Morning Gathering

Please join the Parent Council Committee for an informal gathering the first Wednesday of every month at 8:15 AM – 9:00 AM in the lobby of the Welcome Center.  This is a time for getting to know other parents and the school in a less formal manner than Parent Council Meetings or Curriculum Nights.  We look forward to seeing you for the first gathering on Wednesday, October 2 at 8:15 AM.

Fall Parent Council Review

Thanks to all of those who attended the Parent Council meeting last week.  Please follow this link to see the minutes from the meeting.  This week’s editorial also discusses the implications and results from the school examination of academic excellence.  If you have other comments or questions regarding this topic, please contact Nate McClennen at x1113.

Upper Campus Reminder

Parents may drive up to the upper campus between the hours of 9 AM and 2 PM to pick up their child for appointments, dismissals, etc.  Please make sure that a teacher knows what the plan is so that we know whether to have them wait in the building or to send them to the Welcome Center.  If you need direct access to the building with a vehicle due to accessibility challenges, you can drive down the walking path.  Please let Rhonda or Nate know in advance that you need to access the path if it is not a routine event.

Bhutan Visit                     

Teton Science Schools’ Teacher Learning Center and Journeys School are pleased to welcome Dr. Pema Thinley, the Secretary of the Ministry of Education in Bhutan during the week of September 25 – 29. Dr. Thinley came from Bhutan to Wyoming in order to learn more about how the process of place-based education is implemented at Teton Science Schools. On Tuesday, September 26, Dr. Thinley will spend time in Journeys School observing classes and talking with students and teachers. Dr.Thinley will be accompanied by Dr. Tashi Wangchuk, who is the father of Journeys upper school student Thinley Wangchuk.

Containers Needed

If you have any mason jars with lids or other similar containers with lids hanging out in a cabinet not being used we would like them.  We will be collecting these containers to make paint available for family group projects. You can drop off containers in the Pre-K mud room...we are hoping for about fifty. Thank you.

Teton County Library Announcements

September is National Library Card Sign-up Month

Go to the Teton County Library and whether you use your card, replace your lost card, or get a new card, you will receive a raffle ticket for a chance to win one of three Main Event Gift Certificates or the Grand Prize of a 'Fine Free Year'.  See the poster in the media center or Lara at the Library for more details.

Teen B.Y.O.B - Bring Your Own Book is a book club for Teens at the Teton County Library

We meet the last Tuesday of the Month and the first meeting is Tuesday, September 26 from 4:00-5:00pm.  There are no reading assignments!  There is no membership required!  Come to as many or as few meetings as you'd like to hear other teens share their favorite reads.  Refreshments will be served.  See the poster in the media center or Lara at the Library for more information.

Check out the Teton County Library website for a complete event calendar. www.TCLib.org

Support the Journeys School Financial Aid fund by 

ordering Journeys School Organic Coffee.  Online: www.FreshOrganicCoffee.com/journeys.html  

or call (307) 733-8046

Pre-Kindergarten

Announcements

Mailboxes

Please remember to check your child’s mailbox at the end of each day.  These are located under the daily documentation board as you enter the classroom.  Important announcements, as well as your child’s work, are put in these mailboxes.  There is also a box labeled: “Mail for Rhonda”.

Shoes...

Parents please help us with organizing your child’s shoes in our mud room.  We would like outdoor shoes lined up by the south wall near the door and indoor shoes kept in cubbies. As a reminder all students need to have indoor shoes. It is for their safety in the classroom and an important way to keep the classroom free of wet snow and mud that could come at anytime, like we experienced this past week. Additionally, we have a phenomenon of blue crocs…lots of them that are difficult for students and teachers to identify.  I suggest tying a colored ribbon or something similar to make them stand out both for your child and for us.

Sharing Time

Each day during morning meeting we give children an opportunity to share something that they have made in the classroom or at home, pictures or natural objects that they have interest in, or talk about an experience that they have recently had. We believe that these parameters set the stage for meaningful sharing time and give children an opportunity to get to know each other better.  Please refrain from sending your child to school with toys, these are not items that we are encouraging for sharing and as a rule we ask all children to leave these items in their cubbies.

