February 27th, '09
ISSUE #12
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Calendar Reminders
March 10th: Video taping of classes for promotional videos for school website. More information will be forthcoming next week.
March 16th - 20th: SPRING BREAKNo School Wednesday, March 25th - 6:00 - 8:00 pm: (note date change) JOAN TREADAWAY TALK - "Seeking the Self - the Journey of the Middle School Student" - Joan will address the characteristics of the 10 - 13 year old tender " tween." How can we strengthen the child through support and guidance so they are ready to face adolescence? How do we work with the seven year cycles to protect and prepare our children for adolescence? And, how can parents keep their sanity and humor?
Please, invite your friends to join us in this presentation and discussion. Submit any questions you would like addressed to the office and they will be passed on to Joan. Two recommended books: Girl Culture by Lauren Greenfield and Reviving Ophelia by Mary Pipher. Location to be announced.
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PARENT COUNCIL - Meeting Next Monday March 2nd at 3pm at the school.
Current Class Reps:
K: Amanda Lemons
1st Grade: Laura Harness, Stephanie Schmid
2nd Grade: Cheryl Le Blanc, Karen Vernetti
3rd Grade: Petra Breakstone
4th Grade: Stephanie Schmid, Judi Radd
5th/6th Grade: Maggi Cricks, Donna Altman
Great Volunteer Opportunities
Coming Soon!
Stay tuned next week for the long awaited new and improved Volunteer Opportunity Packet. The Committee Chairs will be taking volunteers on a first come, first serve basis; so those who sign-up early get first pick of the selection of committees before they fill up! Make sure you get on the committee of your choice to fulfill your family's volunteer commitment of 50 hours per school year. We only have 3 months of school left and lots of great opportunities, new friends and fun await you!
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Fun-d Drive -
Just a couple more days left for our February Individual Family Fund Drive for Desert Star!
We are making some real progress toward our goal of providing an expanded campus for 8 grades (K-7) for the school year 2009-2010.
This fundraiser is a GREAT way for our expanded circle of acquaintances, friends and family to be included in supporting our children's education.
Any donation no matter how small or large is welcome, needed and appreciated. Remember, these donations are tax-deductable!
Our combined efforts for this February Fund Drive could allow us to develop a wonderful addition to the school for our children next year. Our school needs our financial support to survive and THRIVE during these economic times.
Please do your part in raising funds in creative and powerful ways. Think outside the box. Call Stephanie (203-1144), Charlotte (204-9015) or other families for ideas on how to reach your family's fundraising goal.
Here are some examples:
· Yard sales
· Asking for money instead of gifts from relatives
· Throw a party and charge admission
· Give away professional services for donations
· Send out an e-mailed letter or mailed letter to all acquaintances, friends and family from your childhood onward asking for a small donation to our extraordinary school.
· Ask friends who purchase for their
business or home online to use our Good Search feature. Desert
Star will get donations for their purchases.
$20 from 100 people = $2000!
Imagine if every family did this! 70 families x $2000 = $140,000. WOW! We can do it!
With just a couple days left, can Desert Star count on you?
Donations may be made at www.desertstarschool.org using the PayPal Button on the home page, or mailed to:
Desert Star Community School
1240 S. Recycler Rd.
Cornville, Az 86325
Please have all pledged donations for this February Fund Drive handed into the school by March 1, 2009.
5 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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Greetings!
We live in a world where files are kept on us for just about everything we do. The technology age has accelerated the number of sites where files are maintained for each of us. When we order from online stores, paperwork is "filed" away for the next time we visit the site. We go into our bank records to pay bills. Facebook invites us to share information about ourselves with friends, all of which is stored in computer files. Student files, in comparison, are rather simple and low tech.
The enrollment packet is the beginning of your child's school records. Those papers go into what becomes each student's permanent file. This permanent file will travel with the child from grade to grade and school to school. When you change schools, the new school will get in touch with Desert Star and ask us to send copies of the student records to them.
