January 9th, 2009
ISSUE #5
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Weekly Reminders
2008 State Tax Credit Drive - Remember you can stil send your tax credit donation checks with a date prior to Jan. 1, but hurry! Be sure to read the article in Teacher and Community Corner.
A warm welcome to our new students!
Zoe Shelley in grade K,
Alyziah Shapiro in grade K,
Briana Enright in grade K,
Jade Lira in 3rd grade
Board meetings: the next board meeting will be held Tuesday February 10th in the 4th grade classroom at 3pm. All are welcome to attend.
New group class pictures will be arriving soon with missing teachers, students and retakes.
Next week be on the look out in your child's backpack for a one question survey from the Department of Education that all parents must fill out.
Office Request:
Please take care when entering the office. Our office is small and many times there are children standing right behind the door inside.Thank You. We appreciate your help!
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Wednesday, Jan. 7th - 3:00pm - Board Meeting - All are always invited to attend.
Wednesday, Jan. 14th - 2:45pm - 5:30pm - New Years Mixer . All Desert Star Families are invited and encouraged to attend.
(see more below)
Monday, Jan. 19th
No school, M.L.King Jr. Holiday
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Board News & Views
The board has continued the exploration of the addition of a 7th grade class for the next school year. At this time there is no new news regarding the funding we need to make this happen. However a 7th grade curriculum has been written and submitted to the State Board for Charter Schools in order to amend our charter to add the 7th grade. We will know in March if the amendment has been approved. An all school meeting will be scheduled in the next month to discuss the situation with the full school community.
Parent Council News
The New Years Mixer
Let's start 2009 with a chance to visit with each other. Hope you can make it and join the party.
What: A casual gathering for all families of Desert Star.
Who: All members of the school community are welcome.
When: Wednesday, Jan.14, from 2:45pm to 5:30pm
Where: At the school, dinner will be in the EarthShip (Kindergarten)
Why: To get to know each other, to feel more connected to the school,
to find out what YOU do!
Food: Pot Luck with the following breakdowns:
Please list ingredients of food and maybe offer the recipe for others to enjoy.
Kinder: Snacks for the kids
1st Grade: Salads
2nd Grade: Pasta
3rd Grade: Meats
4th Grade: Drinks
5th and 6th: Desserts
Parents, please coordinate with your Class Rep for food selections and other needs.
If you have any questions please contact Janice Koenig at 704-681-0129 or Mike Jefferson at 928-963-0725.
If you canNOT attend please let your Class Rep know and arrange for pick up of your child as usual.
Childcare provided, $5 per child suggested donation.
Presented by the Parent Council; the voice of our community.
Submitted by Mike Jefferson
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Parent Testimonial Link
New Link For Our Web Site
The
new link is up and running
on our web site for our parent
testimonials.
We are
encouraging all parents of Desert Star students to participate.
By doing so, you are helping create
our expanded presence on the
World
Wide Web.
It's easy. Just click and go to:
http://www.desertstarschool.org/parent-testimonials.html to fill out the form. Your testimonial will be posted
on our web site within a matter
of days. Thank you!
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Greetings!
Happy New Year and welcome back to school! The students seemed happy to be back as they shared stories of sledding in powdery snow, swimming in the warm ocean, visiting relatives in far away states, and receiving that much sought after gift. Everyone was rested and upbeat on that first day back at Desert Star. It may seem a long way until the end of the school year but the next five months will fly by quickly. Let's renew our efforts to insure that we're all working together to continue to build and strengthen our community here at Desert Star. Renew your efforts to be involved in your child's education. Attend upcoming parent council events, classroom meetings and school-wide assemblies. The faculty and administration at Desert Star wish you and your family an abundant new year!
Susan Simon
Administrator, Desert Star Community School
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Teacher & Community Corner
Announcements
Our 100th Day:
Our 100th day is coming up on January 22 ! This is our most important
enrollment marker for funding, so let's put the word out. If we get 10
more new students, we'll have 100 students.
Tax Credit Update:
Our current tax credit donation total is at about $10,000, which is great but last year we made $14,000! Desert Star is extremely grateful for all donations received so far! And for a short time we are still able to accept your State Income Tax Credit donations, if the checks are dated before December 31, 2008. Remember our initial goal for every family to find 5 tax credit donors? If every family just donated one single tax credit we would be at $18,000! Yes we can!!! Now is the time to follow-up with friends and family. One quick easy way to do it is to send out an email to all your Arizona friends and ask them to send a check with a form downloaded from our website. Remember this is a credit for everyone who pays State Income tax, even if you already have taxes deducted from a paycheck, you will get the choice of a refund or credit to be used for up to 5 years! If you have to pay state income tax, you might as well designate Desert Star kids as the beneficiaries!