Family of the Week

Each child's family will be asked to participate in Family of the Week once during the school year.  We have set up a schedule on the door opposite the blue couch.  Please take a look at it.  We will send more information home soon about guidelines and suggestions for what that week can look like. If you already have ideas of your own, let us know about them ahead of time so that we can support you.

Curricular Updates

Social Skill of the Week: Respecting Classroom Materials

Last week during social skills students were reminded about how to respect and clean-up materials in the classroom.  We ask all children to take responsibility to clean-up their projects at the end of Focused Exploration. It is one of our values that all children are capable of such tasks.

Art with Tasha

The Art Association has generously included Journeys Pre-K in a special grant that allows us to participate in art classes all year. Tasha will continue to come into our classroom on Fridays to engage children in various art projects.  This past Friday she returned with slabs of clay that children used to mold into fish with forms that she had brought in.  Children learned how to create texture and scales with the tools that Tasha made available.

Spanish

This was Kjera's first week teaching us all Spanish.  Children were quick to catch on to songs in Spanish and enjoyed the integrated dance and movement.  The voices of the older children who have experienced Spanish with Kjera before were louder and more confident.  Their excitement and energy radiated to the whole group enticing the unfamiliar students.

Threads in the Classroom

Threads are child-driven interests that we as teachers are following, encouraging, and supporting.

Smells:

Children continue to remark on the smell of new items brought to school, they all have a newly heighten awareness. Instinctually children picked-up the tomatoes that were being shared at morning meeting to express their different opinions about how they smelled. There will be more to share next week about this exploration when Charlie returns from a short vacation.

Hot Air Balloons:

This week children worked on creating a more realistic hot air balloon out of our loft space. They painted the Plexiglas with brown paint and unfortunately we all learned the hard way by seeing it peel right off.  We then worked collaboratively to wash it off on Friday. We are brainstorming better options to create a solution.  One child commented during washing, "I work full-time here."

Color Mixing:

We are still adding to our color board, come and check it out during drop off or pick up.

Announcements

Last Tram!

On Wednesday, September 27th, the K-2 class will be taking a day journey to explore Teton Village and experience the Jackson Hole Mountain Resort Aerial Tram, which is free to locals in September. We will be exploring Rendezvous Mountain with 2 naturalists from the Jackson Hole Mountain Resort. We plan to leave Journeys School around 8:30 am and return to campus around 12:15 pm to have a regular afternoon on campus.   Please be sure to pack a NON-MICROWAVABLE lunch with your child on this day. Since temperatures are generally about 20° cooler on top of Rendezvous Mountain, please send your child to school with appropriate footwear for walking/ hiking, as well as a warm layer, rain jacket/ windproof layer, a winter hat, and gloves or mittens. We hope to have the opportunity to explore parents’ places of work within Teton Village. So, if you are a parent who works in Teton Village and are interested in meeting up with us while we are there (between 9:00 – 10:00 am on Wednesday, September 27th) please do, we would love to see you.

Indoor Shoes

Just a reminder that all kids must have indoor shoes/slippers to protect their little feet from pokey objects that could make it to the floor.  If you have not yet sent indoor shoes to school, please send them as soon as possible.

Family Groups

School-wide Family Groups started last Friday!  A family group is a group of 14-16 students from each grade level that gets together every Friday for fun activities ranging from group initiatives games to service projects for the campus.  It is a chance for kids of all ages to work together for a common goal.  Each group is led by two or three teachers. It is our goal, however, to encourage the older students to take on the leadership roles. Family groups meet every Friday after the community lunch for 40 minutes for three Fridays.  The fourth Friday is an All-school meeting where the entire school gets together to share any special projects, make announcements and say thank yous.  If you have any questions or wish to be involved, feel free to call Hatilie (x1101).

