February 2006 Newsletter

Documentation from November 2005 - January 2006

Max and Reka enjoying their kaleidoscopes at Room 10's Winter Solstice lunch.

In case you don't get to see the documentation posted all around the school here is your chance to see some of it.

"One important aspect of the Reggio approach to learning is the documentation. The Reggio schools have developed a form of documentation that is dynamic and provocative. It engages students, teachers and parents in looking at how children are thinking and representing the ideas they are exploring." Sarah Burke, Pre-k teacher.

Marla McLean's Art Studio

Room 11's National Building Museum Field Trip

Sarah Burke and Alysia Scofield's class, Room 10
Thanksgiving Luncheon
Photos of Solstice Celebration and Children's thoughts about winter, solstice and lights

Margaret Ricks and Cynthia Copeland's class, Room 11
Creating patterns
Building Museum field trip
Reading, writing and building
Winter Solstice celebration

Marla McLean's Art Studio
Wings collage
Light sculptures

Directions for Viewing Documentation:

These are QuickTime movies made from the teachers' Powerpoint presentations for easier downloading. Once the "movie" has opened in a new window, click on the image to advance to the next slide. If you need the QuickTime player, download it for free from Apple. If you are still having trouble, the instructions might help:

• Click on the selection - downloading may take a couple of minutes
• The documentation is best viewed by choosing "Full screen" under the "View" menu button
• To advance to the next slide, click the left mouse button anywhere on the screen
• Click the exit button to go back to the SWS Web site.

Thanks from Marla!

Marla McLean wanted to thank Sharron Curry (Tobias's Mom), Jennifer Woods (Leo W.'s Mom) and Karen Bonacorso (KC's Mom) for spending hours at SWS matching, mixing, and re-making the child invented paint colors that the children use in the Common Area at the Easel.

Room 12 News (Ms. Chapman's Class)

Ms. Chapman and the children of Room 12 are very happy to announce that they now have a new teacher assistant. Omar Saibou has accepted SWS's offer and began his new post as teacher assistant in January 2006. Many of you know Omar from his many other roles -- President of the Cluster School PTA, long-time resident of Capitol Hill and a caring and loving husband and father to his wife and his two sons. We are all very happy to have Omar in the classroom and extend our thanks and admiration for taking on such an important job.

During the holiday break Ms. Chapman flew to Budapest, Hungary to see her daughter and meet her new granddaughter. She is pleased to report that Anna Ezter is the most beautiful and brilliant granddaughter ever!

On December 21, Room 12 celebrated the Winter Solstice. Everyone had a ball coming to school in their favorite pajamas and eating the wonderful brunch prepared by family and friends. Also in December, the classmates performed the play "Who's in Rabbit's House". The children enjoyed acting out and dressing up as various animals. The list of Oscar nominations will be out shortly!!

Two Room 12 friends celebrated birthdays in January - Nat Monahan and Jade Goss both turned 6. Happy Birthday to them both!

Besides continued work on the SWS curriculum, the Room 12 friends are very happy to be in school and to participate in all the activities SWS has to offer them. There are a number of planned projects and activities coming up in the next few weeks and I look forward to reporting about them in our next newsletter.

SWS Cookbook Sales - A Success

The first SWS Cookbook was an enormous success. Over 250 were sold. Thanks to the children's insights and representations plus the fantastic recipes, this cookbook is a real treasure. It would not have been possible without the entire SWS community. However special thanks go out to Mandy Bassow, Shelly Bressler, Marla McLean, John Burst, Lori Goss, Bill Swint, Josie Militello, Ceci Monahan, Jill Stein and countless others who gave their time to collate, bind, and copy. Proceeds from the cookbook sales will go towards the papermaking project further detailed later in this newsletter.

Counting Down to the SWS Gala

This year's SWS event, the 9th annual Jazz Gala and Silent Auction, is only eight weeks away. Wondering what you can do to help?

1. Book the Babysitter
Saturday, March 25, is the date; the start time 7pm. St. Marks Episcopal Church at 3rd and A Streets, SE, is the place.

2. Secure Two (or more) Auction Items
Each SWS family is asked to donate two auction items. Some share family vacation homes or their knitting expertise, others solicit businesses they patronize or make cold calls on area merchants. Not sure where to start? Contact Gala Co-Chair Ann Rose at (202) 543-6458 or rosesare@earthlink.net.

3. Get Your Committee Groove On
The next SWS parent meeting-Wed, Feb 15-will kick off the Gala. Come prepared to talk about committee work leading up the event and afterwards.

4. Buy Tickets!
Donate two auction items and you can purchase two tickets for just $15; deadline
March 11. All other tickets $25 each before March 11; afterwards, $30 each.

