Back to School Night this Thursday

Dear Families,

Back to School Night is this Thursday, Sept 23rd at 6:30pm. It will be so great to see all of you. We have organized the event differently than in years' past. The time will be divided into two identical sessions, to accommodate for parents who have students in multiple age levels. The format will be:
*6:30-7:10 Session 1
*7:15-8:00 Session 2
Please report directly to your student's classroom teacher for one of the sessions. Teachers will go over age-specific content and program goals. The evening has been designed for parents and is generally not well-suited for students (it's usually best to leave the kids at home!). Parents who would like one-on-one time with teachers will be warmly welcomed to do so during Parent-Teacher-Student conferences later in the fall.

We look forward to seeing you all soon.

Warm regards,
Stephanie

Peace Youth Summit this Thursday

Students wishing to attend the Peace Youth Summit this Thursday may be excused from regularly scheduled classes once they get permission from their advisor, parent, and classroom teachers.

Peace Youth Summit
September 23, 2010 — 9:00 AM – 2:00 PM
Concordia University
Keynote Speaker: Former First Lady of South Korea, Mrs. Kim Dae Jung
Click here for more information.

Service Day Tomorrow

Hello families,

What a great first week of school - I am enjoying the newness and excitement of it all.

Tomorrow is our first Friday Service Day. Thanks to our many parents that have offered to help drive students out to the Sandy River for our clean up adventure. Those of you who indicated you might be able to help are listed below. Please email or call me (503-348-9849) to confirm and to let me know the number of students you could transport. We are also looking for one or two adults who would be willing to stay with us for the morning as support/chaperons.

Jennifer Gaddy
Polly Christopher (Sam and Abbie)
Maureen O'Dea
David Herzfeld
Shelley Curtis
Yvonne Rodrigue
Jason Hill
Barbara Liles
Becky Grunest
Sheila Guardino
Ginny Elliott
Amanda Fletcher

We meet at the school at the regular start of the day, 8:30, and leave by 8:45. It takes about 30 minutes to drive out there and we want to be back to school by noon, so pickup will be at 11:20.


Thanks again for the help.


Best,
Ken



--
Ken Gadbow
High School Advisor and Social Studies Teacher
Trillium Charter School
Portland, Oregon

Beginning of Year Ice Cream Social

Hi folks,

It's almost that time again! To ease everybody back into the school year, Together for Trillium will host our annual Back-to-School Ice Cream Social on Saturday, September 11th, 2-4 pm. This year, we're finally going to do it at the school--in our lovely new Front Yard! You don't need to bring anything but yourselves. We'll have ice cream (including dairy-free options), napkins, etc. It's a time to see old friends and welcome new community members!

For parents who have time on the first day of school, there will be coffee, tea, & donuts in the Multipurpose Room at the school, starting at 8:30. We'll have some introductions and words of welcome. You can meet other parents, ask questions, and just hang out for a bit celebrating the start of school. :)

One last bit of info: the Together for Trillium meetings have been happening on the second Monday of each month, but since that's the first day of school this year, we're rescheduling the September meeting to Tuesday, September 21st, 6:30 pm.

Looking forward to seeing you all soon!

-Kerri

Kerri Creager
mom to Curran Chapman (7th grade, Amy's advising) and Henry Chapman (1st grade, Beth's advising)
Together for Trillium president
kerri@trilliumcharterschool.org

Course Catalog and Home Visit Packets

You can find the new course catalog by clicking here.
Families should also print out all of the other Beginning of Year documents (Home-School Contract, Field Trip Permission Form, etc.) in preparation for conferences.

An opportunity for alumni

Dear Trillium Alumni,

I hope you are all doing well and doing something you are passionate about. For those of you who are in college and are eligible for work study, we are hiring for several work study positions and would love to give you first opportunity at those spots. Please contact me right away if you have a work study grant and would like to do that work at Trillium.

Stephanie

Sign Up for Conferences Right Here!

Or rather, by clicking here.

Welcome to the new year!

August 30, 2010

Dear Students and Families,

Happy shorter days of summer to you. I hope this letter finds each of you in good spirits, enjoying time with family and friends and looking forward to the school year.

