Weekly Bulletin

October 8, 2014
 

The Hartsbrook School

193 Bay Road
Hadley, MA

 

Main Office:
413-586-1908

Admissions:
413-584-3198

 

Quick Links

 Upcoming
 Events

 

NO SCHOOL 10/13

Columbus Day

 

Music Sharing Evening

Saturday 10/18 5pm

 

Envisioning Hartsbrook's Future

Wednesday, 10/22 7-9pm

Ongoing

  

Parent Council

Tue., 10/14 7-9pm

 

Parent Meditation

Thursdays, 8:30-9am 

Parent Evenings

  

High School

Wed., 10/15

6:30-8:30pm

 

8th Grade

Thurs., 10/16 7pm

 

3rd Grade

Fri., 10/17 1:15-3:15pm

Field Trips /
Class Events 

 

6th Grade Caving

10/17 & 10/20

 

8th Grade Boston & Plimoth

10/21 -10/22

 

High School Halloween Dance

Fri., 10/24

 

7th & 8th Grade

Halloween Party

 

Athletics

Thursday, 10/9

VG Home vs. Four Rivers

 

Friday, 10/10

VB @ Putney

 

Tuesday, 10/14

VG @ Eagle Hill

JV @ Greenfield Center

 

Friday, 10/17

VB Home vs. BART

  

Hartsbrook's Strategic Plan ~ Update

The Hartsbrook School adopted a Strategic Plan during the 2012-2013 school year and made considerable progress implementing it in 2013-2014.  Significant initiatives included the following:
 

Pedagogy: increased financial commitment to Educational Support; continued enhancement of middle-school programming; establishment of Forest Classroom.
  
Enrollment: formation of a standing Enrollment Committee. The Board of Directors is studying a wide range of innovative approaches to educational affordability.
  
Development: gifts to the Annual Fund exceeded expectations; formation of an Alumni Association; parents brought energy and new ideas to fundraising efforts and the school's SCRIP program.
  
Communications and Community-Building: the newly formed Parent Council was active throughout the year and, among other achievements, hosted the immensely successful Music Sharing Evening; upgrades of the school's Web site and school-administration software systems are underway.
  
Campus Planning: the Early Childhood Building and Playground were completed in 2014; an update to the campus Master Plan is in progress; the Grade School faculty is developing design concepts for a Grade School Playground; study of near-term and longer-term approaches to the school's parking needs is progressing.
  
Governance: the school is using the Bulletin to increase awareness of its governance institutions and processes; two joint meetings of the Parent Council, Faculty Conference, and Board of Directors are scheduled for 2014-2015, building on the success of the March 2014 joint meeting.
  
The school's Long Range Planning Committee is responsible for oversight of the Strategic Plan and has prepared a detailed report on the implementation of the Plan for the entire Hartsbrook community.  Please download it from the school Web site at the following link:
 
 
-- Lane Hall-Witt, Chair, Long Range Planning Committee

 

Music Sharing Evening ~ 

       

When: Saturday, October 18, 5 pm

Where: Piening Hall


 

We will showcase the wide range of musical talent in our school - from beginners up to virtuosos, solos as well as small groups.

 

See you there!

 

Questions or entries contact: Randall
 

Randall Spalding-Fecher, Parent Council Representative
 

See below for more Michaelmas photos!
Announcements

Burrito Forms Due!

THURSDAY BURRITO TIME! ORDER FORM

The senior class will be delivering Mi Tierra Burritos to your child's classroom on Thursdays. Burrito sales raise funds for the 12th Grade class trip. Questions: Thomas Heineman

  • October 16th  ~ December 18th (8 weeks)
  • Grades: 2 through 12
  • Cost:
  • $5.00/sm  ($40) or $6.00/lg ($48)
  • You must order for full 8 weeks
  • Deadline to order: October 8th

 *Bring order forms and payments to the front desk or stop by and complete!

Parent Teacher Conferences 

 

There is no school on October 30th and 31st so that we can hold parent/teacher conferences.
 

  • Early Childhood through Grade 8- sign up at Vesna's office.
  • High School- sign up at:  High School Sign Ups. The high school recommends that new parents sign up for a conference with their child's adviser.
  • You can also sign up for childcare in the main office. Childcare is offered for currently enrolled children. The childcare is all outdoors so please dress your child appropriately and send snacks or a lunch if you will be here for several conferences. You can drop your child off in the Early Childhood playground. Children need to be signed in and out.