Healthy Lunches

Healthy and wholesome lunches are very important here at the Journeys School.  We encourage parents to send healthy lunches with fruit and vegetables to school everyday.  We do have a no candy or soda lunch policy.  High quantities of sugar in little bodies can make an afternoon crazy and unproductive.  In addition, please make sure that your child has enough to eat to carry him or her throughout the busy day.  Happy eating!

After School Messages

If you need to get a message to school about what your child is doing after school, please dial 733-1327 x1061 and leave a message before 2:30.  Teachers check the 1061 voice mail box everyday around 2:25.  After 2:30, we are packing up kids and heading down to the pick-up zone.  If you need to pass along a message after 2:30, please call Rhonda (x1221). 

Thank Yous     

Thanks to Jennifer Foley and Katie Pierce for helping with school photos.  Katie was busy brushing out snarls and braiding hair, while Jen herded kids to the right places. 

Thanks to the Middle School hands to work crew for cleaning our bathrooms and vacuuming our floors everyday.  Our building is cleaner than ever before.  We couldn’t do it without them!!

Thanks to Veronica Silberberg for sharing slides with our class of what seemed like an amazing exploration to Alaska. Just some of the spectacular sights they explored this summer were bears, whales, rainforests, and glaciers. Thanks to Lia and her mom, students learned some differences between Humpback and Killer Whales and even discovered how Humpback Whales work together by ‘bubble feeding’ to catch krill. Ask a K-2 student all about it!

Curricular Updates

Hand-washing

Hand-washing is one major topic that we are teaching during these early weeks of school in order to prevent the spread of illness.  Cold and stomach bugs are going around and hand-washing DOES help.  We are asking parents to help us by continuing the hand-washing practice at home.  The combined work may prevent widespread illness in our school. Thanks.

Math and Literacy Letters

Keep and eye out for math and literacy letters in your child’s folder this week.  We have assessed all students and placed them in developmentally appropriate groups for reading and math instruction.  Thank you for your patience this month as we get into the swing of things and ensure that every child feels good about their daily routines and is placed in the most appropriate groups for their individual needs. 

Announcements

Grades 3-5 Curriculum Night

Parents, please join us from 5:00-6:00 p.m. on Tuesday, September 26th for our first Grades 3-5 Curriculum Night.  During this meeting, we will provide information about “A Day in the Life of a Grades 3-5 Student,” as well as our extended journey to the Murie Center.  If necessary, child care will be provided during this meeting by a Grades 3-5 teacher.  Please join us! 

Cozy Up with a Book Day

On Thursday, October 5, we invite families to join us from 8:30 a.m.-12:00 p.m. for “Cozy Up with a Book Day.”  A tradition in the Journeys Elementary School, Cozy Up with a Book Day will mark the end of our first unit in reading and writing.  Please join us to celebrate our hard work in reading and writing workshop.  If you are interested in providing a special snack for Cozy Up Day, please contact Sarah at extension 1127. 

Curriculum Updates

Math Facts

In addition to their daily Everyday Mathematics class, students in Grades 3-5 participate in our Math Facts program for two half-hour sessions each week.  The goal of our Math Facts program is to increase students’ speed and accuracy with addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division facts.  During Math Facts, children work with a partner to practice these facts aloud.  Each student moves through the leveled program at their own pace; within a partnership, one partner may be working on subtraction while the other is working on division.  Students chart their progress through the program, and become very excited when they pass to the next level.  Parents, if you are interested in supporting your child’s progress in Math Facts at home, an excellent way to do so is by practicing with flash cards.   

Life Skills

The Grades 3-5 Life Skills program helps to create a positive learning environment for our classroom community. Through life skills lessons students are empowered to take responsibility for their own learning and the success of the group as a whole, make responsible choices, have the tools to address conflict, communicate effectively and honor diversity.  This past week in life skills we have focused on developing a safe learning environment in Grades 3-5. Students are working in small groups to create solutions to everyday conflicts they may encounter on the playground, in the classroom or on the school bus.  We have also spent time celebrating the many ways that Grades 3-5 students take responsibility, treat all with respect and try hard at school. Please ask your children at home how they are specifically contributing to our positive learning environment at school.