I am pleased and honored to be serving as your Advisor. For those of you new to high school at Trillium, I offer a special welcome. I am here throughout your High School experience to offer support and guidance for all things academic and personal. As a group, advising embodies the heart of Trillium's democratic community - small, committed groups working through issues and ideas to nurture the growth of our school. But, like all families, we will sometimes be at odds with one another. The tools of peaceful conflict resolution, mediation, and one on one conferencing empower us to address problems, reflect on ourselves, deepen our understanding of each other, and develop our communication skills.

Each year traditionally begins with an Advisor-student-parent conference. We discuss your academic path, review your transcript and assess your progress towards meeting graduation requirements. We also discuss learning interests and goals and collaboratively sign-up for a Semester 1 schedule designed to best meet your needs.

Advisors do home visits only for students who are new to the Advising group, or to whose homes I have not yet had the chance to visit. Returning 10-12th graders and parents whose homes I have visited in the past will have a scheduled conference in the classroom.

You may sign up for a one-hour classroom conference:
Tuesday, September 7th from 7:00 AM til 1:00 PM
Wednesday, September 8th from 2:00 PM til 7:30 PM.

You may sign up for a one-hour home visit:
Thursday, September 9th from 9:30 AM til 5:00 PM.
Friday, September 8th from 8:00 AM til 11:00 AM.
Saturday, September 9th from 9:30 til 11:30 AM.

Please contact me at your earliest convenience so we can work out a time that best meets your needs. If I have your correct email address, you should have received an email inviting you to sign up online through a Google spreadsheet. This is the simplest way for me to manage the schedule. You may also find a link to it on my blog at http://ken-trillium.blogspot.com/.

Please note that the first day of school is Monday, September 13th. Class starts at 8:30am. Students are to report directly to Advising rooms.

Trillium continues to offer an enriching academic experience in the midst of the budget stress all schools are experiencing. Significant cuts have been made to teaching budgets which have been used for the purchasing of books, curriculum, project supplies, basic classroom supplies, and room improvement. As teachers do with less, we are asking students and families to shoulder greater responsibilities in supporting the classroom. To assist in this planning I have written two lists below. One is what I have seen, over the years, as the basic school supplies students use the most. Also, I have included a classroom “wish list” that includes the supplies that support the creative hands-on projects and art that enrich your students' learning and that I have, in the past, purchased from my budget to stock the “art boxes” in the room. You will also notice that there are some food items on the list. I like to keep some staples in the class. Fed students are better learners than hungry students. Please do not feel pressure to purchase these “wish list” items, but do look around your house, keep an eye on yard sales, pick up something extra at a craft shop, or take a family trip to SCRAP to see if you can make a great score to pass on to our classroom.

I look forward to meeting with each of you soon to discuss all of the things that are going to make next year one of tremendous creativity, community, growth, and learning. Enjoy the last days of summer.

Peace.

Ken Gadbow

Ken@TrilliumCharterSchool.org,
503-348-9849 (mobile)
http://ken-trillium.blogspot.com


School supplies High School students commonly use
• a lot of pencils and a good eraser
• a couple of good pens, especially black ink
• college-ruled lined notebook paper
• black sharpies
• if you often choose visual projects, a set of high quality color art pencils or markers
• highlighters and/or sticky-notes to support reading strategies and research
• a water bottle 
• a personal organization system for classes: notebooks/binder/folders... something that works for you and keeps each classes' work separate and organized
• a planner notebook – ones with calendars are the most useful (store-bought, hand-made, SOMETHING!)
• a personal journal or notebook to capture ideas and expression
• a personal library card free of fines

Project Wish-List for our classroom
• Colored paper.
• Tape: scotch tape, blue masking tape, duct tape.
• Felt squares of all colors.
• Fabric scraps of all varieties.
• Needles and thread.
• Poster board and large paper.
• Surfaces to paint on... canvas, wood, recycled materials, etc....
• Art paper- Big sketch books, watercolor, charcoal, etc....
• Fabric scraps, screen printed patches, needles, thread.... all sewing stuff
• Black Sharpies of fine and wide tips
• Tissues.

• On going:
 Natural peanut butter
 Whole grain bread.
 Honey
 Herbal Tea
 Fresh flowers are always a nice touch.

* And if you might be willing to help buy books for the classroom, a Powell's gift card is always a delightful contribution.

