Just the Facts

                                                    Woodland Star Weekly Update

                                                            Monday, May 12, 2008

                                                    Learning to think, to care, to create 

UPCOMING SCHOOL EVENTS

Now-May 16^th, Accepting Nominations for Charter Council

Thursday, May 15^th, The Importance of Forgiveness and Trust in Building Conscious Community presented by Karen Rivers , 7 PM

Friday, May 16^th, Deadline for Charter Council Nominations

Monday, May 19^th, Character Education Meeting, 7 PM

Wednesday, May 21^st, Charter Council Meeting, 6:30 PM

Thurs-Fri, May 22-23^rd, 2^nd Grade Play

Thurs-Fri, May 22-23rd, 5^th Grade Parent Meeting, 7 PM

Monday, May 26^th, NO SCHOOL, Memorial Day

Thursday, May 29^th, Charter Council Elections

Tues-Fri, May 27-30^th, Handwork Show in the Main Hall

Saturday, May 31^st, 9:30-11 AM, All School Parent Meeting in the Main Hall

 
GRATITUDES

• Thank you Marika Schamoni and Jennifer Zur for your dedication and hard work as part of the hiring committee.
  

• Cinco de Mayo Spring Festival booth was a great success!  The community outreach was good for the school, the booths looked incredibly beautiful, and everyone had a great time!  I want to acknowledge and thank our awesome group of volunteers...it wouldn't have been a success without each and every one of you! 
  

A GIANT THANK YOU TO:       

PLANNING TEAM - Cindy Riley, Marika Schamoni, Gina Tucker Roghi, Sheelagh Murphy & Andrea Gregory

FOOD TEAM - Annie Cassidy, Heather Zavaleta, Juana Corona, Teresa Trejo, Bertha Cervantes, Maria Lopez, Maribel Lopez, Josefina Barajas & Rosalina Arreola

CRAFTS & SET UP/CLEAN UP -  Gigi Medan, Kelly Dillman, Monica Conway, Genvieve Rousseau, Larinda Merkins, Kyle Merkins, Sam Turner, Chris Condon, Sheelagh Murphy, Andrea Gregory, Christina Gates, David Gates, Alex Leader, Helen Batten, Jackie Branscum, Randy Peterson Marika Schamoni, Cindy Riley, Ben Dewees, Shannon Dewees, Marcella Note, Ishqa Rousseau & Armando Cesares 

SPECIAL THANKS TO:  PAUL CONWAY & WINE COUNTRY PARTY

POPO THE CLOWN AND THE SONOMA CHEESE FACTORY 

Espanol: El puesto del Cinco de Mayo/Festival de Primavera fue todo un éxito!  La publicidad fue muy buena para la escuela, los puestos estuvieron muy bonitos, y todos se divirtieron mucho.  Quiero dar las gracias a nuestro grupo de magníficos voluntarios ...no hubiéramos tenido tanto éxito sin los esfuerzos de cada uno de Ustedes! 

Muchísimas gracias a: 

EL EQUIPO DE PLANEACION - Cindy Riley, Marika Schamoni, Gina Tucker Roghi, Sheelagh Murphy y Andrea Gregory 

EL EQUIPO ENCARGADO DE LA COMIDA- Annie Cassidy, Heather Zavaleta, Juana Corona, Teresa Trejo, Bertha Cervantes, Maria Lopez, Maribel Lopez, Josefina Barajas y Rosalina Arreola 

MANUALIDADES Y EL EQUIPO DE ENSAMBLAJE Y LIMPIEZA - Gigi Medan, Kelly Dillman, Monica Conway, Genvieve Rousseau, Larinda Merkins, Kyle Merkins, Sam Turner, Chris Condon, Sheelagh Murphy, Andrea Gregory, Christina Gates, David Gates, Alex Leader, Helen Batten, Jackie Branscum, Randy Peterson, Marika Schamoni, Cindy Riley, Ben Dewees, Shannon Dewees, Marcella Note, Ishqa Rousseau y Armando Cazares 

GRACIAS ESPECIALES A: PAUL CONWAY Y WINE COUNTRY PARTY,

POPO THE CLOWN Y THE SONOMA CHEESE FACTORY 

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Thursday, May 15^th, 7 PM: The Importance of Forgiveness and Trust in Building Conscious Community with Karen Rivers . 

