October 2011
FOREST CHARTER SCHOOL A Personalized Learning Program Accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges
WWW.FORESTCHARTER.COM
Peter Sagebiel MESSAGE FROM THE DIRECTOR Director One of the projects that Forest Charter School is B.J. Hatcher working on this year is our accreditation through Assistant the Western Association of Schools and Colleges Director (WASC). WASC is one of six regional accrediting associations in the United States. Having a Paul Simoes WASC accreditation is a state requirement for a Academic Dean public high school; it also carries weight for our students when applying to colleges, helps certify Debbie Carter our classes if students need to transfer to another Business Director school as well as other benefits. A large part of the WASC process requires schools to reflect on the effectiveness of the current program and to Mary set up goals for the future. Forest Charter School has been working since last year to analyze Whittlesey our program and develop goals for the future, and we are excited with the progress we have Administrative made. Part of the WASC process is to develop the school’s Expected Schoolwide Learning Business Results (ESLRS) that articulate the essential things we want our students to learn. You can find these ESLERS articulated in the back of the newsletter. The WASC visiting team will be here Assistant in March 2012. Look for information from your ES and in upcoming newsletters about what is
happening and how you can contribute. Valerie Jones
Resource Forest Charter School, like all public schools in California, is working hard to continue Coordinator providing our dynamic educational program during these difficult economic times. Such times
call for creative solutions. One area we are focusing on is to have families return curriculum Janne Delhez and other materials that they are not currently using for this school year. FCS spends an Student Services enormous amount of money purchasing curriculum for our students. While we will, of course, continue to provide students with the relevant curriculum, we believe that we can save a Jennifer Rogers significant amount of money simply by having families return materials they are not currently Student Records using so that other families can benefit from them. Please let your ES know if you have something you are not using, or feel free to bring it by the office. Nancy Nobles Administrative Thanks for your support, Assistant Peter Sagebiel Jenna Johnson Business and Tech Assistant IMPORTANT DATES: th th October 12: PSAT Test (Practice SAT) 10 and 11 Grade Brandon October 26: K-8 NC/GV Block Class Harvest Celebration 12:30-2:30 Johnson November 1 and 2: CAHSEE: 11th and 12th Grade Resource Assistant
ANNOUNCEMENT: Page 2 of 12
GVCA MATH LAB has been changed:
Now on Tuesday’s 12:30-1:30
Questions? Contact: FCS School Portrait Days
[email protected] with
Gwendolyn’s Photography
All photo sessions will be held from 9:00 to 11:00
Nevada City Office: Tuesday, October 11th th St. Canice Center: Wednesday, October 12 th PACE Co-op: Thursday, October 13 Nevada City Office: Wednesday, October 26th
~ FCS students can go to ANY of the above locations for pictures ~
Forest Charter School Fall Harvest Party
K-8th Grade When: Wednesday, October 26th Where: St. Canice Center – 326 Reward Street, Nevada City Time: 12:30-2:30
Please Bring A Healthy Snack To Share Costumes Are Optional
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Global Studies BACKBy :TO Jen Homan SCHOOL DAY!!
Fall is here, and theFor Global Grass Studies Valley Academy is gettingBlock comfortably Class settled Students into the school routine. The beginning of September found students getting to know and understand their classmates much better as they developed communication and Thursday,problem-solving August skills 23 duringrd teambuilding days. Next, the academy headed into regular classes and kicked off the school year with an annual parent/student community meeting. Students have been working hard in all of their academic classes as well, completing Song Nevada City Office, 224 Church St., Nevada City Journals and interpreting Puritan Literature in English, creating Imaginary Vacation Projects in Hi! Geography, building cell models and bottle biomes in science, and working quickly through their various math curricula10am to .11:30am In seminar, Instructors organization and hasESs been meet the and focus, greet andwith all families/students students have organized th th binders for their classes,10am to created 1pm weekly Student schedules ID photos for themselves, with Jennifer and –started Grades collecting 8 -12 samples for their attendance portfolios.
