Dear Journey School Friends and Families,

One of my all-time favorite books is The Alchemist. It tells the tale of a young Spanish shepherd who travels the world on his quest for a dream and the fulfillment of his personal destiny. Along the way, the shepherd encounters many kind and capable people who help him get exactly where he needs to go. In fact, it seems like the "entire universe conspires" to help the shepherd since his motivations are good.

 

Journey School is a lot like this shepherd. The circle of supporters gathered around us continues to expand. People are inspired by our warm school community and unique Waldorf-inspired educational program -- which aims to cultivate reverence, stewardship, creativity, literacy, self-reliance, out-of-the-box thinking, joyful learning, good judgment, and much more in our students.

 

Please enjoy reading about the great things happening for the children of our school thanks to our committed staff, parents, and community partners.

 

The Big Picture

 

 

 

The Students

The Community

Recent Accomplishments AND Important News

 

1. We're thrilled to announce the Journey School Council recently approved the hiring of an independent contractor to begin important development work. This person will help us attain additional funding sources, such as grants, which will translate into more resources and opportunities for our school.

 

2. Thanks to the Journey School Council, another big development transpired last week. The JSC approved funding for Waldorf teacher training in partnership with Rudolph Steiner College. This golden opportunity to offer on-site training will allow our teachers to be unified in their professional development, to learn how to merge Waldorf curriculum with state standards, and to better fulfill the commitment of providing a top-notch Waldorf-inspired education to each child. The best part about the program is that our teachers will earn a joint Master's Degree and Certificate in Waldorf Education specifically tailored for the public sector! THIS IS HUGE!

 

3. We place tremendous value on all forms of communication and literacy -- writing, reading, listening, speaking, artistic, and digital. And, we're thrilled to announce that our friends at Target just awarded Journey School a $500 grant to enhance our budding library! Another community partner steps up!

4. Even more good news is on the horizon as improvements to our facility are happening just about everywhere we look. Thanks to the district, we will be receiving a major upgrade to our lighting system which will include increased outdoor lights and full-spectrum indoor lighting.

 

5. Another reason to celebrate is the momentum mounting around our gardening group, which is attracting a growing number of community partnerships. For example, this weekend students and parents showed up in the sweltering heat at Newport's Back Bay to harvest three truckloads of willow and Brazilian pepper tree which will be used to create the new wattle fence that will encircle our emerging garden in the "green heart of the school." Each student will take part in weaving the fence, which will provide the necessary critter protection so that the planting can begin. Please read more about this below, and see how you can jump in and get involved, as another harvesting day is to be scheduled soon. A special thanks to Michelle Spieker and the amazing gardening crew!

 

 

6. As our school looks to the many ways we can become better stewards of the earth, we are challenging all families to ride to school on your bicycles. If you live far away, you might consider parking near Wood's Canyon and pedaling the rest of the way along beautiful Aliso Creek bike trail. I know from experience what an inspiring way this is to start one's day and even more delightful still when you are accompanied by bunnies scampering and giant egrets bathing in the creek along the way. Our goal is to have 30 families bike to school this first month, and we will be putting up a "Bike to School" chalkboard for your family to sign, once you participate. On that note, let me say thanks to kindergartner, Elijah, and his parents Christine and Achilles, for the inspirational "Pedal Power" sign. We love it!

 

7. Journey is on the move! And, as we build positive momentum by taking action and focusing on what matters most, good things keep happening. Take for example our recent opportunity to host Kevin Hall, one of the co-founders of the Franklin Covey Group, a world-class motivational speaker and author of the inspirational book Aspire. Recently, Mr. Hall presented his powerful message to the 5th through 8th grade classes. His presentation included topics such as striving for excellence, recognizing the gifts within each of us, and harnessing our special talents to positively impact each person we meet. We thank the McGee family for arranging this special treat for our students and to Mr. Hall for taking time out of his busy schedule, which included changing his flight so that he could be here with us. More world-class speakers are on the horizon as we see this visit being just the beginning of our inspirational lecture series.

8. Finally, I want to send a big thanks to all of you for your continued work and support of our shared vision and goals. Attendance this week is at 96% and given that there's been a lot of illness, we think that's pretty good. We can do even better when kids are healthy, so let's keep up the frequent hand washing and good nutrition to ensure we all stay well. Wishing you health and inspiration as you go out and make it a great weekend!

Onwards and Upwards!

Shaheer Faltas
School Administrator