Conservatory Lab
Charter School

In This Issue

School Updates

ABCs in K2

Spring Fling!

Side by Side Seminario

Are You My Instrument?

Upcoming Events

Monday, Feb 17th - Friday, Feb. 21

February Vacation

Sunday, April 6th

2 PM

Spring Fling!

Strand Theater

543 Columbia Road

Dorchester

Conservatory Lab

Grades 3 - 7

25 Arlington Street
Brighton, MA 02315
617.254.8904

Grades K1 - 2

320 Washington Street

Brighton, MA 02315
617.208.6200

www.conservatorylab.org

Family Notes

February 14, 2014

Dear Families,

Today we celebrate Valentine's Day, a popular day for sending messages, giving chocolates or bringing flowers to people whom we hold dear and cherish. These are outward symbols for the esteem and regard we hold for our special people.

In addition to cherishing human connections - our relationships with friends and family - we can also cherish those things - beliefs, experiences, places and moments that make us unique, special and strong. The means of acquiring knowledge: learning to read, think, speak, compute, play an instrument and write are treasures to be nourished for our whole life long. Understanding the meaning of freedom and the importance of mutual respect are certainly to be cherished. The opportunity to build community that will enhance our humanity is priceless.

Cherish your visions and your dreams, as they are the outpouring of your soul; the blueprints of your ultimate achievements.

Best wishes for a Happy Valentine's Day and for a Fun February Break!

Warmly,

Ms. Lam

Diana Lam

February All-School Assembly A Hit!

Last Friday, the halls once again rumbled with foot traffic as students, families, and friends filed into St. Columbkille's gym for our second all-school assembly of the year. While Conservatory Lab assemblies always include various kinds of events, this one was especially festive. With a total of 10 performances, the event felt more like a lively concert than a school assembly!

Our K1 Rockstars kicked it off with an original name song based on Eric Carle's Polar Bear, Polar Bear, followed by the Bernstein Orchestra's first assembly appearance of the year led by El Sistema Co-Director and Resident Artist, Kat Jara. Following the classical orchestral stylings of Bernstein, the assembly took an interesting turn into the realm of pop and dance, including a thrilling break dance demonstration by Ezekiel Fanfan and Ideal Lobo-Mason, a beautiful solo vocal cover of a Bruno Mars song by Arianna Rodriguez, as well as a cover of Alicia Keys' Girl on Fire sung by 5 members of Ms. Cates' 5th grade class. The artistry and technical execution of these performances showed evidence of excellent focus and thorough rehearsal- two skills that our students work very hard at - and it's exciting to see students applying these talents to other genres of art!

All-school assemblies are events to cherish, especially this year given our school's two buildings. They are the times when all students and staff from both the Lower School and Upper School are united under a single roof. They remind us that despite our two locations, we are still one family.

School Updates

There are very real changes about to take place in our community that we wanted to share with you. Although all elements are not confirmed, these broader changes are imminent.

Building

As you may all know, the lease at 25 Arlington Street is up this summer and we must find a temporary (two or three year) space while we plan and build our permanent school which will house all students. A rigorous search of available and appropriate Boston properties has opened opportunities for us in other parts of the city. Two potential sites are being reviewed to be the temporary home for the Upper Campus, (probably including grades 2-8), one in South Boston and one in Dorchester. As soon as we reach a final decision we will communicate it to all families.

The Lower Campus will remain at 320 Washington Street, most likely serving grades K1-1.

Time Shifts

The timely arrival of buses has been a major problem for years. When conferring with BPS on ways to address the problem, we realized that it was the timing of our routes that caused the universal lateness; our routes are squeezed between other earlier and later routes. Most charter schools start during the 7:00 AM hour. For next year, BPS is now mandating that all Boston charter schools start at 7:15 AM.

Due to the earlier start, we will begin to dismiss earlier, by 4:00 p.m. This will be true of both campuses. Please know that due to the distance between campuses, we will have two different routes and will no longer have Grades K1-1st and 2nd -8th on the same buses.

By dismissing earlier we are also guaranteed regular drivers on regular buses- no more sub drivers.

Calendar

Next year the school year will begin after Labor Day, on Wednesday, September 3, 2014.

The complete official calendar for next year will be available on March 15th.

