The Tuesday Notice
February 6, 2024
Watercolor Painting
Wet-on-wet watercolor painting is a hallmark of Waldorf education and a mainstay here at the Siskiyou School. The process of painting with pigment on wet paper requires a beautiful harmony of will, reflection, and patience! In the early grades, our faculty helps the children appreciate how the brush pushes and pulls the color. Getting a recognizable form from the paints takes more practice and happens in the later grades. Mr. Criswell and the Butterfly Class show here how the imaginative world of Norse Gods is translated onto the page. Thank you!
This Week
Tues, Feb 6: School Board meeting, 6:00 p.m.
Thurs, Feb 8: Main Lesson Tour, 8:30 a.m. - Join us! Includes Kindergarten!
Fri, Feb 9: Parent Enrichment Morning: Navigating the Heart of Childhood, with Nina Gallwey, 8:30 a.m.
Next Week
Wed, Feb 14: Valentines' Day Assembly and Valentine exchange.
Wed, Feb 14: 8th Grade Fundraiser, Singing Valentines. See link below and order yours today!
Thurs, Feb 15 & Fri, Feb 16: No School - Parent-Teacher Conferences
Looking Ahead
Mon, Feb 19: No School - Presidents' Day
Tues, Feb 20: Supporting the Middle School Child, Parent Enrichment talk with Kelly Tisdel & Paul Arredondo, 6:30 p.m.
Dear Siskiyou School Parents,
Please join us this Friday for Nina’s talk in Pine Hall at 8:30am! See more details in the office section. Nina always brings such gems around Waldorf education and helpful tools for us parents as we navigate raising our children in this world. I hope many of you will make it; we will offer tea and coffee and treats.
Please sign up for your parent teacher conference on February 15th and 16th. We look forward to seeing all parents on campus then.
Our young students love to sing during music class as the curriculum always incorporates seasonal songs. Here is one that the kids in the lower grades always sing around this time:
“I like the flowers, I like the daffodils, I like the mountains,
I like the green hills, I like the fireside when all the lights are out,
Boomdeeahdah, boomdeeahdah, boomdeeahdah, boom!”
It’s a joy to walk around campus and notice how happy the students are with the warmer days as they engage in basketball, foursquare, jumping rope, building sandcastles, building forts, playing pirates with sticks in their belts, climbing the dome, and much more.
Thank you for entrusting us with your precious children! Blessings on our school!
With warmth, Aurilia
Parent-Teacher Conferences: First Semester
Please take a moment to sign up for Parent-Teacher Conferences by clicking the link HERE. The link will CLOSE on Tuesday, February 13th at 1:30pm and all subsequent changes must be made through the office.
- Click on the tabs at the bottom of the page to get to your class teacher’s page.
- After entering your information, click to another location to “save” your work.
- These times have been carefully chosen by the teachers, please do not alter them.
- If you cannot make the times available, please contact your teacher. Please note, make-up conferences are reserved for emergencies only. Two household families, please sign up for ONE conference time.
- If you need help signing up, please call or email the office.
- Students are REQUIRED to attend 7th and 8th grade conferences.
- 8th grade math conferences are REQUIRED.
- Upper grades math and language arts conferences are upon request of teacher or parents.
- All conferences will be in person.
- OHANA FAMILIES: Please sign up for your conference in the highlighted times available. You will meet with both class teacher and Ohana teachers.
Conference Childcare
We’re excited to be able to offer childcare for conferences! Childcare will be available from 8:00 to 4:00 on Thursday and 8:00 to 2:00 on Friday. Children stay free during your conference time, beyond that time childcare is $10/hour (cash or check only please).
From Our Parent Handbook:
There are three required parent-teacher conferences each year: mid-October, mid-February, and late May. These conferences are always held on the Thursday and Friday of conference week. Parents are expected to be available on the designated Thursday or Friday rather than asking to schedule a conference on another day. The Thursday and Friday conference days are NO SCHOOL days for students so that class teachers can give their full attention to the parents. Conference sign-up sheets go up online two weeks prior. Parents with more than one child in the school are encouraged to sign up as soon as the signup sheets are posted to get back-to-back time slots with their children’s teachers and avoid having to make several trips into school. Teachers ask divorced parents to attend conferences together so that both parents or sets of parents hear the same thing at the same time. In cases where it is not possible, parents should contact the class teacher to see if an accommodation can be made. Two times a year, 5th-8th parents also sign up to meet with their child’s math and language arts teachers on those Thursday-Friday conference days. Conferences with class teachers last a half hour. Conferences with the subject teachers are 15 minutes.
Singing Valentines
Help support the 8th Grade with their fundraising for their end of the year trip, while at the same time warming the heart of a friend or a loved one. Forms are now available and orders will be available until Friday, February 9th. The cost is $20 which includes a friend or loved one being serenaded to on Valentine’s Day and receiving a card and a bar of chocolate. This is an annual tradition for the 8th grade class and our community, and you can really make someone’s day!
