Oak Leaf Weekly Update

Teacher Appreciation Week, celebrated annually in May, offers the opportunity for our community members to reaffirm their commitment to parent-teacher partnerships.

The decision to teach often comes with low-to-moderate pay and around-the-clock hours. Support from families can ease the difficult work teachers do.

Teacher Appreciation Week is the perfect time to personally thank your children's teachers for their sacrifices and support.

While appreciation alone will not reduce the challenges teachers face, it will let them know their efforts are not going unnoticed.

Parent Council is hosting a teacher breakfast on Wednesday, May 4th- please see the sign up genius here:https://www.signupgenius.com/go/30E0444AFA723A4FB6-teacher

P.S. Cards and flowers from students and families warms the heart!

ROCS Community,

Spring has sprung, and our school community is busy making memories, engaging in learning, and enjoying events! We are full of gratitude for those people behind the scenes planning, meeting, collaborating, and implementing our events and traditions...we truly couldn't do it all without your support!

After the pandemic's long pause on our school's norms and traditions, our community is bursting with new life and we are taking in each event and family meeting with much more appreciation. Please remember, everyone is welcome on campus, and teachers are ready for your support in a variety of ways.

Reminders and Events:

• May 2-6 Teacher Appreciation Week!
• May 4- Teacher Appreciation Breakfast- https://www.signupgenius.com/go/30E0444AFA723A4FB6-teacher
• 5/2-5/6 Teacher Appreciation Week
• 5/14 Pastels/ May Day (Saturday) Please keep free so you can join us!
• 5/18 Screenagers-The Next Chapter 6-8pm @ The Senior Center (for parents/guardians at ROCS, and 5-8 grade students only)
• 5/30 No School
• 5/31-6/2 Minimum Week-school out at 1pm all week
• 6/1 8th Grade Graduation
• 6/2 Last day of school
• 6/2 Kindergarten Rainbow Bridge Ceremony

Class 3 is finished with their shelter block, a Waldorf educational milestone, where students research and write a report, build a model and design an oral presentation of what they learned. This project combines elements of cultural and geographical learning; allows for student freedom, inspiration and choice in their project; and also engages a host of higher-order thinking and executive functioning skills. This week, class 3 will be expanding out of their comfort zones to present their learning and share with their school community!

Fort Ross Environmental Living Program provides hands-on learning which allows students to experience the joys of history as active participants, exploring the interaction between people and their environment. Immersed for a brief time in the past, students learn about the many cultures and lifestyles present at Settlement Ross. Through performing tasks that were a part of daily life at Fort Ross, such as cooking meals in an outdoor kitchen, fishing and ‘hunting’ for food, gardening, making candles, collecting and stacking firewood, guarding the perimeter, processing natural materials that have been gathered according to season, trading, practicing artisanal crafts, dancing, and generally working hard for the company, students gain a better understanding of history and their relationship to it.

During an overnight Fort Ross ELP, students, parents, and teachers sleep inside the historic fort compound buildings.

Role-play and costumes are a big part of the ELP experience. All students, parents, and teachers choose a person from Fort Ross’ history to research, role-play and dress up as during their time at Fort Ross. Students become Employees, parents become Officers, and teachers become Managers.

Thank you to our teachers and parents, as well as the ELP docents, for making this trip SO successful for our RO students!

Thank you to the parents, teachers and camp specialists for creating such a memorable experience for our students!

Here is an opportunity for our families to try a screen free week...enjoy this resource!

On Monday, May 2, Screen-Free Week officially begins! From Canfield, Ohio to Romania, we've heard from tens of thousands of pledgers and participants across the globe who are making this Screen-Free Week the best yet. Don't let perfectionism become the enemy of good effort – pledge today and celebrate however you like, whether it's a whole week unplugged or staying off of TikTok for a few days.

Take the pledge!

Plus, win a book! We'll be doing a book giveaway from our 2022 Screen-Free Week Book List to pledgers who submit their stories and photos to us after Screen-Free Week! Stay tuned for more details. We can't wait to celebrate with you!

Happy unplugging,

Rachel & Lucy
The Screen-Free Week Team

P.S. As a reminder, we won't be sending emails or posting during Screen-Free Week, so we will catch up with you on May 9!

Need some last minute tips for success?

• Communicate early and openly about Screen-Free Week and your family's specific goals. Try to get everyone on board, even if for just one screen-free hour together!
• Can't go Screen-Free all week? Try logging out of social media. We know this has one of the greatest impacts on our mental health!
• Plan your days: going screen-free is so much easier when we fill our schedule with fun, creative activities.
• Print out any phone numbers, recipes, directions, or appointments you need for the week.
• Set aside some time to reflect at the end of the week. What are things you want to keep going even after Screen-Free Week is over?
• Don't feel like you need to invent the wheel! We have so many resources and ideas for you. Check some out below:

Our Screen-Free Week Resource library is full of tips, tricks, and ideas, like our Screen-Free Week Family Guide! Visit our full resource library for even more, available all year round.

What's happening near you for Screen-Free Week? Our events page has an interactive map where you can see planned events around the world and add your own event!

If you use social media, let friends and family members know that you're going screen-free on May 2-8 with these downloadable social media icons (Facebook-sized banners can be found here). This is an easy way to explain why you may not be as active online and to spread the word about our celebration!

Take stock of your digital wellness:

Assess your relationship with tech and record your screen-free progress? Just before and after Screen-Free Week, consider taking the Digital Wellness Institute's Digital Flourishing Survey. How will your screen awareness evolve?

Plus, Digital Wellness Day falls right in the middle of Screen-Free Week. On May 6, check out our friends and their amazing resources at the Digital Wellness Day site. Of course, Screen-Free Week is also Children's Book Week, and make sure to keep your eye out for more info about our book giveaway after May 8.

Thursday, May 5, 5:30pm

IN PERSON and on Zoom. The meeting will be held in the Faculty Lounge next door to First Grade.

Please encourage your classroom parent community to join and learn about the plans we have instore for next year.

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83003338895?pwd=b0grMXRpdVVFTExRcS9oa2RDNFZjUT09

Meeting ID - 830 0333 8895password - 289408

Next Meeting: May 9th, 5:30pm

Join Zoom Meeting

https://zoom.us/j/92651770030?pwd=bWdnUCs4TjBWMzl5U1hLL3NpSE96QT09

Meeting ID: 926 5177 0030

Passcode: Pw86W2