zwilliams

It is hard to believe but we are over half way through the school year. The semester finished on Friday, January 29th. I'm sure you know that progress reports came home on Friday (or for students that missed Friday, they will come home today). I wanted to provide more of an explanation for you. 4 [...]

Hi all, It hasn't been too long since our last crew update but I wanted to send out some information on upcoming events: I will be gone at my brother-in-law's wedding from Thursday, October 15 - Monday, October 19. Megan Maciel will be the substitute teacher on those days. SELS Summit Day, Friday October 16th: Students will leave [...]

Parent Update, We have been busy over the past few weeks and I realized I haven’t given a formal update in a while.  Here is what is going on right now and a look into what is happening for the rest of the school year Fieldwork recap: We had a great fieldwork trip! The itinerary the liaisons planned worked out great, and the students did an extraordinary job of following the SIERRA norms the entire trip.  Thank you again to all the chaperones for making the fieldwork possible.  If any chaperones have pictures from the trip they would like to share I would love to have them to post on the web site. State Testing info: We are in the middle of state testing.  The students took the first English test on Wednesday.  They will take the other English test on Tuesday (5/5), then they will take the two math tests on Wednesday and Thursday (5/6 and 5/7).  I will not be assigning homework the night before the test.  Please make sure your child is at school on those days and is well rested. Board meeting: I wanted to acknowledge a few students from the Williams Crew that presented for our school board last month.  Luis, Ava, Lacey, Gunnar, Momo, and Marea did a wonderful job presenting projects from our “What the cell?!” expedition. “Who am I?”: The last assignment of the “Who am I?” expedition was assigned on Monday.  The students are responsible to set up a meeting with their mentor to be interviewed about what they have learned in this process.  The students should have reflected on the mentor experience and be prepared to share that.  The goal of this assignment is to show their appreciation for the time they spent with their mentor and practice their interviewing skills. Celebration of Learning: June 4th, 6:00-7:30pm The celebration of learning will be held on Thursday June 4th from 6:00-7:30.  Please mark that date on your calendars to come and enjoy all the hard work your child has put in this semester. Passages Tuesday and Thursday June 9 and 11 From 12:30-2:00: For those new to SELS, Passages is an opportunity for the students changing crew (1st, 3rd, 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th) to present to their peers and community what they learned during the year and to reflect on how they have grown as a person.  Passages will take place on Tuesday and Thursday June 9 and 11 from 12:30-2:00.  Students participating in Passages will be presenting in every room of SELS.  I have attached a schedule of when and where your child is presenting and the other students presenting in that room during that time.  I encourage anyone that is available to come to your child’s passages presentation.  Also if you are able to stay for the other students, it is often fun and interesting to listen to what other students at SELS have done in their crew. Dress Code: Now that the weather is getting warmer I wanted to remind everyone of the appropriate attire for school.  These are for both boys and girls (but are more commonly mistaken by girls) – No spaghetti straps (straps need to be 3 fingers wide) – No mid-drift showing – No flip-flops (close toed shoes please) – Skirts need to hang lower than the students fingers tips on their thigh. […]

Williams Crew Families, Williams crew has been extremely productive this past month.  We have concluded our fall semester and our fall expedition and now we are on to science and the “What the cell?!” expedition.  To kick-off this expedition, the students investigated whether or not fire is alive.  Ask your child to give you evidence of why fire could and could not be alive. […]

Williams Crew, I hope everyone had a fun, restful break.  Hopefully, we are all ready to tackle a great new year at SELS. Here are a few updates: Expedition:  During the next month we will be studying the Meso-american tribes (Aztec, Maya, and Inca tribes), and investigating the impact of the European explorers on the local people they encountered.  We will be working on this until the end of the semester on January 30. […]

Crew Update, I hope everyone has had a chance to catch their breath after the crazy week we had.  I want to thank everyone that helped out on the SELS summit day, the bay area sailing trip, or the bear walk (or in some cases, all three).  I’m sure by this point you have heard many stories about the events from your kids.  The chaperones on the bay area fieldwork (Kelli, Rob, Sarah, Kim, Kimmie, and Scott) did a wonderful job battling traffic and helping out in general.  I have posted the pictures of last weeks events on the crew website and on my picasa account (This link).  I want to especially thank Ashley for helping organize the fieldwork.  There were unforeseen challenges that arose about two weeks before the fieldwork that almost canceled the trip, but with Ashley’s help we were able to find other arrangements that made the fieldwork even better. […]

Williams Crew, Thanks to everyone that came to the goal-setting conferences.  My hope is that your child will post these goals somewhere they will often see them, as a reminder of their main focus in school.  In the spring we will meet again to review their progress on the goals and revise them. Your child will be bringing home a mid-semester progress report today.  Here is a description of the grades: […]

Crew Update, Wow what a great trip to Grouse Ridge.  I first want to thank the chaperones that drove and helped out during the trip.  Matt, Dawn, Rob, Chad, Sarah, and Crescent, you guys were fantastic, thank you for all of your help.  I also want to thank Ashley and everyone that helped with the planning and organization/cooking of the food. […]