Heather Lee
535 SE 27th Avenue
Portland, OR 97214
February 15, 2005
Superintendent Vicki Phillips
Portland Public Schools
501 North Dixon Street
Portland, OR 97227-1807
Dear Ms. Phillips,
I am enclosing my letter of petition to transfer my daughter from Sunnyside Environmental School. There are many parents who feel as I do and I would like you to know how we feel about the methods of communication and attitudes of inclusiveness of the school.
I first became concerned with the inner workings of the administration at the school last November when an email was distributed by an outraged parent regarding a proposal to the board to change the enrollment status of the school. This proposal would change the status from a neighborhood school with a focus option to a focus option school only. I am not alone in thinking that comments should have been solicited from the entire school and the neighborhood surrounding it before this change was sent to the board. Site Council had made this decision alone and had made an announcement in the PTA meeting the night before the board meeting. The PTA was told that parents did not need to do anything.
I went to that board meeting. The board did not look very happy to see so many parents flying blindly into their meeting wanting to know why this was new information. The board appeared to stand by their decision to leave the enrollment status alone – a neighborhood school with focus option. Furthermore, in order to make the transition easier for the neighborhood families, they were to have neighborhood enrollment status at several surrounding schools.
Several announcements went out into the school newsletter, and a survey/information sheet was distributed to all the parents letting them know they had such “wonderful options.” December was a very bleak month in the building. Rather than creating a space for airing out all the emotions and distributing clear information about what was happening in the school, the administration chose to encourage perceived troublemakers to leave the school. All complaints, questions and concerns were relegated to the level of educational philosophical differences. Since most of the rumblings were about safety, I have to wonder if the safety of children in the care of Portland Public Schools a matter of philosophical differences?
In an attempt to find a way to clear the air and keep the school from imploding, I chose to research the methods and means of school organization created by the Board of Education for PPS and discovered that our site council was not organized according to the principles set out in board policy 7.10.010-P. Additionally, there was not a Local School Advisory Committee. I went to the site council meeting in December and did not feel that they were concerned with the best interests of the community, only in installing their own agenda in the school. I scheduled a meeting with the principal and got permission to organize more elaborate communication for the school administration to communicate with the families but was specifically told that we did not need any more committees in the school.
I have looked into the actual implementation of the neighborhood transfer options for Sunnyside neighborhood families and they do not have neighborhood privileges at the provided list of surrounding schools, they have priority – which moves them to the top of the waiting list. All of the surrounding schools have waiting lists. It is thus my understanding, based on that research into the enrollment figures for the surrounding schools, that there is no way to restructure the district neighborhood divisions and allow Sunnyside to be a focus option only school. In light of that, I find it unconscionable that the board of education allows the administration at Sunnyside to persist in their illusion of being a focus option school. Unless there is a change in the special 'exit' policy that was created for this implementation of a neighborhood focus option school, they are going to have to accommodate the neighborhood status of the school in both their philosophy and their curriculum.
As things stand now, an LSAC has been created in the school against the wishes of the principal. However, most parents already feel so disenfranchised with the administration that I feel it is too late to address many of these issues at the school level. I personally feel that there is no possible scenario that involves a win-win outcome for the families and most especially the children attending the school. For this reason, I have removed my children from this school. Poorly handled politics and nepotism are not things I want them to learn.
Sincerely,
Heather Lee
February 14, 2005
Monday, February 14, 2005
Tuesday, February 8, 2005
What's wrong with Public School
I am applying for a Petition Transfer to move my daughter from Sunnyside Environmental School immediately. I have grave concerns about the overall focus of this program in terms of its safety, curriculum and community.
I do not feel that the administration is adequately concerned with the health and safety of the students. The first example of this is with regards to lice. Initially, the administration proposed removing the lockers from the hallways. I believe this did not happen due more to economics than health, however, I was grateful my child had a place to keep her clothing separate. Soon after the school year started, my daughter did not come home with her sweater, and I was told she had loaned it to one of her classmates because they went for a walk and he did not have a jacket. The classroom is also full of pillows and dress up clothes and silks for creative play. When I asked what the cleaning policy of these materials would be at the beginning of the year I was told not to worry so much. I am not alone in this concern. Last year, the kindergarten, these children, had an epidemic of lice sharing because of district policy. As parents, we collectively instituted rules for our children about sharing hair products and coats and hats. That we as a group have made this decision, and the persons in authority are telling our children otherwise indicates a lack of interest in parent involvement. The second example of the disregard for safety is connected to the first. The children go for weekly walks as a group. This walk is a required part of the curriculum and the students must go, regardless of the weather. There are 30 children in this class and there are 3 adults on this trip. I understand and do not take issue with a 1:30 ratio for teaching in the classroom, however, on these walks, 2 are teachers offering the lesson and one is a parent volunteer. While my daughter was raised in a densely urban environment and is very comfortable and I feel safe with her walking city streets, I do not know about the other children in her class, and I am concerned that she and the rest do not have enough eyes watching them to insure that they do not wander into traffic, away from the group, or into less caring hands. Furthermore, if they go walking in the rain, how are they to finish learning for the day if they are sitting in wet and dirty clothing?
Beyond my classroom concerns, I am frightened by the attitude of the administration with regards to overall safety. At a site council meeting discussing maximum building capacity, it was stated “we certainly don't want the fire marshal in here.” Why not? Are we knowingly placing students in danger for convenience or special interests? Also, a trip to the river in December-besides having no redeeming educational value-took place in weather with poor visibility and allowed children to walk on a public dock without safely equipment. I gave permission for my child to visit the East Side Promenade based on my familiarity with its railings and other safety features. I did not consider they would be down on the water, and did not consider that I gave permission for that. Many parents felt the way that I did, when they went to the administration about their concerns, they were told that the activity fell within the minimum standards of safety. This school has a curriculum that is centered around outside activities. That their standard is the minimum allowed by law does not convince me that they have any practical knowledge of the limits and capabilities of small children.
