Sept. 17
Muskrat News
Upcoming events:
September 23 Board meeting in the Community Room 7pm
September 24 All school outing (Marys Peak Cancelled) 9am
October 1 Muddy Creek 3rd Annual Fall Camp Out 6pm
October 14 Curriculum Night
October 23 Next Wildlife Steward Workshop
From our Executive Director
Our school year is off to a very good start. A number of things are up and going, or will be next week. First of all, our enrollment has allowed us to hire two assistants to work in the classrooms helping with literacy and math instruction and help supervise the lunchroom and the playground. For the moment Laura Oakes (our custodian) and Larissa Leselle (last year’s math teacher) are doing these jobs. The jobs are advertised on Craigslist for a few more days. Both Laura and Larissa wish to keep the positions.
Starting next week we will have music classes on Tuesday and Thursday. Needless to say, we are elated!
Also starting next week, students will have a half hour period of library. Katie Edson and Kelly Bell have worked long and hard to get the library up and running. Kelly, Jaime Martin, and Anne Irvine have helped getting things ready this year. Any parent wanting to help with shelving etc. would be warmly welcomed, even if you can only spare a few minutes.
Two more projects are getting attention but are not close to a solution just yet. Parents are working on bus transportation from Corvallis and looking into how we might get the kitchen up and running. If we were to have Corvallis School District’s bus company run a route for us it would cost $35,000. Now we will look to other solutions.
Our Lifelong Guideline for next week is Truthfulness – to be honest about things and feelings with oneself and others. I have watched parents stop at our sign in the hall and take a moment to point out the guideline and speak about it with their child. Anything you do like this here or at home will provide a big boost to our attempts to have a caring, considerate community.
-dan
Classroom News
Room 1 Hamster Happenings – “Hi everybody, Sam here. I just wanted to thank Ruby for taking such good care of me this week. She is very Trustworthy.”
Room 2 – We’ve been getting to know each other this week. We are working on the theme “Life at School” during literacy, reading realistic fiction and writing personal narratives. In the afternoon, the students couldn’t wait for Writer’s Workshop to get started. They are already producing some fabulous pieces of writing. I also have a bunch of avid readers in the room 😉 Ms. Gorman
Kindergarten – Miss Jenny will be back next week with more exciting news featuring the Kinders.
Room 4 – Parents of 4th/5th graders, please check your email for regular updates from me – Thanks, Mr. Day
Music Comes to Muddy Creek
Starting Tuesday September 21st all students from first through fifth grade will receive music instruction twice a week for the remainder of the year. The students will be singing along with different instruments, be exposed to musical instruments, be learning to read music in time and be able to follow music in order to be on tune. The Inavale Community Partners Board (Muddy Creek’s School Board) is committed to a fund raising project to raise the $5000 necessary to fund this opportunity. We are delighted with this development – and thank Linda Hansen for helping us to realize something we have wanted here for a long time.
Linda has taught private piano and guitar lessons, taught music from preschool to 8th grade, been an Inavale music program volunteer (two of her three grown children attended Inavale School, as did two of her grandchildren) and studied privately for about a total of 35 years. Both the Oregon Music Teacher’s Association and the Music Teacher’s National Association claim her as a current member. She holds Oregon State Certification with those organizations and is currently working toward National Certification. Music is one of her passions. She plays piano, guitar, bagpipes and an assortment of other instruments. Finally, and most importantly; sharing music, especially with children, is a lifelong enthusiasm. Welcome!
School Picture Day is Friday, October 1st!
Thistledown Photography will be at the school on Friday, 10/1 to take pictures of the students and staff of the Muddy Creek Charter School. Make sure to wear your favorite outfit and don’t forget to comb that hair. 🙂 Ali Smith of Thistledown Photography will be taking pictures of all of the students, classes, staff and the entire student population together. She will also photograph siblings together. Thistledown Photography is a local custom photography studio and one of the nice things about their ordering process is that you don’t have to commit to purchasing anything until you have seen a proof of your child’s picture. By the end of October, each family will receive a proof of their student(s) and an order form. It’s just that easy. So, mark the day on the family calendar and start working on those smiles!
Reminder — School Supply Fund
We want to remind people that if they have not yet paid their school supply $25 fee to please do so or talk to Cedar about a payment plan. The fund allows teachers to buy items such as notebooks, pencils, erasers and lined paper for the classrooms.
