The Tuesday Notice

'Tis the season for... potatoes! Our children are busy in the garden at this time digging up the potatoes planted by our A.C.O.R.N. classes last spring. Ms. Leann is looking for a parent volunteer to help put a screen on the bottom of the new worm box. If you'd like to help, please email her at leann.joyce@siskiyouschool.org. Thank you!

Dear Families,

Thank you for a wonderful Welcome Back Night on Thursday. It was truly a highlight to spend the evening with all of you!

I want to acknowledge the recent news about a teacher at Children’s World Montessori in Ashland. This has been upsetting and unsettling for many. Given the number of children who have attended this preschool over the years, it is understandable that this news may have affected you or someone you know on a deep emotional level.

I recognize how crucial it is for schools to be a place where parents and families can trust that their children are safe. This is, and always will be, my highest priority. Incidents like this remind us of the importance of regularly reviewing our policies and procedures to ensure we have strong safeguards in place. While we have recently revisited much of this work during our in-service week, we are committed to continually working together as a staff to ensure that all essential safe practices are being followed.

If you need support of any kind please reach out to me or use these resources online to find support:

• https://www.jacksoncountysart.org/
• https://rainn.org/resources
• https://www.stopitnow.org/

Thank you for your trust and partnership in keeping our community safe.

In service and care for your children,

Katherine Holden

This Week

Mon, Sept. 16 through Thurs, Sept. 19: Class 8 to Sunset Bay - Fall Orientation Trip

Next Week

Mon, Sept. 23: Class 4 to Roxy Ann (Local Geography block study)

Tues, Sept. 24: Class 3 to Leonard Orchard (Farming block study)

Thurs, Sept. 26: Class 5 apple crisp construction at school (details to come)

Fri, Sept 27: Michaelmas Festival, potluck, and Class 2 play (3:30 p.m.) - Please see below for hot dish "assignments"

And Beyond!

Mon, Sept. 30: Class 4 to Table Rock (Local Geography block study)

Tues, Oct 1: Class 8 Picture Day

Tues, Oct 1: Hot Lunch 8th Grade fundraiser begins (see forms below)

Thurs, Oct. 3: Class 2 to SOU Farm (Pumpkin walk)

We're happy to have alum parent Bryon DeVore take student and class photos for us this year. Please do all you can to ensure your child can join their class for their morning class photo. Please see the schedule here and mark your calendar.

• Monday, Sept. 16 - Class 1 & Kindergarten
• Tuesday, Sept. 17 - Classes 5 & 7
• Wednesday, Sept. 18 - Classes 3 & 2
• Thursday, Sept. 19 - Classes 6 & 4
• Class 8 - TUESDAY, Oct. 1 (re-scheduled)

Thank you for joining us for this important event heralding the changing of the seasons. A few reminders:

• Please note that this is a family event and PARENTS are responsible for their children, not the school staff. Please WATCH YOUR CHILDREN.
• When the park is closed after activities, the park gates will be shut and we will not go back to the park.
• Students are expected to adhere to all school rules and expected behaviors. No CELL PHONES please.
• Please dress nicely as we are conducting an assembly for our community. We love to see folks in bright fall colors to celebrate the season!
• Please bring your own plates and utensils for the potluck. We're hopeful for a zero waste event!

We're happy to offer a digital copy of our 2024-25 Parent Handbook with the link below. Physical copies are available upon request at the office.

Please join us this Wednesday, September 18, for an evening on Zoom about our developmental Wellness Program. The Wellness Program has become a very important part of the Siskiyou School curriculum, and this evening is an opportunity for you to learn more about it and meet some of the teachers of that curriculum.

Under the umbrella of our Wellness Program, students in grades 4-8 receive between 4-8 Wellness Program classes each year. Different presenters, specialists in their field, come into the classrooms to talk to the students about specific topics and facilitate discussions with the classes around these subjects. The program was established in 2015 with the following goals:

• To support teachers in holding the social & emotional development of the children.
• To ensure that Siskiyou School students are given the tools and language to have conversations around their feelings and difficult topics.
• To ensure that Siskiyou School graduates have accurate information and appropriate guidance about range of “wellness” topics related to healthy relations, healthy choices & self-care, appropriate use of social media, sexuality and gender -- with all topics brought with developmentally appropriate sequencing and language.
• To ensure that the school has protocols and lines of communication in place to properly support students needing extra support socially and emotionally.
• To provide education for parents on issues adolescents in our community are facing and guidance for how to navigate these issues with their kids.

