LINCOLN ELEMENTARY

Options Opus

A Community Committed to Learning, Kindness, and Celebration

Welcome Aboard! -- Rob Campbell, Options Community Council

President

Hello Lincoln Options Community! As I

write this we are half way through our

summer here in Olympia and in a few short

weeks we will welcome the 28th

year of the

Options Program at Lincoln Elementary

School! Some of you are returning to

familiar classrooms, hallways, and outdoor

spaces, some will be in new classrooms with

new teachers, and some are new to our

community all together. To all of you, a

warm and hearty welcome! I too am

stepping into a new role as President of the

Options Community Council. I look forward

to working closely with so many of you in

our community, and to celebrating all the

great things happening here at Lincoln.

It is hard to believe that my family and I

moved to Olympia just two summers ago,

knowing very little about the city and with

no friends or family already living here. It is

hard to believe because we have been so

warmly welcomed by the Lincoln Options

community that it feels like we’ve been here

forever. Lincoln students, families, and

alum are woven throughout Olympia and the

South Sound. So whether we are

participating in school events, walking

through our neighborhood, or attending a

citywide concert, play or sidewalk sale, the

Lincoln community is well represented and

we can feel welcome and proud of our

association with such a vibrant community.

You will hear from your child’s classroom

teacher that the theme for the 2012-2013

AUGUST 2012 See Page 6 for Class Potluck and

Work Party Dates

SEPTEMBER 2012 Wednesday 5th

8:40 – 3:02 FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL

Thursday 6th 6:30 pm

New Family Orientation

Monday 10th

6:30-8 Lynn’s Class Meeting

Tuesday 11th

6:30-8 Class Meetings - Angela, Caron, Wendy

6:30-8 OCC Mtg

Wednesday 12th

6:30-8 Class Meetings - Michael, Roxanne

Thursday 13th

6:30-8 Marty’s Class Meeting

Friday 14th

Early Release at 12:32

Tuesday 18th

6:30-8 Class Meetings - Maggie & Maribeth

Wednesday 19th

6:30-8 Class Meeting- Michi

Thursday 20th

6:30-8 Class Meeting - Kari

Tuesday 25th

6:30-8 OCC Mtg. and Committees

Friday 28th

DISTRICT IN SERVICE

NO SCHOOL

OCTOBER 2012 Wednesday, 3rd District Late Start

NO AM BUSES

Friday 5th –Early Release &

HARVEST FESTIVAL

School Year is in fact, One World, the focus being on Culture and Community. I look

forward to working with the parents and families who are able to contribute their time and set

positive examples of “Community” for all students, staff and volunteers. Parent involvement in

the school community is a big determining factor in student’s immediate and future success and

it is vital to the success of the Lincoln Options Program.

There are several ways for parents to get involved in the Lincoln Community, either as a regular

classroom volunteer during the school day, at evening meetings as a member of the Option

Community Council (OCC), or through involvement in one of our larger community events. As a

classroom volunteer you provide vital assistance and support for the Lincoln teachers and staff as

they plan and provide engaging, student centered instruction. As a member of the OCC you meet

twice a month to discuss, budget, and plan ways to support fundraising, garden activity and

various other school activities and events. And for those of you who are project oriented there

are several big events, such as the Harvest Festival, the Auction, or Camp Elderberry, that

require planning and coordination of activities and volunteers. Members of the OCC will be

available at the class potlucks to provide more information related to volunteer opportunities.

Once again, welcome one and all to the 2012-2013 School Year at Lincoln Options Elementary

School, a community committed to learning, kindness, and celebration.

Warmest Regards,

Rob Campbell

Greetings, Options Families! -- Marcela Abadi, Principal

The sun is shining, and rainy day recess is a distant, cloudy memory. Sunflowers, marigolds,

corn, orange"ing" pumpkins in the garden, and the sweet smell of tomatoes confirm that fall and

school are near. The strangely silent halls glisten with new wax, ready for students to enter.

This OPUS is full of invitations to join in potlucks, class meetings, classroom work parties,

council work, garden work parties and to our first assembly celebration on September 11th

at

8:55 a.m. in the gym. Tuesday assemblies offer a forum for creating and expanding on

community. We begin the school year welcoming and including new families, offering

friendships to new classmates, reuniting with old friends and learning to work and live together

in this wonderful school community. I begin the year with a deeper appreciation for the

community that supports all of our children--parents,

teachers, staff–all of the loving adults who surround them and share in this work. These children

will be loved and taught well because of what we do together everyday! We have so much to be

grateful for as we begin the year together: children, families, caring and skilled staff, our garden,

our wetlands, our beautiful historical school building, endless resources, and the opportunity to

August 2012 Opus Page 3 of 14

create a unique learning experience for the children we share. This OPUS brings loving and

welcoming news.

