IMPORTANT DATES

Tuesday, 5/5, 3:15-4:00pm         TRUE  Rehearsal

Thursday, 5/7, 3:15-4:00pm       TRUE  Rehearsal

Saturday, 5/9, 6-7pm                   **TRUE Performance: Student Uke Jam, Cozmic Pizza

Wednesday, 5/13, 10am-4pm    **TRUE Recording Session at Track Town Records

Monday, 5/18                             WREN Science Field Trip

Thurs, 5/21-Fri, 5/22                  NO SCHOOL: Conferences

Monday, May 25                        NO SCHOOL: Memorial Day

Thursday, 5/28                           Canopy Connections Field Trip

Friday, 5/29                                Move-up Day/8th Graders Bowling

Thursday, 6/4, 6:00-8:00pm      Eighth Grade Graduation

Mon, 6/8-Thurs, 6/11                 Adventure Trip

Wed, 6/10                                   Last Day of School

Dear Middle School Family,

We are officially finished with the State testing.  Carrie and I are proud of the students' hard work and grace under pressure.  We had a High Five! flash mob in the classroom when the last test was completed.

The Project Fair Concerts were a blast, as was dinner in-between.  It's always so heartwarming to hang out with the kids and watch them interact 'after hours.'  What a bunch of kooks!  Delightful, bright, wonderful kooks.

The Pizza Party was also a ton of face-stuffing fun.  A big thank you goes out to India's Namas (Grandmas) for bringing (and donating!) the pizzas, and to her mom, Janene, for donating the drinks.

Field Trips

Thanks, Janene, Dave, Erik, Mitra, and Ali for joining us on the Canopy Connections Trip on May 28.  It's going to be a blast!

We still need at least one adult to join us on our all-day Monday, May 18th field trip via LTD to the Mill Race by the Science Factory to study macro-invertebrates!  (Right now it's just me and Carrie.)  We're done at noon, and we'll already be down at the river with bus passes for the day, so we're going to spend the afternoon on the river before we come back to Ridgeline.  Details to follow.  (If we can get enough frisbees, we'll play the frisbee golf course at Alton Baker!)

Conference Sign-ups are in the Office

I've met, or been in close contact, with most of you many times throughout the school year.  May Conferences are NOT a requirement.  But the time off does create an opportunity for us to put some intention in our communication.

I hope you all feel that our door is, sincerely, always open. I am happy to schedule an appointment to meet with you any time, not just during Conferences. Please do so, right away, any time you have any concerns or questions.  Or just pop in and say hello if you just want to connect!

That said, the sign-ups are in the office if you want to schedule a short sit down.  If we haven't been in close contact, I highly encourage you to take advantage of this time to connect.  It's important that we connect.  No pressure.  No worries.  It will be an informal affair.

Please note: I've blocked out the entire afternoon on Friday, because I'm taking my son, Kegan (also in our class) to see Spoon and the Decemberists play a concert in Bend Friday night that will change his life.  =)

Project Work!

Students will be wrapping up their research and putting the pieces of their Science and Humanities Projects together this week.  Projects and Zine publication is going to take up most of our time these next couple weeks.  (Has your student shown you their zines yet?  We've published two sets of four.  We're wrapping up our third this week.  They're amazing!)

And Math!  (Always with the math...)

Art, Music, Math (as a language), Physical Activity, and Deep learning in Science and the Humanities is what we'll continue to be up to for the rest of the school year--along with field trips, community service around campus, and having fun together, in general.

We love our job.  More accurately: we love our learning community, our people.  So much.

Jon and Carrie