« April 25, 2008 | Main | May 09, 2008 »
May 02, 2008
Printable version
If you want to print today's Friday Letter, click here for a printable version.
If you want a printable version of a past Friday letter, select the Archive date of the letter you want to print.
May Festival
Upcoming Events 5-2-2008
ALL SCHOOL EVENTS:
• May 4–May Fest, 10:30 AM-2:00 PM
• May 5–Day of Rest, No classes; Childcare by reservation only (8-6)
• May 14–Board of Trustees meeting 5:45-8:00 PM
• May 16–LS Faculty Work Time - 12:00 PM LS Dismissal, childcare available
• May 22–Corporation Night, 6:30 PM, childcare by reservation only
• May 26–Memorial Day (School Closed), no childcare
Please check the announcements below for more information about many of these events.
Click here for a downloadable calendar of events for May 2008
Click here for a downloadable 2007-2008 School Year Calendar
Please click below for a copy of the DRAFT 2008-2009 School Year Calendar. Please note, the later start date is due to construction on the second floor (installing new flooring) which predicates a three-day later start to the school year.
Click here for a downloadable DRAFT 2008-2009 School Year Calendar
Announcements 5-2-2008
Childcare announcements for the month of May 2008
May 5~Day of Rest
Childcare is available by reservation only on Monday, May 5, 2008 from 8-3pm for a fee of $65 when reserved by Wednesday, April 30 and $85 for late reservations. Regular after-school rates will apply from 3-6pm. Please RSVP by Wednesday, April 30 to avoid an additional charge. Drop-ins will not be allowed. Contact Raymi at raymi_orozco@presidiohill.org or at 751-9318 x.130.
Also, please remember to provide lunch for your child(ren).
May 16~LS Early Dismissal
Childcare is available by reservation only for the lower school on Friday, May 16, 2008 beginning at 12:00pm. Regular after-school rates will apply. Reservations must be made by Monday, May 12. Drop-ins will not be allowed. Contact Raymi at raymi_orozco@presidiohill.org or at 751-9318 x.130.
Also, please remember to provide lunch for your child(ren).
May 22~Corporation Night Meeting
Childcare is available by reservation only and at no cost on Thursday, May 22, 2008 during the Corporation Night Meeting from 6:30-8:30pm. A light meal will be provided. Reservations must be made by Monday, May 19. Drop-ins will not be allowed. Contact Raymi at raymi_orozco@presidiohill.org or at 751-9318 x.130.
Parent Input Needed: The staff and board of trustees are reviewing Presidio Hill's mission statement and would like to invite parents to provide input. Please come to one of the following meetings to share what it is that you most treasure about PHS.
May 1, Thursday, 8:45-9:45 am
May 6, Tuesday, 4:30-5:30 pm
If you have questions or comments please contact Ann Meissner (associate director and middle school dean, ann_meissner@presidiohill.org) or Helle Rytkonen (board member and mother of Teresa and Mika Begtsson, helle@stanford.edu).
From the Parents Association 5-2-2008
We would like to thank the parents, guardians, faculty and staff who took part in the Parents Association's new nominating process. We appreciate the time and effort that it took to fill out the nominating form, to think about nominees in each category and to bravely nominate yourselves.
We would also like to thank the parents and guardians who edited the earlier drafts of the nominating form when presented at the February and March Parents Association meetings. Thanks to Brian, Ann Meissner and the faculty for embracing this new process and to Lisa Jeli and Namrata Gupta for serving with us on the Nominating Committee. Their input has been invaluable to us throughout this process. We were helped enormously by Tania Hurter, who made it possible for the nominating forms to be filled out online through the Survey Monkey link. Martin and the faculty helped us reach families with the paper version of the forms.
This has truly been a collaborative effort with many people involved and we thank all of you.
We'll be contacting nominees over the next week and will be presenting the names of the 2008-2009 Room Parents, Event Chairs and Activities Chairs at the May 8 Parents Association Meeting. The meeting will be held from 8 -9 am and we welcome any parents or guardians to join us. Thanks again for all of your support.
Kimberley Spears
Regina Casciato
"Keeping You Informed" - You also can check out the Minutes from the April 10, 2008 Parents Association Meeting by clicking here.
From the Director 5-2-2008
In the Very, Merry Month of May
Brian Thomas, Director
Are we there yet? Nearly.
The last full month of school is finally here. Hooray! May is named after the Greek goddess Maia who, like her Roman counterpart, Bona Dea, was associated with fertility. No wonder so many of our colleagues are having babies, two due to deliver later this month (Pascale Tooth and Jennifer Franklin). Celebrate!
Every month comes chock full of events and dates. May certainly has its share. Of course, there are those eponymous flowers; they’re the ones that come after April showers. Also, who can forget Mother’s Day? Errr… you better not. May is also the month for horse racing in Kentucky, the hundred and thirty-fourth running (“And they’re off…””). Plus, the Indy 500 is on the Sunday right before Memorial Day.
Horses and cars, horses and cars.
It’s also Cinco de Mayo, not to be confused with Mexican Independence Day, which is September 16th. May 5th brings another cool day that I wished I'd heard about when I was a kid. It’s Children’s Day in Korea and Japan. How children in these countries got their very own day (when I lobbied my own mother as a six year old for one of my own), I’ll never know.
Additionally, May brings a slew of month-long remembrances and acknowledgements. It’s Asian and Pacific Islander American Heritage Month, International Awareness for Chronic Immunological and Neurological Diseases Month, and Older Adults Month.
