Achieving Personal and Academic Excellence through Individualized Education

NOVEMBER 2008

Kate’s Note:

I’m always pondering the concept of what makes a truly positive and produc-

tive learning environment. The ingredients are many, but lately, one word keeps

surfacing – trust.

My ―trusty‖ Webster’s Dictionary lists these as the first two definitions of trust:

“1.-assured reliance on the character, ability, strength, or truth of someone or

something; 2. – dependence on something future or contingent: HOPE.” The sec-

ond definition probably significantly describes a parent’s feelings when choosing

Rivendell and committing to our vision. But the first definition is perhaps the one

played out all day, every day between teachers and students.

There are many examples but let me choose one. Recently, students in the sec-

ond through sixth grades have been writing very personal poetry. Some children

are natural writers and some are incredibly reluctant. But across the board, we

saw students take the plunge, make the risk, bare their souls to write. In a word,

they trusted.

School must be a place where criticism is constructive and ―failure‖ is merely

practice at becoming proficient. It must be a safe place where vulnerability is pro-

tected and individuals maintain their value while learning. This is where mistakes

are made in a low stakes game so that when the stakes are higher, we know how to

act. And we learn that baring our precious souls is necessary to practice life’s im-

portant lessons.

Trust is an essential component of a truly positive and productive learning en-

vironment.

Kate

NCA ANCA ANCA ACCREDITEDCCREDITEDCCREDITED

Rivendell Newsletter NOV 2008-, Issue #30 Published September—May Federal Tax I D #84-0715315

Property of Rivendell School of Northern Colorado · 1800 E. Prospect Road · Fort Collins · CO · 80525

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Rivendell School does not discriminate on basis off race, creed, color, sex, national origin or physical

handicap in any educational program or activity sponsored by the school.

Board Members’ Contact Information

Craig Rickey—secretary

Phone#: 225-1561

e-mail: rickeyboys@msn.com

Edward Smithwick—president

Phone : 377-0766

e-mail: e.smithwick@comcast.net

Jacqui Zipser

Phone#: 493-8176

zipserj@alumni.princeton.edu

Maggie Walsh

Phone#: 482-2018

e-mail: fortcollinsmag@yahoo.com

Paul Hach

Phone#: 962-6787

e-mail: paulhach@gmail.com

Tara Bunch

Phone#: 484-9004

e-mail: tara.bunch@hp.com

Tracy Lowrey

Phone#: 407-9023

e-mail: tracy@eideticimage.com

Karen Wolff —treasurer

Phone#: 897-3028

e-mail: kaw@frii.com

Kate Duncan (not a voting Board member)

Phone #: 223-9716

e-mail: kateduncan@msn.com

Vicki Mykles - Development Director (non-voting)

Phone #: 484-2696

e-mail: vmykles@qwest.net

”A fruit is a vegetable with looks and money. Plus, if you let fruit rot, it turns

into wine, something Brussels sprouts never do.” ~P.J. O'Rourke

Calendar of Events

Morning daycare 7—8 AM Classrooms open 8 AM Instruction starts 8:30 AM Pick-up 3:20—3:30 Afternoon daycare 3:20—6 PM

Days Off—no school or daycare Nov 26, 27, 28 Thanksgiving Break

Dec 19 - half day, out at 11:30 a.m./

no lunch or after-school care

Dec 22—Jan 2 Winter Break

- back on Monday, Jan 5

Jan 19 Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Feb 16 Presidents’ Day March 16-20 Spring Break April 10 & 17 Parent/Teacher Conferences April 20 Spring Intermission May 25 Memorial Day May 29 Last day of School 2008-2009 - half day -out at 11:30 a.m., no after-school care

Special Dates -

~ watch this space monthly for updates Jan 22 Middle Kids musical presentation

Feb 27 Younger Kids musical presentation March 27 Older Kids musical presentation

May 8 Spring Program, Fort Collins High School

May 11-14 IOWA testing, 3rd-6th gr. May 18-22 Sky Ranch event May 23 Last day of School - - half day -out at 11:30 a.m., no after-school care

Thanksgiving Break

Nov 26, 27, 28

O f f i c e

W i n d o w

Middle School (6th—8th grade) ―School of Choice‖ applications must be submitted to Poudre School

District by January 30th. Applying may be done online at www.psdschools.org

Have you bought a new HD TV and wonder what

to do with your old set? Rivendell needs a couple of TVs for use with our VCRs/DVDs. The best size for us is 18

-20‖. Please talk to Leslie if you think you can help us out.