This year hear from Paul Arredondo (www.paulmarredondo.com), Kyndra Laughery of JCSART, Angela Fleischer, and Amanda Clark on what they will present and why it's important for your children.

The Zoom link was emailed out to our current parents on Monday, September 16.

Our Forest Class, 8th grade, is happy to announce the return of their hot lunch fundraiser! This year they are offering an impressive three days of hot food. The program allows your child to receive a hot meal delivered by the 8th grade class directly to their classroom for either the rest of the school year or for the first semester. Second semester orders will be placed in January.

Order forms are available below and in the front hallway for Falafel Tuesday, Pizza Thursday, and our new offering Go Bowld Wednesday. First Semester Hot lunches begins the first week of October.

Please note that for the Go Bowld option, the teriyaki chicken is not gluten free, but the "Go Sauce" is gluten and dairy free.

As our hot lunch program is a fundraiser, we cannot offer refunds for days of student absences. Cancellations for the remainder of the semester can be made at any time if your child no longer is interested in the meal. Both a form and pre-payment for the semester or year must be received in the office for the lunch order to be placed.

Forms are due on Wednesday, September 25, and can be turned in at the table in the front hallway. If you have questions, email kristin.beers@siskiyouschool.org. Thank you for supporting the 8th grade trip!

A new directory is coming!

We'd love to have your business in the Siskiyou School directory! Directory ads are printed in black and white in the back section of the directory. Ads are:

• $10 for ¼ page (about business card size)
• $20 for ½ page (about 5x8.5)
• $50 for a full page (8.5x11)

All we need from you is a high-quality jpg, png, or pdf file of your business logo (or a logo and some short text) and we can add it to the directory. We can put in any file really, it's just a matter of how crisp it turns out. Ads and payment are due by Monday, September 23rd. Send to kristin.beers@siskiyouschool.org.

We strive to keep our children and faculty safe. With new faculty, staff, and students even if you're a long-time volunteer we may have people that don't know you and why you are on our campus. Please help us out!

If you come onto campus:

1. Enter through the main building.
2. Stop by the reception area and check in (sign in on the visitor sheet).
3. Get a visitor lanyard.

This protocol is not to make our parents feel unwelcome, but to keep track of everyone on campus and with our children. Thank you!

School life is busy and wonderful in 1st Grade. We are learning new things every day, and the children are enjoying getting to know each other. It was such a highlight for the young ones to get their buddies on the first day of school. We have a weekly buddy walk and recess time set up for the coming weeks. It’s wonderful to see how much the 6th graders and 1st graders already love each other.

In main lesson we started with a form drawing block. Our crayon pouches are beautiful and filled with all the colors of the rainbow – and more! We are learning how to use them properly. We have just entered the kingdom of the consonants and have started with the letter “K”. Each letter is introduced with a story, we then explore the sound of the letter by speaking it, learning the Eurythmy gestures and drawing the letter into the air, on each other’s backs, on the ground, into sand trays, and much more. In form drawing we explored the spiral yesterday. We heard about this shape in our first story on the first day of school. Now we looked at it on the chalk board, explored it in various ways, and also used beeswax to shape spirals with. Working with beeswax is not as easy as it might look – try it sometime! It requires strong, warm hands and patience and persistence; the children made beautiful spirals! Play outside is always so fun and we learn so much about each other! We are also so grateful to our specialty teachers; Chinese, music, ACORN and handwork are filling our days with joy and many new skills are being developed.

Many greetings and almost – happy fall – from the 1st grade!

Warmly, Mrs. McNamara

This past week, the 6th grade Raven class embarked on a journey to Sunset Bay on the Oregon coast. Our initiation into middle school typically begins with a camping trip to Mt. Lassen National Park. Due to smoke from the Park Fire in Northern California, we quickly shifted gears and happily headed toward clean air and cooler weather.

We began our travels to the Oregon Caves National Monument Preserve, just outside of Cave Junction, and took a tour of the underworld, walking between narrow and steep walls of wet marble, dirt, stalactites, and stalagmites. In temperatures of 40 degrees, we climbed over 500 stairs during our tour and were amazed by the history of the caves and geologic wonders before our eyes.

On day two, we were off to the beach for the entire day. The day began with the fog laying low, but as time inched closer to noon, the sun came out to say “Hello.” We experienced swimming, adventuring, hiking, climbing rocks, tide-pooling, kickball, dancing, gymnastics, mud bathing, balancing on logs, playing spike ball, and loads and loads of laughter.

