Parent Bulletin, September 2008

Ru d o l f S t e i n e r S c h o o l

B ULLETIN WELCOME BACK!

CALENDAR HIGHLIGHTS: Opening Day; noon dismissal US Trip to Jones Beach All School Fall Fair Meeting, 8:30 am High School Back to School Evening, 6:30 pm All School Meet & Greet (Welcome Back Night),6:00 pm New Parents/6:30 pm All Parents 2008-2009 Annual Appeal Kick Off Michaelmas

September 2008

FROM RALLOU M. HAMSHAW, SPEAKER FOR THE COLLEGE OF TEACHERS

Greetings and welcome back to the beginning of another school year! I hope you have all enjoyed a restful and rejuvenating summer and are ready for the many events and activities in the coming months that are such an integral part 9/9 of the Rudolf Steiner School community. This year is especially noteworthy as th 9/17 it marks the school’s 80 Anniversary!

9/8

The customary cleaning and polishing of both buildings took place over the

9/18 summer months. We are deeply grateful to Morgan O’Shea for his diligent and

expert oversight of the work. In addition, a much-needed new floor was laid in th 9/23 the 8 grade classroom and filtering air-conditioning units were installed throughout the Upper School building to shield our students, faculty, and visitors from the effects of the construction work currently underway in Mayor Bloomberg’s adjacent building. Much of the cost of the air conditioning, not the flooring, was covered by the Mayor. The walls and hand rails of one of the 9/25 stairwells in the Upper School have also received a fresh coat of paint. As always, we welcome your visits to see the upgrades to the facility.

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As is also customary, included in this correspondence are the latest updates regarding changes in personnel for the upcoming school year. You may already For a complete and up-to-date Calen- have read about some of these changes in the letter from our School Adminisdar of Events for the month of trator, Josh Eisen, sent out in the late spring.

September, logon to www.steiner.edu.

Please join me in warmly welcoming our new colleagues, and thanking those members of the community who left at the end of the school year for their wonderful and much appreciated service to the school. We especially wish to thank the members of last year’s Parent Council for their energetic, helpful work on behalf of the community. A special welcome goes out to Melinda Hsuan and Lyn Parkerson, our newly elected Co-Chairs, and all the members of this year’s Council.

On the academic side, we are delighted to welcome Lee Stevens as our new First Grade teacher. Lee is a trained Waldorf teacher with a BA in Anthroposophical Studies who has taught exclusively in Waldorf schools for the past seventeen years. He has served as Board member, Faculty Chair, and College Chair at City of Lakes Waldorf School, and Board member at the Minnesota Waldorf School and Mandate Group at Westside Waldorf School in Santa Monica, CA. With Laura Marashlian’s departure, we are delighted that Anke Scheinfeld will be assuming the role of Lead Teacher in the Upstairs Kindergarten. In addition, two assistants will be joining the Early Childhood. They are Bianca Brousseau, who has relocated from California, and Morgan Trujillo, a recent graduate of Mount Holyoke College.

Continued on page 2….

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WELCOME BACK CONT. In the Handwork Department, I am delighted to introduce Irene Kerl who will serve as our Lead Handwork Teacher. Irene, a Waldorf graduate, holds a Masters Degree in Adult and Teenage Education, Pedagogy, and Psychology from Westfaelische Wilhelms University in Muenster, Germany. With her five years of experience teaching in Waldorf Schools, Irene’s major interest is handwork and she is very much looking forward to taking up her work at the school this fall. She is relocating from Los Angeles, California.

Joining Ms. Kerl as her assistant is Afshaan Rahman. Afshaan will be leaving her position as a Curatorial Program Associate at the Jewish Museum here in New York City to take up her work at our school. She has worked as an Arts and Crafts Assistant at the Waldorf School of Garden City and as a Museum Assistant at The Children’s Museum in Saratoga Springs. Afshaan attended the Garden City and Honolulu Waldorf Schools, and is a graduate of Skidmore College and Teacher’s College, Columbia where she received a Master’s Degree in Art Education.

As previously announced, we are delighted to welcome Maureen Delaney, our new Guidance Counselor in the Upper School, and Julia Hays ’73 as Director of Upper School Admissions. We are also excited by the return of Samantha Margles as our Life Science teacher in the High School.

Samantha rejoins the community after several years of experience in the publishing world.

We are also pleased to welcome Stefanie Casillas, who attended the Rudolf Steiner School during her elementary school years. Stephanie joins us this year as our new Director of Alumni Relations, and is a Fulbright Scholar with a BA in German and minors in Mathematics and International Studies from Boston College. She spent the last year as a teaching assistant in Germany. Stephanie will also be involved with preparations and planning of the Fall Fair this year. We are delighted to have her with us.

Patrik Michel has joined the IT Department. He is a graduate of City College of The City University of New York with a BS in Computer Science. Patrik has worked as a Database Administrator for Deutsche Bank and Software Developer for Nasa Goddard Space Flight Center and Institute for Space Studies. We appreciate his expertise and are delighted to have him on board.

Gili Warsett has replaced Vanessa Reynolds as the Admissions Assistant in the Lower School. Gili attended the Dreyfoos School of the Arts in West Palm Beach and completed her final two years of high school at Interlochen Arts Academy in Michigan. She holds a BA from Oberlin College and an MFA in Creative Writing from Lesley University. She has lived in seven cities, but considers New York her home where she resides with her rotund cat, