Kaua'i Pacific School News

Kaua'i Pacific School Newsletter

Issue: #14 March 15, 2010

THOUGHTS FROM THE PRINCIPAL

Sometimes everything just falls right into place. It is hard to believe the transformation that has occurred since February 19th with regards to the energy surrounding our school. Our community has come together and truly manifested a dream.

Thanks to Doran Smith and the search committee, we attracted the perfect principal to lead the school into the next phase of growth and development. Richard Stark brings a wealth of knowledge, years of experience leading a similar independent school and a warm, calming presence. He connected with our faculty and students bringing ease and hope. Within five minutes of meeting Richard, I knew he was someone I could hand the keys to without a worry. I'm more excited than ever about the future of Kaua'i Pacific School and confident that Richard is exactly who should be at the helm for the next several years.

Alongside finding the perfect leader, parents, grandparents and friends have come together to raise a little over $25,000 in our annual giving campaign since February 1st, most of that coming since our meeting on the 19th. As of today, 100% of our board, 75% of our families and 88% of our teachers have donated to the annual giving campaign. We are still shooting for 100% in all three categories but we should be proud of what we have accomplished in this area in such a short time.

I wanted to give a special thanks to Cosibella Cristenas for leading two prayer circles over the past few weeks. Some exciting developments that unfolded after these circles include:

We learned we received a $10,000 grant from the Atherton Foundation to repair our yurts over the next several months.
Several large donations arrived in the mail!
Approximately 15 new students applied for 2010-2011.
We applied for another grant from the Cooke Foundation for a before and after school program.
We have nearly completed our year 2 request for funds from the School of the Future project.
We completed our 3 year progress report for our upcoming accreditation visit on April 8th and 9th.
We finalized plans for "KPS Rocks" at the St. Regis on May 30th featuring Brett Dennan and Donavon Frankenreiter. Tickets will go on sale on April 15th to the general public but KPS families will be able to buy tickets for their friends and families starting on April 1st. Watch for details on this. Our goals it to raise $40,000 from this event and it will require all of us spreading the word to make that happen!
We hosted two very successful open houses for prospective parents and a WONDERFUL presentation of learning event!

Perhaps the best news of all is that the majority of you have indicated you will re-enroll for next year. The new energy and enthusiasm about the future is incredible. Of course, we will be staying open. The school will be stronger and better than ever.

Please continue to hold space in your hearts for abundance, prosperity, a campus overflowing with joyful and centered children, happy teachers, satisfied families and of course the most important thing of all - non-stop LEARNING! It's amazing what the power of collective intention can do! Let's keep the momentum going as we still have work to do. I can't wait to see what we can collectively accomplish over the next two and half months with regards to raising funds and attracting even more students. Thank you all from the bottom of my heart for what we have accomplished together so far. It is a privilege to know and work with this community.

REMINDER - SPRING BREAK
MARCH 22 - APRIL 2ND
SCHOOL OFFICE WILL BE CLOSED
SEE YOU ON APRIL 5TH

HAVE A SAFE AND RESTFUL BREAK!

KPS PARENT EDUCATION NIGHT
DR. JASON OHLER
MARCH 17TH, 5:30 P.M. AT KPS

Dr. Jason Ohler, author of Digital Storytelling in the Classroom, will be coming to work with KPS teachers and students on March 17th and 18th. Dr. Ohler is a keynote speaker, humorist, futurist and digital storytelling expert. He is also an expert on 21st century literacy. The KPS faculty had a Skype session with Jason last August and we found him delightful. He holds a wealth of knowledge, is personable and thoughtful. Dr. Ohler will be interesting to anyone excited about teaching children to live, work and play in the digital age. Call or e-mail Lisa at lisa@kauaipacific.org if you can attend. Feel free to bring non-KPS parents who might also be interested!

Appreciations

SPECIAL THANKS TO......

Captain Andy's for donating the whale watching trips to the school. These are valued at over $10,000 to take all of our students and parents out on the boats! $150 X 74 people!
The Atherton Foundation...we were recently awarded a $10,000 grant for Yurt Repair for 2010-2011!
All of the families who have contributed to Annual Giving - we are at 75% participation which is more than double where we were a month ago! So far we have raised nearly $25,000 from our families in this campaign.
The steering committee for KPS Rocks who meet every Monday night to iron out the details of this big end of year fundraiser. Thanks to Anne Sadler, Richard Laver, Tricia Padilla, Bobby Binder, Lisa Downer, Scott Nemeroff and Lyle Robinson! You are all AMAZING!
Shannon Smith who has donated his birthday money to annual giving. So far, Shannon has donated $280 to our campaign. Way to go Shannon!
The KPS Search Committee led by Doran Smith who spent hours reviewing resumes and interviewing candidates. They have done a thorough and outstanding job of ensuring that the head of school transition is as seamless as possible for the students and teachers. Thanks to Denise Dion-Scoyni, Robin Avina, Maria Walker, Amy Sherrer, Lyle Robinson and Chris Jaeb. Thanks also to Leaf Lieber and Bodhi Stergion who were our student representatives on the committee.
Cosibella Cristenas for leading two beautiful prayer groups over the past few weeks. It really was almost unbelievable how things started to fall into place after those meetings.
The KPS teachers for continuing to focus on learning and ensuring that our children are safe, happy and growing in the social, emotional, creative and academic areas.