A lot of parents have asked us about collecting MORNING FRESH Dairy bottle caps (milk, juice, etc.)

for the Caps4Cash rebate program. We need to collect 1,000 bottle caps, minimum, to submit for rebate money. If you have a neighbor who uses Morning Fresh Dairy and needs a place to support with their caps, we will take them too! Please-bring your Morning Fresh bottle caps to the office.

Thinking

you might

be going ski-

ing this winter?

Rivendell has an opportunity for

you to save some money. We currently

have on-hand the ―eBook‖ coupon book. There

are money saving coupons for several skiing ar-

eas, and for Sports Authority, which will save

you, at least, the price of the book—$10.

You will find coupons good at local establish-

ments: KING SOOPER’S, Walrus Ice Cream,

Fort Fun. There are many other good coupons in

this coupon book.

Look one over now; we will be carrying them for

a limited time! (Rivendell makes $5 from each

sold book.)

November is a month for

Cheers and “Thank Yous”

A Systems Administrator has been found! Thank you to Chuck Booton for volunteering his time and expertise in computer systems to Rivendell for our varied electronic technology needs.

Also the month of October had our pumpkin carv-ing day and Halloween party. We thank all the parents who came wielding there carving tools and helping the kids. After our Halloween costume parade, lead by Me-dusa, we proceeded back into the building for our parties. Thank you to party coordinators, Tami Armstrong and Nina Bodenhamer, for pulling to-gether the volunteers, treats, and games.

FUN Fest would not happen without the

time, efforts, and dedication of all our terrific committee members and other FUN Fest vol-unteers . . . game ―barkers‖, treat bakers, and all the other ―worker bees‖ who put together this night of Fun, Food, Fellowship, and Fes-tivities. Some people we would like to especially note are: FUNFest Committee: Carol Fix, Whitney

Shuler, Amy DeDoncker Photo Booth: Kipp Glover

Prize Booth: Deanne Rickey and Mark Decorations: Tonya Barber, Ginger Emme Balloon Creations: Dee Wanger, R B Stewart ―Wheel of Terror‖ creator: Paul Hach Fortune Tellers: Madam Michele Smithwick,

Lady Lauren Miracle Myracle, Julie Pettit-Purveyor of Truth

And to all others who participated in making this a wonderful evening—we extend our grati-tude.

SPANISH — Brenda The Older Kids’ Latin American Marketplace is this Tuesday, November 18 from 1:00 - 3:00 in the commons. Older Kids should have 20 -25 simple crafts to sell at the market. We will prac-tice our Spanish conversational skills and enjoy the culture. Students are encouraged to dress in Latin American attire. Preschool, YK and MK will be given pesos to shop at the market and ex-perience the fun.

The 5th and 6th graders will be presenting a skit in Spanish on Thursday, November 20. Polly's class will present at 9:00 am, Jane's class at 9:45 am, and Ashley's class at 10:30 am. The skits are very short and parents are welcome to come see them.

Middle Kids will be bringing home their Spanish books. Parents, please take time to sit down with your child and ask them to share what they have learned in Spanish.

Gracias, Brenda

Join us for our 2nd Annual Book Fair at Barnes and Noble, 4045 S. College Avenue in Fort Collins from Thursday, December 4 thru Saturday, Decem-ber 6. We will receive credit from all merchandise and café purchases; the credit will be used to enhance our school library with books relating to school topic work, expanding non-fiction areas which are lean, and keeping up with the story book and novel needs of our voracious readers. We will, also, receive credit for whole cheesecakes from the Cheesecake Factory and pounds of Starbucks coffee ordered during our fair. As a special attraction—Middle Kids and Older Kids will be reading their original poetry on Thursday night, Dec. 4th in the East Reading area beginning at 7 pm. AND— buy Barnes and Noble gift cards at the school office ! Rivendell receives 9 % of the sales of Barnes & Noble gift cards— the cards may be used for purchases at the book fair.

