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December Newsletter 2007
- This month at Friends School:
- Queries on Giving >>
- Reflections from the Head of School (includes details on Quaker Ed Panel January 24) >>
- Learning Update >>
- December Calendar >>
- Monthly Assembly Themes >>
Queries on Giving
- The theme for December is “Light.” The Grade 3–4 class created the following queries which will be read at our all–school meetings for worship on Mondays from 8:25 to 8:45 a.m. Please join us.:
- What is light?
- How does light influence my concentration in the day?
- How can light help us?
- How do I shine light on everyone no matter who they are or what they have done?
- Do I seek to find the light in everyone and everything?
- How do I store the light?
- How do I fill myself with light?
- How do we find light in the darkest month of the year?
- How do I find the courage to seek light when sorrow fills the earth?
Reflections from the Head of School
There are so many exciting things going on at FSP that it is hard to know where to start or where to end. This past week, two teachers in different settings used the word “relationship” as being the key to their teaching. They each expressed what is at the heart of a small school where each child can be known for their individual talents, styles, interests, needs, and desires. The children benefit so much from knowing one another, too, not only in the multi–age classes of no more than twelve children, but also from the playground, where 4 year–olds get to chase 13 year–olds, and when they join their “reading buddies” to spin wool, to create leaves for the Thanking Tree and “How My Light Shines” stars to arrange in constellations.
Relationship is also growing between parents and the school. This happens primarily as parents and teachers get to know one another as they join as a team to educate and nurture the children. Parents are such an integral part of building the community, bringing shared lunches to the Preschool, substituting when teachers are ill, offering skills and ideas, and organizing events that are great times to plan and play or work together. The Parents Association continues to develop its organizational plan and its relationship with the school. At the same time, members of the FSPPA brought Hats Off!, a craft and book fair, to the school, raising over $2000.
The school continues to benefit from the relationship that it has with the Board of Trustees, a special group of volunteers who guide the institution. Under the leadership of the Development Committee, the school will host an event on January 24th: How a Quaker Education Makes a Difference in My Life Work presented by a panel of distinguished Maine alumni of Quaker schools. At this writing, Barbara Vickery, Director of Conservation, of the Nature Conservancy,and Sarah Standiford, Executive Director of the Maine Women’s Lobby, are confirmed panelists. It promises to be an extraordinary evening, so mark your calendars. An invitation with more details will follow shortly.
The ongoing financial support from parents, Friends, and friends of the school is a critical and sustaining relationship as well. The Annual Appeal for operational funds went out in mid–November so donations and pledges are arriving daily. A donation and pledge form is attached in case you did not receive one. The school also received from an anonymous donor its first planned bequest for $100,000! Though we don’t expect to realize the proceeds from this gift for many years, it underpins the enduring relationship that the school will have with the future of education in the Greater Portland area.
Finally, we are reminded daily as we drive across the causeway to Mackworth Island that we have a very special relationship with the Maine Educational Center for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing. Every day one of their students joins our PreK/K. Once a week, our children recess with children from the Governor Baxter School and develop relationships that build bridges with another culture and in another language. Our graduates will be able to express themselves in English, Spanish, and American Sign Language! So, in this season of giving and thanks, we are extremely grateful for all of these relationships which knit this community together.
~ James Grumbach, Head of School
Learning Update
It is a sometimes distressing truth that people need conflict in order to learn and mature. New ideas need to unsettle and replace limited or faulty notions. As a Friends school, we take to heart the responsibility of helping children learn how to get along with others. What we bring to the effort that is different than in many other schools is the underlying belief that there is an Inner Light in each person and that love can transform us. The adults try to keep that forefront when children need reminders of how to behave or help in solving a conflict with another child. Moment to moment, we encourage students to look for the best in each other, the common and lovable humanity, as they learn to speak up for themselves or negotiate a solution to a problem. There are many published curricula available that teach conflict resolution skills, peacemaking skills, non–bullying behaviors, and so on. At this time, we have chosen to consider our experience and the ages of our students to arrive at some common language and practices that we hope help us practice peace, respect, friendship, and openness to loving the person one opposes in the moment.
Our words are simple: Be safe. Be respectful. Be friendly. Be ready to learn. The youngest children need to hear the simple language again and again in situations where we name the behavior and model for them. As children grow, they need to learn more complex and subtle language with which to understand more complex and subtle behaviors. These short directives become a starting point for the many teachable moments that arise during the day. Over the next few weeks, each class will designate a Peace Place – maybe a small table or a corner with two carpet squares. This will be a place where a child may sit quietly to slow down, to regain composure, or to regroup internally. It may also be a place where two children in conflict can come to safely share their perspectives and work towards a mutually satisfying resolution. Each class will post simple age–appropriate guidelines to help lead children through their process. There will also be a Peace Place on the playground. In every encounter, comfortable or not, we are always given a new chance to experience the transforming power of light and love.
~ Mary Tracy, Curriculum Coordinator
December Calendar
- FSP Board Meeting — Tuesday, December 4, 6 pm at the school
- Prospective Parent Visiting Day — Thursday, December 6,
Call for an appointment (781–6321) - Winter Break — December 20 — January 2, Classes resume January 3
January Admissions Calendar
- Prospective Parent Information Session
Wednesdays, January 16 & 23, 6 — 7 pm -
Prospective Family Open House
Saturday, January 12, 10 —11:30 am - Prospective Parent Visiting Days
Thursdays, January 10 & 31
Call for an appointment (781–6321)
Themes for weekly assemblies, Fridays at 1 pm in Carter Hall
- Dec — light & solstice
- Jan — winter survival & celebration
- Feb — warmth & love
- Mar — service & change
- April — spring, rebirth & Earth Day
- May — peace & Mother&srquo;s Day
- June — endings & beginnings, Father&srquo;s Day