At Desert Star we work diligently to maintain student records in a conscientious and confidential manner. We try not to place an excess of paperwork in these files but rather maintain them as useful resources for the teachers who work with your child. The only people who have access to your child's file are those who need to know about what's in that file, e.g. class teacher, administrator, or remedial teacher. Above all, we strive to maintain the confidentiality of your child's school records.
If you have any questions about your child's permanent records, give us a call.
Susan Simon
Administrator, Desert Star Community School
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The 3 R's? A Fourth Is Crucial, Too: Recess
An Article Published: February 23, 2009,
The New York Times Health Section
By TARA PARKER-POPE
The best way to improve children's performance in the classroom may be to take them out of it.
New research suggests that play and down time may be as important to a child's academic experience as reading, science and math, and that regular recess, fitness or nature time can influence behavior, concentration and even grades. A study published this month in the journal Pediatrics studied the links between recess and classroom behavior among about 11,000 children age 8 and 9. Those who had more than 15 minutes of recess a day showed better behavior in class than those who had little or none. Although disadvantaged children were more likely to be denied recess, the association between better behavior and recess time held up even after researchers controlled for a number of variables, including sex, ethnicity, public or private school and class size.
The lead researcher, Dr. Romina M. Barros, a pediatrician and an assistant clinical professor at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, said the findings were important because many schools did not view recess as essential to education.
"Sometimes you need data published for people at the educational level to start believing it has an impact," she said. "We should understand that kids need that break because the brain needs that break."
And many children are not getting that break. In the Pediatrics study, 30 percent were found to have little or no daily recess. Another report, from a children's advocacy group, found that 40 percent of schools surveyed had cut back at least one daily recess period.
Also, teachers often punish children by taking away recess privileges. That strikes Dr. Barros as illogical. "Recess should be part of the curriculum," she said. "You don't punish a kid by having them miss math class, so kids shouldn't be punished by not getting recess."
Last month, Harvard researchers reported in The Journal of School Health that the more physical fitness tests children passed, the better they did on academic tests. The study, of 1,800 middle school students, suggests that children can benefit academically from physical activity during gym class and recess.
A small study of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder last year found that walks outdoors appeared to improve scores on tests of attention and concentration. Notably, children who took walks in natural settings did better than those who walked in urban areas, according to the report, published online in August in The Journal of Attention Disorders. The researchers found that a dose of nature worked as well as a dose of medication to improve concentration, or even better.
Andrea Faber Taylor, a child environment and behavior researcher at the Landscape and Human Health Laboratory at theUniversity of Illinois, says other research suggests that all children, not just those with attention problems, can benefit from spending time in nature during the school day. In another study of children who live in public housing, girls who had access to green courtyards scored better on concentration tests than those who did not.
The reason may be that the brain uses two forms of attention. "Directed" attention allows us to concentrate on work, reading and tests, while "involuntary" attention takes over when we're distracted by things like running water, crying babies, a beautiful view or a pet that crawls onto our lap. Directed attention is a limited resource. Long hours in front of a computer or studying for a test can leave us feeling fatigued. But spending time in natural settings appears to activate involuntary attention, giving the brain's directed attention time to rest.
"It's pretty clear that all human beings experience attentional fatigue," Dr. Faber Taylor said. "Our attention has to be restored from that fatigue, and there is a growing body of research evidence that nature is one way that seems particularly effective at doing it."
Playtime and nature time are important not only for learning but also for health and development.Young rats denied opportunities for rough-and-tumble play develop numerous social problems in adulthood. They fail to recognize social cues and the nuances of rat hierarchy; they aren't able to mate. By the same token, people who play as children "learn to handle life in a much more resilient and vital way," said Dr. Stuart Brown, the author of the new book "Play: How It Shapes the Brain, Opens the Imagination and Invigorates the Soul" (Avery).
Dr. Brown, a psychiatrist in Carmel Valley, Calif., has collected more than 6,000 "play histories" from human subjects. The founder of the National Institute for Play, he works with educators and legislators to promote the importance of preserving playtime in schools. He calls play "a fundamental biological process." "From my viewpoint, it's a major public health issue," he said. "Teachers feel like they're under huge pressures to get academic excellence to the exclusion of having much fun in the classroom. But playful learning leads to better academic success than the skills-and-drills approach."