2nd Annual Rivendell-Barnes & Noble

Book Fair

Younger Kids — Seth, Suzanne, Scilla

At this time of year it’s always amazing to see the

growth all our Younger Kids have made. They have

learned our procedures and expectations and are mak-

ing such great progress in all areas. It was fun to sit

down and share this with you at parent/teacher con-

ferences. Please remember to let us know at any time

if you have any new concerns or questions.

October was such a busy month at Rivendell. We had a

field trip, Fun Fest, conferences, pumpkin carving and

a Halloween party! Thank you to everyone who helped

out. We are now enjoying getting back to our regular

routine, so you should see more work coming home in

the Friday Folders. Please take some time to go over

this work with your child. Kids love sharing their suc-

cesses and all the impressive things they’ve learned.

We have just finished our brief unit on the democratic

process. The kids were pretty excited about the elec-

tion and enjoyed learning how and why we vote and a

little about how the government works. We have now

moved on to the human body. Look for child size cut-

outs appearing on the walls. Pretty soon they’ll be full

of bones and organs as we learn about the different

systems of the body. We’ll also talk about ways to

stay healthy as the weather changes and cold and

cough season hits us.

As you know, we go outside for break in most kinds of

weather. Please be sure to send your child to school

with appropriate clothing. Pretty soon there will be

snow on the ground and kids will need snow pants and

boots, mittens and hats, along with their coat. (Label

all these items!) It would be extremely helpful if you

could have your child practice putting on the outdoor

clothing at home so it can be done independently at

school. As you can imagine, it’s hard for the teachers

to help 19 kids get dressed for Break

and still have time for play! Thank you

for helping out with this and for all the

countless ways you get your child ready

for school and ready to learn.

Middle Kids – Inta, Bryce, Michele

The Middle Kids had a very busy October! We all learned so much about the democ-ratic process. It was such a valuable unit, and so timely as well. We learned about the three branches of our government, and their system of checks and balances. Each Middle Kids’ class also elected a ―Rivendell Idol.‖ The kids had the opportunity to nominate their favorite celebrities and characters.

Then we went through a series of votes until we ended up selecting the two candidates for each class. After two weeks of campaign-ing, creating posters and buttons, Michele and Inta’s class elected Sadie, Michael Klesner’s dog , and Bryce’s class chose Tom of ―Tom and Jerry‖ fame! It was a lot of fun to watch the kids get excited about their candidate. Our unit on the democratic proc-ess culminated last week with the election of a new president! We have now moved into a new

study of the systems of the human body. We started with the skeletal system. Grace Hach’s grandfather Bill Keiger (a retired orthopedic sur-geon) came in and talked with the kids about bones. He even brought a real human skeleton with him – an eye-opener for all of us! We are also going to study the muscular, circula-tory, digestive, respiratory, and nervous systems over the next several weeks. Recitations have been going very well. This

week the kids each chose a current event on which to report. Next week, in observance of Veteran’s Day, the kids are going to each select a veteran and do an informal inter-view. They will be asking questions about life in the US military. Then they will organ-ize the answers into a paragraph before shar-ing it with the other Middle Kids. It will surely be very interesting to hear the kids’ interpretations of these interviews!

Preschoolers - Mary, Maggie, Lois, Holly

October was a busy month. We finished our unit on community helpers. Your

children got to explore the roles of fire-fighters, doctors, veterinarians, postal workers, and garbage/recycle workers

just to name a few. Dr. Benz, one of our parents, came to speak to our preschool-

ers about being a doctor and demon-strated putting a cast on his daughter’s

arm. We also adventured out on two field trips to visit Gamble Pet Clinic and a PFA fire station.

This month we will be studying the sys-

tems of the body. We will be examining bones and joints, listening to our hearts

and lungs, and learning about our nerv-ous and digestive systems. We will also be focusing on vocabulary such as heart,

lungs, oxygen, abdomen, soles, and waist. The Preschoolers have also been

busy with work-jobs including: counting, associations, sequencing, phonics, and

writing. We have also taken time to celebrate and

learn about some of the holidays of this season. We had our annual Halloween

celebration with pumpkin carving, cos-tume parade, and party. We learned

about the Mexican festival of the Day of

Dead and Maggie made us all sugar skulls. Lastly, we celebrated the Hindu

holiday of Diwali (Festival of Lights). The preschoolers heard the story of

Rama and enjoyed a feast of sweets from India.