Front Space Update

Hello Trillium Families,

I hope everyone is having a fabulous summer. With the sun beating down for the past month or so the cob has had a nice chance to dry. There are several more steps before it will be finished and there will be several chances for families to participate in that process. Below is a list of things that we would love your help with.

#1. THE COB ROOF AND BEAUTIFYING THE SPACE. On August 28th (from 9 am to 4 pm) we will be having a Front Yard work party to beautify the space and finish putting on the cedar shakes for the cob roof. We won't be doing any cobbing, but rather cleaning up the space and getting it ready for the first day of school. If you have experience with putting on cedar shakes or other kinds of roofing, (or just want to come give it a try) please join us. If you want to just lend a hand in the clean up or have some ideas for ways of making the space (including the Maryland side) sparkle and look more inviting that is great too (We would love to think about plants, a better way to organize bike parking etc). An rsvp to me would be helpful so I can get a sense of the numbers. ( I have attached a picture of the finished roof and the unfinished roof.)

#2. MAKING THE MAIN GATE A team of welders and artists in our community are working to get the metal gate ready to be hung and would also welcome new members. Contact Jon Molenkamp at jonmolenkamp@mac.com if you are interested. The gate will initially be a skeleton, which will be filled with metal designs and "scenes" created by the community. The work on the designing for the artistic part of the gate will start once school has begun.

#3. PLASTERING AND PAINTING THE COB: The intermediate class (3rd-5th) have taken on the challenging of orchestrating the plastering and painting of the cob wall and the trillium flower bench located inside the wall. This work will begin the first weeks of school and we will be inviting the community to be both a part of the plastering and the painting. Look for information about that in early September.

#4. REMOVING THE GREEN GATE: Once the cob is finished the main gate is in place, we plan to remove the green cyclone fence that separates the front yard from the back. We hope that we can find someone who would like to dig it up and take it away, but if not, we may be asking for help with that process some time in last September.

#5. NEXT YEARS BIG PROJECT!! The cob wall was just the first step in a long term effort to really make the outside and inside of Trillium much more community friendly and aesthetically magical. The process of creating the wall really brought the community together and has done wonders for the feel of the space already. I often see people stopping to poke their heads in and see what we are doing or reading about the project in the unfinished kiosk outside the gate. There is nothing set in stone for next years big project, but I would really love to see an outdoor classroom built from cob and lumber. I am putting my intermediate class to the task of beginning the process of making that happen starting in September. I would love any and all feedback. I really want this to become an even bigger community involved event than last year.

Thanks for reading and let me know if you have any questions, comments or want to lend a had.

See you in a month or so.

Rob van Nood

Amazing science opportunity coming up SOON.

From the National Hispanic Environmental Council:

Dear Students, Educators, NHEC members, and Community Leaders:

For those who may not have seen our previous email, the National
Hispanic Environmental Council (NHEC) is still accepting applications
from students to participate in our upcoming 9th annual "Minority
Youth Environmental Training Institute", to be held August 13--22,
2010 in beautiful Glorieta, New Mexico.

Like our NYC and CA regional Institutes, the national Institute in New
Mexico is an intensive, residential, multi-day, science-based
environmental education AND environmental career awareness program for
talented teens, aged 16--19, selected competitively from all across
the U.S. Note that students in both high school and college are
eligible to apply.

Through a full scholarship NHEC will COVER ALL COSTS for accepted
students, including round-trip airfare, housing, meals, books, science
equipment, and more for the 10 day long Institute.

The NM Institute is being funded by a number of sponsors, including
the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Nuclear Regulatory
Commission, USDA Natural Resource Conservation Service, and the
National Park Trust. Like past Institutes, we use a variety of
facilities as learning sites, including national parks, national
forests, national laboratories, and more.

Students will be housed at the Glorieta Conference Center and closely
supervised by NHEC instructors and staff. The Institute is designed
to help build the next generation of environmental leaders and
professionals. Students learn about key environmental, energy, and
natural resource topics, as well as the wide range of careers in the
environmental, natural resource, and energy arena. Students also
receive information about college majors and universities in these
fields.