I am deeply troubled by the proposed curriculum for the elementary education at SES. Primarily, I am concerned that there is no proposed curriculum. That the district allowed the incorporation of a school without a proposed curriculum points to corruption and potential scandal. Repeated requests to the teacher for a copy of the curriculum were met with non responses, and it was not until I spoke to other parents in November that I learned that one did not exist. The staff had repeatedly sent home notes with requests for input that did not seem to be followed through with action. One uniformly requested addition to the curriculum was spelling lists for the first grade class. Although we were finally promised one before the Christmas break, they have yet to materialize. Another concern is that the children all learn to read this year. They had been well prepped for this by the end of kindergarten, and some had already succeeded in breaking the code. I know of not other students in the class who have had the 'eureka' moment an are apt readers. My concern for my daughter is that she was one of the early readers who left kindergarten reading at a late first or early second grade level. She has improved over the course of this year, but not due to any of the assignments her special reading group has assigned. In truth, her special reading group has been sighted sitting in the office and hallways waiting for their teacher. They have been sent back to class because there was no time for them, and I have personally heard one say “Yeah, we get to read with Sarah today.” Do they not always get to read with her? The girls were also promised a special event reading for the river festival, but that did not materialize and my daughter was especially disappointed. I understand that she and the other few have been singled out not so much for their ability as for the need to get them out of the way of the non readers in their class. I think their time would be better spent helping their classmates learn to read and I fear that next year, they will fall even farther behind because they will still not be challenged because of the number of fellow students who still won't be able to read.
I have repeatedly asked for additional homework for my daughter because I do not want her to fall behind the benchmarks, regardless of the standing of her fellow students, and I do not want her to express any more boredom with the school or her learning. I not only have not gotten anything additional, the assigned homework had not expressed any increasing expectations for the students. I find it difficult to discern the academic standards being refined in the homework and I do not find that these assignments overall are teaching any study skills or any academic skills that can be built on in the future.
I am also concerned about the lack of seating in the first grade classroom. Over the holiday, half the seating was removed from the classroom. If this were kindergarten, I would be sympathetic to the use of all centers in the learning environment, however, I believe that some part of the first grade is teaching the children to all focus on the same thing at the same time. This is a skill they will need for their academic and professional futures.
Parent teacher communication is also of concern to me. The creation and assignment of reading groups happened without discussion with the parents, and I found out about it from my daughter. She often comes home with rules of conduct that seem disjointed and are later not enforced, such as skateboard policy on the property. The reading engagement at the festival was only ever a rumor from the children, no note or phone call ever came about it. And the weekly communication is almost always centered on past events rather than future goals.
Lastly, I am gravely concerned about the social values that my child is learning in this environment. All stakeholders are not welcome to participate in planning or guiding events, curriculum or guidelines in this school. That the administration deals with every complaint as the workings of an isolated troublemaker, encourages families to leave if they will not blindly follow, tells students that EMS came to 'save' Sunnyside students from their poor education, does not involve the Columbia Regional Program in every decision and committee that makes decisions, and discourages parents from attending board meetings is not teaching my child anything about compassion, inclusion or dignity.
Furthermore, the environmental curriculum seems to be less about scientific principles and environmental justice, which is what I thought we were doing and more about Gaia worship with recycling as the main liturgy. When the infamous river visit occurred, the children were not at the river to learn about currents or pollution or water cycles, they were looking for fairies. Words fail me in my attempt to express in what ways and on how many levels I do not believe that fairies are an appropriate focus of the curriculum in any school.
I have worked tirelessly as the first grade coordinator to facilitate communication between the parents and the administration. I have taken all complaints seriously and expended much energy in smoothing the transition of a new idea into an old building. Based on the entrenchment I see happening, and the lack of community building I feel, I no longer believe this to be an educationally viable model. The painful transition may smooth itself into a functioning school, however, I do not see it teaching children the things that the school system is obligated to teach them, principally reading, writing and mathematics, and I am no longer willing or able to continue wasting her time sending her to school so she can come home and I can introduce her to all the things that have not been introduced, and smooth over the confusing morass of social and religious instructions she has acquired.
I would like to move her now, instead of waiting for the next school year for two reasons. Most importantly, because I do not want her to lose interest in school altogether before next year, because I do not want her to fall behind in the areas of learning she was supposed to have mastered this year, and because I am honestly afraid that what little room is available in the surrounding schools that we have been offered up as options will be full. I would rather home school my children than send them to this school next year.
Sincerely,
Heather Lee
February 8, 2005
I do not feel that the administration is adequately concerned with the health and safety of the students. The first example of this is with regards to lice. Initially, the administration proposed removing the lockers from the hallways. I believe this did not happen due more to economics than health, however, I was grateful my child had a place to keep her clothing separate. Soon after the school year started, my daughter did not come home with her sweater, and I was told she had loaned it to one of her classmates because they went for a walk and he did not have a jacket. The classroom is also full of pillows and dress up clothes and silks for creative play. When I asked what the cleaning policy of these materials would be at the beginning of the year I was told not to worry so much. I am not alone in this concern. Last year, the kindergarten, these children, had an epidemic of lice sharing because of district policy. As parents, we collectively instituted rules for our children about sharing hair products and coats and hats. That we as a group have made this decision, and the persons in authority are telling our children otherwise indicates a lack of interest in parent involvement. The second example of the disregard for safety is connected to the first. The children go for weekly walks as a group. This walk is a required part of the curriculum and the students must go, regardless of the weather. There are 30 children in this class and there are 3 adults on this trip. I understand and do not take issue with a 1:30 ratio for teaching in the classroom, however, on these walks, 2 are teachers offering the lesson and one is a parent volunteer. While my daughter was raised in a densely urban environment and is very comfortable and I feel safe with her walking city streets, I do not know about the other children in her class, and I am concerned that she and the rest do not have enough eyes watching them to insure that they do not wander into traffic, away from the group, or into less caring hands. Furthermore, if they go walking in the rain, how are they to finish learning for the day if they are sitting in wet and dirty clothing?
Beyond my classroom concerns, I am frightened by the attitude of the administration with regards to overall safety. At a site council meeting discussing maximum building capacity, it was stated “we certainly don't want the fire marshal in here.” Why not? Are we knowingly placing students in danger for convenience or special interests? Also, a trip to the river in December-besides having no redeeming educational value-took place in weather with poor visibility and allowed children to walk on a public dock without safely equipment. I gave permission for my child to visit the East Side Promenade based on my familiarity with its railings and other safety features. I did not consider they would be down on the water, and did not consider that I gave permission for that. Many parents felt the way that I did, when they went to the administration about their concerns, they were told that the activity fell within the minimum standards of safety. This school has a curriculum that is centered around outside activities. That their standard is the minimum allowed by law does not convince me that they have any practical knowledge of the limits and capabilities of small children.
