dmanahan

Director’s Notes                                                                     Oct 29, 2014 Hi all, What a great first annual SELS Summit Day. First graders prepped all other crews for the adventure and students responded wonderfully; the solitude and reflection time at the pass was virtually silent for 15 min, and the shared thoughts of students was insightful and inspirational. Many thanks for the help driving and chaperoning, and to the Bell Crew for initiating and organizing the community building day. Electives is starting up Nov 14 and runs on Fridays from 12:45-2 until Dec 19. We are again looking for volunteers to help with the program. You can facilitate something of interest to you that would also be interesting to students; you can select your age range and number of students as well (we shoot for 8-12 students per elective). If interested in helping, please email or talk to Anna Demm (ademm@truckeecharterschool.org). We will also run two more blocks: Jan 9 – Feb 13 (skipping Jan 30 due to middle school minimum day) and Feb 27 – March 27. Volunteers are needed for all sessions. For those unfamiliar with Electives: this is a chance for parent “experts” to share with students interesting hobbies and/or skills (examples: knitting, songwriting/singing, photography, poetry, games, science activities, magic tricks, etc.). The time is meant to build community (the elective classes are mixed age), expose students to various experiences they would not usually get, and potentially build lifelong interests and skills. Staff also offer courses, so ideally there are 17-20 classes happening (thereby keeping group sizes smaller). The program only works when parents participate, so please join us. […]

Director’s Notes                                                            Oct 22, 2014 Hi all, Nearing mid semester and everything is going well. Thanks again to all those helping with fieldwork, in classrooms, and behind the scenes to provide activities and events for our community. As the weather continues to cool down, please make sure your children are dressed appropriately; we continue to have students arrive under-dressed and without jackets. Odyssey of the Mind is meeting tomorrow, Thurs Oct 23 5:30-8 at ACMS. In the past we have had teams from SELS; be great to organize one for this year (there are some interested 5th graders). This is a parent run activity, and to run a team you must attend this meeting. Please contact Jess Alb with questions: jalb@ttusd.org […]

Director’s Notes                                                       Oct 15, 2014 Hi all, Nice to have some rain. Reminder of our seasonal change; please make sure your children are dressed appropriately – they spend a lot of time outside. Thanks to all for being on time and prepared for goal setting conferences. You should all have received sign up info for Summit Day. We are all very excited as this will be our first all school adventure. […]

Director’s Notes Oct 8, 2014 Hi all, Beautiful week of school. Probably nearing the end of our shorts and t-shirt weather. Change: Make up Picture Day is now scheduled for Oct 10 (this Friday). McMains, Welch, and Seaborg/Minczeski Crews should all plan for this, as should any student who missed the first round. All families can still turn in order forms, if needed. Minimum Week next week, Oct 13-17. Please make sure you have connected with your teachers about Goal-setting Conferences sign up. Middle school is out at 11:45 am and elementary school at 1 pm. […]

Director’s Notes Sept 30, 2014 Hi all, Nice to have the rain over the weekend and get rid of the smoke. Hope everyone is enjoying the return to clean, breathable air. I am going on fieldwork with McMains Crew Wed/Thurs this week, so please direct any needs to Jenn or Anna in the Office. (I am sending these Notes out a day early since I will not have Internet access on Wed). […]

Director’s Notes Sept 24, 2014 Hi all, Been a tough, smoky week. We have had the students mostly inside, and as you can imagine they are beginning to go a little bonkers. Hopefully this will mellow out soon. If anyone would like to thank the firefighters for their efforts, you can write to: Information Officers King Fire 100 Placerville Drive Placerville CA 95667 Due to smoke, we have (sadly) had to cancel a lot of our fieldwork. We will try to make up what we can. Teachers will let you know as they find re-scheduling dates. Many thanks to those helping organize, shop, drive, chaperone; fieldwork would not happen without your support and time. Picture Day changes: Picture day is now scheduled for Oct 3. Those crews out on fieldwork, and any students who miss Oct 3, will make up pictures on Oct 15. […]

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: [...]