Family Notes: Feb. 13, 2015

One of the goals of our strategic plan is to plan for leadership succession. The first step of this process is to hire a pre-K-Grade 8 principal who will have overall responsibility for leading the school to higher levels of academic and musical achievement while strengthening our school culture. This position will have autonomy in the areas of human resources, finances, school policies that in the past have been part of my job responsibilities. The new school principal will supervise and support the directors in the achievement of the school goals and will be responsible for school-based decisions ranging from allocation of resources to staffing to program implementation. All school program areas (i.e. Special Education) will fall under the principal's responsibility.

We hope to select a principal by the end of April to start on July 1, 2015. This new position will be integral to a transition to new leadership as I look ahead to my eventual retirement and search for my successor.

Francisca Guevara, parent of a 4^th grade student, will participate in the Screening Committee. However, the hiring process will also include meetings with parents to provide you with an opportunity to interact with the three finalists. You can hear first hand from each candidate and you will be able to ask questions. Participating parents will have the opportunity to offer written feedback to the screening committee.

My job will change as I will concentrate on external projects and relations that are crucial to securing and building our permanent site. I will continue to represent Conservatory Lab in working with different local and state entities and will focus on the capital campaign, grant opportunities, dissemination of our work and ensuring the prominence of Conservatory Lab in the educational arena.

Stay warm this week!

Diana Lam

From the Top is Over-the-Top Impressive

Over the years, our school has developed a strong relationship with 'From the Top,' a nationally-acclaimed NPR radio show featuring performances by talented young musicians. Every school year, musicians from From the Top volunteer their time to visit our school and work with Conservatory Lab students. Last Thursday, we welcomed four musicians - Henry Ayanna (violin), Anna Larsen (piano/composition), Christopher Laven (double bass), and Andrew Byun (cello) - who came to Conservatory Lab to give us a sneak peek at the music they would play on the radio the following day, and to listen to our own Bernstein and Dudamel Orchestras.

Before and after their performances, the guests led informative talks about their musical pieces and fielded questions about their own experiences as musicians. Conservatory Lab students were especially curious about the guests' musical tastes and personal history. They were fascinated to hear that most of the From the Top musicians started learning their instruments around the same age that they did at Conservatory Lab! Many of the guests also shared that, in addition to their passion for classical music, they enjoy listening to music like hip hop, jazz, and pop.

Following the performances of "In the Hall of the Mountain King" and "Farandole" by Bernstein and Dudamel, respectively, the From the Top guests complimented the advanced technical and artistic prowess demonstrated by the students at Conservatory Lab. In their remaining time at the school, the guests continued to work with our students in small sectional groups, taking the opportunity to do more in-depth, hands-on work with one another.

Thank you again to all of of our guests and congratulations on your From the Top Radio performances!

4th Grade's Fun Word This Week is "Preserve!"

As a way to practice cooperation between families and classroom, Ms. Wagner's 4th graders invited Chef Mike Cordice (Isaac Cordice's father) to do a short program about the methods of preservation colonists used to save food for long winter days (as we've been having!). He taught the students about fermentation, sugar preserves, pickling, salting,
and smoking.
Mr. Cordice brought samples of different foods preserved by these methods, and the students sampled fruit pie and apple preserves, stew, cheeses, and cider, and made guesses about which preserved foods would be in each item. It was a wonderful share for our morning crew! Thank you Chef Cordice!

Goodbye to Blaze

Today, our 2nd graders said goodbye to a very special visitor who had been living in their classrooms for the last several weeks: the corn snake Blaze. Blaze came to our school on loan from the family of 6th grader Olivia and 3rd grader Jasper Cox who both enjoyed their experience of the snake expedition when they were 2nd graders. Olivia introduced the snake to both classes and has been instrumental in helping to teach the students how to handle and care for the snake. We are grateful for her expertise and to the Cox family for helping to give our latest group of herpetologists the opportunity to learn so much about this creature.

The Ives Ensemble Performs At Carney Hospital

Today, Mr. Eccleston's Ives ensemble gave a rousing performance during lunchtime in the Carney Hospital cafeteria. They performed "Water Music," by Handel and "First German Dance," by Mozart.

Having performed popular, big-band music at the 2014 Winter Concert, this semester they are changing directions and focusing more on music from the baroque and classical periods. This semester they are playing music from this period as well as learning about the music in the context of that time period.

Before they played, Kateri Gerald-Burns, Jessica Charles, and Allister Santos (all in 7th grade) talked to the audience about why Handel named his piece "Water Music," and the history of Mozart's "First German Dance."

Ives was so happy to showcase their progress so far this semester, and to strengthen Conservatory Lab's relationship with our Carney neighbors!

Take Note:

All parents are strongly urged to respond to the Intent to Return Form for 2015-2016 by February 27. As you can understand, in order to facilitate better planning for next year, the school needs to know who is returning and who is not. Many thanks for your cooperation in this matter.
It has been decided that we will have school on March 17, June 17, and tentatively April 3 (depending on availability of transportation) to compensate for some of the days we've missed over the past three weeks due to snow.
Applications are due Friday, February 27 and the lottery will be held on March 12. Reminder, if you have a child who is a sibling of a current student, you get preference in the lottery but you must apply on time!

Please tell any friends and acquaintances interested in having their child attend Conservatory Lab about the website to see a list of upcoming Prospective Family Tours and to find applications in several languages.

PAC Notes

The next PAC Meeting will be held on Wednesday, February 25.