I am deeply troubled by the proposed curriculum for the elementary education at SES. Primarily, I am concerned that there is no proposed curriculum. That the district allowed the incorporation of a school without a proposed curriculum points to corruption and potential scandal. Repeated requests to the teacher for a copy of the curriculum were met with non responses, and it was not until I spoke to other parents in November that I learned that one did not exist. The staff had repeatedly sent home notes with requests for input that did not seem to be followed through with action. One uniformly requested addition to the curriculum was spelling lists for the first grade class. Although we were finally promised one before the Christmas break, they have yet to materialize. Another concern is that the children all learn to read this year. They had been well prepped for this by the end of kindergarten, and some had already succeeded in breaking the code. I know of not other students in the class who have had the 'eureka' moment an are apt readers. My concern for my daughter is that she was one of the early readers who left kindergarten reading at a late first or early second grade level. She has improved over the course of this year, but not due to any of the assignments her special reading group has assigned. In truth, her special reading group has been sighted sitting in the office and hallways waiting for their teacher. They have been sent back to class because there was no time for them, and I have personally heard one say “Yeah, we get to read with Sarah today.” Do they not always get to read with her? The girls were also promised a special event reading for the river festival, but that did not materialize and my daughter was especially disappointed. I understand that she and the other few have been singled out not so much for their ability as for the need to get them out of the way of the non readers in their class. I think their time would be better spent helping their classmates learn to read and I fear that next year, they will fall even farther behind because they will still not be challenged because of the number of fellow students who still won't be able to read.
I have repeatedly asked for additional homework for my daughter because I do not want her to fall behind the benchmarks, regardless of the standing of her fellow students, and I do not want her to express any more boredom with the school or her learning. I not only have not gotten anything additional, the assigned homework had not expressed any increasing expectations for the students. I find it difficult to discern the academic standards being refined in the homework and I do not find that these assignments overall are teaching any study skills or any academic skills that can be built on in the future.
I am also concerned about the lack of seating in the first grade classroom. Over the holiday, half the seating was removed from the classroom. If this were kindergarten, I would be sympathetic to the use of all centers in the learning environment, however, I believe that some part of the first grade is teaching the children to all focus on the same thing at the same time. This is a skill they will need for their academic and professional futures.
Parent teacher communication is also of concern to me. The creation and assignment of reading groups happened without discussion with the parents, and I found out about it from my daughter. She often comes home with rules of conduct that seem disjointed and are later not enforced, such as skateboard policy on the property. The reading engagement at the festival was only ever a rumor from the children, no note or phone call ever came about it. And the weekly communication is almost always centered on past events rather than future goals.
Lastly, I am gravely concerned about the social values that my child is learning in this environment. All stakeholders are not welcome to participate in planning or guiding events, curriculum or guidelines in this school. That the administration deals with every complaint as the workings of an isolated troublemaker, encourages families to leave if they will not blindly follow, tells students that EMS came to 'save' Sunnyside students from their poor education, does not involve the Columbia Regional Program in every decision and committee that makes decisions, and discourages parents from attending board meetings is not teaching my child anything about compassion, inclusion or dignity.
Furthermore, the environmental curriculum seems to be less about scientific principles and environmental justice, which is what I thought we were doing and more about Gaia worship with recycling as the main liturgy. When the infamous river visit occurred, the children were not at the river to learn about currents or pollution or water cycles, they were looking for fairies. Words fail me in my attempt to express in what ways and on how many levels I do not believe that fairies are an appropriate focus of the curriculum in any school.
I have worked tirelessly as the first grade coordinator to facilitate communication between the parents and the administration. I have taken all complaints seriously and expended much energy in smoothing the transition of a new idea into an old building. Based on the entrenchment I see happening, and the lack of community building I feel, I no longer believe this to be an educationally viable model. The painful transition may smooth itself into a functioning school, however, I do not see it teaching children the things that the school system is obligated to teach them, principally reading, writing and mathematics, and I am no longer willing or able to continue wasting her time sending her to school so she can come home and I can introduce her to all the things that have not been introduced, and smooth over the confusing morass of social and religious instructions she has acquired.
I would like to move her now, instead of waiting for the next school year for two reasons. Most importantly, because I do not want her to lose interest in school altogether before next year, because I do not want her to fall behind in the areas of learning she was supposed to have mastered this year, and because I am honestly afraid that what little room is available in the surrounding schools that we have been offered up as options will be full. I would rather home school my children than send them to this school next year.
Sincerely,
Heather Lee
February 8, 2005
Thursday, December 16, 2004
K-2 Meeting Notes
Sarah told us some background information about EMS and the vision and questions she had for a school that included K-8; especially, what happens in urban environments when cross-neighborhood connections are made.
Sarah also spoke about styles of communication and her hope that we would engage in open, honest, non-fearful and non-angry communication.
Site Council and the committees that support their mission to improve the function of the school were plugged again as being the last Monday of the month that school is in session and the reason they start at 3:30, which is to make it easier for teachers to be involved in the conversation.
Teaching teams for K-2, 3-5 and 6-8 meet once a week and Parent Coordinators will start meeting once a month. These groups are also involved in making the school community and curriculum more cohesive.
Parents presented some points for discussion. Sarah led discussion. Many points are under discussion in Site Council Committees or are part of already planned Forums for January.
Points for Discussion (What was discussed)
· Storyline (We are working on bringing in a district specialist to give presentations to the parents about it and instructing teachers on its use. Right now, it appears that the stories aren’t moving fast enough and there is talk of having a middle school teacher more familiar with Storyline coming down to mentor the new teachers. Storyline works with open-ended assignments.)
· Possibilities for blending K-2 classes to even out class sizes next year. (Possibilities include K-1 and 1-2 blends as well as a hopeful idea to blend part day kindergarten with the CRD kindergarten for a full immersion program. Blending classes can balance for gender, age and personality. Storyline works well with this model because it teaches to the highest level without minimizing younger students. There will be more discussion on this in January – watch the Messenger.)
· Environmental Curriculum (Focusing mostly on the site monitoring and daily walk aspects of the program, Sarah talked about how we are trying to learn the neighborhood better to build a curriculum for K-5 program. As the students progress through the program, they will engage in more interactive activities with the outdoors, from simply walking to using tools on site monitoring trips – i.e. thermometers. Also, incorporating more opportunities for imaginative play at recess is being created – i.e. sandbox, bicycles and other toys.)
· Coping with Disparate Learning Curves – esp. keeping the brightest children from getting bored with school. (Advanced math students are bumped to advanced grade. Storyline is also supposed to take care of this, see Storyline.)
· River Fair – Getting the K-5 program more developed. (This is a matter of time. As the curriculum evolves the fair will have more to show for itself in the K-5 program.)
· Sign Language for all classes and ages. (CRD has funded a teacher and the schedules are currently being worked out so that all classes will have some time with her.)
· Visions for Kindergarten next year (Next year part of the kindergarten will be full day. Full day kindergarten must be paid for because the district only pays for half days. The remaining spaces will be half day. We cannot limit enrollment for the neighborhood students and we are planning to use better figures than were provided last year to determine how many full day kindergarten spots will be created.)