We have enjoyed working with your children, seeing them grow

and learn. Have a happy and safe Thanksgiving va-

cation.

O L D E R KIDS – Ashley, Polly, Jane

The Older Kids wrapped up October with fun, festive Halloween activities and our Election topic work unit! The election was a very exciting time for all of us, and the kids learned a lot about the Democratic Process and what it takes to be President.

With November comes a new Topic Work unit, the Human Body. We will begin our new unit by ex-ploring the Skeletal System and its’ importance to the human body. We will then study the Circulatory Sys-tem, Respiratory System, and Digestive System. The

kids will also be spending time doing science experi-ments to find out how their muscles work.

The Older Kids have spent a great deal of time pouring their creativity into their Altered Books. The kids will continue working on their Altered Books throughout the year and will not be completed until the end of the school year. As the kids finish individual writing pieces, they place fully completed pieces in their writing folders under the section titled ―Published.‖ With the help of their teachers, they choose their best pieces to be published in their Altered Books. As the kids have said, the Altered Books are like a Literacy

Scrapbook! The kids so enjoy using their creativity to give old, tattered books new life! We love seeing each new master piece that the kids create in their books!

We began reading a new Novel Study book, The

Cay by Theodore Taylor at the first of the month. The

Cay addresses several issues that allow the Older Kids to

learn about World and U.S. history. The book takes place in 1942, while the world was preoccupied with World War II and before segregation. Through the is-sues addressed in this book, the Older Kids have been and will continue learning about the history of racism in the United States, World War II and world geography.

As we continue to read each chapter of the book, we get more and more excited about the teaching moments that arise!

We would like to send out a very important re-

minder to all 5th and 6th graders! The year is flying by,

and it is time to schedule appointments to ―shadow‖ at

the schools you are interested in attending. All schools

have individual set times for shadowing, so please be

sure to start making those appointment as soon as possi-

ble!

Rivendell’s Gift Card Program

This year’s holiday shopping can be QUICK, EASY, CONVENIENT and STRESS-FREE!

Earn money for Rivendell and yourself at the same time!

Buy your gift cards through Rivendell!

Gift cards make great gifts OR you can use gift cards from your favorite stores to purchase the perfect gifts for everyone on your list.

The following gift cards are always available for immediate purchase:

You can also special order gift cards for a variety of retailers. Just fill out the special order yellow sheet (available at the office) and leave it in the “Put It Here” box along with the payment. Can’t find what you need on the sheet? Check out the complete list on www.glscrip.com and write it in. We will be placing orders throughout October, November and early December.

Please remember if you are ordering through amazon.com, use the link on the Rivendell web page (rivendell-school.org) to go to the Amazon page. Rivendell will get 1% of the sales generated through the link. (You don’t have to register, or have a code word, or anything—just go through the link!)

Albertson’s King Sooper’s Vitamin Cottage Sunflower

Safeway Carraba’s Kentucky Fried Chicken Amazon

iTunes JC Penney’s Bath and Body Toys R Us

Walgreen’s WalMart/Sam’s Barnes & Noble Subway

Wendy’s Old Chicago’s Great Harvest Bread Cinemark

Panera’s Starbuck’s Coldstone Ice Cream Outback

Bonefish Honey Baked Ham

Non-Profit Org. U. S. Postage

PAID Fort Collins, CO Permit No. 327

(970) 493-9052 Rivendell School of Northern Colorado, Inc 1800 E. Prospect Road Fort Collins, CO 80525 RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED—Newsletter

Daily Schedule

Morning Daycare 7:00—8:00 AM Classrooms Open 8:00 AM Instruction Starts! 8:30 AM Preschool Day Ends 3:00 PM School Day Ends 3:20 PM Outside Pick-up 3:20—3:30 PM - preschoolers picked up in the classroom After School Daycare 3:30—6:00 PM Cell Phone: (after 4:00 pm) #310-9369 FAX #493-9056 E-mail rivendell@rivfc.org Web Site http://rivendell-school.org

Lunch Schedule Preschool 11:30 AM Younger Kids 11:30 AM Middle Kids 11:45 AM Older Kids 12:00 noon

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