the sunstonian - sunstone montessori school, portland, oregon · 6/24/2016 · of sunstone helped...

JUNE 24, 2016 VOLUME 9 · ISSUE 29

The Sunstonian

By Cathy Newman, Head of School

It has happened: the end of another

school year! I want to take a few

minutes to reminisce on the high-

lights of the year, and to share some

plans for the future.

We’ve accomplished so much! There

has been amazing work happening

every day in the classrooms, whether

is learning about Leonardo DaVinci,

studying multiplication tables, ex-

ploring the cultures of Asia, or prac-

ticing how to speak kindly to a

friend when making a request. This

is why we are here, to support the

children in their development, in

their learning, and in their growth as

they become part of our society.

What else happened this year?

All of you helped in so many ways—

you all donated over 2,000 hours of

your time lending a hand with laun-

dry, snack and flowers, classroom

jobs, Earth Day activities, Going out

chaperoning, auction planning,

fundraising, the Fall Festival, our

Family Camping trip, the Winter

Sing & Solstice, classroom gather-

ings, electronics recycling, waste

audits, the Green Team, campus

facilities, grounds maintenance,

Shakespeare, Graduation and class-

room wish lists. Thank you!!

(Continued on page 2)

Current families,

alumni and friends of

Sunstone helped us to

shatter our fundraising

goals, topping over

$127,000 to support

classroom and

educational material,

professional

development and our

financial aid program.

State of the

School

Wrap up

Gathering for the graduation ceremony on the front lawn. The sun came out just in time!

Current families, alumni and friends

of Sunstone helped us to shatter our

fundraising goals, topping over

$127,000 to support classroom and

educational material, professional

development and our financial aid

program. 83% of families donated,

up from 41% last year. Thank you!

Our annual auction event, Off to the

Races, was a smashing success. Not

only were the costumes fabulous (I’m

talking to you, Colonel and jockeys!),

but we also had a

grand time enjoying

each other’s compa-

ny, dancing the

night away and

more. A big thank

you to everyone

who worked on the

event and to all

those who attended.

Our Earth Day cel-

ebration was anoth-

er highlight to note.

So many of you came out to support

the day and we accomplished so

much. More suns were painted to

adorn the fences, birdhouses and

pollinator boxes were built, worm

bins were constructed, bikes were

repaired, the neighborhood was

cleaned up, and more. We’ve been so

pleased having Talia in the new posi-

tion of Green Team Coordinator and

Outdoor Specialist. It’s been such a

benefit having Talia available to work

with students every day on gardening

projects or other outdoor related

work; her presence has allowed for

much greater flow between the in-

door and outdoor environments.

Also, with Talia’s support, we contin-

ue to have a strong Green Team and

we are committed to maintaining our

Premier Green School status. We

welcome all parents to join us in this

very important work.

We had a fantastic Upper Elementary

production of Twelfth Night, and our

6th-years traveled to southern Ore-

gon to spend a week together enjoy-

ing zip lines, Shakespeare plays and

some final days together as a 6th-year

group.

Over the past year

the Board of Trus-

tees has focused on

revamping the

work of the Gov-

ernance Commit-

tee, developing and

implementing com-

munications strate-

gies for brand mes-

saging and a mar-

keting plan, and

continue work in

the areas of Fi-

nance, Site, Site Search, Advance-

ment and Executive committee work.

It’s been a dynamic year of welcom-

ing new people to our community

and into new positions within the

school, and we are celebrating the

many new strong additions to our

team.

Hello and welcome to new 2015-16

hires:

Tyne Ritenour (Huckleberry Assis-

tant Guide)

Jeremy Bayout (AYM In-House Sub)

Berkeley Oceguera (Beforecare Coor-

dinator and Elephant support/breaks

provider)

Monica Motsko (In-House Sub, soon

to be Butterfly Assistant)

Hello and welcome to new 2016-17

(all Elementary trained):

Jack Graham (Lupine Assistant

Guide)

Danielle Garcia (Camassia Assistant)

Anika Tobiason (Elementary In-

House Sub)

It’s always hard to say goodbye when

treasured colleagues move on, but we

are excited for them and the wonder-

ful paths they are pursuing. Goodbye

and deep thanks to Dave Ayer,

Thomson Chuites, Anna Varnelius,

Veronica Araneda, Leslie Logan, Ra-

chel Baker, Tess Ryneal, Cibyl Ka-

van, Carrie Caffee-Martin, and Aye-

sha Franco. We thank you for your

work in our community and wish you

well.

