Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Tuesday March 31

Happy Spring Everyone!

Today is Cesar Chavez Day, and Aly's students shared power point
presentations about his life and how he made a difference.
Ask your kids about their projects!

Please sign up for parent conferences next week.
Every day will be early release at 1:10.

These are the last conferences scheduled for this year,
so please take advantage of the time the teachers have set aside
to meet one on one with each family.
3-5 students will take part in their conference.

April 13--17 is Spring Break.
We will be closed that week.

There are some great field trips and presentations scheduled in April.
These are the dates for your calendar:

Monday April 6th: K-2 in-class presentation "Where does our garbage go?"
Wednesday April 8th: K-2 in-class presentation "Thank you trees".

These are both facilitated by the the Arcata Recycling Center's educational outreach.

Monday April 20th: K-2 trip to Samoa Recycling Plant for a paper making workshop and tour of the facility
This is where all of Arcata's recycling goes.
We will need parent drivers for this trip after lunch.
The 3-5 students will visit the recycling plant in May.

Wednesday April 22nd: 3-5 trip to HSU Natural History Museum
The bus will leave Trillium at 10:45.

Wednesday April 29th: K-2 trip to HSU Natural HIstory Museum
The bus will leave Trillium at 9:45.

STAR testing is coming right up.
We will do the testing at the end of April and beginning of May.

For those of you who are new to Trillium,
PLease be assured that we make this as low-stress as possible.

You can help your students by
making sure they get good sleep,
eat breakfast, and telling them to just try their best.
That's all we ever ask.
Details of the STAR test schedule will be in parent boxes soon.

Our fundraising committee is hard at work organizing a benefit concert and raffle
scheduled for the first weekend of May.
They could always use more help making phone calls,
soliciting raffle donations, and planning all the small details
that will make this a successful event.

We are hoping to raise enough money to make some large facility improvements.
Please talk to Neeve, Ciara or Suzanne to find out how you can help.
Or, come to the school on Fridays at 3:00.
They are meeting weekly.

Looking ahead: We are planning a Trillium student Art Show for Arts Arcata in May.
We will keep you posted with details.

Also, our end of the year trip is coming soon.

We always end the school year with an all-school, family camp out.
We have already booked Pamplin Grove for June 9-11.
We had such a great time there we're going back!

Every student will need an adult chaperone that is not a staff member,
so please put this on your calendars.
It is always so much fun for everyone- just ask returning families if you're skeptical.

We have openings in all grades for next fall.
PLease spread the word.

The students are gardening every week during buddies- Thursday afternoons.
We need garden donations- plant starts, mulch, amendments, and tools are on our wish list.
Also, parents are invited to join us during that time.

That's all for now.
Thanks for sharing your kids with us!



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Tuesday, March 3, 2009

Tuesday

Don't forget that tonight is Science Night.
The kids worked really hard and have great projects.
Please come out and support their love of science!

Monday, February 9, 2009

Monday's Mistake

There was a mistake on the earlier blog.

The 3-5 trip to the Arcata Math Fair
is on Friday March 13th- not February 13th.

I guess we have plenty of time to get parent drivers.
Sorry about that.

February 9-13, 2009

Reminders for this week:

Monday at 5:30: Steering Committee Meeting

This month's meeting will include updates about the budget,
upcoming STAR testing, and fundraising.
We will also review our Single Plan for Studnt Achievement.
Everyone is welcome to attend these meetings.


Wednesday and Thursday: School Pictures
Wed: K-2 pictures
Thurs: 3-5 pictures

We will also take class picutres on these days.
Please send your order form and payment on picture day.
Pictures will be back the week of Feb. 23-27,
and we will also do retakes if needed.

Friday at 9:30: 3-5 class is going to the Arcata High Math Fair
We need signed permission slips and parent drivers.
PLease sign up if you can drive.

Next week is Presidents Week.
School is closed.

I wanted to remind everyone that lunches are ordered
every morning at 9:30.
If your child is coming to school late but needs to order lunch,
please call ahead.

Snack does not need to be ordered in advance,
but we cannot guarantee your child can order lunch after 9:30.
Thanks.

Science Fair is coming up soon.
Trillium's fair is on March 3rd,
and the winning projects will go to the county fair the next day.

All students should be well underway with their experiments or research
working on their backboards.

Remember that everything needs to be in the logbook,
including research, trials, graphs, observations, and a bibliography.

Every time your student even thinks about their project, they should log it.
At the county science fair, the majority of scoring is based on the logbook,
and the backboard is secondary.
The backboard is just a visual a summary of the project.

If you need any help with this, Aly and Marianne are available.