Learning

Math will continue to be our staff's primary learning focus. On August 29th

we will be working

with Evergreen faculty members, Anita Lenges and Sunshine Campbell (Merrick and Deacon’s

mom) on best teaching practices for computational fluency. This is the second of three years that

Anita, Sunshine, and our staff will work together. We are both excited by and grateful for the

opportunity to continue this rich and rewarding work with Anita and Sunshine.

Then on August 30th, we will work on creating a common language and implementation

strategies for most effectively meeting educational standards through Options' Developmental

philosophy. We are excited about these days of learning! Watch your children grow as we learn

new strategies in academics, and in the Social Emotional Development of children.

Staffing

As many of you know, Barbara Weaver retired in June. This was not an easy decision for

Barbara, as she has been with the Options Program for over 20 years, though she is confident

that it was the right timing. Her dedication to teaching and learning, to our Options program, to

her colleagues, and to children and families is astonishing. We will miss her tremendously but

are comforted in knowing that Barbara will always be part of our Options Community. We send

her off into this new adventure in her life with much love and many, many good wishes!

We are happy to introduce Michael Stine, our new intermediate teacher, who will take Barbara’s

classroom position. Michael will be a strong addition to our staff, and we're looking forward to

all he will bring to our Options program, our staff, our students and our community. Please help

us to warmly welcome and include Michael. The following is his brief introduction: Michael Stine came to teaching, and Olympia, via The Evergreen State College, where he

received his Masters in Teaching in 2001. He has endorsements in elementary education, art,

and history. Directly after graduate school, he worked for two years at Margaret McKenny

Elementary, teaching 5th grade, and then moved to Garfield Elementary for eight years,

teaching 3rd and 4th grade. While at Garfield, Michael directed the annual Science Expo, led an

initiative to bring an industrial food composter (Earth Tub) to the school, and taught after-

school juggling classes. Last year, Michael participated in a Fulbright Classroom Teacher

Exchange teaching 2nd graders in Carlisle, England, a city of 75,000 on the border of England

and Scotland. One of his favorite experiences during his time abroad was exploring Hadrian’s

Wall with Michael Dempster in the pouring rain! Michael Stine is very excited about working at

Lincoln, where his stepdaughter Chloe attended K-5, and where his daughter Calla will be

starting Kindergarten this year.

A quick picture of our amazing staff: Caron -- Half-day Kindergarten

Lynn and Wendy -- K/1st

Kari and Maribeth --1st/2nd Angela, Maggie, and Roxanne -- 2nd/3rd Marty --3rd/4th

Michi and Michael -- 4th/5th

Paul --Music and Science Michael Dempster --Assemblies and Choir Donna -- Librarian Jenny and Rachel -- Special Education Dan -- Speech and Language Therapist Charlene, Joanne, Cheryl, Cathy, and Nancy-- our amazing team of Paraeducators Vladko -- Head Custodian Brenda --who serves those beautiful organic school lunches in the cafeteria Phyllis Price -- District nurse Dale Rayburn --1:1 LPN Wendy Trevorrow -- our gifted "office queen," offering the first smile that greets you at Lincoln and providing any help or information needed.

And now, about our lovingly prepared class lists... Our goal and intention is to honor the children, their learning needs and their friendships in the placement

process. With approximately 280 students, this is no easy task. Please remember that our first goal is

continuity with the teacher, so whenever possible children stay with their current teacher. Each placement

is interdependent, which means a change for any one child causes a ripple effect for other children. Please

work with your children and their teachers if you have questions, information, or would like to request a

specific plan to help your children enjoy and graciously accept their class placements. Each family

working with staff for the benefit of all of our shared children is the glue that holds our learning

community together.

SCHOOL BEGINS! September 5th brings all of those smiling children, eager to enter their classroom doors! I love that

moment! New friends, old friends, assemblies, garden time, Harvest Festival, recess, Mt. Lincoln, great

books, new stories, and routine are all part of the picture. So are you! Join us often. I welcome all of you

and look forward to a year of shared learning, kindness, and celebration.