Carpooling
Curt Tyler (Lazlo’s dad) has put together a google map of the parents looking to coordinate carpooling, and he is reaching out and connecting people. If you want to be a part of this carpooling effort please email him at curt_tyler@yahoo.com .
Movin’ Muskrats back again!
Back by popular demand is the Movin’ Muskrats (aka The Running Club)! Put on your athletic shoes and come on out to the field on Thursdays at lunch recess. You can walk, jog or run as many laps as you like – best just to move it! Bring a friend to keep you company, it’ll be fun. Each participant gets a card to keep track of mileage. For every lap completed one hole is punched in the card. Each card is worth 5 miles. Lookout for announcements in this newsletter for Muskrat milers!
Our first day was soured by a most unfortunate experience. Our runners stirred up a yellow jacket nest resulting in several students being stung. Our running club supervisor was right there hurrying the students inside for safety. The rest of the staff immediately went to work attending those students that were stung and getting parents notified. The children were very brave, and the staff had a wonderful calming influence.
SCRIP Program
MCCS will be joining in the SCRIP program this year! SCRIP is a great way for our school to generate funds to benefit our kids. Muddy Creek will purchase gift certificates and gift cards to local participating stores at a discount and then sell them to parents, friends, and community members at face value with the difference going to MCCS as a donation. You then use the cards to make purchases you would have made anyway; it doesn’t cost any extra money. Use them for such things as groceries, gas, clothes, dining out, etc. in place of a debit card, check, or cash. They can also be purchased as gifts. It can be a great budgeting tool since you can set certain spending limits by using the cards. It’s a win-win for everyone! This program can be an excellent source for generating thousands of dollars at our school for programs, activities, supplies, etc.
We will have certain times set up to order SCRIP at the school, probably before and after school on certain days, and we will need a few people to volunteer to help take orders and distribute them when they come in. Carla Callahan will be our SCRIP coordinator and will be getting the program set up with our school. Please contact her at cdcallahanz@gmail.com or 541-929-5784 if you would like to volunteer or have any questions. Stay tuned for more info!
eSCRIP is a separate online way to help raise funds for Muddy Creek. Go to http://www.escrip.com/program/welcome.jsp and sign up. Identify Muddy Creek as the group you would like to support (ID#500020320). You will be asked to register grocery cards and credit/ debit cards that you use for purchases. When you use any of these cards with a participating merchant, a contribution goes to Muddy Creek.
Lost and Found
We have one, and there are some items already in it. A good idea is to write your child’s name in their coats, jackets etc.
Bookmobile
This Friday September 17th, the Corvallis Public Library bookmobile will be at our school from 2-3:15. If your child is interested and has a library card, please have them bring it on Friday. If your child does not have a library card, they can get a library card application from their teacher. Please have them fill this out and bring it with them on Friday. The bookmobile will be at our school every first and third Friday of the month from 2-3:15. If interested, parents can go into the bookmobile from 3-3:15.
Wildlife Stewards
The school is recruiting one or more volunteer Wildlife Stewards so that the school can participate in the 4-H Wildlife Stewards program. Wildlife Stewards are trained at workshops offered by the OSU Extension Service. The next workshop is on October 23. Wildlife Stewards will participate in our RESTORE schoolyard restoration project. If interested contact Leah Gorman leah_gorman@mail.com .
CPR/First Aid Classes
We have scheduled Todd Washington with CPR Works to come to our school Sept. 27th and 29th from 4-6/6:30pm for CPR and First Aid training. The cost is $30 for both classes and if you can only attend one, you can attend the second one at another time (he holds these trainings monthly at different places in the area). The cost is normally $40 per person, but if we have over 8 people interested we can get the $30 deal. Please let Cedar know if you are interested.
PTO NEWS
PTO KICKOFF – Kerry Pfeil (Mom to Casey) and Terina McLachlain (mom to Ezraelle and Linnea) are coordinating the PTO Kickoff. To have a chance to reach the most parents our initial meeting is actually going to be at two separate times: 8:30 am and 7:00pm, on September 22nd. You can choose which meeting time works best for you. Some of the items on the agenda will be:
Fall Campout Leadership
Volunteering Opportunities Project Proposals
Social Gatherings Regular Meeting Time
There are already lots of great ideas for school programs and projects. It will take all of us to make things happen. Please stop by to meet other parents and find out how you can help build our school and community.
