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Should the Junior High accept a $750 grant towards the Costa Rica trip from Vermont Yankee?  Should the Junior High continue to sell Mocha Joe’s coffee even though it does not carry the Fair Trade label?  Is ecotourism good for Costa Rica?  These questions were debated by Junior High students this week as one of the many ways in which their field research experience in Costa Rica is embedded throughout the curriculum.  Next Tuesday evening they’ll present some of their learning to parents.  All parents and community members are welcome.

Meanwhile, the 3rd-4th grade is conducting its own field research on wetlands and ponds by observing the amazing changes that take place in pond water collected in an aquarium and then traveling to the Bonnyvale Environmental Education Center to deepen their learning.

MES teachers are learning, too!  Tomorrow is the second annual gathering of the New England Coalition of Progressive Educators, a regional branch of the Coalition of Essential Schools.  Many of us will attend in order to experience and learn more about the importance of “personalization” and “depth over breadth”, two guiding principles in our work with your children.  This meeting also provides a good opportunity to meet with other educators who are excited and knowledgeable about the craft of teaching.  As a pre-conference day, we will have six such educators, one from Williamstown, MA and five from Maryland, visiting MES today to learn more about how we “do school”.

There are several parent/family opportunities coming up!!  Don’t forget Family Bingo Night tonight at 7pm!  P&F has organized this fun event to celebrate TV/Screen Turnoff Week.  Refreshments and prizes are promised!  Then, be sure to send in your child’s completed pledge, signed by you, on Monday.  Next Friday, at All School Sing names will be drawn for gift certificates.

Saturday morning, 9-12, is Playground Workday.  Izzie’s dad, Dave Snyder, has organized the materials and figured out next steps on the plans.  Please join us for the next phase of construction.  The kids are eager to play on the new structure!

Next Wednesday and Friday classes will be sharing their favorite poems from their work with Ann Gengarelly this year.  We will publish the 2008 edition of Paper Feelings for them to read from and then it will go home.  We hope that many of you can join us for these special readings!  Please check the schedule below.

Over the next few weeks 4th and 8th graders will be taking the Science part of the NECAP assessment.  This test is given in 3 sessions of 45-90 minutes.  The last session includes a hands-on exploration and should be interesting!  If you have any questions, please give me a call.

Welcome to Brenda Kennedy as the 3rd-4th grade teacher and to Elaine Ahnell, the assistant in that classroom. As many of you know, Brenda is the mother of Liam and Mesa and has been the assistant in the 3rd-4th grade classroom all year. She has also contributed her energy and talent to MES in many other ways – particularly to P&F, the Parents and Friends group. Elaine is an experienced teacher who retired from Connecticut and relocated to Wilmington. We are so lucky to have these two high caliber educators to finish out the year in the 3rd-4th grade classroom.

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Today we say good-bye to Jodi. At a very moving All School Sing each class honored her, sang songs to her, and shared memories as well as thoughts as to what her future may hold. The staff sang a special version of “Bye, Bye, Miss American Pie” (written by Judy) and Judy, Gail, and Sarah gathered pages from the whole school for Jodi’s own V.I.P. book. Jodi’s class presented her with a quilt they made, with a lot of help from Sandy Pentak. Each child created a unique square with decorations ranging from embroidered trees and imprinted photographs to math problems. It’s gorgeous! Jodi, we thank you for all that you’ve given to us in your eighteen years at MES. Your love and knowledge of the natural world and your commitment to your students’ social and emotional, as well as intellectual, development are only a few of the things that make you an outstanding teacher and beloved colleague. We wish you all the best!!

You’ll be hearing more about the Junior High trip to Costa Rica, so for now I’ll say it’s good to be home! We all learned so much and, as we traveled from Monteverde to San Luis to Playa Hermosa, we received many compliments on the students’ knowledge, their interest and attention, and their good behavior. Good job, Junior High! And thank you to everyone here who kept school running smoothly.

The process for hiring a new 3rd-4th grade teacher is underway. The committee undertaking this important work consists of P’tricia Wyse, Tim Hayes, Pam Burke, Lauren Poster and me. We’ve received many applications from well qualified candidates and hope to select someone by the end of May.

And now it’s time for Spring Vacation! May this wonderful weather continue so that your children and you can enjoy each other’s company as you watch the trees bud and the flowers bloom. We’ll all return relaxed and ready for many exciting end of year activities. See you on April 28th.

As we’re winding down with the March Reading Challenge Brenda and Jodi’s class continues to tantalize us with their book reviews. Last Friday we heard from Max, Calvin, Bridger and Sheldon and this week from Roshika, Yarrow, Sequoia, Sophie and Eddie. Great job!

Attached to this week’s Friday Notes (and available here) is a School Survey which the Action Plan Committee is sending out to get your input on how MES is doing. Every few years we ask parents to complete a survey. In a small school we often think we know how you feel but we often find out that there are both compliments and concerns we haven’t heard. This survey is one way of strengthening communication and evaluating our school/community environment. We value your input. Please take the time to complete it and return it to school by April 16.