No Bus Service to School Next Tuesday! 

 

Bus Route 39 will have NO SERVICE during the Five College mid-semester break Saturday, 10/11 - Tuesday, 10/14. This affects our Tuesday bus-riding students. Please plan accordingly.

 

Best Use for Old Phones?

 

Hartsbrook has recently upgraded its office phones, leaving us with many spares.  Do you know of a growing nonprofit that could use them? Do you have another suggestion?

Contact: Polly Saltet with suggestions.

Welcome International Students!

International Students

 

We are very happy to welcome the following, full time, International Students to The Hartsbrook School. These students are living locally and are enrolled for the full school year, and perhaps many more years to come!


 Chai Yi Change, Taiwan

 Doris

7th Grade

Po Jui Chen, Taiwan

Ian

7th Grade
 

Hua Hsu Chun, Taiwan

Leon

8th Grade

Haozhe Duan, China

Neil

9th Grade

Haluka Kandachi-Toujas

Canada

9th Grade

Lan Hsuan Chang, Taiwan

Angel

9th Grade

Guozhong Zhu, China

Henry

10th Grade

Haolin Chen, China

Eason

10th Grade

Lin Li, China

Shirley

11th Grade 

Daniel Garcia, Spain

11th Grade


 

Exchange Students

 

We are also happy to welcome the following International Exchange students.  These students will spend several months living with a student host family and studying at Hartsbrook.  At a different time of year, our Hartsbrook students will spend time living and studying abroad with their exchange families.
 

 Carmen, 10th Grade

From Spain

staying with Hannah

Cosette, 10th Grade

From France

 staying with Ruby 

Eli, 10th Grade

From Spain

staying with Kendall 


 

 Louis, 10th Grade

From France

staying with Ryan

Matilda, 10th Grade

From Austria

staying with Lucy 

Camille, 11th Grade

From France

staying with Nora 

Envisioning Hartsbrook's Future Together ~Save the Date
When: Wednesday, October 22, 7 - 9pm
Where: The Great Room

All members of the Hartsbrook community are invited to a joint meeting of the Board of Directors, Faculty Conference, and Parent Council on Wednesday, October 22, 7 - 9pm, in the Great Room in Hartsbrook Hall.  Tea and treats will be provided.

The meeting will continue the work begun at the joint meeting held last March.  At that meeting, we discussed three questions:

- What brought you to Hartsbrook?

- What keeps you at Hartsbrook?

- How might we share the School's vision with our wider community?

 

This exercise helped us gain a more precise understanding of what we value about Hartsbrook and of ways to share our appreciation of the School with the wider community. 

See the Meeting reports:
- Summary Version

- Detailed Version


The upcoming October meeting will help us turn the many fruitful ideas we gathered into concrete actions to pursue during this school year!  We hope that these efforts will contribute to the continuing growth and vibrancy of The Hartsbrook School and our surrounding communities.

Please join us!

The Hartsbrook Board Ad Hoc Committee on Joint Meetings

Calling Student Performers ~ Western District Auditions

Orchestra, Concert Band, Jazz Ensemble, Chorus

Calling all student instrumentalists and singers to audition to participate in the Massachusetts Music Educators Association Western District orchestra, concert band, jazz ensemble, and chorus concerts.
  

Senior Districts are for grades 9-12:  APPLICATION DEADLINE: October 9th

Auditions November 8th, rehearsal January 10th and concert January 17th. 

Junior Districts are for grades 7 & 8:

Auditions December 6th, rehearsal March 7th concert March 14th.


 

Hartsbrook students enjoy getting audition feedback and participating in the festival with peers from all over the region. Participants may also be invited to try out for the All-State Concert held at Boston Symphony Hall.
 

To learn more about auditions, requirements, fees, dates: www.mmeawd.org


 

Any high school student who wants to participate needs a check payable to Hartsbrook for $11 and tocomplete student endorsement form (available in Caryn Hesse's Office.) Middle school forms will be in Vesna's office when available and due in November.
 

DEADLINE: For High Schoolers Thursday, October 9th. Return check and form to Caryn Hesse.  

