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NO EC CLASSES
Monday, February 10
Early Childhood Conference
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Parent Council Corner
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by Susie McCoy & Lilian Sampaio, Co-Chairs
It may be the dead of Winter, but we have never seen our school and families more lively. For the past couple weeks, the slopes were filled with sledders and body surfers after dismissal. Wonderful activities on the weekends (puppet show, book fair, assembly) bring us together in a more relaxed setting.
The community is also abuzz with conversations about the exciting prospect of a WSP High School moving forward, seeking venues and times from families to meet and share community, and the exploration of Enrichment programs and outdoor activities for our children after school. We look forward to connecting with you at one of the upcoming February events.
Our February Parent Meeting will be held on Tuesday the 11th, after drop-off. The title of the morning is "Outer Structures, Inner Freedom." We are featuring a special enrichment craft with Ms. Daley while Ms. Shafer will speak to the inner work that we can do that will affect our lives as well as the course of humanity. The background lecture is "The Work of the Angels on the Astral Body." We welcome all to join! We will meet in the Multipurpose Room upstairs in the Golden House.
Please check the bulletin board in front of the school for other Parent Council announcements.
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The WSP Care Group
The healthy social life is found,
When in the mirror of each individual
The whole community finds its reflection
And when in the community
The virtue of each individual is living.
~R. Steiner
There are many beauties to Waldorf Education, but one is that it is a social education, meaning learning to live and work with others out of a love and devotion to doing good work in artistic collaboration. Each one of us comes to life with enormous gifts and capacities. We each come
with other aspects of ourselves that need support and growth. It is true of everyone.
The Care Group is a group of teachers and educational support specialists who have been mandated by the College of Teachers to hold in their attention children who are in need of additional support at any given time in their life at the school. The Care Group is not only for children who need additional support academically, but also for children who may be going
through a challenging emotional time at home or socially at school.
Learn more about our Care Group here.
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| Strategic Plan |
The new year often brings new plans, new policies, and new preparations for the school, most if not all of which are connected to our Strategic Plan, adopted in 2013. If you are unfamiliar with our plan, it is on the website. In addition, our recent Windy Hill includes a two-page summary of this plan by Board Chair Mark Hornung.
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Orchard Farm Organics
The farm next door is offering CSA shares for the 2014 growing season. The first pick-up date is Tuesday, June 3, between noon and 7 pm. Contact Caroline Phinney at 609-466-1365 for more info.
Home for Sale in Skillman,
3% of Proceeds to Be Donated to WSP
Diane Barlow and Peter Jahn are selling their mother-daughter, ranch-style house with finished basement, barn, and 4+ acres located at 190 Hollow Rd., three miles from the school. If interested, please contact Diane.
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A Note of Thanks
My name is Susan Rogers, and I am Terri Fredericks' sister.
I want to make sure that everyone who brought us a meal, came by to visit, or sent thoughts or prayers our way knew how much it was appreciated. As I'm sure most of you know, we have a large family. With just my parents, siblings and their spouses, and nieces and nephews there are 29 of us. During that week, almost all of us were at the Fredericks house every day, and cousins and close friends were coming in and out all day long as well. Delicious and healthy meals just kept showing up, and we enjoyed every one of them.
Thank you all for making this difficult time a little easier for us. Terri was truly blessed to have such a wonderful community of friends.
Peace and blessings,
Susan
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Psst ... It's
Enrollment Season!
 A little bird told us the re-enrollment process may be changing for the 2014-15 school year, so please read all school communications! We hope to make an exciting announcement in the coming weeks, but the deadline will be in March.
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Save the Dates
March 1: EC Sample Class
March 8: Dads' Bowling Night
March 9: Folk Tale Puppet Show: "The Lost Spear"
March 18: Round Robin (for 7th Grade Parents)
March 22: Camp Open House
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 | A quiet moment at our Community Book Fair, February 2.