In the world of fieldtrips, the Global Studies students continued their teambuilding at Synergia Learning Ventures’ ropes course on Friday, September 23. Unfortunately, several class members were missing due to illness, but for those who
participated, it was a rare day of amazing communication with peers, mental and physical problem solving as a group, adrenaline rushes, and incredible feelings of accomplishment. Happy October from the Global Studies Academy! Since September is perhaps the busiest month of the year for the Global Studies Academy, we thought we’d break up our exciting news! Look for a student report of our trip to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival (September 27-30) in next month’s
newsletter!
Yuba River Clean-up Day! 11th grade, Global Studies Academy By: Simon Ford
On September 17, a simple, straightforward Yuba River trash pickup event became a brutal struggle for glory after a wayward tire was found half-buried in an obscure slough of the river. The dense swamp around the forgotten tire, large enough to be from a semi-truck, held fast and hard, clinging to its bounty until the last. After a lengthy trial of hand-digging, lever-gathering, and pure, brute force, the priceless rubber artifact was rescued from its eldritch soil grave. Hours of heroic effort brought the
treasure back to the main trash pickup area, where the exhausted party (Simon Ford, Cheyenne Little, and their Global Studies Academy instructors Jen Homan and Josh Miller) were hailed as the greatest heroes of the day.
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Technology Academy By: Steve Ross
On September 22nd we held an Academy open house and featured several of our community partners that are offering internships to Academy students. Representatives from the Computer Learning Center, NCTV, and the County of Nevada were on hand to describe exciting opportunities for students. Academy Class in the Spot Light: Last month I talked about Computer Graphics IA and This month I will discuss the successor to this course, Computer Graphics IIA. After students get a feel for 3D modeling using Google Sketchup in the introductory course, students move on to a professional animation and 3D modeling using Autodesk Maya. Maya is the tool used for many popular movies such as Spiderman and Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones. In fact Software Developers using Maya have received Oscars for their technical and creative work. Maya allows animators to build wireframe models and then flesh them out into realistic moving characters. If this sounds of interest to students they are encouraged to contact Steve Ross, as space is still available in the academy for the coming spring semester.
Truckee News By: Janice Eggers, Site Coordinator
On September 13th, the Truckee Center held a Back to School Night for our Middle School and High School students. Parents went from class to class based on their student’s schedule. During the evening, our teachers spoke about their classes on campus, and answered any pertinent questions from the parents. We all agreed it was a very successful evening! Our addition of the new study hall room has also been a great success this year. Students are using their time wisely, and getting help from peers or Education Specialists during the allotted time. It is a great place for students to work quietly on their daily school work in between classes. We will be having make up pictures on Thursday, October 13, from 10am-12. Please stop by the office if you need another order form. Lastly, we would like to thank all of our recent volunteers on campus. We appreciate all of your hard work, and your time. It truly makes our campus a better place!
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th Tree-Top News: 6 Grade By: Nancy Nobriga Tree Top Co-op's 6th grade class is finishing their "Sense of Self on the Planet" theme. In September, students enjoyed examining the characters and setting from their personal reading books. To analyze the main characters, most students chose to write diary entries in the first person. Stephanie Randall and Magnolia Neu embraced the character role-play project! Each of the girls dressed and acted as her book's main character: Batty from The Penderwicks and Mia Hamm from Go for the Goal ! To analyze the settings of their books, students created either a 3-D diorama or a travel plan. The class toured through our "museum" of each others' amazing exhibits. The students have explored the five themes of geography and synthesized their learning with a personal geography brochure project. Students read about early hominids and The
Stone Ages. They designed a personal timeline with a measured scale, specific life events,
and named different eras. We've also learned about topographic maps and used analogous
thinking to compare our fingerprints to contour lines and landforms. Discovered analogies
transformed easily into poems.
