The New School News

Planning

Students and teachers have a lot of moving pieces to figure out as we head into February, so we will be using Monday, January 31 to do some serious planning together in preparation for the three-week intensives and next semester. Teachers will be meeting from 8:30 - 10:30. Students are invited to join the planning at 11:00. We will spend around 90 minutes working out a schedule for our spring semester. After lunch, the three 3-Week Intensives groups will meet and solidify their plans for the week.

Hiring

We will be conducting our final round of interviews for our Humanities teacher beginning at 4:00.

Students are strongly encouraged to participate in the interviews Monday night. Our two candidates will each be teaching a sample class and need students to teach. While one candidate is teaching, the other candidate will be interviewing with the hiring committee and the teachers.

Immediately following classes/interviews, the hiring committee, teachers, and students will deliberate and come to a consensus about which candidate to offer a job to. We hope to be done by 7:30. Dinner is being provided (sandwiches from Cherie's) by the school. If your student will be staying for the interviews, please let Christine know, so she can make sure we have enough food for everyone.

Modified Schedule

In order to accommodate the planning needs and to encourage as many participants in the interviews as possible, we are running a modified schedule on Monday.

The school will be open at 7:30, and students are welcome to arrive at the normal time. We will not be doing anything formally until 11:00, so students may choose to come in late on Monday.

If they choose to take advantage of the late arrival, we would appreciate an email or phone call letting us know they will be arriving late. Just let Susan know by calling the office number (207) 985-3745.

Teachers and students will work together between 11-3. There will be a 1-hour break between school and interviews.

Interviews will begin at 4:00. Each candidate will have 1 hour with students and 1 hour with the hiring committee. We will have a dinner break around 5:00. After the candidates leave, we anticipate that the discussion and consensus building will take between an hour to an hour and a half, meaning we should be done between 7:30-8:00.

Please reach out to Christine if you have any questions about Monday.

The month of February will be filled with deep learning, community building, and adventure. Our Winter Sports group is busy planning day-long excursions including ski trips, ice skating, and snowshoeing. The students interested in Haunted History are researching places in Maine to visit to investigate paranormal reports. The American Narrative students, who have had to shift their plans the furthest are still trying to imagine what February will look like. They share a passion for history, discussion, museums, and exploration, so Christine is confident that she can support them wherever they decide to go. Staying open to emergent learning opportunities is the name of the game this winter!

During the next three weeks, the schedules for the different groups may not be the same. Each group will be planning their days to best meet their learning objectives, so it will be important for families to be in close communication with Intensives Leaders and with each other (if carpooling with students who are part of different groups). School may happen on the weekend during February, and there will be days off during the week to compensate for this. School may take place in the evening or even at night if there is some event that the group decides to attend. Start times may be different in the morning and pick-up times may be different in the afternoon. We will provide you with as much advanced notice as possible for changes.

Missing student work, unexpected illnesses, the time demands of hiring new staff, and planning Intensives that are constantly in flux because of Covid, have all impacted the teachers’ ability to complete transcripts and narratives. We will do our best to distribute transcripts at the February All School Meeting.

February's All School Meeting is Monday, February 7 at 6:00. The February meeting is a remote meeting and will be held on Zoom.

Anyone in the community can submit items for our agenda prior to the All School Meeting meetings. When submitting an agenda item, please include a brief description of the topic and an estimate of the amount of time you would like to devote to it. Agenda items should be submitted on Fridays before an ASM.

If your student is going to be absent or late, please call the office to let us know. (207) 985-3745.

We care about our community members and we worry when people do not show up when we are expecting them. We also want folks to be able to participate fully in our learning adventures, so we will wait for everyone to arrive until we begin things in the morning. Please, help us out by notifying the office if your student is going to be absent or late to school! It only takes a minute, and it makes a difference to our morning!

• January 31: 4:00 Final Interviews for Humanities Teacher
• January 31-February 18: 3-Week Intensives
• February 7: Facilities Team Meeting 5:00 on Zoom
• February 7: All School Meeting 6:00
• February 10: Virtual Open House 6:30 - 7:30
• February 14: Admissions Team Meeting 6:00 on Zoom
• February 17: Events Team Meeting 6:30 on Zoom
• February 21-28: No School February Vacation
• February 28: Teacher Day
• March 1: Second Session Classes Begin!

• Family Commitment Tracking
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• The New School News archive
• (207) 985-3745 Please remember to call the office if your student is going to be absent. Thanks!

We still have 5 calendars left, featuring student photography, and proceeds support TNS art supplies. Contact the office to purchase one: $20