Also available, online valentines! Send your out-of-town loved one a cheery greeting from the Dragonfly class via email. The emailed valentine will include a music video of one of the students' favorite songs. See the link below to order.
Looking for Wool Roving
Class 2 is looking for donations of any spare roving you may have to share for wet felting for their auction project! There is a bin at the front office for any bits and ends that you may have left over and would like to find a new home for. We would be grateful for any little amount you have to drop off for us to repurpose into our project!
Cheers, Alicia (Class 2 Parent Rep)
Class 2 - Mrs. Bartow
This month we are celebrating love! Each day the kids are sharing things they love about school. Here are a few examples:
"I Iove holding hands on walks."
"I love always having fun in school."
"I love that when friends get hurt, everyone is there for them."
"I love math."
"I love that we all trust each other."
"I love that everyone is a good sport."
"I love that our teachers are funny, and they let us be funny."
"I love the quiet that comes after painting class."
"I love that no one gets left out."
I look forward to sharing more with you at our conferences. Blessings on our lovely class!
~Mrs. Bartow
Chess Club Update
Hello everyone. A quick update from the last two Friday's.
With the big influx of students the last two weeks, we have outgrown the Math Room and have moved to Pine Hall. We have been warming up with one and two moves to checkmate end game puzzles. On January 26th we talked about the history of the game and how the pieces have changed in both name and capabilities. We also touched on how the rules have evolved and been updated over the centuries, to form the modern version of chess. A recent graduate of the school, Samuel Garbarino, joined us to assist and play some of the students.
Last Friday after going over the puzzles we reviewed some helpful strategies for playing each piece. We then split into two groups. One group went with 8th grader Rye Cooley, to review basic piece movement and the rules of the game. The other group went with me to talk about some common tactics such as forks, pins, and skewers. And then, of course, we got to playing. This week we will review those tactics and start looking at some commonly used openings, such as the Ruy Lopez, to better understand some of the key strategies, like 'playing for the center'.
Thank you to those who brought in chess sets last week.
*8th graders are free if they want to drop in and join us at any point.
Please contact me if there are any questions, dustin.monda@siskiyouschool.org
Reminder : Chess Club meets this week, but we have a break next week, 2/16, for conferences, and resume Friday 2/23.
Community Grandma Available
Siskiyou School community grandma and travel companion available for house and pet sitting in July/August. Professional references available, multi-week, 2 bedroom, walkable preferred. Mary Sweeney, (269) 823-8349
Looking for Babysitter
We’re looking for an occasional babysitter for our two littles - 18 mos and 7 years. The hope would be to have someone who has transportation or is able to drive themselves to our home here in Ashland. Times would mostly be in the late afternoon/early evenings - for date nights. Please call/text 805-234-5787 or email aino.boyer@gmail.com
Wolf dog
Our proud Wolf Malamut “Ajna” sired a beautiful litter of nine pups and we still have one most amazingly sweet little pup looking for a soul human kinnection. He comes from a local lineage of epic wolf dogs and this little buddy has had the blessings of spending his first six weeks with his mom and the next 6 weeks with his Dad so he is well balanced, respectful of the alpha and loving. Please DM me if you are ready to embark on a life enhancing loveship with a wolf pup.
Tenasi Scott Rama Lazar
Mindful Earth Farm
Ashland, Oregon
530 264 6554 USA
Dear Community,
My name is Anya Moore, and I am a proud alum of the Siskiyou School (shoutout to the River Class of 2019!). I'm excited to share a meaningful initiative I'm currently involved in in Peru with the fantastic NGO Imfundo Kahle. We're on a mission to provide back-to-school kits for children in Iquitos, Peru, ensuring they have the tools they need for a successful academic year.
After my time at the Siskiyou School, I have a deep appreciation for education, and it has been eye-opening for me to see what education looks like for the majority of people in the world. What a privilege it was to attend the Siskiyou School, and I feel that it is now my responsibility, and the responsibility of our community, to give back and do what we can to support education for those with far fewer resources.
These kids are not just kind but incredibly intelligent, and they deserve the world. With just $20, we can fund an entire back-to-school kit for one child. Every contribution will make a huge impact!
Please consider making a donation to our PayPal account (@imfundokahle) or give us a call at +972 54-596-0691 to make a donation over the phone. The campaign lasts until February 10th. Thank you for your kindness and generosity! Much love to my community 💜
Best wishes,
~ Anya
The Siskiyou School
Email: office@siskiyouschool.org
Website: www.siskiyouschool.org
Location: 631 Clay Street, Ashland, OR, USA
Phone: 541-482-8223
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/siskiyouschool/