Please look for a letter in the mail about upcoming emergency evacuation drills which will take place at MES later this month and in early May.

The Junior High is heading down to Costa Rica! They’ve been knocking themselves out fine tuning and rehearsing the play they’ll present there. I can’t wait to see it - which I will as I accompany them on this trip along with Rachel, Tim, and Peter, as well as parent chaperones Robin White, Phillip Johansson, and Jen Carr. I go down this Saturday to visit friends and prepare the way for the group’s arrival on Wednesday. We return on April 16th. In my absence David will be acting principal.

Last Friday (and a few afternoons this week) the school hummed with the purposeful sounds of your children sharing their work and their learning with you. Thanks for showing how you value their education by attending these conferences. And thank you to Junior High students Starcie, Zoe, and Mandy for providing childcare for younger siblings so that you could give your student your undivided attention.

Please come back on Monday at 6:30 p.m. for the Learning Fair where you’ll get a chance to see what kids are up to in other classes. A mural of maple sugaring in kindergarten, a quiz of your weather wiseness in the Primary, water experiments in 3rd/4th, shadow puppets in 5th/6th, and diagrams of a cloud forest ecosystem (Costa Rica!) in the Junior High are just a few of the wonderful things in store for you!

I forgot to tell you about the teachers’ professional learning work last Thursday on our early release day. We have used the three half-days during the year to work with Pam on improving our technology skills. Teachers are integrating technology into the classroom more and more, as well as using it in their own research and planning. This is a challenging field for many of us and there is so much to learn!

The After School Program (MASP) is running a regular program and will soon publish a weekly activity schedule so you and your child can decide to attend based on her/his interests. To reserve a spot, please leave a message on the MASP line – 246-6277. And just to entice you, Rose is planning to do water colors on Monday, March 31. We are committed to strengthening MASP and, to help with this, we’ve received an anonymous donation of $500 to put towards partial scholarships. I’ll have details on how to apply for this in next week’s Notes.

Thank you to the many parents who have volunteered to help with the search and hiring of the new 3rd-4th grade teacher. I’ll let you know the composition of this team next week. In the meantime, please join me for coffee or tea next Friday and we’ll discuss the attributes and qualities we want in our new teacher.

There are big changes in store for MES next year. After 18 years, Jodi will be leaving us. I was not happy to accept her letter of resignation but I know she’s thought long and hard and that it’s the right thing for her at this time. Please join me in wishing her well and thanking her for all she’s given to the school and to each of us.

Of course, this means we will be hiring a new 3rd-4th grade teacher for next year. I need a parent to be part of the hiring committee. This includes reviewing applications and participating in the interviews. Most of this work will take place at the end of April and beginning of May. Please call me if you are interested.

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How are you doing with your reading contract? One parent told me that it’s helping her find more time for the pleasure reading she enjoys while it’s encouraging her husband to get to his magazines and newspapers. And, of course, this is great modeling for their kids who are reading, as well!
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It’s good to be back! Of course there are no guarantees that the weather will behave but I fervently hope we won’t have any more cancellations. The forecast looks good for our last day of Winter Sports on Monday. Skiers and boarders will go to the Mountain. Skaters will return to the Marlboro Town Park where we had a great time this week! In addition to bringing sleds, kids should also bring snowshoes if they have them. We’ll take a small group on a snowshoe hike through the nearby woods.
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Fresh snow for our Winter Vacation! I hope you all enjoy the week ahead.

Remember, we come back on Monday, March 3 for our last day of Winter Workshops and then Winter Sports in the afternoon. Since the ice rink will be closed, the skaters and the “alternative” group will go sledding. Please send your children with appropriate clothing and favorite sleds!

On Monday evening at 6:30 you are all invited to the Outback to see what kids have learned and created during Winter Workshops. The evening should be delightful and varied with performances by dancers, drummers, and Japanese style storytellers and exhibits of pottery and books.

Today was Ellen’s last Sing until May. She leaves for San Diego on March 4th and will start pedaling her way back across the country soon after. She’s scheduled to arrive on the east coast on May 1st. We had a geography lesson as we looked at maps on the Outback wall and identified all the states she’ll be cycling through. Then we sang songs such as “This Land is Your Land” and “Oh, Susanna!” and finished with “Black Socks” – a favorite even if you’re not in a situation where doing laundry may be a challenge. Good luck, Ellen!

And, welcome to Sarah Rosow! She was an intern in Judy’s room last year and she will be Ellen’s sub for the rest of the year. We feel so lucky to have Sarah back at MES.

Town Meeting means school budget time. My deepest gratitude to the School Board and to Gail Chaine for all their work in helping to prepare a budget that is fiscally responsible and will enable us to continue to provide a strong education for your children. At Town Meeting the townspeople will also have the opportunity to approve a $5000 contribution towards the After School program. The need for quality after school care is clear and we hope to continue to strengthen it with affordable enrichment activities. In researching how other programs are funded, we’re finding that support from the local community is often an essential ingredient. We look forward to presenting this at Town Meeting and hope you will be there to voice your support!