Fall Journey

Our Fall Journey is quickly approaching.  We will be traveling to the Murie Center in Moose, Wyoming.  The goals for the Journey are to continue to find cycles and pathways around us, notice patterns and changes in weather, track animals, track water in our watershed, and review our understanding of ecosystems, biotic factors, and abiotic factors of the environment.

On Monday, October 16th, the South Den will depart from school for a two-and-a-half day Journey to the Murie Center.  They will return to school on Wednesday, October 18th midday and will have a 3:00 p.m. dismissal from school.  They will return to school for in-school activities on Thursday and Friday with a 3:00 p.m. dismissal from school each day. The North Den will have in-school activities on Monday and Tuesday with a 3:00 p.m. dismissal from school each day.  On Wednesday, October 18th, they will come to school for in-school activities and then travel to the Murie Center and spend Wednesday afternoon through Friday afternoon there.  They will have a 3:00 p.m. dismissal from school on Friday.

The Murie Center Fall Journey costs $75 per person. Kindly make checks payable to Teton Science Schools or Journeys School and submit them via your child’s folder by Friday, September 29th.

We are looking for 3 parent chaperones per den.  These chaperones will also pay the $75 fee, which covers room and board, as well as help with meals and other duties as needed. Please contact your child’s advisor if you are interested in being a chaperone for this trip. We will be discussing Murie Center details among other topics at a Grades 3-5 Curriculum Night from 5:00-6:00 p.m. on Tuesday, September 26th.  Parents, please join us for this meeting.  Additional information about this journey will be sent home in your child’s folder.  

Announcements

We had a great journey and are looking forward to getting back into the regular schedule. No new announcements this week.

Curricular Updates

Fall Journey

It is doubtful any middle school students went home last Thursday with little to say about our Journey, but in case a parental inquiry was received with an adolescent shrug, we thought we’d recap some highlights. Interspersed are excerpts from student journals.

Departure on Tuesday went quite smoothly (thanks to well packed students from the day before). Our campsite in Grant Village was wooded enough that the tents could be nestled away from the cook site. Students chose their tent sites (with gender designated sides) and pitched their tents on their own. After lunch, “we hiked a 3 mile roundtrip to Lonestar Geyser,” wrote Owen Winshop. “While we were there we had a lesson on geological formations. After that we sat down and wrote about changes and uncertainties in our lives.” Karl also talked along a deep cut river canyon about the historical significance of Yellowstone. As Sascha Peralto-Ramos wrote, "Yellowstone is revolutionary because it was the first protected area in the United States and the first National Park for the public. All other parks were for kings and queens only.”

We returned to camp for some relaxation and dinner preparation of fajitas. Dani Domsky wrote, “I was excited and ready to cook! Owen was there, we were ready. Karl started the grill, Owen cooked the meat and I cut up peppers, onions and cheese. We had a great system!”  

The next day was crisp but clear. The weather seemed to be holding off. After delicious breakfast burritos, we headed off for the day. While half the group headed to Lewis Lake to contemplate Yellowstone animal adaptations the other half began with a service project. Hannah Wells wrote “This morning we had our community service project. We shaved the bark off of logs for building corals for the park service horses.” Students also helped with various other projects around the ranger station. We all met for lunch and then swapped locations.

By the time we all returned to camp everyone was ready for some down time. Students read silently or wrote in their journals. The evening culminated with a spaghetti feast and a campfire conversation, led by Charles, introducing the fall Life Skills focus on social dynamics. Students reflected on the concept of coolness and then had a remarkably open discussion about different social pressures and popularity.

We awoke Thursday morning to a wet snow. It was a challenge to cook French toast and break down camp, but with continued cooperation we were successful. After returning to school for a dry warm lunch, Margot and Charlotte ended the day with reflection activities in both English and Spanish.