In addition to our Instructors, NHEC also has an overlay of "role
models" -- working minority professionals from every environmental
field -- who each year participate in the Institute as volunteers. A
number of role models are present every day to inspire the students,
help teach the curriculum, and share their environmental expertise,
technical knowledge, and cultural heritage.

The attached pdf files contain all materials necessary for students to
apply to the Institute. Please read the "Fact Sheet" first, as it has
key information about the program. Interested students should apply
as soon as possible as the Institute is fast approaching.

We also ask that you forward this email on to those you think might be
interested in this highly educational program, including qualified
students, fellow educators, high schools, colleges, youth
organizations, and more. We appreciate your help.

Feel free to contact NHEC, especially our Programs Coordinator, Juan
Rodriguez, at jrodriguez@nheec.org or myself, at rrivera@nheec.org if
you have any questions. Thank you.

Roger Rivera

President, NHEC

New High School Advisor Sample Lessons TOMORROW!

Hi everyone,

We are in the process of hiring a new high school advisor/MS math teacher, and a part-time MS science teacher. Elizabeth Johnson has taken a new position at the Native American Youth Association Early College Academy and will no longer be with us. Elizabeth has been a powerful voice of support and advocacy, and a brilliant teacher during her 5 years at Trillium. Her legacy will continue to be felt for years to come.

We have had more than 150 applicants for these positions and are excited at the array of experience these candidates may bring to the position. Through the interview process we have narrowed down the candidates to 5, all of whom will be doing sample lessons tomorrow, Wednesday, July 21st at Trillium, starting at 9:30. WE NEED HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS to come give feedback on who they see as the best fit. And we will feed you lunch.

Let me know if you can make it. Hope to see you there.

Peace.
Ken

Trillium Board of Directors Update

Good afternoon,

I'm writing today to provide an another update on our school director succession plans and financial picture.

The Board has approved the Personnel Committees recomendation that in the long run, we should have two separate director positions: an Executive Director and an Educational Director. We will begin the hiring process for a new Executive Director immediately, and will pursue an Educational Director later in the year as finances allow. For those of you with some history at the school, you may recognize that this is a familiar refrain - this desire to pursue two positions has been articulated in the past, but never executed. The Board also decided to commit to the two positions financially, as you'll see in the plan below.

Because of our financial constraints and the desire to manage a smooth transition, this is the plan that we have agreed to follow:
- We will begin the hiring process to bring in a new Executive Director now with the hope that they will start in August, 2010
- The position will be half time now, and will convert to full time no later than July 1, 2011
- Stephanie's stay with the school at half time for transition purposes through the end of the 2010-2011 school year
- The new Executive Director will be immediately vested with the decision making authority of the job.
- We will hire a full time Educational Director to start in early 2011
- The new Executive Director and the board will work closely to close budget gaps necessary to finance both positions fully. If necessary, class size (enrollment) will be raised again for the 2011-2012 school year.
- The Board will work to design and clarify any necessary decision rights for the two director positions as we hire the Education Director

We are assembling a small hiring committee and interview team immediately and hope to be conducting interviews in early August. We'll be seeking a mix of upper school and lower school staff and parents to participate in the process. If you are interested, and particularly if you have interviewing and hiring experience, please contact David Poe as soon as possible.


Regarding the school finances, the current budget looks stable for now (thanks to staff and board members who've worked so hard on this), but we will be running very close to the edge and making no substantive improvements in major issues such as the overall debt load of the school or teacher pay equity with PPS pay. We have more to do in the coming year to overcome these hurdles. Much will depend on the state budget scenario as it gets finalized, as well as our ability to raise funds in the coming year.

Thanks,
James Hindes
Chair, Trillium Board of Directors
Parent to Annie (Beth's advising) and Holden
jhindes@trilliumcharterschool.org

We did it again.

Another great year. Thank you, everyone. Best wishes for a loving, learning summer.

Ken

Graduation Follow Up

Commencement was great! Thank you all.

Please upload any photos or video you took to the Picasa folder. If you do not have access to it, email me at Ken@TrilliumCharterSchool.org and I will fix that.

Please return Caps and Gowns to Trillium as soon as possible. Keep the tassles. Return the other stuff!


Commencement Slideshow
Check out the slideshow of students young and old by clicking here.

End of Term Course Assessments

Click here.

Or if you already started one and need to do another one, click here.