Teacher Highlight - Shelly Kidwell
The Value of Handwork in the Waldorf Curriculum
Our children bring with them a sense of respect and reverence for their natural world. In kindergarten we surround the child with these natural materials for creative play. Then in the early grades their creative play is directed in a more structured approach. Through beauty, color and form, handwork creates a bridge between play and imaginative thinking. The hands play an important part of this awakening. For example, in first grade with a story of a shepherd and the loving care he brings to his sheep, the process of knitting begins. The knitting needles and the loops the children have formed onto them 'become' the shepherd and his sheep. In the verse they recite while knitting "under the fence, catch the sheep, back he comes and off they leap." The activity of the fingers stirs the senses that connect the child to the world, and his whole life of thought begins to move!
Pictured is 6th Grader, Hannah Radd and her handwork
Submitted by Shelly Kidwell, Handwork Teacher
Trees are Our Friends - Rhonda Bierman Trees are our friends and the students of Desert Star Community School know it and show it!! During Environmental Science class, last year's National Arbor Day was celebrated by our (then) 4/5 th grade class in learning that "Trees are Terrific Inside and Out" and in competing in the National poster competition. Both Marika Israelson and Shana Newton won State honors for their posters which currently hold prestigious positions in the 2009 Arizona State Arbor Day Calendar! In addition, their original drawings were displayed in the Arizona State Capital during the 2008 State Arbor Day celebrations. Congratulations Marika and Shana and the students of Desert Star Community School!
Ms. Bierman's 5th and 6th grade Environmental Science students are preparing for this year's competition. The theme, "Trees are Terrific...in Cities and Towns," recently commenced its academic phase. Students learned the social, economic and environmental benefits of trees. Happily, the aesthetic appreciation is well within the hearts of each student. This is a winning combination with or without a poster competition!
Submitted by Rhonda Bierman, Environmental Science and Games Teacher
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"Education from the Inside Out" Event
The
Saturday before Christmas the PR Committee held our first community
outreach event at the Java Love Café in Sedona. It was a lovely
winter's afternoon for a beautiful display featuring our children's
amazing main lesson books, handwork and art. Some of our faculty and
staff were on hand and wonderful live music was provided by Bryan
Carpenter. There was hot coffee, chai and snacks from Java Love. It was
a fun and festive holiday gathering. Stay tuned for the more upcoming Desert
Star events and remember to show off our school to your friends via the
DS website.
Submitted by Pam Israelson, PR Committee
Five Easy Ways to Support Our School
1. We get credit for every single search
and every time you purchase something online! It really works!
GoodSearch.com and GoodShop donate to the organization of your choice
(hopefully Desert Star!) when you perform a search and again when you
buy online through GoodShop.
2. Next you can REALLY help Desert Star by using GoodShop to make all your online purchases!
Here's how: Make Good Search.com your home page with Desert Star
Community School chosen as who you GoodSearch for, then every time you
need to shop hit the Shop Now link on the GoodSearch page, in GoodShop
search for the store of your choice - there are hundreds! When you
purchase this way, Desert Star can get up to 37% of your purchase
donated to the school! Remember this for any large purchases you need
to make, it can really add up for the school.
3. Be
sure to use Desert Star's Amazon Link, located in the right hand column
of our website on the home page. We get credit from Amazon only if your
purchase through Desert Star's Amazon links, yet not from Amazon
directly. Please do all your Amazon shopping through our link.
4. You
can also order from our Waldorf book list right from our site! Go to
our website under Parent Resources and then to Recommended Books.
5. And
be sure you, and all your Arizona friends and relatives direct a portion of your state income tax (up to $200 per individual/$400 per couple filing jointly) to Desert
Star. It's easy - just pick up a form in the office or to the Support Us page on our website then go to the State Tax
Credit page.
THANKS FOR YOUR SUPPORT!
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Desert Star Newsletter Archive Link:
Did you miss any of our newsletters? You can view them all by going here: http://www.desertstarschool.org/newsletters.html |
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Thank you in advance for spreading the word about Desert Star Community School.You may forward this newsletter by clicking on the link at the bottom of this page. For more information, please call or visit us on the web.
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