Notes from the Administration

Information About Principal Hiring Process

Laurelhurst Community Survey
Laurelhurst School-based Self-Nomination 2010
Laurelhurst Conf. Agreement
Laurelhurst evaluacion de la comunidad

Announcement from Principal Dawn Corliss, 2/17/2010

Dear Laurelhurst Families,

It is with both deep sadness and great joy that I write this letter. I have made the difficult decision to leave Laurelhurst to pursue retirement options, effective June 30, 2010.

Swine Flu Information

From the Laurelhurst Administration 10/30/2009

Junior Great Books
We have 146 students ready to participate in Junior Great Books in grades one through five. We are still seeking parents willing to facilitate a group. While we are asking parents to be flexible in their grade level assignments, we will work hard to make sure parents get their first choice of grade level assignments. If you are unable to commit to a group, we are also asking parents to become trained SUBSTITTUTE FACILITATORS.

If you are interested in becoming a facilitator or a substitute facilitator, please e-mail me at kmatier@pps.k12.or.us. A second training date will be scheduled once we have additional parents interested in training.

Thank you so much for your support and patience as we work to extend enrichment offerings.

Using the Life skill of Cooperation
Students during the month of November are learning about the LIFESKILL of cooperation and what it looks like in school, in our neighborhood, and in the world. As we work with students to model how to work together for a common purpose, we ask parents to help us model this expectation also.

There are two identified areas in which we need your help. In order to protect teacher planning time in the morning and after school, we are asking parents to stay clear of hallways in the annex as well as in the main building. Additionally, last year we asked parents to not have children unsupervised by an adult on the playground after school. We want to reinforce this rule for this year. By meeting these two expectations, you are working cooperatively with the school to provide a safe and effective learning environment for your children.

Weekly Traffic Reminders…We really do appreciate your cooperation

1) The city has agreed to put in more bike racks, both on Royal and below the annex on Laurelhurst Place.

2) Please drive clockwise around the school (school is always on your right) at drop-off and pick-up times.

3) Please do not park across corner cross walk areas (even if the cross walks are not painted). These are places that students cross the streets.

4) If you are in a 5-minute pick-up and drop-off parking space, please make sure you do not stay longer than that amount of time.

Conferences coming in November
With conferences just around the corner, we need to let you know that we will not provide childcare during conferences. Look for more conference information in future Newsnotes.

From the Laurelhurst Administration 10/23/2009

Traffic…Please read this!
Fall is upon us and winter is on its heels. The streets are going to be increasingly slippery making driving a bit more fragile, therefore another traffic reminder. The two most congested traffic times are between 8:25-8:45 and again between 3:00 and 3:10.

It’s vitally important that all parents drive clockwise around the school. That means that the school is always on your right, outside the passenger door. I say that rather tongue in cheek because I’ve had reports that some parents drive against traffic every day. Please drive one way around the school!

If you choose to pull into one of the 5 minute parking places, be sure that you monitor your time and leave when your 5 minutes are up. These are meant to serve as many families as can use them during peak traffic times.

I also need to remind you that crossing 39th Street without using the crosswalk light is highly dangerous. It’s not fair to you or your children to walk out into traffic and expect cars to suddenly come down that hill and stop for you when they have the right of way. Please model and practice safety for your children’s sake.

Site Council…What is its purpose?
The purpose of a school’s site council is to increase student achievement. Laurelhurst’s Site Council is composed of the principal, the assistant principal, teachers, classified staff and parents. These members work collaboratively to improve the school’s instructional program; enhance the professional development of staff; implement the annual school improvement plan (S.I.P.) and foster family involvement in the school.

This year’s Site Council parent members are: Cris Breshears, Laura Ehrlich, Rick Hardy, Laura Mundt and David Story. Each member serves two years and new members are recruited in the spring.

Site Council meetings are open to the public. They are scheduled for the 2nd Tuesday of each month, from 3:15-4:45 p.m. Visitors have 5 minutes on each agenda if they want to bring something to the Site Council.