· Increasing inclusion of school by bringing CRD students and mainstream students together. (Covered in part with Visions for Kindergarten.)
· More information on the Middle School Buddy program. (This was apparently better organized at Abernathy and SES will eventually achieve the same success.)
· Goals for reducing class sizes (The district has a program called ADM(average daily minimums) for determining how many teachers a school has. This is not based on the age or grade of the student. Teacher funding is provided based on this average total enrollment divided by 30. The district also will not allow schools with low enrollment to remain open. The only way to create smaller ratios is to eliminate special teachers like music, librarians, counselors and physical education.)
· What happened with the Enrollment Committee (The district has asked that we wait an additional year and see how enrollment looks next year before we change anything. Families who live in the district boundaries for this school, in some strange way, have the same rights as "neighborhood" parents at approximately 5 surrounding schools including the usual suspects and Mt. Tabor.)
· Reading Curriculum (Maybe this is included with Storyline, but it was not discussed directly.)
· Lunching (The K-2 wing will be taking surveys and exploring options for the students to eat in the cafeteria instead of their classrooms.)
· Daily K-2 Assembly (Currently weekly. Stumbling point to daily assembly is room utilization. As we better organize space, this will happen.)
· Composting (Metro came to the kindergarten to talk about recycling and a lively conversation took place about Portland area recycling. The original question involved expanding curriculum to include activities and sites already on campus.)
· Safety (This came up during the Environmental Curriculum discussion, however it deserved its own spot. It has been decided that if trips are going near open water, the safety gear taken on the trip will include the usual first aid kit and cell phone as well as a ring toss and life jackets. There is a safety committee and they are working on this.)
· Earth Day (Like Safety, this was discussed during the curriculum and I decided to give it its own bullet point. April 23 City Works will be here and will be hosting a Building Emergence Conference)
Meeting occurred:
December 14, 2004 6-8 pm in Library
Minutes prepared by Heather Lee
December 16, 2004
Sarah also spoke about styles of communication and her hope that we would engage in open, honest, non-fearful and non-angry communication.
Site Council and the committees that support their mission to improve the function of the school were plugged again as being the last Monday of the month that school is in session and the reason they start at 3:30, which is to make it easier for teachers to be involved in the conversation.
Teaching teams for K-2, 3-5 and 6-8 meet once a week and Parent Coordinators will start meeting once a month. These groups are also involved in making the school community and curriculum more cohesive.
Parents presented some points for discussion. Sarah led discussion. Many points are under discussion in Site Council Committees or are part of already planned Forums for January.
Points for Discussion (What was discussed)
· Storyline (We are working on bringing in a district specialist to give presentations to the parents about it and instructing teachers on its use. Right now, it appears that the stories aren’t moving fast enough and there is talk of having a middle school teacher more familiar with Storyline coming down to mentor the new teachers. Storyline works with open-ended assignments.)
· Possibilities for blending K-2 classes to even out class sizes next year. (Possibilities include K-1 and 1-2 blends as well as a hopeful idea to blend part day kindergarten with the CRD kindergarten for a full immersion program. Blending classes can balance for gender, age and personality. Storyline works well with this model because it teaches to the highest level without minimizing younger students. There will be more discussion on this in January – watch the Messenger.)
· Environmental Curriculum (Focusing mostly on the site monitoring and daily walk aspects of the program, Sarah talked about how we are trying to learn the neighborhood better to build a curriculum for K-5 program. As the students progress through the program, they will engage in more interactive activities with the outdoors, from simply walking to using tools on site monitoring trips – i.e. thermometers. Also, incorporating more opportunities for imaginative play at recess is being created – i.e. sandbox, bicycles and other toys.)
· Coping with Disparate Learning Curves – esp. keeping the brightest children from getting bored with school. (Advanced math students are bumped to advanced grade. Storyline is also supposed to take care of this, see Storyline.)
· River Fair – Getting the K-5 program more developed. (This is a matter of time. As the curriculum evolves the fair will have more to show for itself in the K-5 program.)
· Sign Language for all classes and ages. (CRD has funded a teacher and the schedules are currently being worked out so that all classes will have some time with her.)
· Visions for Kindergarten next year (Next year part of the kindergarten will be full day. Full day kindergarten must be paid for because the district only pays for half days. The remaining spaces will be half day. We cannot limit enrollment for the neighborhood students and we are planning to use better figures than were provided last year to determine how many full day kindergarten spots will be created.)
· Increasing inclusion of school by bringing CRD students and mainstream students together. (Covered in part with Visions for Kindergarten.)
· More information on the Middle School Buddy program. (This was apparently better organized at Abernathy and SES will eventually achieve the same success.)
· Goals for reducing class sizes (The district has a program called ADM(average daily minimums) for determining how many teachers a school has. This is not based on the age or grade of the student. Teacher funding is provided based on this average total enrollment divided by 30. The district also will not allow schools with low enrollment to remain open. The only way to create smaller ratios is to eliminate special teachers like music, librarians, counselors and physical education.)
· What happened with the Enrollment Committee (The district has asked that we wait an additional year and see how enrollment looks next year before we change anything. Families who live in the district boundaries for this school, in some strange way, have the same rights as "neighborhood" parents at approximately 5 surrounding schools including the usual suspects and Mt. Tabor.)
· Reading Curriculum (Maybe this is included with Storyline, but it was not discussed directly.)
· Lunching (The K-2 wing will be taking surveys and exploring options for the students to eat in the cafeteria instead of their classrooms.)
· Daily K-2 Assembly (Currently weekly. Stumbling point to daily assembly is room utilization. As we better organize space, this will happen.)
· Composting (Metro came to the kindergarten to talk about recycling and a lively conversation took place about Portland area recycling. The original question involved expanding curriculum to include activities and sites already on campus.)
· Safety (This came up during the Environmental Curriculum discussion, however it deserved its own spot. It has been decided that if trips are going near open water, the safety gear taken on the trip will include the usual first aid kit and cell phone as well as a ring toss and life jackets. There is a safety committee and they are working on this.)
· Earth Day (Like Safety, this was discussed during the curriculum and I decided to give it its own bullet point. April 23 City Works will be here and will be hosting a Building Emergence Conference)
Meeting occurred:
December 14, 2004 6-8 pm in Library
Minutes prepared by Heather Lee
December 16, 2004
Comunicate, Cubed
To our Parent Coordinators, Webmasters, Newsletter Editors, Communication Committee Members, and all those who receive this as a forward because someone thought they could help or because I just didn’t know who they were:
(If you receive this as a forward, please send me an intro email about you and what you do. One thing I am trying to do is compile an idea of who does what and where and who)
First, I want to apologize to everyone for how hurried this is. I especially want to apologize to any coordinators who heard about this the first time at a meeting or in the newsletter. It was not my intention to move forward without you, it was only my intention to get the idea in the subconscious of the school before the holidays.
