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| News from the Minnesota Waldorf School |
October 5, 2009 |
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Celebrate Community: All-School Meeting
October 8th 6:30-8:30 pm
6:30-7:30pm All-School Meeting
7:30-8:30pm "Say Yes to No" -- a presentation by Erin Walsh from the National Institute on Media and the Family
Please plan to attend this important all-school meeting to learn more about how the parent realm supports the work of the school. Parent Council and the Board will talk about what's happening this year, their role in the school, and how parents can get involved. Plus, we'll hear a brief overview of the budget and financial state of the school.
After the all-school meeting, stay for an enlightening presentation from Erin Walsh of the National Institute on Media and the Family, a research think-tank on issues related to growing up in a media-filled environment. This year's topic, "Say Yes to No," is relevant for parenting children of all ages. The presentation given by this group 3 years ago is still being talked about in the halls of MWS. Don't miss it!
Because the content of this meeting is so important for all families, we ask that at least one parent from each family attend this event. This meeting will start on time, as we have a lot to cover before the 7:30 speaker.
This event is for adults only. |
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Kindergarten Circle Drive for Parents with Infants Only
The circle drive behind the main building and in front of the Kindergarten building is to be used only by Kindergarten parents who have infants with them in the car-- please park and accompany your child to his or her classroom. All other parents should use the front and side parking lots to minimize traffic between the buildings. The circle in front of the Kindergarten is a fire lane. Parents, please walk with your Kindergarten or 1st grade students on the sidewalks when crossing between buildings to help us keep our littlest students safe! | |
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Michaelmas Festival for Grades 1 - 8: October 9th
Festival Work Time: 10:45 am
Rehearsal for Parents: Noon (in the lower field) Michaelmas Play: St. George & the Dragon 12:20
(followed by a Feast)
1st and 8th Grade- on Thursday, October 8th: Send 2-3 individual items from the following list: onions, potatoes, carrots, tomatoes, rutabagas, OR celery stalks, along with a cutting board and securely wrapped knife.
2nd and 6th Grade-Friday Morning: Sliced Cheese, 3/4 pound +.
3rd and 5th Grade- Friday Morning: Send 1 pan of apple crisp. 11x13" pan or equivalent- Use your favorite recipe or get one from Amy Stephens.
4th and 7th Grade- Friday Morning: Bread-a loaf per child, sliced is nice!
Michaelmas is a work and play day, so children should wear comfortable clothes that can withstand wear and are appropriate for the weather. Parents, grandparents, and well-supervised siblings are welcome to come, particularly for the play and meal. Please bring your own blanket and a bowl, spoon, cup and plate for everyone in your family and send place settings with your grades student.
Kindergarten Harvest Festivals
Miss Brenda's- Wednesday, October 7th
Miss Eileen's & Miss Mary Lou's- Friday, October 9th
The Kindergartens will celebrate the change of seasons with a small Harvest Festival in their classrooms. Parents are invited to attend. They will begin at 8:30 am and finish by 10 am. Your child's teacher will provide additional information. |
Parent-Teacher Conferences
Sign-up sheets for Parent-Teacher Conferences October 14-16th are on the bulletin board by Amy Stephens' office. Reserve your spots.
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Holiday Fair & Marketplace 2009:
Vendor Deadline Friday!
Friday evening, November 20th, 6-10pm &
Saturday, November 21st, 10am - 4pm
The Holiday Fair is fast approaching and we welcome new and returning vendors to apply for space. Friday evening is a shopping-only event aimed at adults, with simple food, beverages and raffles adding to the excitement. Saturday features shopping all day plus our family-oriented fair, including plays, children's activities, puppet shows, great music and food - attracting families from all over the Twin Cities looking for handcrafted and artisan-quality gifts, toys, and other natural or green products.
Basic booth space 4'x8' is $40 plus 15% of gross sales.Vendor space is limited, so apply soon. Download an application! This year's deadline is Oct. 9th.Contact: Volunteer Vendor Chair Ellen Fiorito |
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Visiting Eurythmist Host Family Found, Needed
Many thanks to Kit Canright who has offered to host visiting Eurythmist Claudia Fontana for the first 4 weeks of her stay. If you could host Claudia during her second 4 weeks, please contact Mary Lou Bala at school.
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The Phonebooks to Footstools Program
Do you need those phonebooks that still get delivered to your house? If not, we'd love to put them to good use. Wrapped in duct tape, they make great footstools for students whose legs dangle while sitting at their desks. You may drop off new (or gently used and not too dog-eared) phonebooks in the box in the Educational Support Office and know you made a student more comfortable!
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| Next Pizza Series Begins Oct. 21st
Orders Due Monday, Oct 19th
The next series of Pizza Wednesdays begins Oct. 21st. Watch for a new order form to come home with your child this week. Orders are due Monday, Oct 19th by 8:30 am. You may order by the series or by the week. Weekly orders must be received by 8:30 am each Monday morning. This pizza series will go 5 weeks-- 10/21, 10/28, 11/4, 11/11, and 11/18.