Halloween
Halloween is on a Saturday this year. We will have Halloween parties in classrooms during the last hour of the day on Friday, October 30. You will hear more details from teachers in their classroom newsletters. We will not wear or change into costumes and we recommend that healthy snacks are served in compliance with our wellness policy.

Junior Great Books (JGB) Facilitator Training – Correction
Note: Parents, please note the correction in grades (highlighted in red text) that will be offering Junior Great Books. JGB is not offered in kindergarten. I apologize for the error.

Parents who are interested in facilitating a Junior Great Books group for our 1-5 classes need to attend training. Our first training session will be held Friday, October 30, 2009 from 9:00 AM – 10:30 AM. We are asking parents to PRE-REGISTER for the training in the office because there are materials that you will need to pick-up and review before coming on the 30th of October.

Please note that becoming a volunteer facilitator does not mean that you will automatically be matched with a group that includes your child. We need parents to be open and willing to work with different grade levels and understand that it may not be the grade level where their child is. The school will assign parents to grade levels and then they will report to the teacher(s) they are supporting.

We are grateful for the parental support in our core academic programs. Once parents register more information about training will be sent to you via email.
Junior Great Books Facilitator Job Description

Purpose: To provide enriched literature experiences for advanced readers.
Reports to: Teacher for classroom. Please note that classroom assignment is based on need and may not correspond with your child’s class.
Hours: Varies.
Requirements:
• Teacher Certification is a Plus, but Not Required
• Junior Great Books Training
• Behavior Management Skills
• Professional and Confidential Interactions with Teachers, Parents, Students
Duties May Include: (Note-Duties can vary by classroom and grade level)
• Lead Shared Inquiry discussions on selections from these 13 anthologies from the acclaimed Literature & Thought series from Perfection Learning.
• Use Great Books discussion guides to plan group activities that include interpretive questions and suggestions for post-discussion writing.
• Communicate regularly with classroom teachers and parents about group assignment/projects and student progress.

From the Laurelhurst Administration 9/28/2009

Click here for this week’s “Back to School Night” Information, including times, format, and childcare.

Notes From the Principal

Welcome Back Letter
September 9, 2009
September 11, 2009
September 18, 2009
September 25, 2009

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

... Kindergarten through 2nd Grade

Meet with Dawn for ‘State of the School’ 6:30 p.m. in Cafeteria

To classrooms from 7 – 8 p.m. (or when teachers are finished presenting)

2nd grade will meet in the library after meeting with Dawn in the cafeteria.

Childcare will be provided in the Science/Arts room. 8th grade students will watch your children and receive Community Service hours for doing so. A donation jar will be present to make donations for the 8th grade end of year celebration.

Wednesday, September 30, 2009

... 3rd through 5th Grade

Meet with Dawn for ‘State of the School’ 6:30 p.m. in Cafeteria

To Classrooms from 7 – 8 p.m. (or when teachers are finished presenting)

Thursday, October 1, 2009

... 6th through 8th Grade 6:30 – 8:00 p.m.

1st period will begin promptly at 6:35, so please in classrooms on time.

Dawn will not give a “State of the School” presentation so that parents can attend each of their child’s scheduled classes. You are welcome to attend either the Tuesday or Wednesday presentations. The presentation will also be posted on the website.

Two copies of your students’ schedule for the evening are being made. One will be sent home and we recommend you bring that one with you. There will also be a copy in the hallway across from the principal’s office, in case you don’t come with the one that was sent home. If you need to pick up a schedule here at school, we suggest you come a bit early so you can be to 1st period on time.

Each period teacher will make a short presentation and parents will have a 4 minute passing time to the next class.

Two sessions will be held for Technology (in the lab-room 3) and for Personal Development (in the cafeteria) following the classroom presentations, so that parents can attend both of these sessions if their child has these classes.

Band, Discovery, Mentor/Assist, Math Support, will all be included in the six period schedule.

6th Grade music appreciation and 6th-8th grade PE will not be options for this evening. The PE teacher will be attending the K-2 night and Mr. Miller’s focus will be on Band only.