I am afraid this hardly counts as an email anymore, so I am also sending it as an attachment in Word so it is more easily read. My goal is to give everyone some ideas to chew on over the holidays so that we aren’t surprising anyone after we get back. I have to say that while I am willing to help with any nagging questions this information might raise and gather excellent ideas to compile into meeting notes and agenda points, mostly I am hoping to let it rest and start the conversation in January. Any problem that need solving have not already been addressed by the school aren’t going to be handled by us over Christmas holiday anyway – so enjoy and don’t worry. I promise the conversation we are starting it isn’t as complicated or as long as it appears -but because I want to be clear and I want to be done please forgive any repetitiveness, over explanations and editing errors that may be in this document.
As you are aware many vectors for communication were set up at the beginning of the school year but given the reality that we are creating these from scratch, those vectors were not set in motion with as much planning and forethought as they might have been. To be honest, we likely didn’t have any idea how they might best fulfill the needs of our new community. Now, hopefully, we have settled in a bit and can come together and talk about how we are doing on our own, share our successes, keep each other from repeating our failures and work out how to make everyone really feel like a stakeholder.
The first and main order of business is to work more with our room/grade coordinators.
My exceedingly informal surveys have told me that most of us have some system for facilitating communication between the teacher and the parent. I would like to see us take on a slightly larger role and expand that communicate to include other decision-making bodies at the school. I think that if we can share information in more personal ways we can not only increase awareness of that information but also enhance the community building that we are all so eager to partake of.
Sarah has agreed to create some time for all of the parent coordinators to meet with her once a month. The purpose of these meetings is to discuss how the communication is working and to discuss parent concerns that do not pertain to some already formed committee. I realize these meetings are likely to happen during school hours and I would like to see us supporting each other in a way that even if we cannot attend a meeting our ideas and needs can be presented on our behalf. In that way, I would like to see us setting the example for the entire community that physical attendance is not a hindrance to effective communication.
Let me present an example of how I see us working together. I would like you to consider how closely this follows what actually happens in a more random and round about way right now and imagine the possibilities if we knew it was not only acceptable but expected that we worked in this way.
This is an actual example. The k-2 wing is facilitating a discussion about the current lunch model in that wing. A survey on satisfaction with current methods and suggestions for alternate ideas needs to be directed to those parents of k-2 children that are most affected by this change. Those parents also need someone in their class, someone they can identify in the hall preferably, to say they want to write that survey or compile that information or explore the benefits and detractions for all possible lunching options. That person ought to know there is a discussion happening about lunching. (I want to say here that I am a parent coordinator and I have heard vague conversation that people are upset about the way the lunches are going and it took me completely by surprise that so many people seem to have an opinion on it when we started discussing it at the k-2 meeting with Sarah.) Now, if parents know they can come to their coordinators with their concerns, the coordinators can ask each other if they are hearing anything about, in this case, lunching. If it does seem to be the case an interested parent can be located to coordinate the survey and options. At this point, I think a short two-sentence announcement in the newsletter asking for input on where k-2 students eat lunch and a person to contact is appropriate. Then that information can be brought to Sarah about how the parents as a whole feel about the lunching in the k-2 wing. At that point Sarah can help us make the changes that will improve the lunching situation. I think this will not only utilize her time more effectively, but it will free up time for her to deal with different needs.
This model is scalable. It will work if there is a concern pertinent only to one grade/classroom and it will work if there is a concern of interest to the entire school. This model ask only that the parents be informed that the room coordinator they already know is someone that has access to information and has a way to coordinate information to see that something actually happens. This model only asks of room parents that they speak with each other and that have access to the information of what committees exist, what they do, and who their contact person is. The most difficult thing this model asks is that room parents take the concerns of their parents sincerely and sees that those parents achieve resolution, either by directing them to the person in charge of their area of concern or helping them set up a means of exploring that concern. I understand that this model involves a measure of sensitivity, but it is in no way to replace a parents right and responsibility to approach Sarah. If someone comes to you with something that is personal or involves harm in any way, please direct them to Sarah and stay out of it. Please don’t gossip, which involves sharing information with the intent to harm. And that is the end of the ethical training today.
(The rest of this mostly consists of me throwing some ideas around that will need group consensus – but I think they are still worth reading.)
It is my hope that effectively harnessing the abilities of multiple people to direct traffic will also clear other lines of communication. One of the more abused means of getting the word out is the Messenger. I know that Stephanie and Ginny work really hard to put all that information together, and I know I work really hard to try to read and digest all of it. Understand that I know that there are some announcements of concern to the whole school and I think it is vital they have the space to be seen. It is my opinion, however, that much of what should go in the Messenger (and doesn’t always make it) are references to information that is located in another place. However, I think the larger description of many activities is better directed to the stake holding parents themselves. Let me be clear that I absolutely believe in disclosure and transparency so that everyone knows what is going on.
For example, let me draw an example from last week’s newsletter. Reminders in the newsletter that the new minutes of site council are on the website with a link provided and notice that they have been added to the site council binder or posted on the bulletin board for committees is good. Publishing the site council minutes in the newsletter (which didn’t exactly happen) would just takes up a lot of space and makes it hard to get through all the information that is out there and available. Better to leave room for really big announcements regarding site council, like the place and time for a school forum on the class distribution of the k-2 wing and announcements that they are soliciting email and written information from parents who will not be able to attend with directions on where that information should go.
I realize that referencing the website is well and good, but the information has to be there first. We are coming to that. I am including the website coordinator in this communication because I want to touch base with everyone before we go on break so that come the first week of January no one is taken by surprise. Some things in the works regarding the website include getting natural note takers and potential transcribers to connect and make this information available. I am trying to gather a group of people who volunteer as transcribers. Note taking is usually happening at all meetings, but getting them typed and posted somewhere is another project entirely. I am hoping I can find some people with half an hour a month or so to help with this. I am going to need to work with Polly Birnbaum about how we can best get things like minutes from PTA and site council on the site. I know someone has also been working with her about getting a better calendaring system in place. If you know who that is, I would love for you forward this to them and get them in contact with me. If you know anyone who often attends meetings and is a compulsive writer please send them my way.
The other main stakeholders I want to include in this venture are some of the most important but they got tucked in here last because I need to listen to them more than I need to talk. They are the communications committee on the site council. I am also interested in including in less direct ways the other committees on site council, since they are concerned with how to communicate with the larger school and I would also like to include the secretaries and curriculum teams.
