Hello 6th Grade Parents,
Happy Labor Day Weekend. Wonderful rainbows and evening sky last night! Did you see them? Really incredible. Read on for important news of the week:
Lassen Trip
Attached to this message is the supply list for our trip to Mt. Lassen Volcanic Park. The plan is to leave on Tuesday, September 10 after the usual arrival time at school, and return some time around 5:00pm on Thursday the 10th. We will be staying at the Juniper Lake Group Camp Site, which is a primitive campsite set on beautiful Juniper Lake. I chose Juniper lake for its remoteness and beauty. We will be the only group camping there and should have the place to ourselves for the most part, which is nice considering the noise our large group will undoubtedly make. We will be eating and sleeping under the stars, and spending all our time outdoors, so please make sure your child follows the packing list closely and brings along a hat, layered clothing, and sunscreen. While in the Park we will be hiking trails near Juniper Lake, visiting the boiling mud pits of Bumpass Hell, and hiking other places in the park to take in the magnificent volcanic landscape. I hope to sleep out under the stars for both nights too, and maybe even see some shooting stars! It's going to be very fun and hopefully kind of relaxing. A man can dream, right?
If you have not already done so, I would appreciate all field trip permission slips and $40 turned in by Wednesday. I have attached one to the email version of this update in case you need it.
PowerSchool and Grading
As I spoke briefly about in our Parent Meeting last week, we have begun to use points and grades as feedback to students about their school work this year. The students embraced this new development with great gusto (understatement), and it was really wonderful to see so many of them buckle down like old pros and stay on top of their work so diligently. Our goal is to help the students learn to take responsibility for their own work and behavior, but they will almost certainly need adult oversight from time to time. To that end, I passed out to you last Wednesday the access information for our PowerSchool Parent Portal, which is the place you can go online to check your child's progress (points, grades, comments) in class. Michele and I would suggest that you visit this site on Friday evenings so that you know whether or not your child has unfinished work to complete over the weekend.
One parent who visited this site last week noticed that it is not the most easy thing to navigate through. Yes, I would agree, so to help you out, I have included below some directions in graphic form. I have also attached a word document to the emailed version of this update which contains these images should you be unable to view them through your mail. I hope they help in some way. Please ask if you have any questions.
PS. If you did not receive your PowerSchool access information at Last week's parent evening then please come by and I'll get it to you. It is unfortunately not easy for me to email it.
Farm Stand= Up and Running
Thank you for those who have helped stock, or perhaps purchase from, the Farm Stand. It is so nice to see it up and running! Incredibly well built, I must say. Two years old and it opens and closes beautifully. Last week we brought in over $100.00, which is pretty great. Please let me know if you add super perishable things to the farm stand that need to be removed at night so we can remember to bring it into the class.
Strings and Recorder Start Tomorrow
This week Recorder and Strings classes all kick into action. Please feel free to remind your musicians that there was no Monday this week, so they will need their instrument in the morning.
That's it for now. I hope to send out a bit about Michele and my thoughts about Fundraising in next weeks's update. Until then, I hope you have a wonderful first week of September.
Warmly,
Justin
Happy Labor Day Weekend. Wonderful rainbows and evening sky last night! Did you see them? Really incredible. Read on for important news of the week:
Lassen Trip
Attached to this message is the supply list for our trip to Mt. Lassen Volcanic Park. The plan is to leave on Tuesday, September 10 after the usual arrival time at school, and return some time around 5:00pm on Thursday the 10th. We will be staying at the Juniper Lake Group Camp Site, which is a primitive campsite set on beautiful Juniper Lake. I chose Juniper lake for its remoteness and beauty. We will be the only group camping there and should have the place to ourselves for the most part, which is nice considering the noise our large group will undoubtedly make. We will be eating and sleeping under the stars, and spending all our time outdoors, so please make sure your child follows the packing list closely and brings along a hat, layered clothing, and sunscreen. While in the Park we will be hiking trails near Juniper Lake, visiting the boiling mud pits of Bumpass Hell, and hiking other places in the park to take in the magnificent volcanic landscape. I hope to sleep out under the stars for both nights too, and maybe even see some shooting stars! It's going to be very fun and hopefully kind of relaxing. A man can dream, right?
If you have not already done so, I would appreciate all field trip permission slips and $40 turned in by Wednesday. I have attached one to the email version of this update in case you need it.
PowerSchool and Grading
As I spoke briefly about in our Parent Meeting last week, we have begun to use points and grades as feedback to students about their school work this year. The students embraced this new development with great gusto (understatement), and it was really wonderful to see so many of them buckle down like old pros and stay on top of their work so diligently. Our goal is to help the students learn to take responsibility for their own work and behavior, but they will almost certainly need adult oversight from time to time. To that end, I passed out to you last Wednesday the access information for our PowerSchool Parent Portal, which is the place you can go online to check your child's progress (points, grades, comments) in class. Michele and I would suggest that you visit this site on Friday evenings so that you know whether or not your child has unfinished work to complete over the weekend.
One parent who visited this site last week noticed that it is not the most easy thing to navigate through. Yes, I would agree, so to help you out, I have included below some directions in graphic form. I have also attached a word document to the emailed version of this update which contains these images should you be unable to view them through your mail. I hope they help in some way. Please ask if you have any questions.
PS. If you did not receive your PowerSchool access information at Last week's parent evening then please come by and I'll get it to you. It is unfortunately not easy for me to email it.
Farm Stand= Up and Running
Thank you for those who have helped stock, or perhaps purchase from, the Farm Stand. It is so nice to see it up and running! Incredibly well built, I must say. Two years old and it opens and closes beautifully. Last week we brought in over $100.00, which is pretty great. Please let me know if you add super perishable things to the farm stand that need to be removed at night so we can remember to bring it into the class.
Strings and Recorder Start Tomorrow
This week Recorder and Strings classes all kick into action. Please feel free to remind your musicians that there was no Monday this week, so they will need their instrument in the morning.
That's it for now. I hope to send out a bit about Michele and my thoughts about Fundraising in next weeks's update. Until then, I hope you have a wonderful first week of September.
Warmly,
Justin