CAPS at Springdale School

There will be an informational meeting regarding the new Corbett Arts Program with Spanish (CAPS) at Springdale School on May 1st at 7:00pm in the MPB on the main Corbett campus. All families who are interested in learning more are encouraged to attend. Registration for the new program will also begin on May 1st through our website. CAPS will be a K-8 program in the initial phase beginning next year. Come join us on May 1st to find out more!

This year we will be offering a digital yearbook.  The yearbook costs $10, and it will be a DVD with the visual images and footage from the end of the year slideshow, and it will be hand-decorated by middle school students.  Every student is included in the yearbook, and the pictures span the entire year, from Morning Meeting to Ancient Civilizations, from Warm Springs to Wildhorse!

Students should be bringing home a purple slip that has ordering information.  The deadline to order a yearbook is May 25.  If paying by check, please make it payable to Corbett Middle School.

Thanks!

Our five Corbett intermediate classes participated in a reenactment of the Oregon Trail as the culminating activity for our Westward Expansion unit. Wagon groups were formed of five or six students each. Each group mixed up bread dough, which was baked by our wonderful kitchen staff. Groups converted Radio Flyers to Prairie Schooners, stitched covers for their wagons, and loaded up with some food.

Pioneers set off from Independence on Thursday afternoon, April 12th. Almost immediately, each group had to rope their wagon in order to negotiate Windlass Hill. Some groups were more successful than others! At the bottom of the hill, groups enjoyed a respite at Ash Hollow, and were allowed to wash up and refresh themselves. Back on the trail again, groups met some Mormons, who warned them of cholera ahead. Sure enough, our pioneers had to stop and assist in grave digging for some unfortunate emigrants. More travelers on the trail urged our groups to turn back, due to the difficulties ahead. Our intrepid travelers persevered, and were rewarded for their efforts, as many of them discovered gold!

The hardships were not over. Due to storms and a bridge washing out, the wagons had to ford the North Platte River. Everyone waded the river; luckily with no loss of life. Another hill faced our hardy pioneers. Once reaching the top, they each recorded their initials on Independence Rock, to prove that they made it that far and to encourage those traveling behind. Next came the opportunity to add to their supply of food. The woods were teeming with wild animals. Quite a few folks successfully hunted. Some reported that the stew made from their fresh game was delicious.

Many of our pioneers offered spare food to the poor souls that they next encountered on the trail. These folks, by the name of Donner, were starving and planned to take a shortcut to California. Other folks at Fort Hall also tried to convince our parties of the merits of California, but our valiant groups continued on the trail to Oregon. In the Blue Mountains, our travelers learned of the abundant forest resources and then were offered water and encouragement at the Whitman Mission. All groups traveled the Barlow Road around Mt. Hood, rather than facing the dangerous rapids of the Columbia River. Most of the pioneers paid a toll to Sam Barlow, but a few were either very persuasive or very pathetic, and passed the tollgate without charge.

CAP at Springdale School

The Corbett School Board has voted to move ahead with plans to open Springdale School in the fall of 2012. This will be an exciting new satellite program of Corbett Schools offering a unique arts-focused curriculum for students in grades K-8. There will be a lottery held to fill the available classroom slots at the Springdale site. Resident families will have first priority in the lottery –siblings have added priority, next in line are other current Corbett School students who do not reside in Corbett, and finally remaining slots will be filled by non-resident students who have been accepted through the inter-district transfer process.
There will be a series of meetings to explain the plans at the Springdale site and the lottery process for admittance to the program.
• The first meeting will be to explain the Corbett Schools to newly admitted students and their families on April 24th at 7pm in the MPB.
• The next major meeting will be held on May 1st at 7pm in the MPB. This meeting is intended for RESIDENT families who would like to know more about the Corbett Arts Program at Springdale (CAPS). The window for applying to the lottery for CAPS will also open on May 1st and will close at midnight on May 17th.
• The final meeting is May 23rd at 7pm in the MPB. This meeting will be for families whose students have been admitted to CAPS.