In October, we're going to begin our studies of the Earth's surface with a trip to Virginia
City. We'll journey through time on a trolley tour, at a mining museum, and a mine. Our
wonderful group of students is looking for another student to join our team of enthusiastic
explorers. Interested sixth grade students should contact Janice Eggers at 530-550-7205.
Finger Poems My finger looks like a big tidal wave running
through the ocean
like a hot volcano running down the mountain
like a whole bunch of colorful swirls My thumb looks like my desk at home
and the table at school My finger reminds me of a My thumb is like a river of cracks and dog with curly hair mountains up high a lazy, old person My thumb is like the clouds in heaven all high a piece of long spaghetti strings ~Tyson Albert
My finger is my friend
~Hannah Maciel
Tree Top Co-op News th th 4 - 5 Grade By: Mark Keim
Tree Top Co-op has enjoyed a productive and successful first month of school up in Truckee. Throughout this month we have collaborated with Sierra Watershed Education Partnerships to promote the upcoming Truckee River Day and to support our local Truckee River and surrounding ecosystems. The students created Lahontan Cutthroat fish and have placed them throughout the community to promote local involvement in the event. In addition, the students have been researching and presenting California Native American Tribes in class. Their presentations have been interactive and informative for successful student learning. Our study of native fish and plants will be supported through our October 4th and 5th Sagehen Environmental Education field trip next week. Tree Top is excited to collaborate with the PACE students from Nevada City for this overnight educational experience.
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P.A.C.E. K - 2nd Grade By: Jennifer Borel
Kicking off its third year at Forest Charter School, the K-2 P.A.C.E. program began the new school term with a full classroom and many exciting projects on its agenda. The students in both the K-2 and 3- 5 classes recently “traveled around the world” on Passport Day. This wonderful project, now in it’s second year, allows each student to choose a country to research and become an “expert” on. They take the information they learn and in the form of a poster, art, food or music, teach their fellow “traveling” students about their country. Parent involvement, one of the most important building blocks of P.A.C.E., continues to be strong this year with Cassie Angle, Cade and Addie’s mom, and Prospector’s Nursery donating garden boxes for the students to plant a winter crop in. These planters were assembled with the help of Sofia’s dad Paul Racko. The children are also enjoying a new addition to the play yard- a balance beam donated by Marley’s family. The classroom has also received many wonderful book donations, helping to enrich the students reading selection. With this great start of the school year, there is so much to look forward to in the months to come!
P.A.C.E.
3rd– 5th Grade By: Erin Drew The 3-5th grade PACE class has begun the year with a life science unit on the ocean. We have started to build a kelp forest in the classroom, which will be used to teach the concept of producers and consumers, food chains, and the impact of pollution. Our class culminated the month with Passport Day. Students researched different countries and presented their findings to the class with posters, delicious food, and engaging activities. The students played traditional Brazilian games, ate croissants in a Parisian cafe, and turned action figures into ancient Egyptian mummies. They learned that many Matchbox cars are made in Thailand, the Germans invented Gummi Bears, and the Australian dessert Pavlova was named after a famous ballerina. This bright group of students never ceases to amaze us with their ingenuity and enthusiasm for knowledge.
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P.A.C.E. th 6 d– 8th Grade By: Michelle Litton
With the start of each month, I find myself asking where the time goes. We have started off PACE 6 -8 with a bang! On Tuesdays, we have been attending Sierra Strems Institute off of Uren street, learning about watersheds, the streams in our community, benthic macroinvertibrates and much more. Sierra Streams Institute has helped us bring science to life with their new programs for home school students. The cool thing is that you don't have to be in my class to enjoy their amazing program. Visit their site at http://www.friendsofdeercreek.org/ to learn more about how you can bring science to life for your student.
This program is so wonderful, but does require fundraising. We have been working as a class to plan some great fundraisers and have also created a fundraising website to support our cause.