5. Invite Others
If we don't invite others then there's more Hard Times chili and beer for us…but it's too fun an evening to keep just to ourselves. Besides many wallets make the raising of $70,000 easier. Look for special ticket deals that allow you to buy tickets in bulk and save.

6. Start Saving for Your Raffle Ticket(s)!
Raffle tickets are a great way to increase the odds of walking home with the live auction item of your choice. Just $25.

7. Send Our a Friends & Family Letter if you haven't already
Thanks to the generosity of parents, as well as aunts and uncles, godparents, grandparents, and other caring adults, the annual Friends & Family campaign has raised over $5,000 to date. We've surpassed last year's total and there is still plenty of time for loved ones to make a gift. Need more Friends & Family letters?

Email Kris at kdkully@yahoo.com and let her know how many as well as your child's name and classroom and she will get additional copies to you.

8. Polish Your Dancing Shoes - Get ready to par-tay!
Ms. McLean has booked a whale of a band for the Gala. Chopteeth is 14 musicians-worth of Afrobeat, Highlife, Rumba and vintage West African funk: guaranteed to cure what ails you!

Marla McLean Submits Funding Proposal for Papermaking Project "From Flowers to Wings"

Marla McLean has posted a proposal to fund a project entitled "From Flowers to Wings" on Meansfordreams.org. Means for Dreams is a vehicle by which companies can directly fund projects in DC Public Schools through tax deductible donations. Please encourage your company to donate and/or forward to other companies you know that might help and perhaps we could attain 100% funding.

The proposed project is an in-depth hands-on papermaking project where the students learn and experience the beauty, origin, and science of paper. The will explore the craft and art of papermaking and create paper and paper sculptures. The children will gain a deeper understanding of how nature is part of our everyday lifepushing their imaginations by creating symbols and stories through a new medium.

More details about the project and how to provide funding can be viewed at www.meansfordreams.org.

Marla McLean to Attend International Winter Institute in Reggio Emilia, Italy

Marla McLean is thrilled to have the opportunity to return to study in Reggio Emilia, February 20th-26th. The study tour is a North American Atelierista (Studio Art Teacher) Study tour, for 50 art teachers. This is the first time such a small and specific tour has been organized. In addition to touring schools and attending presentations, she will also have "open possibilities to have exchanges of experiences among colleagues, meetings with Reggio atelieristas and workshops." "I am looking forward to being challenged and inspired," says Marla.

Peabody Grounds Committee Update

The Peabody grounds committee has been meeting and continues to review and explore options for replacing the area outside the back door including the cement pavers. It did met the week of January 23-27 with officials from DCPS Facilities Department and the DC Department of Health Watershed Protection Division. And they visited other DC schools that have creative solutions for school grounds surfacing. The committee is also exploring fundraising and grant possibilities to address the costs of any new grounds surfacing. When they complete their fact-finding, the committee will compile the information and prepare a presentation of practical options to SWS and Peabody.

Occupational Therapy and Speech-Language Pathology Services on the Hill

In November, Kristen Masci, MS. OTR/L, Pediatric Occupational Therapist and Leslie Williams a Speech-Language Pathologist provided an overview of their services. Just in case you missed it, here are some of the handouts (as printer-friendly PDFs), which include helpful information about motor skills and speech-language milestones and red flags for Pre-K and Kindergarten age children.

Occupational therapy - milestones for motor skills and fun games and exercises
Speech and language development, red flags and what you can do
Toys and games to build speech and language skills

Speech-Language Therapist
Capitol Kids Therapy, LLC
Leslie Williamson, MS, CCC-SLP
202.907.4824
coquina_@msn.com

Occupational Therapist
Kristen Masci, Ms, OTR/L
Skills on the Hill, LLC
Pediatric Occupational Therapy Services
202.544.5439
skillsonthehill@yahoo.com

SWS Web Site Needs a Facelift

Members of the Communications Committee will be redesigning the SWS Web site to better reflect the spirit of the school. Since we are making some changes we thought we would ask for input from other parents. Do you use the Web site as a resource? If not, what would you like to see added so that it is helpful to you? Please send all comments and suggestions to eclwalsh@yahoo.com. Thank you.

For news about other campuses in the Capitol Hill Cluster School visit the CHCS PTA web site - http://www.capitolhillclusterschool.org/index.html.

Dates to Remember for February - March

March 8 - General PTA meeting at Watkins
March 15 - SWS parent meeting 5:45 - 7:45 PM
SAVE THE DATE: March 25 - 9th Annual SWS Jazz Gala and Auction at St Marks 's Episcopal