Join us for an insightful evening with Waldorf educator and master teacher Karen Rivers.  Bring your family, friends, neighbors...all are welcome! Free childcare for those with an advance reservation! Talk will be in the Main Hall, childcare sign up in the office, see you there! 

Student Handwork Show, Tuesday,  May 27 - Friday,  May 30 ~  Once again our school will be having the "Third Annual Woodland Star  Student Handwork Show".  Our student's  work will be on display  during school hours in the multi-purpose room  (next to the school office)from the 27^th-30th.   The work shown will be an accumulation of projects that the children have completed from Handwork classes, grades 1-7,  during the '07 -'08 school year.  Woodwork will be on display as well.  The children are buzzing with excitement over the chance to showcase their remarkable work.   Take a moment to mark the above show dates on your calendar.  We look forward to your attendance, and thank you  in advance for your support! 

Charter Council Member Nominations Due by May 16. Elections will be held May 29.  We have two parent-held seats coming open on our primary governing board, the Charter Council. These seats are currently held by Sixth grade dad, Rick Love and Seventh grade mom, Jennifer Zur. The council meets monthly (typically on the third Wednesday) with occasional additional meeting in the spring. This is a two 2-year term that begins July 1. Any parent who has been with the school for one year has the right to run. Candidates may self-nominate or be nominated by others. Please deliver a brief letter explaining who you are, why you want to run and why you would be effective as a Charter Council member to Susan in the main office. Self-nominations are welcomed; if you nominate someone beside yourself, please first confirm their willingness to serve.  If you need additional information regarding the roles and responsiblities of a Charter Council member, please contact Sheila at: asstadmin@woodlandstarschool.org

FUNdraising Meeting, this Tuesday 13th in the Main Hall at 8:30 am.  We'll meet to discuss the many different ways we can continue our all important fundraising.  Some of the ideas are Grant writing, online auctions, family giving, special events.  We would love anyone who is interested and has some exciting ideas to come and join us.  If we do not get sufficient help, our fundraising for this coming year could be severely impacted which will affect our children and our school.  It's fun, it's exciting and it's a very important way of giving.  Hope we'll see you there! 

STAR testing: Our window for STAR testing is the two weeks of May 5 through 16th this year. Individual class teachers will determine their specific schedules, and inform parents. You may be asked to help by bringing special snacks. Tests are administrated in Grades 2 through 7. Studies have shown that the single most important factor in students' success is parent attitude-so, please help your child by:

• Feeding them well
• Getting them to sleep at a reasonable hour the nights before testing
• Relax. Assure children that they only needs to do the best they can

STAR scores will be mailed to parents at the end of August. Thanks for your support! 

Here's an Idea:
Hi Everyone!  A friendly message from the Parent Council...If you've been wondering how to spend your Federal Tax Rebate checks which will be arriving shortly, we may have the solution for you!  How about donating all or a part of your check to Woodland Star?  You would feel good about it, you would be donating to a very worthy cause, it's probably tax deductible (we do not give tax advice, so check with your accountant), AND you'd be helping the economy because you know the school would spend it wisely!  Just an idea we thought we'd pass along! 

Doll Making with Truth Almond
An experience that must not be missed!  At the end of the day, you will have not only experience something magical, but you will go home with a wonderful doll for your child, you or you can donate it to the school!  Truly wonderful.  Truth is like Lady Spring!
WHEN:          May 24th, 9-5pm
WHERE:     Ruby Morning Preschool on Railroad Ave.
RSVP:          Nicole   495-6707

Grant Workshop ~ On Thursday, May 15^th, 10:30-Noon, the Sonoma County Library is holding a free Grant Workshop in the Central Library on 4th Street in Santa Rosa. For more information go to:  http://www.sonomalibrary.org/programs/GrantClasses.html

