Aloha from Kaua'i Pacific School

Kaua'i Pacific School Newsletter

Issue: #5 October 15, 2009

THOUGHTS FROM THE PRINCIPAL

As many of you know, last week Robin and I had the chance to visit the cluster of charter schools in San Diego known as High Tech High.

Perhaps the most biggest "aha" for us was the realization that KPS is right on target with our emphasis on concepts over content, process over product and integrated projects over single subject assignments. However, there is much in place at High Tech High that we are still working on. I walked away with personal and specific commitments to prioritize teaching and learning even more at KPS.

1. Encouraging & providing structures for review and refinement of projects through the use of a "project-tuning" protocol. We introduced this to faculty yesterday!.
2. Investigating the Second Step Program as a process for working out conflicts between children.
3. Rethinking what tech tools the teachers and students need at their fingertips. What will best enhance learning?
4. Thinking more about skills versus concepts. We believe as High Tech High does that skills do not need to be taught before students can create complex projects. Skills are taught during the project work and powerful differentiation can occur far more effectively with a project based approach.
5. Holding more formal presentations of learning at the end of each trimester. Our first one is scheduled for November 19th! Stay tuned!
6. Simplifying the professional growth/evaluation model. Perhaps just a self-assessment, walk-throughs with a simple checklist and reflection at the end of each unit of discovery.
7. Utilizing the School of the Future NING (a collaborative online workspace shared with other grant recipients) more often to learn more from what other schools are doing.

As I think about moving forward and what our school can and should like in one, two, three and five years, I sense a personal renewal of both philosophy and vision to ensure that we continue to reflect on our practices and to work collaboratively towards improved teaching and learning against the backdrop of the KPS core values.

If you want to read more about my thoughts on High Tech High (and other educational issues), you can visit my blog at http://lisa-mireles.blogspot.com/.

I am very grateful for the opportunity to visit High Tech High and look forward to returning soon for some "re" inspiration.

FOLLOW KPS ON TWITTER!

You can now follow KPS on Twitter. We will be posting reminders and interesting links for parents and friends of KPS on a regular basis. We hope this helps our overall communication with our families and the greater community. Click here to follow us!

Appreciations

SPECIAL THANKS TO......

Scott Nemeroff, Lyle Robinson and Doran Smith for holding down the fort while I was visiting High Tech High last week! Thank you so much!
Lotus, Honey, and Brenda for painting the walkway and the parking lot blocks last weekend! Also for recovering the lunch tables. Everything looks beautiful! Thanks so much!

Ways You Can Help

3RD AND 4TH GRADERS TAKE ACTION TO HELP TSUNAMI STRICKEN SAMOA by Ariel, Grade 3

Third and Fourth graders are making jars to put in each class to help the people in Samoa who had to go through the Tsunami. The jars are for donations to help the people that are in need of house repairs and food and clothes and maybe even if they got hurt. All the donations will be sent to the Red Cross to help them in the way I said.

HI-5 RECYCLING BACK IN FULL SWING AT KPS

Kauai Pacific School is proud to announce the re-opening of the HI-5 recycle center. Families are encouraged to bring their HI-5 plastic, aluminum, and glass to school beginning next week October 19, 2009. Please make sure that these items have the HI-5 stamp and are properly cleaned and prepared (no caps). Ask your children to tell you how to know which items are HI-5 and how to prepare the items (they have all been trained by the County Recycling Director). Please use separate bags for glass, aluminum, and plastic. The goal is to reduce our trash in our homes and our school through recycling. The money raised will be used to further our eco-friendly programs.

TRIMESTER 2 ELECTIVES - VOLUNTEER TEACHERS NEEDED

As hard as it is to believe, it's time to start thinking about Trimester 2 Electives. This session of electives will start on Wednesday, December 2nd and run through Wednesday, March 3rd for a total of 12 sessions. So far we have a Body Confidence Class, a Tumbling/Cheerleading Class, a Music class and a Garden/Crafts class. If you are able to volunteer to teach a class, please let Lisa know by October 30th. Teaching in this program is a great way to earn your volunteer hours and a wonderful way for us to expose our children to the many talents and skills of our diverse parent body!

PARENT VOLUNTEERS NEEDED
FOR THE FILM FESTIVAL

As many of you know, KPS was given the wonderful opportunity to host the LA International Children's Film Festival for all of the island's keiki the weekend of November 13 - 15. This event is our MAJOR FALL FUNDRAISER. Each year we need to raise about $150,000 to continue to operate. This money comes from our two main fundraisers and our annual giving campaign.

In order to make the Film Festival successful, we will need EVERY FAMILY to help in some way. This could take many forms:

1. Make a significant donation to sponsor a screening. See Lisa if you are interested in this.
2. Attend the Kick-Off Event on Friday, November 13th at Common Ground. You can buy tickets in the school office.
3. Help us sell tickets to the Kick-Off Event. See/Contact Anne Sadler if you can help with this.
4. Sign up to help during the event as follows:

a. prep cooks for the Kick-Off Dinner on Thursday, November 12th and/or Friday, November 13th
b. Hosts/Hostesses/ Security/Set-up/Clean-up on the night of the Kick Off Dinner
c. Ushers/Ticket Takers for the individual screenings during the event.

Contact Maria Maitino to volunteer for any of these shifts.

KPS CALENDAR FUNDRAISER

FIRST PHOTO SHOOT
MONDAY, OCTOBER 19TH
10:00 A.M.
SECRETS BEACH
WEAR SARONGS
THE CONCEPT WILL BE COURAGE
CALL TOM LIEBER IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS
346-1691

VOLUNTEER HOURS

If you have volunteered any time since the beginning of school, please drop by the office to fill out a volunteer log so that we can better keep track of your hours. Thanks for your assistance with this! We appreciate all of our volunteers!

Upcoming Events

WEEKLY MARKET aka FRIDAY FESTIVAL - Hosted by PREKK

Friday, October 16th, 2:45 - 3:30

Front Parking Lot

Please remember to drop off any excess produce/baked goods and to stop by our Market on Friday afternoons. All proceeds go directly towards sustainability related class projects.

PAU HANA MOVIE NIGHT - WHALE RIDER
Friday, October 25th, 6:30 pm at Common Ground

Free Public Screening of the 2003 BAFTA Children's Award-winning film by Niki Caro

Bring the family and invite your neighbors for this break taking saga of a young Maori girl growing up in New Zealand who is dared to confront the past, change the present and determine the future.

PARENT TEACHER CONFERENCES
October 28, 29 and 30 - Half Days
School Dismissed at 12:00 noon

During the last week of October, we will hold our parent teacher conferences. The conferences are designed to formally extend and expand the informal conversations we are already having with you. We know that many of you check in daily with your child's teacher but we also know that sneaking in conversations before and after school is not adequate to ensure a truly effective home-school connection.

Formal parent teacher conferences help us:

Share the teacher's initial insights about your child's academic and social progress
Celebrate your child's learning
Get feedback from you on how you think your child is doing in school so far this year
Jointly problem-solve any challenges that your child may be facing

We truly believe that a child's education is a shared responsibility and always appreciate the chance to hear from parents so that we can improve our practice. We want every child and parent to have the best experience possible at Kaua'i Pacific School so providing space for formal face to face communication is vital!

Parent teacher conferences are one component of a more comprehensive reporting process. This year we have switched to a Trimester system so you will be receiving your first official report cards in November right around the Thanksgiving Break. At the end of the second trimester (in March) you will receive narrative reports and a second report card. Finally, during the third trimester, we will hold our student-led conferences with final report cards sent home in June.