During the past two weeks, students have been learning the vocabulary needed to be successful in the Spanish classroom.  They practiced classroom commands, learned vocabulary for use in class and around campus, and began talking about what they have and what they need.  These skills helped them pack for the trip to Yellowstone where they did observations and reflections using the new vocabulary.  Ask your son or daughter to tell you the Spanish words for what we saw on our journey.

Announcements

Upper School Photo Day

The Upper School Photo Day has been postponed until Monday, due to inclement (and un-photogenic) weather.

Fall Journey

The Journeys Upper School had their fall Journey in the Wind River Range last week.  Three groups of ten students and two teachers split up to go to different trailheads in the Pinedale area for four days and three nights of backpacking.  We were extremely lucky in having perfect weather the whole time!

Our curriculum goals for the trip included community building, awareness and practice of Leave No Trace ethics, and reflection on this trimester’s essential question: What and How Do We Observe?  Journal entries asked the students to reflect on observations of themselves as an individual and a member of a community.  Drew and Ryan’s group had the most difficult route, but the students were able to meet the challenge in good cheer and appreciation of the spectacular beauty that surrounded them.  Dennis and Kjera’s group enjoyed a feast of fresh fish when Bryn caught several fish within an hour, and Aaron and Sarah’s group were tickled to be accompanied by five large pack goats for much of the first day!  We all returned safely and happily, with almost all students reporting that their friendships and knowledge of their classmates had improved immensely.

Please Review Student Supply List

Parents and students are asked to review the upper school supplies list. Students seem to be adequately prepared for classes. At the same time it is required that students bring all necessary materials to classes each time they meet, which include an organized binder, paper, laptop computer, pens and pencils, calculator for math class, and a day planner for recording assignments, homework, and special events. Students should always bring the reading material or book that they are currently studying to class. All students are required to have indoor shoes, sandals, or slippers. Students and faculty remove their shoes when entering buildings to keep them clean. Students should have indoor shoes for safety as well as comfort. We are approaching cooler and damp weather and if we need to evacuate a building for emergency purposes students will not be able to put on shoes. Indoor shoes with thus protect a student while briefly outside.

Curricular Updates

9-11th Grade Social Studies

Protests against taxes, armed groups defying the government, threats and terrorist attacks aimed at symbols of power, and heated debates in the media about individual rights and government authority: are all going on today, right? And yet this turmoil and upheaval describes the circumstances of the American revolutionary period as well. To explore this radical time, upper school students in grades 9-11 are reading A More Perfect Union: American Independence and the Constitution. This publication of Brown University challenges students to engage primary sources of the late 1700s in order to re-conceptualize both the past and present. In the process, we will study the political ideas, public statements, and actions that led to the creation of the United States. Perhaps most important, we will attempt to understand how the founders of our country grappled with the issues of their day. As is the case today, Americans in 1754, 1776 or 1788 were hardly unanimous about framing the political structure of their society.

Advanced Social Studies

When did a truly U.S. history begin? Capstone students have been grappling with this question over the last few days and a variety of answers have surfaced. One student believes we need to begin with the Big Bang itself. Another student reasons that we should start with human emergence in sub-Saharan Africa hundreds of thousands of years ago. On the other end of the spectrum, another senior argues that it begins with the surrender of Lee at Appomattox in 1865. For the purpose of the class this year, we are starting with the paleo-Indian cultures that emerged at the end of the last Ice Age. In order to better understand this time period and those that followed, the class is turning to the questions asked by environmental historians.

Environmental history often asks:

1.       What was the ecology of specific places and times?

2.       What modes of production were utilized?

3.       What were the human perceptions, values and ideals of the   natural world?

In answering these questions, the class hopes to gain a greater knowledge of the ways that the natural environment influences human cultures and vice versa. It is a belief of this teacher that only by understanding such relationships can we construct a context for the past.