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Dear Friends,
During the alumni panel that took place as part of the Open House on January 11, the six alumni present were asked the question, "What is the biggest contribution Waldorf education has given to your life so far?" I was struck by the answers given by alumni who had graduated as long ago as 1994 and as recently as 2009. Their answers included the following: the capacity to be a creative problem solver and an independent thinker, the ability to improvise, an orientation toward being actively engaged rather than being a passive bystander, the capacity to think holistically and to think ethically, an appreciation for beauty, a sense of comfort in strange situations, an ability to appreciate of the joy of others rather than seeing oneself always in competition, and a joy for living.
Albert Einstein said, "No problem can be solved from the same level of consciousness that created it." This quote, one of my favorites, often comes to mind when I think about the qualities needed in the leaders who will help to work through the increasingly complex issues the world faces. As I listened to the alumni's responses, I realized they were describing the capacities I believe to be essential for the next generations of leaders--leaders who are caring and engaged, who approach issues from a new level of consciousness, and who are successful at working with others to find solutions in a time of increasingly rapid change.
Another capacity that Waldorf Education is so adept at growing is the capacity for connection. As a recent internet meme shows, if knowledge can be represented by a field of dots, then experience is expressed in the connections made among those dots--connections that reveal themselves in contexts, and in human relationships. I left the January event thinking about how Waldorf Education has served our alumni, and in return, how our alumni connect back to, and serve, our wonderful school. The experiences children receive during their years here transform into capacities that allow them to have a positive impact on the world, and they do so joyfully, much like the tender seeds buried beneath all of the ice and snow transform themselves into plants which blossom and bear fruit in time.
Warm Regards,
Janine Cleland
School Administrator
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SCHOOL EVENTS
Fourth Grade Play: "Iduna and the Golden Apples"
Friday, February 7, 6:30 p.m.
Hagens Hall
Boys' Basketball Game
Monday, February 10, 3:45 p.m.
The Lewis School
Parent Council Morning Meeting & Enrichment Program
Tuesday, February 11, 8:30 a.m.
Multipurpose Room
Seventh Grade Play: "Eleanor the Queen"
Thursday, February 13, 6:30 p.m.
Hagens Hall
Wednesdays with Faculty Chair Nancy
Special Topic: After-School Activities
Wednesday, February 26, 8:30-9:15 a.m.
Golden House Community Kitchen
For details of school events, please contact events@princetonwaldorf.org.
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FROM THE OFFICE
B6T (Transportation Reimbursement) Forms
The B6T transportation forms for the 2014-15 school year were mailed out this week. If you have a student who will be five by Oct. 1, 2014, and you are a NJ resident, you should receive a form. Remember to return this form to the Waldorf School front office before February 24 so that you don't miss your opportunity for reimbursement. If you have any questions, or do not receive a form, contact Solveig Pearson, x114.
Tuition Assistance
The Tuition Assistance deadline was February 1. If you missed the deadline or have questions, please contact Diane Barlow, x115.
Parent-Teacher Conference Sign-Up
Conferences are March 13 & 14; there will be no school on either day. Sign-ups have been posted in the Golden House. Please note: If you require childcare, you must sign up by February 14 on the Golden House landing or outside the Early Childhood classrooms. For details please see your January 24 Coming Up Next Week e-mail.
Enrollment News for Current Families
Applications are now arriving from new families, and we have begun our interview and acceptance process. If you intend to enroll a sibling in our 2014-15 early childhood or grade school program, please request an application form from Diane Barlow, x115. Also, please be aware that the school is considering some changes to the enrollment process for next year, so keep an eye out for upcoming announcements!
Grade School Tours and Observation Mornings in 2014
We are scheduling grade school tours and observation mornings for WSP early childhood parents after dropoff on weekday mornings. If you are interested in registering, please contact Diane Barlow at x115.
