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 The Leaflet a newsletter for parents and friends of Ashwood Waldorf School

December 18, 2013Join Our Mailing List
Board News

Dear Parents:

On Wednesday evening at 6:00 p.m., up at Rosewood, the administration and board will lead a meeting detailing:

 

~How the annual budget is created

~How tuition is set

~The tuition assistance application and award process

 

We hope to see all of you there.

 

While the school year is not even half over, planning for the 2014-2015 school year has long since begun. For three years, the tuition at Ashwood has remained the same. During this same period, according to the U.S. Social Security Administration, inflation has risen by 7%. For the coming school year, Ashwood's board of trustees has determined that we must increase tuition rates by approximately 4% in the grades and 3% in early childhood. This increase will still not fully cover the cost of providing the finely crafted program that we offer to Ashwood's students. Our development and fundraising efforts will need to remain strong and our administrative and operational costs be kept to a minimum in order to meet the school's growing expenses and to keep the tuition assistance program well funded. We are mindful of the considerable sacrifice it takes on your part to give your children the gift of Waldorf education, and we strive to keep the costs of providing this as low as we can.

 

When setting the tuition, the board works to strike a balance between affordable education, quality programming, and our strategic goal of offering competitive salaries and benefits to attract and retain highly qualified teachers and administrators. We are blessed at Ashwood to have a fully trained Waldorf staff, to own our own land, for the students to enjoy school in two beautiful buildings, and to offer an excellent Waldorf program. We hope you will join us on Wednesday evening, December 18, when our business manager, Tamara Cody, will make a presentation on the business life of the school and Jody Spanglet and several board members will be on hand to answer your questions and fill out this picture.

--Betsy Morrell 


Alumni News
Ashwood Grad Duncan Hall
The visual and performing arts "Student of the Month" for December at Camden Hills is senior Duncan Hall (Ashwood 2010). Hall has been very active in nearly every aspect of the Visual & Performing Arts Department ranging from vocal and instrumental music to theater. Hall first developed a passion for music in fourth grade  when he began playing the violin...more

Festival News
Santa Lucia
As we approach
the solstice  Mr. Clough's 1st and 2nd graders serenaded their school- mates last Friday, bearing candles and cookies as they celebrated the ancient feast of Santa Lucia, another festival of light. Thank you to Maggie Churchhill for her ongoing support of this special festival.
Early Childhood News

Beautiful Mornings

Ashwood is offering two six-week sessions: Mondays, January 27-March 10, and April 7-May 19, 9:00-11:00 a.m. Enjoy these beautiful mornings in the company of a dynamic group of parents, led by our veteran early-childhood educator Cherry Short-Lee.

 

Ashwood Waldorf School's Parent-Child classes are designed for children 18  to 36 months old and a parent or caregiver. Cost for each session is $150, and a discount is applied when you sign up for both sessions in advance. Registration deadline for the first session is Friday, January 17. FMI: [email protected] or 207-236-8021 or www.ashwoodwaldorf.org/parent-child   

   

Winter Spiral  

The gift of the light we thankfully take
But not shall it be alone for our sake
The more we give light, one to the other
It shines and gives life
Agrowing still further.

Just a reminder about our Winter Spiral of Light this Thursday, December 19 from 4:15-6:30. A community potluck will follow the festival; please bring your family's dishes, silverware, etc. We still need evergreen boughs to create the spiral, and I do hope everyone will make an effort to contribute. The weather has been quite bitter, so I do understand, but we will need them by Thursday morning when we create the spiral in the morning.  Thank you.
--Miss Beth
Grade School News
Fifth Grade

The fifth-grade classroom has been a hive of activity this month. We are studying decimal numbers, and delighting in their logic and clarity after the cheerful complication of common fractions. But it is difficult to illustrate one-one thousandth times three hundredths, so we are taking some leaps of faith....

We have been captivated by the relentless account of the bloody battle on the plains of Troy, following the acts of the mighty heroes and the capricious gods. This week Achilles will die, and Troy will fall, and then we will do our own fighting in our Mummer's Play on Friday-with a much happier outcome! Happy Advent!

--Lesley Finlayson, Fifth-Grade Teacher
Winter Revels!
God bless the master of this house, likewise the mistress too, and all the little children who round the table go....