Please take a look and feel free to share it with anyone you know who may be interested in supporting science in our classroom: http://www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/michelle-litton-4/pace68
October is perhaps my favorite month as we plan for our annual PACE Fall Festival. On October 27th, we will be hosting a fun day for the PACE K-5 group at their facility on Washington Street.
Games, a haunted house, cookie decorating, and even a Halloween Sensory Experience are in the works to celebrate. Students are invited to wear their costumes and have a blast. My students love having this opportunity to connect with the younger students and give them a special day to remember.
Thank you so much for keeping up with what is going on in PACE 6-8. You can stay up-to-date by visiting our class blog at http://pace68.blogspot.com/ . We hope to see you there!
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5th Grade Law Day By: Linda Katz
Fifteen Forest Charter students got to experience Nevada County's legal
system first hand when they participated in Law Day Friday, September 9,
2011. Students took part by playing the parts of court reporter, prosecutor,
public defender, jurors, judge, bailiff, defendant and plaintiff while holding a
mock criminal trial. Students also learned the roles of the various state and local agencies (Grass Valley Police, Nevada City Police, Highway Patrol, Photo - Riley Nelsen tries on the CHP flight helmet Nevada County Sheriff and local State Park Rangers) as well as how these The juvenile court system was explained by a countyagencies probation work officer,together juvenile for the hall common employee good as of well our as community. a high school student on the road to recovery after being involved with the juvenile court system for the past four years. Lastly, students took a tour of the old jail, now just a holding cell for persons awaiting trial. Although fast paced, this is always a great overview of our local court system, a wonderful learning experience and a very fun field trip!
Outdoor Skills
After a two-week unit on bike maintenance, safety, proper and appropriate gear, the 6th-8th grade Outdoor Skills class took to the trail for a 14-mile round trip bike ride on Friday, September 30. As students gathered at the Harmony Ridge Market across from the Old Five Mile House, they were anxious to hit the Pioneer Trail and go the distance, surpassing those who ventured out with last years Outdoor Skills class. It was the perfect temperature for a ride and the five students who attended not only did an awesome job staying mostly upright but beat last years class by 3 miles. Outdoor Skills is looking forward to their next field trip, a hike on Friday, November 18th!
Foresthill News By: Leanne Engel, Site Coordinator
CLASSES: Our co-op students are enjoying an earth science focus for science this year. As we study rocks, soil, and foundations of our planet we are also preparing for our upcoming field trip to the Moaning Caverns! We are proud of our math STAR score improvement from last year and we continue to offer high level and high quality math programs individualized to challenge all of our students! Home school students are joining in for electives and are enjoying this integration opportunity with their co-op friends. Elective highlights include wonderful food creations lead by Chef Lagorio and innovative engineering projects lead by Lysen’s and Aldrich’s!
FIELD TRIPS: Our K-2 students and their families visited the Folsom Zoo and Nimbus fish hatchery on September 23. We had a fabulous docent tour at the zoo and learned about the rescue efforts being made to help wild animals in need. While at the fish hatchery, we watched a video and saw how the fish grow in their various stages before being set free to make their journey out to sea. Students also had an opportunity to feed the fish! Please contact Foresthill learning center coordinator ([email protected]) for more information on our co-op program, home school opportunities, electives, and activities.
Page 9 of 12 College and Career
By: Janice Eggers
Seniors! This is a busy time of the year for you. Make sure to refer to your senior packet for all of the items that you need to keep up with. The most important items include: ACT/SAT tests for this semester, researching colleges, creating a deadline calendar for your applications, brag packets, and letters of recommendation. The December ACT or SAT is the final time to take these tests for 4 year college applications.
Juniors! Now is the time for you to take the PLAN and PSAT tests (sophomores are encouraged to take these tests as well). Look for college fairs, and attend preview days at colleges. Keep up your grades in classes.