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SCHOOL NEWS
Call for Nominations to the Board of Trustees
Our Board of Trustees is always interested in hearing from parents, alumni students/parents, grandparents, and community members interested in serving on our Board. Trustees help to execute the Board's mission, support the school, and advance its long-term prospects. While we are especially interested in candidates whose abilities include financial acumen, legal expertise, advocacy potential, and an ability and willingness to make leadership-caliber financial gifts, our most important criteria for trustees is that they have an abiding love for Waldorf Education. Please contact our Board Chair, Mark Hornung, at boardchair@princetonwaldorf.org.
Groundhog Day Book Fair & French Cafe a Success!
Merci to all who supported this event, whether you donated books, hauled boxes, savored a crepe, or purchased a crime novel! For a balmy Super Bowl Sunday, we drew about 40 families, who read, rummaged, and relaxed among our 10 tables of used books; many also supported the 8th grade by enjoying a tasty treat! A special thank-you to members of our administration and facilities staff for their hard work setting up and breaking down.
The book sale, which celebrated reading, community, and a noncommercial vehicle for that ecofriendly phrase "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle," earned $1,000 for the school's parent education programming.
May Fair Volunteers Needed
Although we are still in the midst of winter, our May Fair Committee is thinking ahead to our annual celebration. We are looking for community members to help with organizing this very special and memorable day. Please send an e-mail to mayfair@princetonwaldorf.org with your area of interest.
"Reach Out and Touch Someone" for WSP
Volunteers needed for March Phonathon support. Do you have some time to help with our annual phonathon? Dates will be scheduled in early March. Volunteers are needed to call various constituencies in our community to help with our 30th Anniversary Annual Fund Appeal. Contact Beth Miller for more information.
Annual Fund Update
Many thanks to the 33 parents, 47 parents of alumni, 24 faculty/staff members, 12 grandparents, 9 alumni, and 4 WSP friends who have already made gifts or pledges to our 2013-2014 Annual Fund to date. Together we've raised over $85,000 and are now more than halfway to our final goal of $130,000 by June 30!
Class participation to date:
First Grade = 21%
Second Grade = 19%
Third Grade = 21%
Fourth Grade = 23%
Fifth Grade = 25%
Sixth Grade = 33%
Seventh Grade = 44%
Eighth Grade = 30%
Rose Class = 14%
Sunflower Class = 21%
Lilac Class = 36%
Buttercup Class = 33%
Friday Morning Garden Parent-Child = 12%
Thursday Morning Garden Parent-Child = 0%
For the past two years, our parents had 100% participation in our Annual Fund. Reaching this participation rate is important for grant funding as well as marketing and enrollment materials. Please donate today.
Gifts large and small are needed now to help us reach our goal. Parents and alumni parents will be making calls early next month to ask for everyone's support.
To make your gift online today, please visit our website.
Please contact Beth Miller with any questions or if you need another copy of the Annual Fund request letter and gift envelope: 609-466-1970, x121.
Board of Trustees' Community Challenge Reminder!
Building on 100% participation from the past two years from our parent body, our Board of Trustees is offering a challenge to our entire community. The board will match dollar for dollar any new or increased gift to our Annual Fund up to $30,000. Let's meet the challenge together!
More Developments in Development
Our Amazon Associates program has raised $500 with no additional cost to you! Thank you to those who use it. Please see school homepage for access. As for scrip, since the start of this school year, we've had 30 participants raise $1,670 (last year it was $3,000). Supporting WSP couldn't be easier, so please consider this program today!
Waldorf Summer Camp 2014!
The Waldorf Summer Camp Program will run three 2-week sessions from June 30 through August 8 for children ages 4-13. Specialty camps are available for older campers. Please click here for our registration brochure!
Interested in joining our camp staff? Volunteer positions are available for those ages 14-15; paid positions are open to those 16 and older. For more information, including staff applications and medical forms, visit our website. E-mail summercamp@princetonwaldorf.org with inquiries.
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