See you at the Winter Workshop Showcase on Monday, March 3rd at 6:30 p.m.

Happy Valentine’s Day! Continue your celebration at the Junior High Valentine’s Dance this evening, 7-9:30 p.m. Delicious snacks and groovy music!

The Winter Workshop Showcase is coming up right after vacation. Please mark your calendar for Monday, March 3 at 6:30 p.m. The Outback will be set up with an exhibit of pottery and books while drumming, storytelling, and dance are performed on the “main stage”.

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On Tuesday WTSA reported that all the schools in Windham Central Supervisory Union were closed. This caused confusion for many of you. Because the weather and road conditions in Marlboro are often different from Townshend or Jamaica and because we have our own buses, we always make our own call about school cancellation or delays. Unless “Marlboro School in Marlboro, VT” is reported, we’re open. Again, your best source of information is the school web page, marlboroschool.net, or WTSA or WKVT. Both of these radio stations also have websites listing cancellations and two hour delays.

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When we speak of educating the “whole child”, we mean looking at social and emotional education as well as academic. The social/emotional curriculum at MES is front and center as it supports the academic curriculum. We know that kids need to be “available” for learning, meaning they need to be able to focus their energy on the task at hand and not what happened at recess. One of the hardest lessons to learn in school is that what’s fair should be based on what we need and that isn’t the same for everyone. This means kids need different supports. So, when children feel that something is unfair, we can help them to think about what the other people’s needs might be.

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On Monday we’ll get back in the swing of our winter schedule with Winter Workshops in the morning and Winter Sports in the afternoon. While the kids are off at Winter Sports the teachers will be taking a close look at our math program and identifying areas where we need to place more attention. Math is so different from what we as adults remember learning. More and more emphasis is put on using math skills to solve real world problems.

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Due to Monday’s snow day and cancellation of both Winter Workshops and Winter Sports we will have school on Monday, March 3. I hope this is enough notice to help you with planning. All of our Winter Workshop artists are able to come and we will hold our final Showcase that evening at 6:30. In the afternoon skiers and boarders will go to Mt. Snow and, as the ice rink will have closed for the season, the skaters will participate in an alternate activity which will be determined prior to the Winter Vacation. Tuesday, March 4th is Town Meeting and, as scheduled, there will not be any school. The addition of March 3rd as a school day will allow us to get in all the workshops and sports days and avoid an additional school day later in June.

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On Monday morning the sounds of drums reverberated from the kindergarten room. Books of all shapes and sizes were folded and cut in the library. Storyboards for Kamishibai storytelling were drawn in Jodi’s room. Kids in pottery saw a video and began working on different vessels. Kids created a human sculpture by connecting their bodies in different poses. Winter Workshops are off to a good start. Remember to reserve the evening of Monday, February 18 for our Winter Workshop Showcase.

The January thaw provided warm temperatures and soft snow – just right for the skiers and boarders at Mount Snow. Gail, Janie and the alternative Winter Sports group enjoyed tubing at the White House while Liz made sure all the skaters were ready for their lessons with Mollie Burke and then had fun skating on their own.

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Happy New Year and welcome back to winter at the Marlboro School! We started right off with the scent of blueberry muffins wafting through the halls. The Healthy Snack program is underway and serving 44 students this week. Congratulations to Celena Colgate for all the preparation, hard work, and creative and nutritious menus. Here are some of the comments so far: Taylor says, “The blueberry muffins were awesome!” Luci and Morgan say, “When will we have pancakes again?” Shawna says, “Yum!” And Celena says, “I didn’t know that 90 pancakes would take one and a half hours to make!”

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Last night’s concert made it official – Marlboro students are talented, fun-loving, and hard working. And, very responsive to an appreciative audience! Thank you for turning out for this wonderful tradition and for supporting your kids. As I described the different possible “trailers” for our dvd, I forgot to mention the scenes that have been taking place daily in your homes as your children practice their instruments, lines, and dances. Thanks to Charlene Morse, Michael McKinney, and David Tasgal for directing and preparing the program and the students. Thanks to Judy and Liz for their creative work on the Primary play. Thanks to Gail for putting together the program. And thanks to all the MES staff for helping out in the many ways that it takes to make this kind of program successful. Finally, thanks to Marlboro College for the use of the Whittemore Theatre – a beautiful space that encourages excellence.

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Despite snowy weather and the excitement of the holidays there’s lots of work going on in each classroom.~ Jodi’s class is learning collaboration and teamwork along with math facts.~ David’s students are deep into Greek mythology and a sign above the door announces that you are entering “Olympus, Home of the Gods”!~ Judy’s class is putting the final touches on their play for the Holiday Concert.~~ Kindergartners have been reading different versions of favorite folktales.~ Today they spent the morning following clues as they hunted for the runaway Gingerbread Man.~ Junior High students are honing their writing skills as they polish final drafts of fundraising letters for their Costa Rica trip.