Sophomores and Freshman! Get involved in a wide variety of activities. Choose activities that show leadership and involvement. Participate in activities both inside and outside of school. Volunteer! For all students, volunteering in your community has great results. Not only do you meet new and interesting people, you are helping your community be the best it can be!
Save the Date: Reno College Fair: Sunday, November 6th, 2011 (More Details to follow)
For a more personalized plan, make an appointment with Dawn or Janice to speak about your plan for the future!
Save the Date:FOREST Reno College Fair: CHARTER Sunday, November School 6th, 2011-Wide (More Details FIELD to follow) TRIPS:
For aWith more the personalized growth of our plan,school, make we are an excited appointment to be making with some Dawn changes or Janice in our to field speak trip aboutofferings your this planyear! forWe the future! will only offer three field trips as “school-wide” field trips and all other field trips will be considered as “small group” and arranged by parents, ES’s and co-op teachers. This change will enable more field trips, flexibility, and options for all!
In order to support early budget planning for your family, you must sign up WITH YOUR ES for any of the following SCHOOL-WIDE field trips by the date listed. After this date, the sign-up opportunity will be closed.
UPCOMING School-Wide Trips:
WED. OCTOBER 12: *** Note date change Bishop’s Pumpkin Farm, Wheatland Sign-up Closed
TUES, DECEMBER 13: “A Christmas Story” Playing at Nevada City Theater
Sign-up Deadline October 7
Cost: $10
FRI, MAY 11: 6 Flags, Vallejo Sign-up Deadline October 7 Estimated Cost: $35
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Fundraising Corner Please join us in our Fundraising efforts which benefit the whole school!
YOU TOO CAN LOOK THIS GOOD!!!! And support your school at the same time!! Buy a FCS Sweatshirt for ONLY $25.00! Talk to Jenna for more information 265-4823!
SPD has joined eScrip,
Making earning for your school or nonprofit easy.
Here’s how: Pick up a card at SPD and register it one of the following ways:
To begin using your card immediately, complete the registration form
available at the store.
Call 1-800-931-6258 or register online.
If you're already an eScrip member, sign in to "my eScrip" to register your SPD Community Card.
It’s Free... It’s Easy... Sign Up Today!
W.A.S.C. Page 11 of 12 Forest Charter’s
Expected Schoolwide Learning Results
Part of the accreditation process through the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) is to develop the Forest Charter School’s Expected Schoolwide Learning Results (ESLRS) that articulate the essential things we want our students to learn. By articulating our Expected School Wide Learning Results, Forest Charter school is placing an emphasis on the whole student. Further, Forest Charter School believes that attention toward achieving the ESLR’s will have an emotional impact on our students that will ultimately translate into better academic success. With these considerations in mind, Forest Charter School believes that students should strive to acquire and develop the following qualities:
• Engaged Learners: 1. Show proficiency in essential literacy, writing and mathematical skills
2. Communicate effectively as readers, writers, listeners, researchers, and speakers xpected E • Critical Thinkers:
1. Utilize problem solving techniques and higher levels of thinking to interpret and apply information to their chosen path
2. Apply scientific methods and skills to overcome challenges and create solutions
chool wide S • Global Citizens: 1. Investigate global perspectives through the avenues of history, governmental functions, world geography, literature, science, the arts, and other integrated learning
2. Empowered to create positive change
earning 3. Possess respect and integrity for self and others in both the local and global community and L environment
• Technologically-Sophisticated Citizens: 1. Possess the ability to sift through and critically process information using a variety of electronic media to create relevant learning experiences esults 2. Understand the challenges and benefits of the Internet in relation to Internet safety and use R discernment accordingly
3. Demonstrate proficiency in the use and application of technology
• Life-Long Learners: 1. Identify and pursue personal interests and passions to become self-motivated and directed people ‘S
2. Develop a physically and emotionally healthy lifestyle
3. Develop self-awareness while learning to collaborate and contribute to group endeavors, now and in the future
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