ONLY. We realize this can be a bit inconvenient, but have found the evening extremely beneficial for everyone. We can cover large school topics in the Gym, and then specifics in the classrooms. This gets everyone on the same page for the start of school, and makes sure we have all needed signature forms completed.

  2. Speaking of signature forms, I will be sending them out in 1-2 weeks. Some do take a few minutes to complete, so please get as many done as possible before Back to School Night.

  3. If you have not yet been contacted by your teacher, or you find out you are not receiving the crew emails, please get in touch with me.

  4. In the upcoming weeks you will be receiving info on Bus Passes; please make sure you purchase these as soon as possible (I think they provide discounts for early purchases). Also, if you qualify or think you might qualify for the Free/Reduced Lunch Program, please make sure you fill out the paperwork (which you need to do every year). Besides benefits you can receive, schools are now funded in part based on their numbers of Free/Reduced qualified families. So even if you do not participate in the program, you being enrolled in the Free/Reduced program will bring the school extra funding.

  5. We will be offering our Morning Program for elementary students. Drop off starts at 7:25 and students are supervised until 8:50 or so when yard supervision starts. Jill Stevenson, our current art teacher, will run the program. Cost is $5/student (or $3/student if you are Free/Reduced qualified) regardless of when you drop off. The program will run every day school is in session.

Update on summer projects:

  • Outside painting of all buildings happening next week. TTUSD is taking care of this as a goodwill gesture/trade for using our classrooms for district summer school.

  • New turf field behind M-12: in process of securing permits and making sure plans are workable; might be finished by start of school, or at worst some time in early Sept.

  • Landscaping in new area, around Quad and Office: taken on by Riley Welch (teacher Diane Welch’s son) as his Eagle Scout project. Work to commence in early Sept.

Glad to have you all as part of our school community. Looking forward to another exciting, engaging, and fun year filled with exploration, learning, friendship, accomplishment, and creativity.

David Manahan and SELS staff