Character Education Meeting ~  An invitation to all community members interested in developing and implementing a character education program (conflict resolution, community building and conscious communication) on our campus.  We have held two morning meetings and want to offer an evening meeting to include those parents who might not be available any other time.  We will continue with information-gathering as the first step in our process so please bring your completed Character Education Surveys (available on the website under Documents - Parent Handbook).  Join us on Monday, May 19^th from 7-8:30 PM in the Main Hall.  If you are not able to attend this meeting but have ideas and want to be involved, please let me know by e-mailing: asstadmin@woodlandstarschool.org  Thanks, Sheila 

New Distribution for Just the Facts ~ In the spirit of saving paper, we first of all, encourage all to sign up to receive the Just the Facts electronically by simply signing up on our homepage.  If that doesn't work for you, we are going to be making the Just the Facts paper editions available in the office on the front counter instead of having the copies go home with the children.  Thanks!

CLASSIFIEDS

You Can Be in a Band! ~ Come and make new musical connections.  Learn to Gig or just have fun.  Professional Musical Coaching and Teaching

• Ongoing bands and groups meet in Sonoma. 
• Parents, do you wish your music student child was more motivated and practiced more ?!!! 
• Do you wish you could get back ‘into' music after a hiatus?
• Wish you could get off the sheet music and have more fun?
• Want your family to play music together?

Get In A Band.com is located in Sonoma and directed by Leta Davis.  Students are placed in groups by age, level and instrument.  If you have a group already, that is great too.  Leta has 25 years teaching experience working with all levels and many styles of music.  Coaching is by experienced professionals and geared to the goals of each group. Contact Leta Davis at 996-5233 or Leta@Artisanknobs.com 

Afterschool Tennis Program ~ check out the attached flyer for an after-school tennis program coming to WSS beginning on May 15^th.  Sign up now as the deadline to turn in your application is May 14^th. 

7^th Grade Garage Sale ~ Fundraiser for the class trip funds. Saturday, May 17^th at the Marenec's home, 20220 5^th Street West from 9-5.  If you would like to donate any items please call Marcella at 292-1026 to arrange for pick up. 

Circus Equipment Sale ~   This is your chance to buy the circus equipment (and possibly javelins and archery equipment) that you've been asking about and to support  the Movement Education program at the same time.

 The school will purchase the equipment at wholesale price and sell it to you at the same retail price that you would pay if purchasing on your own.  The funds raised by this order will go to purchasing new circus equipment for the school.  Look for a pre-order form in an upcoming JTF.

 					    PARENT COUNCIL

Woodland Star Charter School

Parent Council Minutes

                                                        Thursday, May 8, 2008 

Attendees: Ben Dewees, (President), Cindy Riley (Secretary), Bonne Posert, Shawnda Hansen, Sheelagh Murphy, Kim Ridge, Laela French, Todd Kneeland, AJ Rodriguez, Ellen Schwartz, Jim Shafer, John Graham 

Parent Forum - The first 30 minutes was an open forum where a few parents shared their thoughts, concerns and vision for the next year.  Those in attendance who are not on any committees at this time were encouraged to join the PC for next year and bring all their energy and great ideas for moving the school forward.  Thank you to all who attended! 

New Business:

• Volunteer Coordinator  - Todd Kneeland re-confirmed as Volunteer Coordinator with Sheelagh Murphy as Assistant VC. 

• PC reps to Charter Council -Published in JTF "2 parents who would like to run for election to the Charter Council as Parent Reps."  If there are more than 2 we will hold an election. Confirmed one vote per adult. 

• Ben Dewees elected as PC rep to the Charter Council. 

• PC Chair and Secretary for next year  Jim Shafer confirmed as Secretary.  PC Chair still open. Expect confirmation this week 

• School Budget -  finalized by Charter Council. 

• Cinco de Mayo debrief - Very beautiful, successful outreach event. 

• Feed the Faculty  - Reminded members of dates of responsibility. 

• Faculty Report - Faculty is working on developing a vision for the school music program.  Discussion about where the 8^th grade will be, and whether painting will need to be coordinated over the summer.  Deborah LaDean will manage painting logistics. 

• General - Cindy Riley will produce new binders for the members (with help from Andrea Gregory).