In gratitude,

Marcela

Absences or Late Arrivals: Regular, on time attendance at school provides a foundation for academic and social success. At Lincoln we place an emphasis on community and routine. When children are tardy or miss school, they miss out on essential connections and interactions with the classroom community as they start their day together. It is also difficult for teachers to find time to re-teach lessons that students miss. If you child’s attendance becomes a concern to his/her teacher, you will receive notice, possibly requesting a meeting to create an attendance plan.

PLEASE READ CAREFULLY

August 2012 Opus Page 5 of 14

Parents are responsible for notifying the office of student tardiness and absences. The Lincoln Options Attendance Line, 596-6403, is a 24 hour voicemail number that you can call anytime. Please use this rather than our main line for attendance reporting. You may also send a note to the teacher or office. Your notification should include the reason for your child’s absence or tardiness, and, if due to illness, please include significant information about the illness, i.e. fever, vomiting, or medical diagnosis of contagious illnesses such as strep throat, chicken pox, etc. All planned absences (vacations/family reasons) must be pre-approved by Marcela Abadi, principal. A student is marked unexcused if he or she is absent from school and the office does not receive notice on or prior to the day of the absence. Olympia School District Policy states: If a student reaches 10 or more total unexcused absences during the current school year, the District is required to file a court Becca Bill petition. Unexcused absences cannot be amended after 72 hours from the date of the absence. The District may also file a court petition if a student reaches 20 or more excused absences during the school year. If you have any questions, please feel to contact Wendy Trevorrow at 596-6400.

Assistance Programs @ Lincoln: Thanks to the Olympia School District, the Thurston County Food Bank, and other

charitable organizations in our community, several programs are available to families who find

themselves needing assistance during difficult times. Family circumstances can change and

these programs are available to you anytime throughout the year.

ForKids provides a weekend supply of snack foods delivered every Friday by the Food

Bank and distributed to children in their backpacks or on coat hooks. Contact Wendy T.

(596-6400)

Emergency Fund Checkbook offers funds to be used for many types of assistance,

including school supplies, backpacks, clothing, gas, or transportation vouchers. Please

contact Marcela (596-6405) to access this support.

The National School Lunch/Breakfast program is funded to provide school meals at a

free and/or reduced rate to families with financial need. Your application to this program

DAILY DETAILS NOTICE: We would like to encourage ALL families to read this attached document carefully as it is filled with important information regarding our upcoming school year. Though we publish this document with the August OPUS each year, many of the specifics change from year to year; and this is especially true for the 2012-2013 School Year.

benefits not only your family, but our school, so please stop by the office and pick up a

form if you don’t already have one. Holiday Support: various types of support are available during winter and spring holidays

as needed. If you are interested in this support for your family, contact Wendy T. (596-

6400)

Thanksgiving Dinners organized and delivered by the Trinity Lutheran Church, provides

families with all the makings for a Thanksgiving meal. Contact Wendy T (596-6400)

The Heart of Volunteering: Communication --Bradley Naragon

How grateful we are to be part of this community; witnessing the dedication and effort of parent

volunteering and participation alongside and complementing the hard work, care and efforts of

our beloved Lincoln staff (and the students!)

Parents help out in so many ways, from directly in the classroom to behind the scenes.

The heart of organizing the parent interests in volunteering starts with the Parent Participation

Forms.

Why are the Parent Participation Forms so helpful? How do we use this resource to

organize volunteering at Lincoln?

The school year starts with a push to get every parent to fill out the Parent Participation

Form (included in this packet). From parents making it known they want to help in the garden,

with science projects, the book sale, or even if someone can only help every other Thursday

morning in the classroom - all this information is helpful.

As these forms come in, lists are compiled of parents who are interested in helping with

committees, workgroups, and annual events. All this information is then passed on to the

faculty and council president in the form of one spreadsheet. These lists of parents are also used

by those coordinating the annual events to help bring together the core groups that make these

events successful.

All the Parent Participation Forms live for the whole school year in the office, filed by

teacher/class. This is a resource all teachers can access at any time during the school year.

Maybe a teacher really needs someone on a certain day, week, or time. These records are very

helpful!

One final note, last year many forms were missing key pieces of information--parent,

student, and/or teacher names, telephone numbers, email addresses. For parents with more than

one student, please try to identify your responses by student. Also, please help our tired eyes by

writing as legibly as possible. I encourage you to fill out the Parent Participation Form clearly,

fully, as soon as possible to support the overall start of another great school year!

August 2012 Opus Page 7 of 14

Class Potlucks & Work Parties Lincoln’s tradition of class potlucks is a great opportunity for you to connect with

the students and parents you will be journeying with through this academic year.