VOLUNTEER COORDINATOR – One leadership position has already been filled! Melissa Harris (mom to Isaac) has volunteered to be our volunteer coordinator. We hope all parents of Muddy Creek students will serve as volunteers sometime throughout the year. Melissa will be helping to match up volunteers with projects. If you need help with a project or have an idea please let Melissa know atknow at honeybharris@yahoo.com i.
MUDDY CREEK PTO YAHOO GROUP – We have a yahoo group specifically for the Muddy Creek PTO. This is a listserv that allows us to post information, have discussions, express needs (such as childcare or carpooling) and store documents. Signing up is easy! Send an email to
muddycreek_pto-subscribe@yahoogroups.com . You will receive a message to confirm your request for membership that you will need to reply to. You can visit our group website at
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/muddycreek_pto/ . There you can access copies of our bylaws and other documents. You can also manage your membership there by choosing to have individual emails or the digest version.
ALL SCHOOL OUTING (MARY’S PEAK CANCELED)
We are working on selecting another location for our September 24th outing. If you plan on being a driver, please make sure Cedar has your updated car insurance card and/or your license and form filled out if you have not done so yet.
FALL CAMPOUT! – Muddy Creek has established a wonderful community tradition of having two campouts during the year. One is held in the fall to celebrate the beginning of a new school year and one in the spring to celebrate the ending. These events are the stuff the best childhood memories are made of; singing, roaring campfire, s’mores, playing tag and camping out under the stars (in case of rain we will sleep in the gym or tough it out in true Oregonian style).
Our Fall campout will be Friday, October 1. Setup will be at 5:00pm with a potluck dinner at 6:00pm. A pancake breakfast will be provided on Saturday morning.
Sign up sheets will be by the mailboxes at the front door. We need volunteers for the following: Set up Friday at 5:00 and cleanup crew for Saturday Morning, Song leaders (we would like to put together an official songbook also!), Breakfast cooks and Games and crafts (if you are inclined to lead them).
Please fill out the attached RSVP form so we know how many folks for which to plan breakfast. If you don’t have a tent but would like to come, please let us know and we will try to find you one. Leave the form in the basket under the mailboxes.
If you have any questions, suggestions or would like to volunteer please contact either Kerry or Terina at the following numbers: Kerry Pfeil kerrypfeil@gmail.com 541-207-3562 or Terina McLachlain 8gr8kids@gmail.com 541-829-9847
Another Fundraising Coordinator Volunteer Opportunity
Last year we had a coordinator for the Box Top Fundraising Program. That person is now gone and we need someone to step up and get the program going again. It’s an easy way for each family to raise money for MCCS by just collecting box tops from items bought everyday and dropping them off at the school. If interested, contact Cedar Dunn in the office.
Items Needed
Ms. Gorman’s and Miss Bridget’s classrooms need a few items to help them with their outdoor activities. They are looking for donations of rakes, shovels, a wheelbarrow, kid-sized gloves, seeds, extra garden tools in general and fall bulbs (tulips, daffodils, crocuses, etc.). Anything you can spare would be greatly appreciated.
Special thanks to:
Michelle R for cleaning and organizing the rain boots and Kelly B for labeling the school rain gear.
Laura and Jewel O for beautifying the butterfly garden and Miss Melanie for weeding everywhere.
Carla C for becoming the room parent for Room 2 and Mary G for organizing Room 1 volunteers.
Regina O for helping with the bookmobile. Zach dN for walking the entire building, including the roof, checking to be sure we are safe. And — to each class spending 10 minutes a day beautifying the outside areas of our school.
ICP Board Meetings
This month there is one on the 23rd. In October we return to the first and third Thursdays. The meetings are held at 7 pm in the Community Room.
Strengthening Rural Families
is sponsoring two ten week courses for parents of toddlers. One will be held Thursday mornings September 30 – December 9 at the Alpine Community Center. The second will be held Tuesday mornings September 28 – December 7 at Philomath Middle School. To register contact the SRF office: (541) 929-2535 or the website: www.ruralfamilies.org.