K1 Meeting

On February 27, 2014, at 8:30 AM there will be a meeting for all K-1 parents at the Upper School, 25 Arlington Street (due to space constraints). Ms. Lam, Ms. Sevelius and Ms. Mason will be in attendance and light refreshments will be provided.

ABCs in K2

This winter our Kindergarteners are exploring what makes their school a community, focusing on the caring and helping behaviors that shape a community of learners and artists. They began by touring the lower school building, meeting and identifying staff members, and creating a map that identifies the different classrooms and other key school locations. Students discover what makes their school special as they investigate the role of music in our community and the El Sistema orchestras.

For a final product, each student creates an alphabet square that illustrates and describes an important person, place, or thing from the Conservatory Lab community and corresponds to a letter of the alphabet. They have completed their squares and have all learned so much about the people and objects that make up our school.

Spring Fling! Updates

Our 4th Annual Spring Fling! 2014 will be sponsored by Conservatory Lab Charter School's Parent Advisory Council.

This is the PAC's major fundraiser for the school. It has been a hugely successful event every year. Please come and join in the fun and excitement!

The concert takes place at the historic Strand Theatre in Dorchester, begins at 2:00 p.m. and is the only concert of the year to include all 311 students.

Tickets are on sale now and can be purchased either online here or can be bought at the school by emailing Toni Jackson, tjackson@conservatorylab.org.

All Tickets are $10 and are reserved with assigned seating

Up until March 15th each family can purchase up to 4 tickets. This is to ensure that every family has the opportunity to buy tickets, since there are only 1200 seats. After March 15th all remaining tickets will be sold on a 1st come, 1st served basis.

There are many openings for volunteers to help make this another memorable event this year. For more information, please contact Beth Greene, co-chair for the event at beth.greene@comcast.net.

Side by Side Seminario Concert

Friday, February 7, 2014 marked the second of three "Sistema Side by Side" performances organized by the Longy School of Music for selected students. Twelve of our Dudamel Orchestra members joined over forty student musicians from various El Sistema programs across the state. Playing "side by side" with the Longy Orchestra, this combined orchestra of nearly seventy musicians resounded through Sander's Theatre at Harvard.

The program, featuring guest conductor President of Bard College, Leon Botstein, began with the triumphant Finale to Beethoven's 5th Symphony and concluded with Bizet's Farandole that brought the audience to their feet! Resident Artist, Chris Schroeder joined a team of teaching artists from all the sending programs who coached the students over the coarse of three Saturdays leading up to Friday's concert. "From a wind player's perspective, so much of the work Sistema students do within their nucleos are focused on ensemble playing, with many playing one part. The 'Side by Side' experience provided students with a unique opportunity to develop true orchestral playing skills, with each player responsible for their own part," said Schroeder.

In March, this orchestra will reunite for three more rehearsals in preparation for their final performance on March 22nd conducted by Gustavo Dudamel at MIT's Kresge Hall.

International Book Giving Day

Thank you to all families for donating books this year. Ask your child what book they chose!

Sol Y Canto Community Concert

If you haven't seen this ensemble before, they are absolutely wonderful and engaging for the whole family (website is www.solycanto.com), winner of the Silver Parents Choice Award for cd and Best of Boston winner (Boston Magazine.)

Boston Philharmonic Youth Orchestra Concert Invitation

Dear Conservatory Lab Friends,

We hope that your new year is off to a great start. The Boston Philharmonic Youth Orchestra ended 2013 with a highly acclaimed performance at Carnegie Hall and we're gearing up for our next exciting concert in March! We would again be delighted to offer free tickets to all your students, families, faculty, and staff for the BPYO concert on March 7th. Please email Danielle Williams: Dwilliams@bostonphil.org to notify us of how many tickets you would like for your staff, students, and families for the concert. We would appreciate it if all requested tickets were used!

Concert Info:

Friday, March 7 at 8:00pm

Symphony Hall, Boston

120 passionate young musicians, ages 12 to 21, will present an electrifying performance of Mahler's Symphony no. 5, Mozart's Overture to Marriage of Figaro, and Barber's Violin Concerto performed by our superlative concertmaster, Max Tan. Click here for further information on the concert and program.

We hope to see you there as the talented and enthusiastic BPYO players and Maestro Benjamin Zander provide a wonderful evening of music!

Sincerely,

The Boston Philharmonic Orchestra

"Shaping Future Leaders through Music"