For us at PHS, May mostly means May Festival. May Festival is a celebration of spring, rites of passages, and renewal. Like so many special occasions, the true meaning of this school-wide event represents different things to different people. I asked a bunch of second graders what they thought May Festival meant:
One boy said, “Fun.” Another girl chimed in, “Yeah.” While still another said, “Lemony lemons and candy sticks. That’s what I like.” The same girl who said, “Yeah,” also said, “Yeah, yeah. We like Lemony candy.” One boy said he, "loved to hear the poetry and see the eighth graders go around and around and around the Maypole.” Whatever your favorite parts are (you can like it all, really) come enjoy this Sunday, May 4th and hear some of the best poetry around.
Below you'll find a terrific history of May Fest compiled by Dan Goldensohn, which you should definitely check out. (Just remember that Monday is also Dan’s birthday.)
THE PHS MAY FESTIVAL:
A Few Historical Notes
Founded in 1918, Presidio Hill School has had plenty of time to develop some wonderful traditions. While we enjoy both the performances of our totally modern student body and the pleasure of each other’s company in the here-and-now, today’s May Festival reflects the long history of the school community.
The Festival itself is a celebration of spring, honoring the blossoming of our kids’ lives through their poetry, dances and songs. Through many decades the May Fest has also become a way for us to come together as a community to eat and play and be together.
For more than a quarter century, the Dragon Dance has played a big role in the May Fest. When the school re-opened and re-invented itself after a fire, the dancer Anna Halprin led a dance through the streets that has over time taken on some aspects of the Chinese New Year celebration. The PHS Dragon Dance is led by the tallest Middle Schoolers and the tail is brought up by our smallest kindergartners. Somehow Herbie Hancock has gotten in there too.
No one seems to know when the Virginia Reel became one of the traditions here, but this old dance form allows our kids to play together in such a spirited and communicative way and connects them to many centuries of other dancers. Why “Turkey in the Straw”? Well, why not?
The Maypole Dance is so ancient that it may seem far removed from our modern world: it is a springtime celebration that hearkens back to Shakespeare’s time and before. Children in the U.S. have been dancing it in schools since the 1700’s, and here at PHS it has become the privilege and responsibility of the 8th Graders to end the performance part of our May Festival with their version.
Another tradition to be enjoyed is the poetry book: all the students contribute a poem to this book. When the school was smaller, each student in the school would read their poem at May Festival. Once upon a time, the older students printed the book themselves on a printing press. The poetry book is a tradition that seems so natural when you consider that the school was founded by a poet.
Curriculum Spotlight: 5th grade 5-2-2008
May 2, 2008
Christopher Warner
It’s so exciting as a teacher to try new things with my students; it’s ever crucial to stay challenged and engaged in the profession. These ‘new things’ can stem from a variety of sources: professional development workshops, individual Internet/book/periodical research, collaboration with colleagues…
This week, the 5th graders worked on a project new to the PHS 5th grade math curriculum, as part of the geometry unit and, more specifically, learning about symmetry. The addition of this project stemmed from my own collaboration with our exceptional 3rd/4th/5th grade learning specialist, Eso Romero.
The project consisted essentially of a challenge to the 5th graders to create a (paper) “quilt” consisting of 4 columns and 5 rows of patches (20 patches total—1 contributed by each of the 18 5th graders, and 1 contributed by each me and Eso) and displaying vertical and horizontal symmetry. Each student numbered off which patch in the quilt would be hers/his; then they were charged with the problem of making it symmetrical. The students quickly devised a plan to work in certain groups to ensure both vertical and horizontal symmetry, and they set to work coming up with their respective patch designs.
In the course of this, I couldn’t help but connect what I saw in the students with what I heard at a recent staff meeting where each staff member remarked on what she/he treasures about PHS:
Integrating learning/valuing the arts: This project integrated math (geometry) skills and concepts with visual arts and aesthetics.
Creative thinking and problem solving: Students were given a set of limitations in this challenge (quilt-wide horizontal & vertical symmetry), then they were left to figure out (using tools they’d acquired in judging symmetry) how to make individual designs such that met these rules.
Individual and collaborative work: Each student contributed her/his own patch that, at the same time, needed to work with they requirements of symmetry. Students had to work in small groups to decide on designs & colors for their patches such that the challenge was met.
Exercising critical thinking skills: When the entire quilt was assembled, the students examined it carefully and thoroughly to judge whether or not it really contained perfect horizontal & vertical symmetry.
Empowering students with a love of learning: Before school during the mornings after we finished the project, students would rush to the quilt to hold informal discussions about bits they thought were not quite symmetrical. Also, it hasn’t been uncommon in class to hear, at perfectly random times, “I found something in the quilt that isn’t symmetrical!” or “Look how colorful it is!” This, to me, is the best part.
PS~ If you get a chance, come see the immigration bulletin board display outside the 5th grade classroom. A different (asymmetrical) aesthetic than the quilt—the 5th graders created this display entirely themselves, and it’s wonderful!
From Todd's Advisory
KIVA
Kiva is an organization that allows people who are trying to start their own business receive money to start it. The businesses that they start are some that will replenish themselves over and over again. Eventually, the money is paid back to you. You can either put the money back in the system and give it to someone else, or you can take the money out of the system.
PENNY WARS
You try to collect as many pennies as you can. One penny is one point. In 5th through 8th grade, putting money in other people’s jars, except for pennies, will subtract however many pennies the coin is worth. In kindergarten through 4th grade the pennies are counted up as their points. The class/advising with the most points wins.
WHAT WE ARE GOING TO DO
Each class/advising will receive a clear jar that allows them to see how many points they have. Each class/advising has been assigned a representative from Todd’s advising. That representative will speak to the class and tell them about Kiva. They will then explain how that class will play the penny wars. Midway through the time period, we will have an assembly to try and rile people up and make them want to donate more. Once the penny wars are over, we will count the points and have a tally. The class/advising with the most points will receive a prize.