|
Spotlight on Learning
|
June 2013
|
| Please consult this printable calendar for the end of the school year!
|
|
COMMON CORE CURRICULUM
& INTEGRATED STUDIES
|
|
"Educational standards describe what students should know and be able to do in each subject in each grade. In California, the State Board of Education decides on the standards for all students, from kindergarten through high school. The California Department of Education helps schools make sure that all students are meeting the standards.
Since 2010, 45 states have adopted the same standards for English and math. These standards are called the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). Having the same standards helps all students get a good education, even if they change schools or move to a different state. Teachers, parents, and education experts designed the CCSS to prepare students for success in college and the workplace."
Source: "What Are the Common Core Standards?" California Department of Education http://www.cde.ca.gov/re/cc/tl/whatareccss.asp
The new Common Core State Standards align more closely with Journey School's public Waldorf education model in that they encourage increased conceptual understanding, collaboration, and creativity. This means we already have many best practices and systems in place to meet the new standards, which officially take effect in 2014-15.
Journey School is built upon integrated studies, defined by Edutopia.org as "combining curriculum from two or more disciplines, allowing students to see how ideas are connected." Edutopia.org goes on to elaborate that "Teaching in such a contextual manner promotes collaboration, critical thinking, and knowledge retention."
|
|
CHARTER SCHOOL & ADVOCACY
|
The California Charter Schools Association (CCSA) and the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools (NAPC) provide advocacy, leadership, and support services to their member schools. The CCSA launched CCSA Advocates which is a new way they are supporting charter schools in California by: "educating and empowering local charter school families, teachers, and leaders to organize volunteer-based civic campaigns and participate collectively in local and state elections." Visit the CCSA Advocates website to get involved in the Charter School movement.
|
Class rosters are being built, teachers are beginning to prep, and summer social outreach is being planned. Any outstanding enrollment paperwork is now past due. In order to secure your spot, all documents must be returned to Kris Reynolds (info@journeyschool.net) immediately. Thank you.
|
A big thanks to parents for a special Teacher Appreciation Week and first class luncheon. Many hours went into the preparations and the teachers and staff felt very loved. Parents have been extra involved in other ways this past month -- attending class plays, 8th grade presentations, working to maintain the outdoor classrooms, putting a water feature into the Kindy yard, chaperoning overnight field trips, helping with class play costumes, and contributing to field trip fundraisers. Your support is never overlooked and we thank you for every ounce of energy, time and dollars donated. Thank you!
Volunteer Appreciation Tea Party Potluck Wednesday, June 12th at 10:30am
All Journey School volunteers are invited to gather in the Green Heart Garden to celebrate the many accomplishments and efforts of our parent and community volunteers. Our grateful faculty and staff will provide cake and tea - feel free to bring scones, tea sandwiches, muffins, cookies, etc. and your mess kit! We would especially like to thank our many unsung heroes who resist attention; we hope they show up.
|
|
FISCAL UPDATE - OPERATIONS
|
Journey School is projected to achieve a net income in excess of $40,000 in Fiscal Year 2012-13. In spite of a $40,000 hit to ADA funding because of our unusually severe flu season and absences -- we will still finish the year on the plus-side. Our Budget Committee, comprised of stakeholders from all constituency groups, deserves special credit for weathering a difficult financial storm in 2012-13 due to unprecedented state cuts and cash deferrals. Members of the Budget Committee are: Mike Corbo, Shaheer Faltas, Franci Sassin, Russ Skibsted, Amanda Simmons, and Larry Tamayo. Next year, we need to increase our annual savings and overall cash reserve even more in anticipation of unexpected expenses.
Our Parent Cabinet had a record-breaking fundraising year thanks to the hard work and dedication of countless folks like you. The Voluntary Close the Gap Pledge Program is the annual effort to address the gap between public funding and the per student cost of our educational program. We are still asking for those donations. Participation by all families is strongly encouraged, though not required.
So far, approximately 70% of next year's families have pledged nearly $190,000. In order to fully fund the school's specialty program and small class sizes, we need the family participation rate to exceed 90%. Please contact Cindy ( cindy@journeyschool.net) if you have not yet made your voluntary and anonymous pledge for 2013-14. Every dollar counts.
|
|
FISCAL UPDATE - DEVELOPMENT
|
Establishing a Development Office at a public school provides a framework for powerful fundraising and gaining support from outside sources. Our Journey School Foundation and Development Office takes the lead in developing relationships with corporations and foundations to fund our long-term financial goals.
Volunteers are actively pursuing grants and private donations in an effort to support our specialty classes, to keep class sizes small, and to pursue long-term goals. Everyone should know that we currently have a generous $150,000 development office donation on the table - dependent upon receiving matching donations by October 2013.
To help with the Journey School Foundation donation match, please look to sources outside Journey School and share our new PayPal donate button which can be found at http://www.journeyschool.net/donate/ |
Our students worked very hard for STAR testing and should be proud of their accomplishments! Testing is now complete.
|
Our Games Teacher, Mr. K., is still recovering from his knee surgery. He anticipated returning after two weeks, but recovery is taking longer than expected. We hope he returns this week, but health issues are unpredictable and we'll have to see how he's doing. Big thanks to Ms. Joy who has stepped in for both Mr. K and Sara Beebe over the past 3 weeks.
|
GREEN RIBBON SCHOOL
AWARD CEREMONY IN D.C. |
Shaheer Faltas, along with Michelle Spieker and Alyson Smith, are attending the Green Ribbon School Award Ceremony in Washington, D.C. this week. Many thanks to the parents who donated airline mileage.
This is an opportunity to connect with leaders from innovative Green Ribbon Schools from all over America - and to advocate for our charter school with elected officials. Shaheer will be off-campus until Friday, so please turn to Education Director, Patti Connolly, while he is away.
|
|
Come one, come all! Journey School's Talent Show is almost here! We have some wonderful solos and groups this year.
Journey Talent Show
Saturday June 8th, 2013
6:00 to 8:30pm
at
Journey School
Outdoor Stage
(bring a jacket, chairs will be set up plus areas on the side for blankets)
|
|
LAST CHANCE FOR HOT LUNCH!
|
| Help our 8th graders set a record! 8th graders were away on their field trip last week -- let's greet them with enough lunch orders to reach their goal of 5000 lunches this year! Click here for the JUNE lunch order form. |
|
FUN & GAMES AFTERNOON (JUNE 13TH)
|
|
Come to the Fun & Games Afternoon event on Thursday, June 13th sponsored by the 8th graders!
12pm-1pm Hot Dog Lunch $4
1:30pm-3pm Fun & Games for Grades 1-7
Order forms will be sent on June 7th and are due by June 11th.
|
| For AGES 9, 10 and 11 year olds. Our 4th grade teacher, Mrs. Alyson Smith, is offering a summer camp on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday mornings from 8:30am to Noon. Possible daily activities include: games and movement, mathematics, reading novels, drawing and painting, science experiments, gardening, form drawing, research projects, and more! There will be 6 weeks of sessions with class size limited to 20 students per week. Cost is $35/day or $100/3 days. Email mrs.alysonsmith@gmail.com for a sign-up sheet. Click here for flyer with more details. |
All families are invited to join the Garden Helpers for summer gardening on Wednesdays between 8 and 9am. If weekdays don't work into your schedule, please stop by on weekend mornings to see if the garden needs watering.
|
|
Click over to the blog for photos of Journey School receiving recognition from the City of Aliso Viejo and photos of student Imagination Celebration artwork.
|
|