Not only is it great fun and a stress reliever for students new to the school or

moving to a new classroom, it provides the opportunity for you to tell the larger

community what you would like to help with this year. Please take the time to fill

out a Parent Participation Form for each of your students and turn them in at the

potluck. Please also make sure that you and your students get your photo taken in

the garden. These photos are posted in the main hallway near the office so that we

can all get to know each other better.

Options Directory Information: A printout of your family’s contact

information will also be available at the welcome/check-in tent at your Class

Potluck. Please review, update, indicate information you would like to have

included in the Directory and sign. We cannot publish your information

without signed authorization to do so. It is our goal to print and distribute our

family directory in October…..AND we need your help and cooperation in providing

us with the necessary information and permissions to do so.

Class Potluck Times: Tuesday, August 28th 6-7:30 Kari, Roxanne, & Wendy

Wednesday, August 29th 5:30-7 Angela, Maggie, & Michael

Thursday, August 30th 5:30-7 Caron, Lynn & Marty

Tuesday, September 4th 5:30-7 Michi & Maribeth

Class Work Party Times: Wednesday, August 22nd 9-12 Wendy

Thursday, August 30th 5-7 Maggie

Friday, August 31st 9-12 Wendy

Friday, August 31st 10-12 Kari

Friday, August 31st 10-2 Lynn

Monday, September 3rd 10-1 Marty

Tuesday, September 4th 11-2 Michi

Early Release Fridays -- Addie Spencer, Lincoln Parent & Early Release Coordinator

Welcome to the new school year! Please check your calendar and make sure you

have noted which Fridays will have early release.

September 14

October 5

November 9

December 7 (district-wide)

January 11

January 25

February 8

February 22

March 8 (district-wide)

April 19

May 3

May 17

June 7

Why does the school day end early on thirteen Fridays during the school year? This

is the time the wonderful Lincoln Options teachers develop curriculum and plan for

experienced-based learning. Remember, we do not have the late start

Wednesday mornings that are on the calendar for the rest of the district.

(Another note to add to your calendar.)

The school day ends at 12:32 on Early Release Fridays. But don't panic. For those

families that need a safe and fun place for their kids, parent volunteers put together

a variety of educational and engaging activities for the kids.

Let me introduce Rosie Finn and Addie Spencer, your Early Release coordinators.

We are the parent volunteers who organize the after school activities on Early

Release Fridays. Over the years we have hired some excellent instructors to come

and offer everything from wood working to Spanish language activities for the kids.

We have also been super lucky to have talented parents volunteer to lead or help

with activities from rock climbing to bike repair.

Please watch for the blue sign up sheets that will come home with the kids or can be

picked up in the office about a week before an Early Release Friday. You will need

to return a form for each kid who wants to sign up for an activity.

We always need parent help on Early Release Fridays. If you can lead an activity or

pitch in as a helper please contact Addie at addierainorshine@gmail.com or

705-0879.

This year we are interested in making Early Release paperless. Can you help?

Please contact Addie or Rosie.

August 2012 Opus Page 9 of 14

Volunteers needed for Friday Early Release

What is your talent? Do you have a cool hobby? It's time to

bring out your inner teacher!

We need parents to lead activities on Early Release

Fridays. Whether it is double Dutch jump rope or chess

club, we know there are kids who will love spending a

Friday afternoon learning something new.

Helpers are great too! We can match you up with an

activity that needs extra adult help.

Make it more fun and safer for everyone.

And remember, your kids can attend any Early Release

activity for free when you are volunteering!

Please contact Addie Spencer at

addierainorshine@gmail.com or 705-0879.

Welcome to the Lincoln/Options Library Donna Dannenmiller … Teacher-Librarian

Who works in the library? Donna (a former Options classroom teacher for 20 years, and starting her 10th year

in the library) teaches library classes, works on collection development by reading,

reviewing, and ordering the titles for our 15,000 book inventory, and supports staff,

parents, and students in their need for resources. She works Monday through Thursday.

Due to budget cuts, Donna’s “once upon a time” half day library aide, Cathy Smith,

was reduced to 40 minutes per day of support. Since library is open during recesses, Cathy

is the paraeducator support during that time.

Donna heavily relies on parent/grandparent/student volunteers to manage our large

collection, give clerical support and sort books for our annual Used Book and Toy Sale

fundraiser. The library is a happy place to spend time…even 10 minutes significantly helps!

How many books can my child check out? Kindergarteners check out one book and First Graders check out two books. All

other students can check out three leisure books, plus three research books. If your

family wants a Family Read Aloud book to read together... that is a bonus book.