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Teacher & Community Corner
Teacher Highlights: REPTILES AND MAMMALS AND RAPTORS. . . OH, MY!
It
is a joy to present our "All Creatures Great and Small" Unit of
Environmental Science! Through knowledge, understanding and a little
personal contact, it is my desire to nurture the inherent love, empathy
and respect that lies within our children's hearts, for all those
creatures with whom we share this earth. . Experts will be coming to our campus with live "friends." MARK YOUR CALENDARS and help make sure your
children are present for:
Monday, MARCH 2, 2009 - REPTILES WITH WAYNE FISCHER-Herpetologist
PRESENTATION 1@ 1:10-1:40 FOR 1-4
PRESENTATION 2@ 1:50-2:30 FOR K, 5/6TH
*WHERE: Patio on N. side of kindergarten. Students will face kindergarten when seated.
Monday, MARCH 23, 2009 - MAMMALS WITH RUSS SMITH - ADOBE MTN.
(First day after spring break. Don't miss this exciting program!)
PRESENTATION 1@ 1:10-1:40 FOR 1-4
PRESENTATION 2@ 1:50-2:30 FOR K, 5/6TH
WHERE: Patio on N. side of kindergarten. Students will face kindergarten when seated.
The RAPTOR'S PROGRAM SCHEDULE WILL BE ANNOUNCED SOON!
The
media has been invited. "Best Behavior" is a must so as not to further
stress our "friends." If you have any questions, please contact:
Rhonda Bierman at the school.
-------------------------------------------------------------------Announcements Supply Donation Reminder:Desert Star asks $150 Per Semester Per Child to help support the school.
Please get your donation in as soon as you can.
"A Walk Through the Grades",
March 25, Wednesday
April 23, Thursday
8:30am - 10:30am
Desert
Star invites you and those who want to see what a day is like at Desert
Star, to step into each classroom for 10 minutes and observe
kindergarten through grade 6. This will be followed by a questions and
answer period.
We especially would like to invite New Families, so please help get the word out! This is a great opportunity to show off why we are different from other schools.
Community Yard Sale Benefits Desert Star:Last weekend's yard sale to benefit Desert Star was a great success. Over $600 was raised by the sale, a huge thank you to Sherri O'Neil and Bridget Cardinali! What a great example of how we can come together, have fun, clean out closets and really help our school in tough times! Host An Exchange Student:The PAX Exchange program offers your family an opportunity to share your daily life with an international exchange student for a semester. A host family should be ready to share their lives with a PAX student. Students are ages 15 to 18 with at least 3 years of English. They must demonstrate satisfactory academic performance, good health, and good teacher references. They are covered by full medical insurance and supplied with spending money for personal expenses. The host family provides the student with a bed and quiet place to study; meals; and love and support a teenager needs. Students are expected to help out with family chores and share their culture. Please consider opening your heart and home to a 5 month student from Belgium, or Germany. If interested, contact Marcia Goebel, 204 2075 day, 301 9868 eve and weekends. Marcia is available to provide counseling and support for the student. House For Rent:
One-bedroom
"Earth Ship" house adjacent to DS school. Freshly painted interior,
unfurnished and available now. All utilities included. $800/month. For
information call: Tomas Winn 301-3491
Family Support Events:
Rudolph Steiner College - Informed Family Life
Spring Parenting Conference
"Educating Our Children - Changing the World" April 25-26, 2009
Sacramento Waldorf School Fair Oaks, CA
Register at informedfamilylife.org
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Participate in TV Turnoff Week, April 23 - 29. ------------------------------------------------------------
Desert Star Teacher Biographies:
Find out who are our teachers and what are their backgrounds? http://www.desertstarschool.org/teachers.html
Desert Star Newsletter Archive Link:
Did you miss any of our newsletters? View them by going here: http://www.desertstarschool.org/newsletters.html
Parent Testimonial Link - Please Add To Our Site:
We are encouraging all parents of Desert Star students to participate in adding to our parent testimonials page. Just click and fill out the form by going to:
http://www.desertstarschool.org/parent-testimonials.html. Thank you!
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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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