Don't miss our rollicking solstice celebration at
the Camden Opera House on Friday, December 20 at 9:30 a.m. With singing, dancing, poetry, drama, hijinks, and surprises, we will welcome the coming of the light.
Bring your families and friends to this jolly event!
It's important that all children arrive at the opera house at 8:15 on Friday to rehearse before he performance; thanks for your help with this.
PCC News
By now everyone should have received via email the minutes from the November 20 meeting. The meeting was chock full with presentations from board members Annie Mahle and Betsy Morrell, and class teacher Jeremy Clough, who gave a very engaging talk on movement and sports. Please take time to read the attached documents in the email! These are copies of the Ashwood by-laws, the governance section for the board of trustees, a document from AWSNA that answers Ashwood's  philosophy in regard to the board of trustees, and a web reference to an informative article by Kim John Payne on the 10 tenets of youth sports.

The Parent Community Council also recently established a PCC Steering Committee to help run the council. The roles and responsibilities are listed below. We are still in need of one or two people to head up the events chair position. Could that person be you? As parents of Ashwood students, we are all members of the PCC!

PCC Steering Committee Role Definitions
The PCC Steering Committee will meet every other month after the regular morning PCC meeting. An 18-month commitment is recommended for committee roles.
Co-Chairs:
~ Send PCC Representatives' meeting reminders and whole-school meeting reminders
~ Set clear agenda for every meeting
~ Meeting timekeeper/Pick a timekeeper
~ Manage meetings
~ Meet with school director and board president, as needed
~ Assign tasks, as needed
~ Find committee chairs
~ Ask Ashwood faculty for presentations  
Events Chair:
~ Facilitator of events and/or duties for events, i.e., sledding party, school pictures, May Faire, Halloween
~ Solicit volunteers
~ Meet with administration and co-chairs, as needed
~ Create announcement/flyer for each event PCC is in charge of, print out and disseminate   
Treasurer:
~ Balances the books
~ Collects bottle drive and deposits the collection money
~ Writes checks. Authorization needed from Ashwood's business manager.
~ Manage store receipts and May Faire deposits
~ Present financial report at every PCC meeting. Forward report to co-chairs when unable to attend meeting.
~ Send monthly update and reminder of the bottle drive collection to the  Ashwood Leaflet.   
Communications Chair:
~ Take notes at PCC meetings
~ Send PCC meeting minutes to PCC representatives  
~ Send minutes monthly for publication in the Ashwood leaflet.    
Current PCC Steering Committee Volunteers:
Co-Chairs: Betty Wyman and Jen Lavi
Treasurer: Lora Mills
Communications: JoAnna Greenwood
Activities: We need volunteer(s)!

--JoAnna Greenwood
Weather!
School Cancellations
School cancellations and late start days are announced on the school's answering machine at 236-8021, and on 102.5 FM, WCSH6, News 8 WMTW, and the Knox County Village Soup website, http://knox.villagesoup.com. Please note that the school answering machine can be unreliable when there is a high volume of calls flooding the system and will not respond during power outages. Parents may also choose to sign up for automatic text messages on the WCSH6 Storm Center website. Event cancellations will be announced on Ashwood's answering machine. We respect each family's individual decision about whether to attend school on snowy days when school is in session. Please use your own discretion when making this decision.

To avoid confusion please note that when SAD #28 is canceled, Ashwood Waldorf School is canceled as well. When SAD #28 is delayed, Ashwood Waldorf School is delayed as well.

AWSNA News
Click here to download Inform, the Association of Waldorf Schools of North America monthly newsletter. 

Announcements
Please be sure to bring your children to the Camden Opera House, NOT to school, on Friday, December 20, at 8:15 a.m., to prepare for the Winter Revels!
Choral Concert
Midcoast Community Children's Chorus will perform their winter recital Wednesday, December 18, at 6:30 pm, at St. Thomas Episcopal Church, 33 Chestnut Street in Camden. Donations are gratefully accepted.

Ashwood is well represented in this recital: former early childhood teacher, Toki Oshima, directs the chorus. Jamie Oshima, class of 2012, is the accompanist. Second grader, Sadie Luehman, 4th grader, Zhenya Scott, 5th graders Isaiah Doble and Sylvan Eichenlaub, plus several friends who attended Ashwood a few years back, are singing in the chorus. Do come enjoy this sweet music!

This recital offers a lovely break from the busyness of December, a time to be still and appreciate the sweet sounds of children's voices.
--Beverly Scott

In This Issue
Important Dates

Friday, December 20

9:30 a.m. 

Winter Revels! At the Camden Opera House 

 

December 23 - January 5

Winter Break. Joyous Holidays! 


Interactive Web Calendar

 

Printable Calendar

 

Community Classifieds
We publish community-service announcements from and for Ashwood community members at no charge (50-words maximum). Send to:Judith Soleil.

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Why Waldorf?
"Why Waldorf?" A film produced at the Marin Waldorf School in California.
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