Fall is definitely here! I am really loving the chill in the air. It's been a great start to the year so far! We camped out at Mt. Rose and summited the peak, which was a real adventure to many of the students. We spent a night star-gazing with Tony Berendsen and Tahoe Star Tours [...]
Williams Crew, We have had a fantastic start to the school year. I wanted to update you on the activities in our crew and some notes about upcoming fieldwork. Math: The students seem to be enjoying the new math curriculum and it is forcing them to think a little differently about math. I hope the homework is going well at home. […]
Williams Crew, Thank you for coming last night. I attached a pdf of the slides from last night’s slideshow. I wanted to mention that all 7th grade students need to have their Tdap booster with documentation turned into the office by tomorrow. The students can bring it to school with them. Also I want to thank Ashley Holm who has volunteered to be the head volunteer coordinator for our crew this year. She will be contacting parents soon to organize the Grouse Ridge fieldwork (September 24-26). […]
Welcome Williams Crew Families, First of all, I want to welcome everyone to 7th grade in the Williams Crew! I hope everyone is enjoying their summer. Personally, I have been very busy camping, rafting, hiking, traveling, hosting family, and spending quality time with my seven month old baby girl Sage. I wanted to take this opportunity to go over a few points regarding our upcoming expeditions this year. I have been improving our fall expedition “Cartographers and Commanders” about Navigation, European history, and the Age of Exploration. I am looking for guest speakers that have experience in navigation, cartography (map making), the Age of Exploration (1400-1600 Europe), Sailing, or related subjects. If you or someone you know would be interested in coming in and doing a presentation on one or more of these subject please call or email me. Fall Fieldwork: Our first fieldwork will be a 3 day, 2 night field work on September 24-26 (Wednesday – Friday) on the Sierra Crest at a place called Grouse Ridge. I will send out more details soon, but we will need at least 6 parents (both men and women) to volunteer to take part in the field work. For parents that enjoy hiking and the outdoors, this field work should be a lot of fun for you as well. We are also planning on doing a short 2 day overnight field work to the San Francisco Bay during the week of November 3rd. I will provide more details about these trips once we get closer to the beginning of the school year. Here is a list of suggested supplies for your students to bring for the first day of school. 1 sturdy backpack 1 water bottle 48 (2 packs of 24) pencils 1 handheld pencil sharpener 2 glue sticks 2 big pink erasers 1 pack washable felt tipped markers 1 pack colored pencils 1 2″ binder 1 spiral notebook (Lined) 2 Math notebooks (graph paper) 8 subject dividers (with pockets) 1 ruler (Metric and English measurements) 1 pencil box (that can fit markers, colored pencils, highlighter, eraser, scissors) 1-2 boxes of tissues 3 containers anti-bacterial wipes (Clorox or other brand are fine) 3 packs of lined paper 1 pack of sticky notes 1 pack of pens If you are unable to get these supplies the school can provide them for you. Many of the supplies will be collected by me and used by the whole class (pencils, glue sticks, Clorox wipes, tissues, etc). The rest (backpack, water bottle, binder, notebooks), your child will be responsible for. One skill that middle school students often need help with developing is organization. To help students stay organized the school will provide a calendar/planner that the students will be required to use. You do not need to get one. The summer reading book for 7th grade is The Giver by Lois Lowry. It is a great book you can buy, check out from the public library, or come to the school office and we have a few copies that we can loan out to you for the summer. I will expect that all students have read it before coming to school. If you have questions or need to get in touch with me, email is the best way. I check my email very often and should get back to you within a day, although on weekends (and during the summer) I am often out of cell phone range (hopefully doing something fun), so I may not get back to you until Monday. My personal cell phone number is 541-968-9537. I ask that you use this only when it is absolutely necessary. When school is in session I will have my phone on silent, and will not answer it until a break in the day (which often comes at 2:30 after the students have left the classroom). You can also call the school’s number and leave a message. This email was intended to be a preliminary look at what to expect for next year. As the school year approaches, I will be sure to email more details. Should you prefer a different email address (or alternative method of communication), please just let me know. Important dates for the first semester: Tuesday August 26: Back to School Night: 5:30-6:30 Meet in the gym for a whole school message from David Manahan, 6:30-7:30 Meet in the 7th grade classroom for crew specific details. (Just parents attending, no students please) Thursday August 28: First day of school, school starts at 7:30 September 24-26: Grouse Ridge fieldwork Enjoy the last month of summer and start getting excited about 7th grade! […]
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. […]
Hi all,Sorry I am a little late on this. Spent yesterday afternoon, evening,and today with the Connolly Crew on Mt Rose. We had a wonderful hike up today (especially since there was no smoke – beautiful skies up there).As many of you have noticed, we had some landscaping last weekend. Riley Welch (Diane’s son) completed his Eagle Scout project with the help of many volunteers. They built wonderful stairs leading up to the office, put in some plants, and laid out wood chips and a rock “stream”. Also thanks to Seamus Gallagher for all his help with the project. Looks great, and the steps are fantastic!Picture day is Tues, Sept 23. Order forms are going home this week.The makeup day is Oct 16 (this is also the all school picture day). […]
What a wonderful kick-off to our Who Am I expedition! We were graced by 14 lovely deer during one morning meeting on the beach by the lake, and entertained by 4 river otters on another. Tiny brown bats, delicious food prepared by our loving parents, funny skits, night hikes and plenty of personal and all-crew challenges. Thank you, Walton's Grizzly Lodge!
Hi all,Hope the transition back to school has gone well for everyone. Things are going smoothly here on campus. Fieldwork season is kicking in and we have a new gear shed to help with that. Many thanks to Seamus Gallagher for building it and to Susanna Neave, Tina Bassett, and Sonja Martin for taking on the lovely task of organizing and inventorying all the camping supplies. […]
Welcome back to school parents! It has been so great to see all those sweet smiling faces after summer break. We couldn’t have asked for a better crew this school year. Third graders have really shown themselves to be true leaders, and second graders have adjusted beautifully to their new environment. Expedition Express FIRE and ICE: Our Fall expedition is off to a great start. This expedition explores the early days of Truckee and how FIRE and ICE have shaped the history of this quaint railroad town. We kicked off the expedition with a downtown Truckee scavenger hunt. All of the students were able to locate the 13 historical buildings on the scavenger hunt and demonstrated the SIERRA norms beautifully while out in public. Well done, crew! Thank you to our chaperones: Angie Perkins, Jaimie Edwards, Caren Schatz, Sarah Adams, Crescent Ferrera, Stacey Carr, Lori Franssen. […]
Welcome back to school parents! It has been so great to see all those sweet smiling faces after summer break. We couldn’t have asked for a better crew this school year. Third graders have really shown themselves to be true leaders, and second graders have adjusted beautifully to their new environment. Math: Math is off to a great start. Routines are in place, and we have hit the ground running! Thank you for any support you provided your child over the summer. Real world, hands-on experiences outside of school provide such enriching and positive avenues for learning, and keep your child active and engaged in the process. […]
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