If any of you think of someone who really needs to be a part of this conversation, please forward this to them and send me something back about then so that they can be included. If I forget someone obvious or even someone I have mentioned in the email, please forgive me - it was not intentional.
The communications committee on the site council is working on getting mailing lists through the district to work. I applaud their effort, as I have never heard much good about peoplesoft. At this time I am not setting up a mailing list for the coordinators and other people related to communication but if we decide we need or would like a space to hold more regular and open-ended conversations it is always a possibility. I have my own server to run a list from. This is another reason to let me know who might be important in getting synaptic connections firing - so I can add them to the list.
Have a good holiday and I will find you after we get back in January.
(If you receive this as a forward, please send me an intro email about you and what you do. One thing I am trying to do is compile an idea of who does what and where and who)
First, I want to apologize to everyone for how hurried this is. I especially want to apologize to any coordinators who heard about this the first time at a meeting or in the newsletter. It was not my intention to move forward without you, it was only my intention to get the idea in the subconscious of the school before the holidays.
I am afraid this hardly counts as an email anymore, so I am also sending it as an attachment in Word so it is more easily read. My goal is to give everyone some ideas to chew on over the holidays so that we aren’t surprising anyone after we get back. I have to say that while I am willing to help with any nagging questions this information might raise and gather excellent ideas to compile into meeting notes and agenda points, mostly I am hoping to let it rest and start the conversation in January. Any problem that need solving have not already been addressed by the school aren’t going to be handled by us over Christmas holiday anyway – so enjoy and don’t worry. I promise the conversation we are starting it isn’t as complicated or as long as it appears -but because I want to be clear and I want to be done please forgive any repetitiveness, over explanations and editing errors that may be in this document.
As you are aware many vectors for communication were set up at the beginning of the school year but given the reality that we are creating these from scratch, those vectors were not set in motion with as much planning and forethought as they might have been. To be honest, we likely didn’t have any idea how they might best fulfill the needs of our new community. Now, hopefully, we have settled in a bit and can come together and talk about how we are doing on our own, share our successes, keep each other from repeating our failures and work out how to make everyone really feel like a stakeholder.
The first and main order of business is to work more with our room/grade coordinators.
My exceedingly informal surveys have told me that most of us have some system for facilitating communication between the teacher and the parent. I would like to see us take on a slightly larger role and expand that communicate to include other decision-making bodies at the school. I think that if we can share information in more personal ways we can not only increase awareness of that information but also enhance the community building that we are all so eager to partake of.
Sarah has agreed to create some time for all of the parent coordinators to meet with her once a month. The purpose of these meetings is to discuss how the communication is working and to discuss parent concerns that do not pertain to some already formed committee. I realize these meetings are likely to happen during school hours and I would like to see us supporting each other in a way that even if we cannot attend a meeting our ideas and needs can be presented on our behalf. In that way, I would like to see us setting the example for the entire community that physical attendance is not a hindrance to effective communication.
Let me present an example of how I see us working together. I would like you to consider how closely this follows what actually happens in a more random and round about way right now and imagine the possibilities if we knew it was not only acceptable but expected that we worked in this way.
This is an actual example. The k-2 wing is facilitating a discussion about the current lunch model in that wing. A survey on satisfaction with current methods and suggestions for alternate ideas needs to be directed to those parents of k-2 children that are most affected by this change. Those parents also need someone in their class, someone they can identify in the hall preferably, to say they want to write that survey or compile that information or explore the benefits and detractions for all possible lunching options. That person ought to know there is a discussion happening about lunching. (I want to say here that I am a parent coordinator and I have heard vague conversation that people are upset about the way the lunches are going and it took me completely by surprise that so many people seem to have an opinion on it when we started discussing it at the k-2 meeting with Sarah.) Now, if parents know they can come to their coordinators with their concerns, the coordinators can ask each other if they are hearing anything about, in this case, lunching. If it does seem to be the case an interested parent can be located to coordinate the survey and options. At this point, I think a short two-sentence announcement in the newsletter asking for input on where k-2 students eat lunch and a person to contact is appropriate. Then that information can be brought to Sarah about how the parents as a whole feel about the lunching in the k-2 wing. At that point Sarah can help us make the changes that will improve the lunching situation. I think this will not only utilize her time more effectively, but it will free up time for her to deal with different needs.
This model is scalable. It will work if there is a concern pertinent only to one grade/classroom and it will work if there is a concern of interest to the entire school. This model ask only that the parents be informed that the room coordinator they already know is someone that has access to information and has a way to coordinate information to see that something actually happens. This model only asks of room parents that they speak with each other and that have access to the information of what committees exist, what they do, and who their contact person is. The most difficult thing this model asks is that room parents take the concerns of their parents sincerely and sees that those parents achieve resolution, either by directing them to the person in charge of their area of concern or helping them set up a means of exploring that concern. I understand that this model involves a measure of sensitivity, but it is in no way to replace a parents right and responsibility to approach Sarah. If someone comes to you with something that is personal or involves harm in any way, please direct them to Sarah and stay out of it. Please don’t gossip, which involves sharing information with the intent to harm. And that is the end of the ethical training today.
(The rest of this mostly consists of me throwing some ideas around that will need group consensus – but I think they are still worth reading.)
It is my hope that effectively harnessing the abilities of multiple people to direct traffic will also clear other lines of communication. One of the more abused means of getting the word out is the Messenger. I know that Stephanie and Ginny work really hard to put all that information together, and I know I work really hard to try to read and digest all of it. Understand that I know that there are some announcements of concern to the whole school and I think it is vital they have the space to be seen. It is my opinion, however, that much of what should go in the Messenger (and doesn’t always make it) are references to information that is located in another place. However, I think the larger description of many activities is better directed to the stake holding parents themselves. Let me be clear that I absolutely believe in disclosure and transparency so that everyone knows what is going on.
For example, let me draw an example from last week’s newsletter. Reminders in the newsletter that the new minutes of site council are on the website with a link provided and notice that they have been added to the site council binder or posted on the bulletin board for committees is good. Publishing the site council minutes in the newsletter (which didn’t exactly happen) would just takes up a lot of space and makes it hard to get through all the information that is out there and available. Better to leave room for really big announcements regarding site council, like the place and time for a school forum on the class distribution of the k-2 wing and announcements that they are soliciting email and written information from parents who will not be able to attend with directions on where that information should go.
