RCO
Minutes 1-12-16
Recorder: Darlene Colborn
20 people
present
Approval of the
minutes will take place at the end of the meeting after they are passed around
for people to look at.
Market Place
at Pasta Dinner: 5 students have applied. Gabriella and Veronica demoed homemade hand
warmers that they will sell. We have
space for 8 so there are still spaces.
Get info to the RCO asap.
Parent
Education Doctor Jen Wyld
Jen had
children in Montessori pre-school and had little knowledge of what it was all
about. This changed when her kids got
older. She taught a 6–12 yr olds
class for a time. She came to Ridgeline
in its third year and has grown with the school. After experiencing Montessori, she decided to
get a PhD: learning in an informal
environment at OSU.
Maker Movement
uses a lot of Montessori principles in a learn-by-doing environment. She has moved to Vancouver, WA, but loves
Eugene and is happy to come speak to us about it.
The history of
Montessori is that it was a pre-school for a lot of years. At this point, elementary has built up a
sustainable curriculum with middle-school following. Montessori IS good for every child. Children will learn due to their environment
where others are learning regardless of their involvement.
Some people in
the room in a mixed class will be working at a more advanced level. They will learn by seeing and being immersed
in the culture. There isn’t as much
stigma around the norms with a mixed classroom as there is flexibility in the
work.
Maria’s
background is in medicine. She was not
trained in education. She began
institutional studies and started with observation and began introducing
various themes. After a time, children
who were institutionalized began performing at a standard level. Then she began introducing her methods with a
lot of observing and not many pre-conceptions.
She saw that the students could handle the work.
Because of the
observations, she developed the planes of development: primary plane - 0-6 yr old, 2nd plane - elementary
6-12, 12-18 middle, and 16-24. Usually a
3 yr middle followed by a 3 yr high school.
Children have
an inner drive. Ages 6-12 is a fairly
stable time and the best opportunity for success with education. First lesson:
Great Stories – the creator with no hands (from the big bang until
now). Developed imagination relies on
real experiences. Cosmic Education.
Gregario: Group instinct – side by side play and
exploration. Social structure of the
class creates the creative environment.
How do we fit into the universe?
Middle-schoolers interact with the world in a greater, more creative
way. Doing different work in the class
creates an environment of seeing what others are doing.
Children this
age are figuring out this world:: black
and white, what’s acceptable, what’s not, who’s who, what’s what. It involves Hero worship: looking out into the world and finding who to
look up to. What are the Common themes? Example:
Where does bread come from? Appreciation
for roles of people and those who have gone before us. Chart of interdependencies. Theme that we all
have something to contribute-develop an appreciation – you have something to
contribute, too. Some heroes are small
and interact while others are role models.
The No 1
important thing: developing abilities to
abstract. Manipulative materials are
used to internalize the processes.
Abstraction happens later.
Formulas are a point of arrival.
Invert and multiply is an example:
why do you do that? Concern is
for them to get to the point of abstraction, but have a visceral understanding
of what is happening. Ideally, they come
out with a deep understanding of how the world works.
There’s not a
Montessori High School, so how do our kids transition from Montessori to Public
School? Should you pull them out after 6
years (to go to a regular middle school), or wait. For adolescents, with everything going,
spending time in a nurturing environment will serve them in the long run. Most will find their niche. South and Churchill are more neighborly
driven. International program seems
suited to our students. Find
extra-curricular activities, where kids develop friends and focus.
Board
Report: Dave Vasquez
Dave is here to
put a face on the Board. Third Thurs BoD
meetings are open.
Administration
Report: Chrystell Reed
It is lottery
season and we need posters to go out.
Info session: please share your
experienced 2/4, 2/27 Applications are due 3/9, Lottery is 3/16.
Robin Briman, a
Montessori consult will be here to work with the team.
Parent Ed piece
will be part.
Site Council
Report: Theresa Meyers
The Site
Council will meet on 1/25. The Parent-Survey
is being worked on. Important for
people to participate as it gives much needed feedback, can be filled out
separately by each parent. In response
to Parent input an Organizational Chart is being developed. The focus group is taking a look at
attendance and tardiness within Ridgeline.
Lateness has a huge impact in the classroom. They are looking at ways to support families
in getting their kids here on time.
RCO Business
Talent Show:
Darcy Ghul
It is coming a
week from Friday. 1/22.
Tree
Sales: $770
Read-a-Thon coming in April: Jen
Earns money for
the general fund. Kids get pledges for
texts.
DDD has a goal
of 30 K. The intent was to reach that
goal by Winter Break. $28,329 is what
we’ve raised so far. 56% of families
have contributed.
An additional
goal of $10 K to come in the form of fundraiser activities.
Edwardo will
come up with an addition to the thermometer.
Pasta Dinner will encourage those who have not contributed to do
so. Why?
Participation rate shows commitment to the school. Some years we have had 80% participation. One way we evaluate is by how many of our
families qualify for subsidized lunches? (This is only a means of tracking because we
don’t serve lunches.) Only 30% of our
families have turned in the forms.
Families need to find ways to contribute to the DDD. After pasta dinner, we’ll have a better
handle on participation. Work is being
done on an education piece on why the participation rate is important. Parent survey gives information on how/when
we’ll do the fund raisers. Each person
gets 1 hr of volunteer time for filling out the survey. Participation is more
important than $$$$$. It’s each
families’ responsibility to participate.
As far as
presentation goes, reading is now old school.
What about using U-tube, Facebook, texting, etc. Would it be helpful to have parents present at
Lottery night? How else can we educate
our families on the school’s needs and their responsibilities?
Pasta Dinner
Market Place:
Any kids/group that
wants to sell their wares, can contact the RCO by 2/19. A
portion of the funds raised is going to RCO fundraiser.
Pasta bowls
pottery shop provider went out of biz so we’re looking for another supplier.
Nominations for
the new co-convener. Michelle would like
a partner. If someone would like to do
it, get involved now to test the water.
Buddy
Bench: two parents, Stephanie Rowing and
Kate Kelly, are taking the lead and will rally the volunteers who are
interested.
The minutes
from December are approved.