Our campsite at Sunset Bay was a giant open meadow with enough space to spread our wings, play kickball and baseball, bird watch, enjoy delicious meals, and create sacred time for trust circles. As we fell asleep each night, we connected with our tent mates and listened to the crashing waves just beyond the giant trees that lined our campsite.

As their new teacher, I found it wonderful to connect with all of them outside of regular school time. I was impressed by how supportive they are of each other and how much they like to have fun together! I am grateful for this incredible bunch of Ravens. I look forward to sharing many more wonderful memories.

Samae Chlebowski

Hello everyone! Hopefully the first couple of weeks of school have been treating you and your families well. I know it's always a lot to re-find a good rhythm to start the year.

I've been getting a lot of inquiries regarding Chess Club and want to let you all know that it's coming...just not yet. I myself, as well as my family, are still sorting out the new daily rhythms, both morning and afternoons. So, Chess Club will be returning, just not for another month or so. I will keep you updated as we get closer to beginning once again.

In the meantime I am open to offering a few student/parent lessons. There's always a lot of talk about students trying to teach their parents what they are learning in Chess Club, or to teach them how to play in general, with mixed results. Or parents wanting to catch up to where their child is at skill-wise, so the home games are more interesting/enjoyable. It was something I offered this summer and it seemed to work out well. Please let me know if this is of interest to you and your child/children in this time before Chess Club is back up and running.

Thank you, Mr. Monda

dustin.monda@siskiyouschool.org

Starring Siskiyou School teacher Mr. Barret as Scapino.

Super family-friendly!

Hello! We have a wonderful kid friendly house close to the Siskiyou School just south of Ashland that we are looking to sublet from the beginning of October through middle of November. It sits on some acerage and is very relaxing and peaceful and a quick drive to town. We have 2 bedrooms and 2.5 bathrooms available and if needed, can also make an additional bedroom and a small office space open as well.

Our House comes with a cat- an amazing, loving, kind companion named Pumpkin- who you can enjoy as you would like or simply support her basic needs of getting in and out and being fed. She will be fine either way- she is independent and cuddly!.

This is our home, so we are only looking for a good fit and are flexible arrangements with renting for less time for the right person, people, family, who we feel good about.

Please reach out to us or share with anyone you trust who might be interested - Helaine.alon@gmail.com or 6175133536

Best, Greg and Helaine (6th grade parents)

The Hamazon's present, “Improvised Shakespeare,” a performance where comedy improv takes a theatrical romp in Shakespearean style. Inspired by such plays as Romeo & Juliet, A Midsummer Night's Dream, and Macbeth, The Hamazons will deliver a full-length improvised play filled with love, death, revenge, jealousy, ambition, misunderstandings, magic and mystery!

Friday & Saturday, Sept. 13 & 14 at 8:00pm

Sunday, Sept. 15 at 3:00pm

At The Bellview Grange

1050 Tolman Creek Road, Ashland

Advance tickets $17 online at www.hamazons.com , $20 at the door

Join Us for a Transformational Women's 4 Day Retreat at Mt. Shasta This October 10 - 13th.

Are you a mom navigating a life transition or feeling overwhelmed by daily demands? This October, we invite you to a 4-day Women’s Empowerment and Embodiment Retreat at Mount Shasta, designed to help you reconnect with yourself, manage burnout, and find balance. Through transformational life coaching, somatic healing, and ancient practices, you'll address past challenges, restore well-being, and build lasting connections with other women.

All inclusive:

• Daily Yoga, Meditation & Breathwork
• Breathwork & Sound Healing Workshop
• Life Coaching & Empowerment Workshop
• Ancestral Healing & Chord Cutting Workshop
• Expressive Arts & Dance Workshop
• Rose Ceremonies for Womb Healing & Spiritual Cleansing
• Fire Pujas
• Waterfall Excursion
• Empowerment Ceremony on Mt. Shasta
• All Food (Whole, Organic, High Vibe Catered)
• Accommodations on a beautifully curated retreat sanctuary

Hosted by Nicole Ananda & Munay Sularis. Combined 30 Years of Facilitation in Coaching, Health & Wellness, Retreat Facilitation.

More info here: medicine-within-mt-shasta-2024

Email: office@siskiyouschool.org
Website: www.siskiyouschool.org
Location: 631 Clay Street, Ashland, OR, USA
Phone: 541-482-8223