I realize that referencing the website is well and good, but the information has to be there first. We are coming to that. I am including the website coordinator in this communication because I want to touch base with everyone before we go on break so that come the first week of January no one is taken by surprise. Some things in the works regarding the website include getting natural note takers and potential transcribers to connect and make this information available. I am trying to gather a group of people who volunteer as transcribers. Note taking is usually happening at all meetings, but getting them typed and posted somewhere is another project entirely. I am hoping I can find some people with half an hour a month or so to help with this. I am going to need to work with Polly Birnbaum about how we can best get things like minutes from PTA and site council on the site. I know someone has also been working with her about getting a better calendaring system in place. If you know who that is, I would love for you forward this to them and get them in contact with me. If you know anyone who often attends meetings and is a compulsive writer please send them my way.
The other main stakeholders I want to include in this venture are some of the most important but they got tucked in here last because I need to listen to them more than I need to talk. They are the communications committee on the site council. I am also interested in including in less direct ways the other committees on site council, since they are concerned with how to communicate with the larger school and I would also like to include the secretaries and curriculum teams.
If any of you think of someone who really needs to be a part of this conversation, please forward this to them and send me something back about then so that they can be included. If I forget someone obvious or even someone I have mentioned in the email, please forgive me - it was not intentional.
The communications committee on the site council is working on getting mailing lists through the district to work. I applaud their effort, as I have never heard much good about peoplesoft. At this time I am not setting up a mailing list for the coordinators and other people related to communication but if we decide we need or would like a space to hold more regular and open-ended conversations it is always a possibility. I have my own server to run a list from. This is another reason to let me know who might be important in getting synaptic connections firing - so I can add them to the list.
Have a good holiday and I will find you after we get back in January.
Wednesday, December 15, 2004
Improving Communications
It has been half a school year already and we have been taking stock of how things are going. One area we can certainly improve is how we are utilizing the communication systems already in place. Look for these good changes in the New Year.
Room Parents Unite to Better Inform Community
If you have a request, question, suggestion or anything else, these will be the people to ask first. If they can’t direct you where you need to go, they can find out and let you know. Also, starting in January, these parents will have an opportunity to meet monthly with Sarah to share how this system is working. Be nice to your room parents, they are communication liaisons, not decision makers, and I hope we can view them as impartial vectors for information.
WE NEED two or three parents of middle school students to be these room parents for the middle school. Please don’t add too much to your plate. Mostly these positions require an email address to direct communications to/from, the desire if not ability to attend most of the monthly meetings with Sarah and to be occasionally available to parents on campus.
Desperately Seeking Secretaries
Second, the website is another source of underutilized communication. Look soon for committee meeting minutes and contact information as well as the school calendar on the website.
WE NEED a cadre of note takers and transcribers to help make this happen. You don’t need to join a committee; you just need to be a parent who compulsively takes notes at meetings of interest to you. We also need people who have an occasional half an hour to turn a pile of these notes into readable minutes and newsletter/website articles. This is the perfect opportunity for parents who can’t be on campus to volunteer.
Student Voices Need Expression
Third, all this work is for nothing if we do not teach our children the importance of communication. Creating our stories is something that can bring us together even faster and more profoundly than simply attending the same school. As well as hearing their voice about the experience of environmental education we can encourage cross-generational teaching.
WE NEED some parents and/or staff that can help coordinate the students in creating their own student page of the website and possible student newspaper. This should be a K-8 experience where the older students can help the younger with the writing. This should be their place at the table and they should be encouraged to work out the details themselves.
If you want to talk about any of these topics in greater detail, please contact Heather Lee. I am the coordinator for the Room Parents and for the Secretary Pool. I really wanted to work on the newspaper, but I was the worst reporter on staff for my high school newspaper. The articles are still an embarrassment to me today.
Room Parents Unite to Better Inform Community
If you have a request, question, suggestion or anything else, these will be the people to ask first. If they can’t direct you where you need to go, they can find out and let you know. Also, starting in January, these parents will have an opportunity to meet monthly with Sarah to share how this system is working. Be nice to your room parents, they are communication liaisons, not decision makers, and I hope we can view them as impartial vectors for information.
WE NEED two or three parents of middle school students to be these room parents for the middle school. Please don’t add too much to your plate. Mostly these positions require an email address to direct communications to/from, the desire if not ability to attend most of the monthly meetings with Sarah and to be occasionally available to parents on campus.
Desperately Seeking Secretaries
Second, the website is another source of underutilized communication. Look soon for committee meeting minutes and contact information as well as the school calendar on the website.
WE NEED a cadre of note takers and transcribers to help make this happen. You don’t need to join a committee; you just need to be a parent who compulsively takes notes at meetings of interest to you. We also need people who have an occasional half an hour to turn a pile of these notes into readable minutes and newsletter/website articles. This is the perfect opportunity for parents who can’t be on campus to volunteer.
Student Voices Need Expression
Third, all this work is for nothing if we do not teach our children the importance of communication. Creating our stories is something that can bring us together even faster and more profoundly than simply attending the same school. As well as hearing their voice about the experience of environmental education we can encourage cross-generational teaching.
WE NEED some parents and/or staff that can help coordinate the students in creating their own student page of the website and possible student newspaper. This should be a K-8 experience where the older students can help the younger with the writing. This should be their place at the table and they should be encouraged to work out the details themselves.
If you want to talk about any of these topics in greater detail, please contact Heather Lee. I am the coordinator for the Room Parents and for the Secretary Pool. I really wanted to work on the newspaper, but I was the worst reporter on staff for my high school newspaper. The articles are still an embarrassment to me today.
Monday, December 6, 2004
How Will they Know
“Everything your church needs to be what God wants it to be is already in your midst. Open your eyes to the people around you. Stop wishing and hoping, and do the best you can, with what you’ve got, for Jesus Christ today.” Rick Warren, in The Emerging Church by Dan Kimball.
I have been thinking about this powerful quotation for the last month while doing research for our evangelism committee. And the conclusion I have reached is somehow both remarkable and obvious. “Open your eyes to the people around you.” There are certainly a lot of people around. Our building is surprisingly full of people all the time, if we are only willing and able to see them as part of our church.
How do we really feel about having the many groups and communities using the building? Do we see them as purely a source of income? Do we even see them as potential Christians? Do we see them as members of our community, just they way they are? I keep running into the idea that early Christian communities contained both the initiated and the uninitiated. (One source of this was a quote from Bishop Itty’s address at the Convention.) How we see ourselves, especially where we draw the line demarcating ‘other’ will have a lot to do with how we present ourselves to the groups in the building and how we present ourselves to strangers who come through the door.
We need to take some time to think about our attitudes towards the people who meet in this building. They have a right and responsibility to the building and my perception is that they would love to have an invitation as well. We might want to think about opening the boundaries with regards to the building- who has permission to use it and even who has permission to be on the committees about the building. And lastly I suppose who has the responsibility to provide care and money and maintenance on the building.