Academic Excellence for the 21st Century

Nate McClennen

The world is changing rapidly.  As we move forward in the 21st century, it is apparent that the needs of our students in schools are much different than ours or our parents. However, the unfortunate fact is that educational systems are slow to recognize and implement change to this new reality.  Current advocates for reevaluating what we teach in our schools state simply that although a fundamental understanding of literacy, arts mathematics, science, foreign language and history is still important, we must now recognize all of the other skills that are critical for success in the modern world.  Examples include Tony Wagner, out of Harvard University, who has promoted the idea of rigor, relevance, and relationships as critical to schools in guiding students to be successful adults.  Another striking example is an organization called the Partnership for 21st Century Skills (www.21stcenturyskills.org).  This group is comprised of representatives from top business, government and education organizations who have stated that the current core content in schools is inadequate to successfully prepare the next generation.  Although a fundamental understanding in core subjects is important, it must be combined with 21st century content, learning and thinking skills and life skills, among others.  Learning and thinking skills include creativity, collaboration, media literacy and problem-solving skills while life skills include such ideas as leadership, ethics, personal responsibility, self direction and social responsibility.  Global awareness, economic literacy, civic literacy and health and wellness awareness are included in 21st century content. When some of the top leaders in their respective areas are delineating what is needed for success in their arena, it is time to listen.

At Journeys School, we believe that our innovative, challenging and engaging curriculum addresses many of the changes that are needed to prepare students for success in the 21st century.  However, continued articulation of these ideas (fundamental to Journeys School since the beginning) is important as the school grows. Last spring, our parent survey indicated that although 90% of parents rated problem solving, collaborative work, verbal/written/reading communication and healthy living in the good and excellent categories; only 77% rated academic excellence as just right.  Upon reviewing the survey, we determined that it was time to reflect on the definition of academic excellence (as the partnership described above had done) and to bring parents into the conversation.  During a summer faculty retreat up in Grand Teton National Park all faculty were asked to reflect on their own experiences in “excellent classes” and then determine what an “academically excellent” class at Journeys School should look like. Interestingly enough, skills rather than knowledge made up much of the list.  As this was discussed, it became clear that our articulated scope and sequence, detailed curriculum maps and strong commitment to the core understanding of mathematics, literacy, arts, science, foreign language and social studies was inherent in our program.  But the addition of many of the skills mentioned by the Partnership for 21st Century Skills along with the integration of ecology, culture and community into our curriculum was clearly viewed as a reason for our success with students. In Parent Council this past week, the same discussion was held. The remarkable outcome was that the parent list and faculty list were quite similar (see link on Parent Resource Page for the full lists).  All recognized the need for some critical content but only integrated with all of the skills and competencies discussed above.

After these discussions, we feel confident that we have a program that is academically excellent in 21st century terms.  Our graduates are reporting back that they are prepared and able to succeed in a university environment.  Some are enrolled in the top universities and colleges in the country and more importantly, all have found a college that is a match for them.  Over the course of the fall, we will pilot a Classroom Observation Program where each teacher is allowed one day to observe different parts of the program and report back to their peers on their findings based on the characteristics determined on the retreat.  We will continue to promote life, learning and thinking skills as well as grounding our education in the firm roots of the ecological and cultural community that we live in.  Ongoing evaluation of our mathematics and literacy programs will ensure that students have a strong understanding of these fundamental ideas. As part of a long term commitment to parent and community education, we will strive to keep our community informed about how and why we teach at Journeys School through Curriculum Nights, Parent Council and Basecamp News.  We have no doubt that our students will find themselves in adulthood living the expectations set forth in our graduate profile and undoubtedly making a difference in the world.

Journeys School Graduate Profile

The Journeys School graduate will be a life long learner and will have developed a clear sense of place in the community and the world.  In their pursuit of experience and knowledge at the Journeys School, the student will be engaged and will have found their experience challenging and memorable.  After having completed courses of study at Journeys School the student will be observant and reflective, as well as analytical.  The Journeys School graduate will develop the values of respect, compassion, honesty, and courage.  Through active learning and collaboration the Journeys School graduate will be empowered to carry on an ethical life and a desire to build community.

 

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© 2005, Basecamp News, Journeys School of Teton Science Schools.