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School Store Welcomes Autumn
Autumn is here!!! Visit the school store for fall inspired candles shaped as acorns, walnuts and pine cones. Made by Bee Happy Candles, these 100% pure, raw beeswax candles are hand-poured, one-of-a-kind pieces. Dyed with plant-based pigments and scented with nothing but the heavenly aroma of honey, these will surely warm up your nature table. Also find modeling beeswax and felt in fall reds, oranges, and yellows as well as small and large portfolios to protect and store all your child's artwork.
Many thanks to Frieda Bensing, our newest volunteer! If you're still looking for a way to contribute to the school, consider becoming a school store cashier. We could use 1-2 more afternoon volunteers.
Contact: Teresa Reid |
| Helle Heckman Lecture: Oct. 28th at CLWS
Parents of Young Children Encouraged to Attend
Helle Heckman, world-renowned early childhood educator and director of the Danish kindergarten, Nokken, will be in the Twin Cities at the end of October. She will present a lecture for parents, teachers and daycare providers on Wednesday, Oct. 28th at 7 pm at the City of Lakes Waldorf School. Topics she will cover include: care of the young child, fun with boys, and "finding danger in safe places." Helle is an engaging and inspiring speaker and her past lectures have been wonderful.
In addition to the parent lecture, she will present a conference for early childhood educators which our Kindergarten teachers will attend. The City of Lakes Waldorf School is at 2344 Nicollet Ave. S in Minneapolis. The phone number is 612-767-1550. |
Parent Enrichment & Education Ideas Wanted
Please join the new Parent Council Think Tank for a morning of exploring what does parent "education/enrichment" mean to you and what is your vision for the community in 3 to 5 years. This information will be the genesis of a new Parent Council Committee that focuses on enriching the parent body and strengthening ties within our community. We will be meeting on Saturday, October 17 from 10 to noon at school. If there's enough interest, we can arrange for childcare, so let us know. And if you have ideas to share but cannot attend, please get them to Pamela Isham pisham@ishamconsulting.com or Vicki Dunlop bvdunlop1@msn.com. |
Coming Soon! SHOP WITH SCRIP!
What is SCRIP? SCRIP is an exciting way for you to help raise money for our school! It is a fundraiser that allows us to purchase gift cards at a discount and then sell them to our families for face value. THE GREAT THING ABOUT THIS PROGRAM IS THAT THE GIFT CARDS ARE FOR ALL OF THE PLACES YOU ARE ALREADY SHOPPING ANYWAY, AND FOR PLACES THAT MAKE GREAT GIFTS!
How does it work? Before making a cash or check purchase, you would purchase a gift card from MWS. That gift card would then be used to make your purchase. MWS gets a percentage (generally 2-17%) of the amount of the gift card. For instance, if you will be buying $25 in gasoline and $75 in groceries this week, you would purchase $100 in gift cards from MWS and use those gift cards for your purchase. If every family and faculty member did this for $100 in purchases each week, we would bring in a minimum of $25,000 in additional revenue for our school in one year!
There are gift cards available for several hundred storefront and online businesses (as well as a VISA and American Express option for those stores you frequent that are not currently a participating SCRIP partner). The highest percent of return for our school are restaurants and clothing stores (10-15% in most cases), but every store counts! Start thinking now of gift and holiday shopping!
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MWS Calendar Online
The school calendar is available on-line as a Google calendar. As soon as dates are announced for parent meetings, field trips, festivals, class plays, etc., we post the details there. For 7th and 8th grade sports, we even attach a map to the game site!
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Save the Date: October 24th 7 - 10 pm 7th & 8th Grade Halloween Dance with City of Lakes and Spring Hill at MWS. |
Help Spread the Word!
We know more families would love our school if only they knew about it! We need everyone's help to get the word out about our wonderful school.
- Talk to friends and share your enthusiasm for our school
- Take some flyers to put up at neighborhood coffee shops, libraries, co-ops, community centers, restaurants, yoga studios, etc...
- Take a few postcards and keep them handy - you never know when you'll meet someone who wants to learn more about MWS. (All of our enrollment events are listed on the back.) Posters and postcards are in the lobby. See Liz if you need larger quantities or if the supply has run out. Thank you so much for your help!
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Tissues, Please
Every nose in every class will thank you for your donation of a box or two of soft tissues! You may deliver tissues to directly to your child's classroom or drop off "general use" boxes with Amy Stephens in the front office. |
ASWNA Announces
"Why Waldorf Works Books & More" E-store
AWSNA (Association of Waldorf Schools of North America) has enhanced its online store as a rich resource for children, parents, and teachers. You'll find books that enrich, inspire, and reveal the truth, beauty, and goodness in children, in Waldorf Education, and in the world. What could be better than literature, toys, and products recommended by Waldorf teachers for children at the right age?