Dan Kimball had something else important to show me. While teaching a class on Acts he said to his students, “The church is the people of God who gather together with a sense of mission (Acts 14:27). We can’t go to church because we are the church.” Our little group of parishioners is the church at St. David’s and no matter how much we love this building, it isn’t the church, we are. We don’t need this parish beyond its ability to provide comfort and safety for all the people who use it. We don’t need this property beyond its ability to give us space to focus and feed our mission – to witness to the love of God and to spread the Good News of Jesus Christ.
We need to re-imagine ourselves in relation to this building. Semantics are powerful. Calling the groups who meet here outsiders denies them the right to be here. And it keeps them separate from the church, separate from us and ultimately, separate from God. If we see them as tenants, how will we ever imagine them as members of the body of Christ, how will they ever imagine that our God is the God of Unconditional Love. Every community that uses this building is contributing to the lifting up of the broken and hurting world. Every individual who meets here for any reason is searching for God’s love and worthy of joining our family.
I have been thinking about this powerful quotation for the last month while doing research for our evangelism committee. And the conclusion I have reached is somehow both remarkable and obvious. “Open your eyes to the people around you.” There are certainly a lot of people around. Our building is surprisingly full of people all the time, if we are only willing and able to see them as part of our church.
How do we really feel about having the many groups and communities using the building? Do we see them as purely a source of income? Do we even see them as potential Christians? Do we see them as members of our community, just they way they are? I keep running into the idea that early Christian communities contained both the initiated and the uninitiated. (One source of this was a quote from Bishop Itty’s address at the Convention.) How we see ourselves, especially where we draw the line demarcating ‘other’ will have a lot to do with how we present ourselves to the groups in the building and how we present ourselves to strangers who come through the door.
We need to take some time to think about our attitudes towards the people who meet in this building. They have a right and responsibility to the building and my perception is that they would love to have an invitation as well. We might want to think about opening the boundaries with regards to the building- who has permission to use it and even who has permission to be on the committees about the building. And lastly I suppose who has the responsibility to provide care and money and maintenance on the building.
Dan Kimball had something else important to show me. While teaching a class on Acts he said to his students, “The church is the people of God who gather together with a sense of mission (Acts 14:27). We can’t go to church because we are the church.” Our little group of parishioners is the church at St. David’s and no matter how much we love this building, it isn’t the church, we are. We don’t need this parish beyond its ability to provide comfort and safety for all the people who use it. We don’t need this property beyond its ability to give us space to focus and feed our mission – to witness to the love of God and to spread the Good News of Jesus Christ.
We need to re-imagine ourselves in relation to this building. Semantics are powerful. Calling the groups who meet here outsiders denies them the right to be here. And it keeps them separate from the church, separate from us and ultimately, separate from God. If we see them as tenants, how will we ever imagine them as members of the body of Christ, how will they ever imagine that our God is the God of Unconditional Love. Every community that uses this building is contributing to the lifting up of the broken and hurting world. Every individual who meets here for any reason is searching for God’s love and worthy of joining our family.
SES
Mission Statement
· Incorporate members of the greater Portland area into our community via the Sunnyside Environmental School.
· Insure that the community commitment to environmentalism is passed on to our youngest community members.
· Environmentalism involves more than planting trees and recycling. It involves social justice and community integrity. With these things, the dignity of all the earth shall be provided for.
Articles of Achievement (Goals)
· Generate curriculum for K-5 entails a high level of academic achievement in the ‘three R’s.’ People who are well spoken, well read, and able to research using all available methods are more likely to be effective leaders and community members.
· Maintain and Support the proven 6-8 curricula.
· Use the vehicle of service learning to ensure that high standards of civic responsibility to environmental causes are passed to the next generation.
· Support the ethical education provided by parents in ways that enable all students to participate fully in the community. This includes maintaining the highest examples of dignity, respect and inclusiveness for all members of the community.
Demographic Target
· This list is for parents who live in the district boundaries for Sunnyside School. It is also and more importantly for people who are committed to the kind of environmentalism and community involvement that we have been creating and sustaining in this area of Portland since before I moved here 10 years ago. That said it is important to state here that part of our beliefs about environmentalism and community are that the neighborhood parents are extremely important to our cause of e&c (environmentalism and community) because they are the interface of the school with the community at large.
· Important Note: We need to co-opt the word community. We are no longer neighborhood parents; we are community parents. Practice this in the mirror because it is the most important thing we can do to ensure that the community, which involves parents and children as well as businesses and home owners will have a stake in building a school that reflects who we are. Words have more power than you can realize.
Order of Business
· We need to identify committees in existence already that need our support. We need to commit one person from this list to each of these committees. That person will be responsible to generate summaries of the proceedings for the list to enable all of us to keep informed.
· We are going to need to generate recommendations and documentation on curricula for K-5 that conforms to our long-term goals. We will need to find teachers and possible district employees to support our work on this.
· Incorporate members of the greater Portland area into our community via the Sunnyside Environmental School.
· Insure that the community commitment to environmentalism is passed on to our youngest community members.
· Environmentalism involves more than planting trees and recycling. It involves social justice and community integrity. With these things, the dignity of all the earth shall be provided for.
Articles of Achievement (Goals)
· Generate curriculum for K-5 entails a high level of academic achievement in the ‘three R’s.’ People who are well spoken, well read, and able to research using all available methods are more likely to be effective leaders and community members.
· Maintain and Support the proven 6-8 curricula.
· Use the vehicle of service learning to ensure that high standards of civic responsibility to environmental causes are passed to the next generation.
· Support the ethical education provided by parents in ways that enable all students to participate fully in the community. This includes maintaining the highest examples of dignity, respect and inclusiveness for all members of the community.
Demographic Target
· This list is for parents who live in the district boundaries for Sunnyside School. It is also and more importantly for people who are committed to the kind of environmentalism and community involvement that we have been creating and sustaining in this area of Portland since before I moved here 10 years ago. That said it is important to state here that part of our beliefs about environmentalism and community are that the neighborhood parents are extremely important to our cause of e&c (environmentalism and community) because they are the interface of the school with the community at large.
· Important Note: We need to co-opt the word community. We are no longer neighborhood parents; we are community parents. Practice this in the mirror because it is the most important thing we can do to ensure that the community, which involves parents and children as well as businesses and home owners will have a stake in building a school that reflects who we are. Words have more power than you can realize.
Order of Business
· We need to identify committees in existence already that need our support. We need to commit one person from this list to each of these committees. That person will be responsible to generate summaries of the proceedings for the list to enable all of us to keep informed.
· We are going to need to generate recommendations and documentation on curricula for K-5 that conforms to our long-term goals. We will need to find teachers and possible district employees to support our work on this.
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