As we look ahead to the coming year,

our emergency plan remains a high

priority and is a topic of many staff

and site committee meetings. Month-

ly drills for exiting the building safely,

finding a safe place (drop, cover and

hold) in earthquake drills and being

silent and still in lock down/out drills

are our main focus for now. We will

continue to work on various scenari-

os each month. One of the most

important pieces of these drills is to

help the children to understand how

important it is to remain quiet so

they are ready to hear instructions. I

want to reassure you that all of these

drills are done with due diligence to

not worry or frighten the children;

they are simply presented as an exer-

cise in the spirit of all working to-

(Continued from page 1)

(Continued on page 3)

Volume 9·Issue 21 The Sunstonian

Thank you to each

and every one of you

for helping create

this strong, vibrant,

compassionate

community. We are

who we are because

of YOU!

gether to be safe.

We are happy to report that Sunstone

is healthy financially. We balance our

budget every year and are able to add

funds to savings for future capital

opportunities, for a middle school or,

one day, a site that we own.

We have solid enrollment for the

2016-17 school year. We have a wait-

ing list for Huckleberry and constant

inquiries for each of the other levels.

We expect to have healthy numbers

in all classes as we start the new

school year.

Our plans for the future include im-

proving on and maintaining our cur-

rent site as well as looking at other

possibilities for a home that we own.

Our lease with PPS extends to 2022

and we don’t have any plans to move

elsewhere before that.

The plans for our food cart are in the

works and we hope that we will be up

and running next year. I’m continu-

ing to look at possibilities for a Farm

School/Adolescent Program but

haven’t yet been successful in finding

the right site. If you become aware of

any possibilities, please pass them

along to me.

We wish all those who are graduated

or are moving on to new schools all

the best!

Thank you to each and every one of

you for helping create this strong,

vibrant, compassionate community.

We are who we are because of YOU!

Sincerely, Cathy

(Continued from page 2)


New Friends in the

Elephant Classroom

We are very happy to have two new friends join our community this week! Please welcome Mira Litt (above left and bottom), and par-ents Hannah and Robert, and Gideon Huang (above right) and parents Esther and Ted. Gideon comes to us from the Huckleberry cottage, and Mira from the Portland Jewish Academy. When you see them around campus, please extend a warm Sunstone welcome!


Congratulations

2015-16

Graduates!

The sun came out, friends and families gathered, and the bag piper was piping. It was a gorgeous evening to commemorate our transformations, honor our graduates, and welcome in the changes that lay ahead. Congratulations to our 2016 graduates: From the Butterfly Room: Joseph Reed Leahy Rowan Samuel O’Brien From the Sunflower Cottage: Oliver James Brown Alexandra Margaret Centrone Roya Mae Manchester Chloe Sofia Palmer From the Elephant Room: Addyson Marie Banks Eloise Maria Carlsson Laya Jane Counts Jeremy Thue Pezzimenti Benjamin Martin Rodriguez Lincoln Joaquin Sanchez Amelia Ann Whorton

Elephant graduates

Camassia graduates

Finn McDonald and Claire Hashimoto


From the Camassia Room: Aidan Philip Barbar Alexander Haotong Chin Auva Lea Ghiasinejad Blaze Barak Rosenfeld Joseph Andrew Kilberg Maxwell Davis Whalen Noah Hans Carlsson Ruby Jeanne Day From the Trillium Room: Javyn Kahil Andrico Alison Patricia Barbar Bram Alexander Barnes Benjamin Isaac Blanchard Corinne Marie Johnson Zadie Jane Lovett Evan James Niemeyer Lila Ray Satori

From the Lupine Room: Melina (Chris) Whalen, Annika Nelle Drummond, Dylan Aubrey Salazar, Jordan Sage Moliken, Ira MacNaughton Smith, David Douglas White, Connor Lyn Mansfield, and Nick Ngoc Quang Tran (not shown)

Sunflower graduates.

Trillium graduates.

Jennifer Ryznar and Cathy Newman

Max Whalen and Robert Salazar

Congratulations to Sonja and Robert Scott on their brand new baby girl (above left) and to Riley Scott on being a big brother! She was born yesterday, June 23. Welcome to the world, we can’t wait to meet you! Welcome also to Grey Oji, the newest member of the Huckleberry Cottage. Grey is the brother to Romi Oji, formerly of Huckleberry, now in the Sunflower Cot-tage. And finally, we wish all the best to our two friends who graduated up to the Children’s House. Gideon Huang (below middle) has started in the Elephant Room and Rosie Lowes (below right) will start in the Sunflower Cottage. We will miss them but are so happy that we get to see them around campus and on the playground as they continue their Sunstone adven-ture!


Old Friends,

New Friends

(and Siblings) in the

Huckleberry

Cottage

the sunstonian - sunstone montessori school, portland, oregon · 6/24/2016 · of sunstone helped...

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