Contact Swansea Benham Bleicher or Lara Radysh, parent coordinators, if you have any questions.

News From The Grades

Second Grade ~ Sword Making

 

In preparation for the Michaelmas festival, the Second Grade made wooden swords. Working in the woodworking room with large work tables, vices, and tools, the children were able to rasp, sand, polish and decorate beautiful swords on their own. 

 

Thanks to Kirstin McGee (Julian's mom) for her careful planning, Mark Roberts (Fenton's dad), for sharing his woodworking skills and Justin Lively, the school's Woodworking teacher for showing us the lovely woodworking shop. 

After sharing a song during the Michaelmas festivities, the children were very excited to take their swords home. 

Jessica Stark, Second Grade Class Teacher

Seventh Grade ~ Team Building

 

The 7th grade had a wonderful day of teamwork and adventure at Morse Hill.  Low ropes challenges got us thinking and coordinating.  The high ropes had our stomachs dropping.  The support and encouragement amongst the students helped bolster confidence and many pushed beyond their normal comfort zone.


Hoorah! 7th Graders! 

Anne Haendiges, 7th Grade Class Teacher

High School Happenings

11th Grade Astronomy Overnight

The evening began with sunset as seen from Mt. Pollux, in Amherst, and turning our portable telescopes toward the crescent moon, Mars, Saturn, and several stars. We then joined the crowd at the Amherst College Observatory, looking through their large telescope. Upon returning to school we glimpsed a few celestial objects through the Hartsbrook Observatory before fog set in. After a night under a soggy, foggy sky, the mist lifted enough by 5:30am to offer a peek at Jupiter and the Orion Nebula. Then it was off to the Route 9 Diner for a hearty breakfast!


 
Chip Weems, High School Science and Photography

Holiday Fair 2014

 

Holiday Fair - Vendor Suggestions - Thank you!

Thank you to those that contacted me with suggestions for new Vendors at our Holiday Fair. Everyone I contacted was interested and three have put in applications! I can't wait for you to meet some of our new artisans in November. Because of injury or previous commitments a few of our perennial vendors will not be here this year  ~ one who sells jewelry and another who sells her soft yarn and knits ~ so if anyone knows of sellers in these categories who might want to try our Fair this year, please let me know. We have many wonderful crafters already committed and we always have more requests than space but we also like to have a balanced offering each year. Please mention our Fair in your travels to folks you might like to see here in November!

 

Thank you!  ~ Beth Volkmann, Holiday Fair Vendor Chair

 

For any Holiday Fair Questions: Contact Pilar Schmidt, Director of Development, pschmidt@hartsbrook.org 

Hawks Eye View ~ Soccer!


10/3/2014 Girls Varsity Soccer: Hartsbrook 5 / BART 3
Hartsbrook had an entertaining and exciting home game opener with the rolling pastures and foliage setting the background.  Hartsbrook midfielders continued to move the ball with ease and defended their reputation as seasoned ball distributors.  Every player showed incredible aggression in this game against the co-ed BART team.  Eighth grader Hannah shined as attacker scoring her second goal this season, while central defender Eli challenged each opposing attack without fear.

Maggie Elmore, Girls Varsity Soccer Coach 


 

10/3/14 Boys Varsity Soccer: Hartsbrook 0 / Four Rivers 0
Hartsbrook played an exciting but ultimately scoreless match versus Four Rivers. The players started off with lots of energy and creativity in the attacking third, creating early chances, but errant shots and formidable goalkeeping kept points off the board. Solid goalkeeping by Hartsbrook returned the favor as Conor and Caleb teamed up to make crucial saves.

9/26/14 Boys Varsity Soccer: Hartsbrook 3 / Buxton 1
Hartsbrook took on Buxton in Charlemont and came away with the win. It was a collective and convincing effort. A measured pass by Abel into the path of a charging Daniel put Hartsbrook on the board first. The team went ahead again mid-way through the second half when Dante converted on a penalty. Dante sealed the win in the final five minutes with a solo effort beating the keeper to the far post. The team created many chances on goal, and the defense held a high line throughout.