Every book has been cleared through AWSNA as a good representation of the kind of literature, and curricular support, for deepening the unique view of the unfolding human being we hold in Waldorf Education. People from all over the world use our online store daily-you can, too! |
Alumni News
Do you have news to share about a Minnesota Waldorf School alum? We always love to hear about our graduates.
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Community News & Events
Novalis News:
Novalis Institute is privileged and thrilled to welcome world-renowned Eurythmist and adored returning teacher of Minnesota Waldorf School for five weeks of workshops! We invite you ALL to join Claudia Fontana in this Eurythmy course and experience the joy of discovery through movement. Please see our flyer (on the bulletin board) for further details.First class is Saturday, Oct. 24th! For a full list of Novalis classes please visit http://novalisinstitute.org/. Questions may be directed to info@novalisinstitute.org or 651-489-2060.
Spring Hill Waldorf School Halloween Walk:
A Wonderful Family Tradition
Spring Hill Waldorf School invites you to the 2009 Halloween Walk! The Halloween Walk is a magical alternative to the traditional Halloween "celebration". The Walk is intended for children aged 3 to 9 but is also a wonderful time for adults, older children, and children under 3. This year's Halloween Walk will be held at the beautiful Baker Near-Wilderness Settlement in Maple Plain on Saturday, Oct. 25th from 6 to 8 p.m. Families with very young children are encouraged to arrive between 5:30 and 6:30 p.m. Families with older children are encouraged to come after 7 pm. For more information, directions, and a map - please visit our website www.springhillschool.com and go to the Events page (look for the pixie!). We'll see you at the Walk! | |
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Upcoming Events
10/6 6:30 pm
7th Grade Parent Meeting
10/6 7pm
Board Meeting
10/7 Wed
K-BH Harvest Festival
10/8 Thu 6:30 pm
Celebrate Community All-School Meeting
10/9 Fri
K-EM & K-MLB Harvest Festivals
Michaelmas Festival Gr. 1-8
4:30 & 5:30 pm
7th/8th Gr. Soccer
10/14-16
Wed-Fri
Parent Teacher Conferences
NO SCHOOL
10/17 Sat 10 am
Parent Enrichment Think Tank
10/20 Tue 7 pm
Parent Council Meeting
10/21 Wed
Picture Day
SAVE THE DATE
7th & 8th Grade
Halloween Dance
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Minnesota Waldorf School
Office: 651-487-6700
Fax: 651-487-6800
Aftercare:
612-309-1663 |
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Pizza Day
Remaining Pizza Days for this session are:
Oct 7
If you pay by the week, please have your order in by Monday at 8:30 am. |
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Parent Council Meeting Dates All parents are welcome and encouraged to attend. Refreshments served.
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Tuesday, Oct 20 Tuesday, Nov 17 Tuesday, Dec 15 Thursday, Jan 14 Thursday, Feb 11 Thursday, Mar 11 Thursday, Apr 15 Tuesday, May 18
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Friday Gatherings: All Are Welcome
Each Friday afternoon at 2:30 pm, grades 1-8 gather in the Festival Hall to share songs, poems, and snippets of what they've been working on in class. A faculty member gives a brief "Picture of the Season" and we end the assembly around 3 pm with a group song. You can expect 1 - 3 classes to share something each week. Parents, friends and extended family are welcome to join us. |
Every little bit helps! Take a look at the list below and help us raise money for the school. You may drop-off Box Tops, Milk Caps, Soup Labels & Ink Cartridges in the Parent Lounge anytime.
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School Store Hours
Monday - Friday
8:15 to 8:45 am
and
3:15 to 3:45 pm
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Coffee (& Tea!) Cart Hours
Monday - Friday
8:00 to 9:00 am
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Lost & Found
The Lost and Found basket is located in the Parent Lounge (top of the lobby steps and to your right).
Please check it regularly-- unclaimed items are donated to charity monthly. Your child's teacher may maintain a classroom Lost & Found.
Items which are labeled with your child's name will be returned to your child or placed in his/her classroom Lost & Found.
PLEASE LABEL EVERYTHING! |
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Parent Council & Class Reps
K- Brenda
Sara Bowman
Amy O'Brien
Kelly Ponto Watrin
K-Eileen
Amy Martel
Vaara Ostin
K-Mary Lou
Kris Van Amber
Sasha Graybill-Pauling
1-Weick
Joann Warren
Kristina Herbst
2-Maier
Ellen Fiorito
3-Lloyd
Amanda Jakowich
Kristin Aitchison
4-Garcia
Amy Stephens
Molly Fernholtz
5-Kane
You?
6-Riehle
Liz Lacey-Gotz
Angela Skinner
7-Maier
You?
8-Sibley
Vicki Dunlop | |
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