Just say the magic words… “This is our Family Read Aloud.”

Can parents check out books? YES! Come into the library to set up a parent account. It only takes a minute. If

you already have an account, please come in and confirm the information. We have a

Parent Resource Library and Donna can suggest Family Read Aloud titles. It is a

fabulous library for browsing!!!

How long can we keep a book? The books are checked out for one week. Students and parents may renew books

as long as there is no hold on the book. Call to renew a book using the barcode number on

the front cover, 596-6402. You do not need to bring the book in to renew it. You do not

have to wait until your class’s library day to return, renew, or check out a book. Students

may come to the library any day before school, during recesses, lunch time, or after

school to do their library business.

When are the books “overdue”? They are overdue one week after check out, unless they are renewed. If you have

an overdue book, you are never “in trouble”… and you are always responsible. One strategy

is to renew your books each week instead of letting them become overdue. This keeps

the books fresh in the children’s mind.

What if we lose a book?...or it’s damaged beyond repair? If you truly believe that the book is lost, you have several options:

purchase another copy of the book as a replacement.

pay for a replacement of the book.

bring in a new or used book that our library can use.

community service in the library.

Work with Donna for an option that best fits your situation.

Strategies to avoid losing, misplacing or damaging books. 1. Backpacks are a great place to keep track of and transport books out of the

elements.

2. Designate a special shelf or basket at home specifically for library books.

( Parents have said that this is the single most successful strategy.)

2. Return books on time. Long overdue books become lost books.

3. Keep books away from dogs, water (rain), food, and unsupervised younger

siblings.

SEE YOU SOON! BE SURE TO COME IN AND SAY HI…AND ENJOY OUR

GORGEOUS LIBRARY

August 2012 Opus Page 11 of 14

Notes from Paul

Welcome to a new school year! For those of you new to Lincoln, my name is Paul

Rocks (yes, really, that is my name). I work with all the students in the areas of

science, music, and gardening.

As an amateur astronomer one of the things I’ve enjoyed about his summer is

watching the progress of NASA’s rover Curiosity as it landed successfully on the

planet Mars earlier this month.

Its mission is to investigate the possibility of life on Mars, learn more about the

climate, geology and collect data for future human missions to the red planet. It is

no accident that this spacecraft is named Curiosity. Deep in our DNA is a

hardwiring to learn, to understand, to build. At the heart of science is the need to

ask questions, and to find answers to those questions. It is what we all do from the

earliest of age. The founders of the Options Program understood the role of

curiosity in the development of the whole child when they sat down to write the

philosophy that guides our work today. These pioneers of alternative education said

that, “Curiosity and creativity are innate in all children, and that a school can

enhance the child’s natural drive to explore and experiment in the real world.”

The theme for this school year is One World; this will be an opportunity to use our

curiosity to experience and study culture. Every classroom goes about this study in

it’s own unique way. For me, it is how different cultures use science, music and

technology. It is also about how we, as a species, connect to the land.

At Lincoln we are lucky to have several green spaces for children to explore: the

native garden, the wetland, and our edible garden. Soon children will be working,

learning, and eating in the edible garden, as we get ready for our annual Harvest

Festival on October 5th. If you are able to take time off work for this event you will

witness our school’s commitment to community, learning, and celebration.

I’ve been looking forward to seeing all of you, and working with your curious

children as they make new friends, connect with nature, and learn about this planet

we call home.

Work Party You’re invited to come join the fun!!

What: You are invited to work and play with other Lincoln adults to maintain our green spaces. Where: The Lincoln Wetland and Garden When: August 26, 10-2 Why: Tidy up our lovely green spaces

We can use extra gas powered lawn mowers & weed whackers. Children are welcome if they are supervised.

Contact Paul Rocks with questions paulrocks_olywa@hotmail.com

Options OPUS Deadlines

Our goal is to get the Opus out to you during the last week of the month for the month to come. If you have an item

that you think should be included, please forward it to Melissa Minjares at: opuseditor@gmail.com. You can help

by not assuming that items submitted for the weekly Talking Points will automatically be in the OPUS.

Upcoming Deadlines:

Wednesday, September 12

Wednesday, October 17

Wednesday, November 14

Wednesday, December 12

Questions? Contact Melissa Minjares at: opuseditor@gmail.com.

Sustainability: We hope to shift distribution of the OPUS almost entirely to email this year. If you need a paper

copy or need to update your email address, please let us know in the main office.