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THOUGHTS FROM THE PRINCIPAL
KPS has been a very busy place since school started! We currently have 53 students enrolled which exceeds our enrollment from last year! We continue to receive inquiries and expect to add more students over the next few months.
Much of our success must be attributed to the wonderful way in which our parents and teachers work together to create a meaningful learning environment. Several parents are working on our fund-raising committee, some of you are teaching elective classes, many of you have volunteered to be class parents, some of you are working in your child's classroom one afternoon a week, some of you are contributing your expertise in maintenance or marketing and some of you are taking the lead in our weekly market!
Our school could not function without all of of our parent volunteers and we would like you to know how much we appreciate each and every parent. Your helpful suggestions, advice, ideas and expertise create a synergistic effort helping to ensure that the students are experience magical learning experiences each and every day.
Over the next month, we have planned a wide variety of activities designed to build community and to provide unique learning opportunities. Please make sure to check the dates/events at the end of this newsletter and to regularly check RenWeb which offers the most up to date information on upcoming events. Our web-site is also a wonderful resource. Finally, each teacher has a calendar posted outside the classroom!
It has been a wonderful first month of school. We have really enjoyed getting to reconnect with everyone and we feel this year is shaping up to be our best ever!
P.S. - Medium and Large T-shirts are finally here! Drop by the office to pick them up - we now have all sizes!
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SPECIAL THANKS TO......
- Gaby Padilla for upgrading our electrical capacity in the 1st, 2nd, 5th and 6th grade classrooms.
- Michael Maroney for fixing anything that breaks, anytime we call him.
- Michael Locey for volunteering to be our HI-5 coordinator! Look for news on that program starting up again soon!
- Shawn Smith for helping us to get our parade permit!
- Jillian Seals for writing a garden grant (everyone cross your fingers) and for organizing the weekly market this year.
- Doran Smith for filling in as principal for me last week! She did a great job!
- Anne Sadler for setting up our Amazon Associates account! Read more on this below in the News section.
- Denise Dion-Scoyni for her remarkable work in getting the Los Angeles International Children's Film Festival to come to Kaua'i on behalf of Kaua'i Pacific School.
- Lyle Robinson for sponsoring both the t-shirts and the first movie night at Common Ground.
- All the parents and students who participated in the Kilauea Day Parade. It was so much fun! Kudos to Sierra, Sam G., Kyle, Bodhi S., Manule'a, Dylan, Makena, Sophie, Kala'i, Talia and Haven. You represented us well!
- Our remarkable teachers for their hard work during our recent two day digital storytelling workshop. Check out what we learned from the presenter's perspective by clicking here.
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WEEKLY MARKET aka FRIDAY FESTIVAL - Grade 5/6 Hosts
Friday, September 18th 2:45 - 3:30
Front Parking Lot Our popular weekly market is back ! Thanks to Shaughnessey Smith for suggesting the name Friday Festival! We are switching the market to Fridays in an effort to attract even more customers! Friday's will also be our garden class day starting in December and we will hopefully have food grown and harvested by our students for sale after the new year.
Although the hosting of the market rotates each week by class, EVERYONE is encouraged to bring excess fruits, vegetables and other natural items to sell at the market. Baskets will be set out in front of school on Friday mornings but you can bring things by anytime during the day. If you don't have anything edible growing on your property, you can contribute healthy, homemade, organic goods such as organic popcorn, tangelo juice, raw goodies or carrot bread etc. Let's try to avoid the sugary cupcakes and brownies this year! Please remember to stop by our Market on Friday afternoons. All proceeds go directly towards sustainability related projects.
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COMMUNITY WORK DAY
Saturday,
September 19th from 9:00 a.m. - 12 noon
Thank you to all the parents and students who volunteered to help spruce up the campus on August 15th. Many projects were completed and the campus looks terrific. However, we still have a few lingering tasks that can only be done when students are not on campus such as repairing the siding on the yurts, rebuilding some of the yurt awnings and painting some of the wood that we have replaced. The jobs will be much easier if we have extra support. As the old saying goes, "Many hands make light work." Please contact Michael Maroney if you can help at 651-5431.
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 PEACE DAY PARADE
September 21st @10:30 A.M.
Join us as we march down the sidewalks of Kilauea to celebrate the International Day of Peace. We will wear our KPS t-shirts and hand out messages of peace along the route. We will end up at Kilauea Neighborhood Center, play a game called Love Thy Neighbor, make a peace sign with our bodies for a group photo and have lunch. If you have any questions or if you can help us along the parade route or with shuttling lunches to the park, please contact us as soon as possible. Contact Christine at christine@kauaipacific.org or Lisa at lisa@kauaipacific.org if you can help.
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 KPS PAU HANA FILM SERIES- First Screening Friday, September 25th/ 6:30 @ Common Ground LE BALLOON ROUGE along with WHITE MANE
Academy Award Winning Short Films by Director Alfred Lamorisse
The red balloon takes on a life of its own as it follows a young boy around the streets of Paris. White Mane tells the story of a white stallion that eludes capture by ranchers and is tamed by the love of a young boy.