Benjamin Purdon, Boys Varsity Coach


  

10/2/14 JV Coed Soccer: Hartsbrook 4/ Charlemont 4
The team started off excellently with two perfect solo goals by their captain Alex, only to see the lead cut to one just before half time. In the second half, Lane scored a magisterial lobbing head for his second goal. But the determination of Charlemont overpowered Hartsbrook, with a comeback goal to tie the game with just 45 seconds left.

 

10/7/14 JV Coed Soccer Hartsbrook 3/ Greenfield Center School 2 
Going down by one goal in the first ten minutes of the game the pressure was on Hartsbrook. Making her comeback from an illness was the star studded forward Kara with an immaculate one time volley into the far corner to tie the game up just before the half. The team struggled a little in the second half, but the "batman and robin" combination of Jonah and Lane succeeded to lead the Hartsbrook stars to victory. 

 Leon Lopez, JV  Soccer Coach 

 

 You can find the full schedule for each team here:   Athletics Calendar  

Around Campus

 

For more photos, be sure to check out Hartsbrook Photo Site 
 For the password, check the back of your directory or call the main office.  


 

 

   


 

    

Community Bulletin Board 

HOME FOR SALE: Passive solar home for sale in Greenfield. Three bedrooms, two bathrooms. Two acres of organic farm land. Fruit trees, berries, garden space, extensive perennials beds. Room for animals. $329,900. 413 772 0205

 

GIANT MOVING SALE: Sat. and Sun. Oct 10-11; 9 am to 4 pm both days; 1325 Bay Rd. in S. Amherst. All categories of items for sale including a lovely white, wood frame child's canopy bed, vintage 60s round table and chairs, wool and cotton yarn and fabric, kitchen and household goods, collectibles, books, framed pictures and prints.

 

ANNE OF GREEN GABLES PARTY:  Amherst Leisure Services is sponsoring an Anne of Green Gables ice cream party on December 7th in connection with their upcoming production of the play. Students need to complete an artistic project or write about the book. For more information, please pick up a flyer in the Hartsbrook Hall lobby.

HEALING INTO PARENTING:  Body-Centered Counseling with Beth Fairservis.  I offer emotional support to parents through the modalities of Mindfullness, InnerBonding®, Birthing From Within® and Body Centered Spiritual Psychotherapy. Affordable Rates. Office in Florence, Mass.  Please feel free to contact me for more information.  413-387-9330.

 

JOB OPPORTUNITY: PUBLICATIONS ASSISTANT The Waldorf Early Childhood Association of North America (WECAN) is seeking a Publications Assistant to assist with print and online publications and communications. Qualifications include: interest in and knowledge of Waldorf early childhood education, strong editing and writing skills, very strong organizational and computer skills, and the ability to work collaboratively with others. This is a part-time, telecommuting position. 10 hours per week. For more information, please contact Lory Widmer, WECAN Managing Editor, lwidmer@waldorfearlychildhood.org.

YES, YOU CAN SING!  We invite you to join us for our unique Parent-Child classes- BabySong and ChildSong- offered at The Cottage Garden. These classes, inspired by Waldorf Education, form a unique music program for parents, caregivers, and children. Singing with your child supports bonding, promotes language, creates a joyful home environment, and provides children with an innate musical ability that will last a lifetime. Taught by Hartsbrook parent and music teacher Michelle Marinelli Prindle. More Info

CALLING ALL PARENTS! Get an adults night out! Hartsbrook alum Dunan Herman-Parks's father, Neal Parks, hosts a weekly art class, Collage Barrage, in his amazing studio in Eastworks. Every Tuesday at 7:00 PM. Call 413-563-7910 or visit www.NealParks.com. Hartsbrook discount $5 off per class.

The Community Bulletin Board is for small classified-type advertisements. Each submission costs $5.00, is limited to 3 paid repeats and should be no more than 4 lines of text, about 45 words. Payment for Community Bulletin Board submissions should be made by Friday of the publication week. No charge for advertisements for free events or nonprofit organizations. Submit ads to: bulletin@hartsbrook.org.  

   

 

General Policy for the Bulletin  No political or religious advertisements.  No competitive program advertisements.  No fundraisers.  The editors will decide placement of advertisements and may edit for content and length.  The Hartsbrook School retains the right to choose not to print any advertisement.

Hartsbrook: Clarity of Thought ~ Warmth of Heart - Strength of Purpose