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

January 27th, 2009

Hi everyone,

Just a few updates for our busy winter weeks.

This Friday we were invited to join the students at Pacific UNinon
for a concert by singer & songwriter Joe Craven.

This was just scheduled today,
so permission slips are now in your boxes.
PLease return them ASAP.
Thanks!

Also, it is returning enrollment time again.
Returning studnets and thier siblings get priority
for next year. Please return those forms
before Frbruary 15th to the bottom of the office stairs.
After Feb. 15th enrollement will be open to the general community.

It is science time again for alll students.
The K-2 class has been exploring matter in it's changing forms
in their classroom through experimenation.

The 3-5 students are getting ready to do thier science experiments.
All students should have an idea by now
and be ready to start experimenting.

Because we are low on funds this year,
any parents who can purchase their own backboards
are encouraged to do so. They can be found at Staples.

Each student has a staff member available to help
with science projects, but support and help from
home is essential to this process.
If you need any guidance, please come see Aly or Marianne.

Science Night will be held on Tueday March 3rd at Trillium.
We are also inviting any interested families form the community
to join us for open house.

This is an opportunity to see our kids shine
and get a sense about what we do at our school.
We are hoping that poeple will come and get excited about Trillium for next year.

Also, word of mouth always helps, so please spread tell
people about our program. We need full enrollment
to combat all the butget cuts next year.
Thank you!

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Wednesday, November 19th

There is so much going on at Trillium right now
I thought everyone could use a quick reminder.

So...parent conferences and minimum days are continuing through Thursday.
If you did not get a chance to meet this week with your child's teacher
don't hesitate to schedule a meeting after Thanksgiving Break.
The teachers are available.

Congratulations to our new Steering Committee members
and thanks to everyone who voted in this years election.

The new committe has five parent representatives:

Jill Frizzell
Rachel Iverson
Ciara Hunt
Suzanne Swagert
Stephanie Silvia

and one community member:

Lynn Szabo (an alumni Trillium parent).

These are the voting members of the committee.
We will have our first meeting and orientation this Thursday at 6:00.
All parents are welcome to attend.

Friday is an exciting day.
We have a Center Arts fieldtrip in the morning,
and our annual Harvest Potluck in the afternoon.

Please return signed permission slips for the fieldtrip.

All families are invited to join us for the potluck from 1:00-3:00.
This is always a great way to end before we disperse for Thanksgiving Break.
We hope you can make it.

The fundraising committe is currently accepting coffee orders.
This fundraiser is through Humboldt Bay Coffee Co.
and the bags come with our own Trillium label.

They make excellent holiday gifts,
or if you buy coffee anyway, you can buy it here
and some of the money will benefit the school.

The coffee will be ordered the week after break.

I also wanted to thank our parents who have been working
so hard on their contributions to Trillium.

Our fundraising committee has been resurrected and is working hard.
The Steering Committee has all seats filled with voting members,
our grounds are looking good thanks to volunteers,
and the overall sense of community is growing.

Thank you all, because we can't do it without you.

Monday, October 20, 2008

October 20

I wanted to let you know about all that is coming up at Trillium.
First off, we have a great fieldtrip scheduled for tomorrow- Tuesday,
but we are short on drivers.

The students are scheduled to visit the Old Town farmers Market
where they each get a dollar to spend at the booth of their choice,
then on to the Discovery Museum.
Last they will have lunch by the waterfront.

We need seats for seven students.
Please help out if you can,
even if you cannot stay for the whole trip.

This Saturday, the fundraising committee has a rummage sale planned.
If you have donations, you can bring them in this week,
and they will also need help setting up and selling items throughout the day.

Also, the Halloween Carnival is coming right up.
We love to have a s many parents as possible to join in the fun.
Sign-ups to run games will be posted this week.

The first week of November,
we will be holding our Steering Committee Elections.
This is a non-profit board that governs Trillium,
and is responsible for fiscal oversight, policy development, and ongoing
program assessment. If you are interested in getting on the ballot
let Marianne know.

I also wanted to mention that our budget is currently in peril
due to low enrollment and the state budget cuts.
I am working on creative ways to supplement our finances this school year,
and I am asking for any help you can provide.

The easiest way to increase our funding is to increase our enrollment.
Word of mouth recommendations go a long way,
so if you know anyone who is unhappy with their child's current school,
let them know we have six spaces in the K-2 class
and an active waiting list for the 3-5.

Also, if you have any grant writing experience, we could use your skills.

Of course, we also accept donations,
so if you happen to know someone looking to make a tax-deductable donation
to a non-profit (large or small), tell them about our small school.

I would be happy to discuss what I am working on,
or you can find out the details at the next board meeting in November.