As part of our overall community building and fund-raising efforts this year, we will be hosting a Film Series that will culminating with KPS hosting the Los Angeles International Children's Film Fesitval on November 13th, 14th and 15th. Please click on the link to learn more about this extraordinary event. Special thanks to Denise Dion-Scoyni for securing this wonderful opportunity for all of our island's keiki.
Prior to the main film festival, we will be hold two Pau Hana Movie Nights. The first screening on September 25th is free and open to the entire community. Concessions will be available for sale and hosted by our 5th and 6th graders who will be raising money for their outer island trip later in the year. Bring your friends and enjoy a wonderful family night of high quality and heart-warming children's films.
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SCHOOL PICTURE DAY
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29TH
School photo sign up packs will be sent home soon. The schedule for photos will be as follows:
8:30 - 8:45 - Whole School Photo
9:00 - 9:20 - Grades PKK
9:25 - 9:45 - Grades 3/4
10:00 - 10:20 - Grades 1/2
10:25 - 10:45 - Grades 5/6
Students in Grades 3-6 can change into their PE clothes at recess or lunch on this day and wear their clothes for the photo to school. Please note that the photographer recommends bright solid colored clothing for the photos. White and black are discouraged.
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AMAZON AFFILIATES PROGRAM
A really easy way to help the school earn money is to click on the Amazon Affiliates link on our web-site before you purchase anything from Amazon.com. Taking this simple extra step (you can bookmark the site) means that for every purchase, we will receive anywhere from 4-15% of the total purchase price. For all you shoe-a-holics (yes, I fall in that group), we earn 15% of your purchase from endless.com via the Amazon site.
Amazon has an amazing selection and offers way more than books! Check out the eco-friendly lunchboxes and waterbottles! Now you can shop guilt-free (okay maybe not guilt free but less guilty than before) knowing that a percentage of your purchase comes back to KPS!
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AFTER SCHOOL PROGRAM ENDING ON SEPTEMBER 30TH!
Ryan McGill has been serving as our after school program leader for the past two years. He is an inspiring educator and served as a wonderful role model for our students while in this position. However, the program has not proven to be viable from a business perspective and Ryan has accepted full time employment elsewhere. Although we are saddened at his departure, we are thrilled that he will be pursuing his teaching credential!
After much thought and consideration, we have decided to discontinue the after school program until our enrollment grows enough to make it economically viable. We simply cannot afford to offer such a program for so few students. When we do reinstate the program, we will take steps to license the program and to ensure that there are two people working with the students at all times.
We are very sorry for an inconvenience that this may cause our families and encourage you to work together to find alternate solutions for your children after school.
We wish Ryan the very best of luck - below you can read a letter that he would like everyone to read!
I would like to express a very heartfelt Mahalo to all of you at KPS who have supported me, shared with me, encouraged me, and inspired me during my time with you. Thank you for this wonderful opportunity to be part of your community, and for helping me grow and blossom with your nurturing. I hope I will continue to see you all around... I am sure I will (one of the benefits of living on a small island :). Thank you so much for your understanding. May the rest of this school year continue to be blessed with the joyful and inquisitive learning that I see happening so often here!
Mahalo nui loa! A hui hou!
With much Aloha,
Ryan McGill
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NEWS FROM CHRIS SKABO'S CLASS
Grade 3/4 began the school year focusing on our class agreements, procedures, expectations, and organization. The class has been doing a great job learning and practicing these important class skills. We are currently working on our Natural Disaster unit. The students have become specialists on specific natural disasters, researching their disaster, and creating a BLOG where they will share their research. The class will have the opportunity to take a field trip to Kalihiwai to interview a person who lived in KalihIwai during the Tsunami disaster back in 1957. The students will practice recording the interview using a variety of digital media. We are extremely excited for the trip!
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 IMPORTANT DATES
Thursday, September 17th
KPS Writing Assessment at 8:30 a.m.
Grades K-6
Friday, September 18th
Grades 5/6 Make a Splash Field Trip
Grade 3/4 Kalihiwai Field Trip
Friday Festival (Market) @ 2:45.
Saturday, September 19th
Work Day Part 2! The Fun Continues...from 9:00 a.m. - 12 noon.
Monday, September 21st
Peace Day Parade departs KPS @ 10:30 a.m.
Friday, September 25th
Grade 5/6 Anini Reef Snorkel Trip - 12:45 - 2:15 p.m.
KPS Movie Night at Common Ground @ 6:30
The Red Balloon
Tuesday, September 29th
School Photo Day
Grade 1/2 Field Trip to Library 11:00 a.m. -2:15 p.m.
Friday, October 2nd
Grade 3/4 Anini Reef Snorkel Trip 12:45 - 2:15 p.m.
Thursday/Friday - October 8th and 9th
Fall Break
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