My Father’s House is a family shelter that serves 30 families at a time who are trying to turn their lives around.

My name is Jake Gradwohl. I am an 8^th grader in Mr. Houck’s class, and I am doing a service project for My Father’s House, called Socks for a Second Chance. I am collecting new socks and underwear for the homeless families currently living at My Father’s House. I will be in the Middle School front entrance every school day from April 9, 2012 to April 21, 2012, from 7:40 to 7:50, collecting donations. The top three donators each get a $15.00 iTunes gift card. Thank you for your support!

This is a reminder to any who wish to volunteer at Corbett Middle School, or to chaperone field trips, that you must first complete a background check form. These are available in the MS/HS office and in the District office. We welcome your participation and appreciate your willingness to volunteer! So, if you have not done so already and wish to be a part of all the fun coming up in the next couple of months, please stop by to pick up a form and fill it out.

Thank you.

Here are some brief notes from Corbett Middle School Parent Meeting on 4/4. If you have any questions, please contact your child’s core teacher.

Please join us for our principal chat, first Thursday morning each month at 8 a.m. Coffee is provided. There is no agenda, just time to ask questions and learn more about the school.

Outdoor School – If you need any copies of paperwork, especially the packing list, see Mr. Lutes. Waterproof and warm gear is needed. All information has been sent home.

The spring overnight field trip for 7th & 8th graders is 4/18-4/19. A permission slip has been sent home. We will be doing our science inquiries. We will stay in heated cabins. Their is a reduced cost of $10 for this trip. We will return by 2:00 on Thursday so that students participating in track can attend their meet.

All parents/guardians with access to the internet should utilize the connect feature of the corbett website. Go to www.corbett.k12.or.us and click on “connect” at the top of the screen. Be sure to sign up for your student’s teacher’s name and middle school notes. This is a great tool for communication because sometimes things get lost when they are sent home with students.

We will wrap up our studies on ancient civilizations and move into modern civilizations this spring trimester. Students will focus on writing compare and contrast papers. Right now for writing we are working on Art Talks. Some classes will complete an object story. We are hoping to work with the Portland Art Museum to showcase our stories in May. We will be doing science inquiry at Outdoor School and on our overnight field trip. We will be also focusing on energy for science this trimester. Health will include studies on virus, bacteria and epidemics. We will tie both the science and health studies into our focus on modern civilization. Math every day, reading every day, like normal.

Cardinal 3 – Students should have had conversations about what they are doing by this time. Portfolios are due at the end of May (due dates vary in each classroom). The teachers will collectively go over Cardinal 3 portfolios of 8th graders to decide who gets Cardinal 3 honors.

If you want a copy of the promotion slideshow, we hope to make them available at the end of the year for $10.

Wildhorse – We go to this location, to celebrate our year and build community in our school. This is the 16th and 17th of May. We will leave at the beginning of school on the 16th and return late on the 17th. You will get a list of things to bring. We need a work crew and life guards. The work crew is hard work. Vance Rogers will help coordinate that crew. Please sign up and give your email and let us know if you have a truck/trailer that can haul gear.

It’s a magical time here. 8th grade speeches have been going on. If you would like to see an 8th grade speech sneak in the back of the commons at the beginning of morning meeting.

Student led conferences are May 23rd from after school until 8:00 p.m. This is not an individual conference but a time for students to walk through their portfolio and what they have accomplished this year. If you want to set up a conference, contact your child’s core teacher.

Last day of school is 5/31. Promotion is that evening. Students should dress sharp, but it’s not the prom. It’s important for kids to come to school that day. There will be a dance after the ceremony. Any parents who would like to help out, especially parents of 7th and 6th graders, please let Mr. Leone know. Exact times TBA.

Move up day will occur the last week of school during class time. It is not affiliated with promotion.

Again if you have any questions, please contact your student’s core teacher. We only have about nine weeks left in school. It’s a busy time and we have a lot of exciting things planned to finish out the year.