Or if you got really crazy and need to do it a third time, click here.

Or for Ken's ADVISING self assessment, click here.

Senior Dinner Tonight, Caps and Gowns, Graduation

Hi all,

Remember, senior and alumni dinner is tonight at 6:00 at Trillium, up on the roof garden, rain or shine.

Come eat.

Caps and Gowns have arrived. Come pick yours up today, tomorrow, or at graduation on Saturday. Their use costs $30 - pay Ramona and bring me the receipt. You can pick up the gowns at the front desk.

Seniors need to be at Moriarty Arts and Humanities Building Room 104 at 12:00 noon on Saturday.

Peace.

Ken

Last Week of School Schedule

Hello Parents. Pasted below is the plan for our last week of school. Classes will have all concluded, Seniors are done. Knowing this will be a fairly unstructured week, please support your students in making good decisions about their attendance, work and play.

High School
THE LAST WEEK OF SCHOOL

Here's What's Happening in the Schedule...

MONDAY JUNE 14
8:30-9:30 Advisor Office Hours and Study Hall
9:30 until End of Day Choose from:
Miniature Golf Field Trip (Ken)
Indoor Games (Jess and Will)
Study Hall (Elizabeth)
2:30pm Field Day Planning Meeting for Students and Teachers


TUESDAY JUNE 15
8:30-9:30 Advisor Office Hours and Study Hall
9:30 until End of Day FIELD GAMES at Peninsula Park

WEDNESDAY JUNE 16
8:30-9:30 Advisor Office Hours and Study Hall
9:30-12:00 Clean classrooms, hallway, school
12:00 8th Grade Promotion Ceremony

THURSDAY JUNE 17
ADVISING BREAKFAST FEASTING

YEARBOOK SIGNING

Middle East Studies Make-up Assignment

For students needing a make-up assignment for missing class last week, click here.

Board Update from Chair James Hindes

June 4, 2010

Dear Trillium community,
I’m writing to provide you an update on the school’s financial condition, an update on our plans regarding a successor for Stephanie (our Director) and a request for parents who may be interested in serving on the board in coming years.

Regarding our financial condition, here are the key actions taken or underway:
Enrollment: the board decided in early May to increase enrollment across the school (roughly 20 more students). This will still keep us well below typical PPS class sizes, while helping shore up a substantial portion of our core funding gap.
The Building: a building use subcommittee of the board is exploring a number of building use ideas. The initial objective is to setup a process to rent the multi-purpose room and/or the kitchen. The board also approved a proposal in May to increase the size of the preschool and have it utilize one of the rooms in the building. This latter change also has a favorable impact on our funding gap.
Fundraising: There are several activities underway in this arena. However, our first objective is to setup some system basics, e.g. the ability to track donors and potential donors, and the ability to easily accept recurring donations – whether online (picture a Donate Now! button) or in person.
Unfortunately, the state budget has dealt us another setback for the coming year in the form of a 9% budget cut, which amounts to about $100,000. We’re currently working to balance our budget around the enrollment change, the preschool change, and the state budget cut.

Regarding our plans for a successor for Stephanie, here’s what we can share so far: the Personnel committee of the board has recommended that we divide the administration of the school into two key roles, an Executive Director and an Education/Curriculum Director, and that we begin searching for a new Executive Director as soon as possible. We have a lot of planning to do regarding how the transition will work and what the timing will look like, so stay tuned. The next step is collecting staff input before they leave for the summer.

Regarding board membership, we’ll soon be looking for some new board members from our parent community. We typically have 1-2 openings per year. Serving on the board is a tremendous way to get involved and make a lasting contribution to Trillium. If you’ve been a Trillium parent for at least one year, have an interest in serving on the Board in the 2010 or 2011 school years, and you’ve got prior non-profit board or business leadership experience, please reply to this email and let me know.

Please don’t hesitate to contact me, Stephanie, or any Board member with any questions you may have.
Sincerely,
James Hindes, Chair, Trillium Board of Directors
Parent of Holden (Jenny’s class) and Annie (Beth’s class)
jhindes@trilliumcharterschool.org

End of Term Course Assessments

Click here.

Or if you already started one and need to do another one, click here.

Or if you got really crazy and need to do it a third time, click here.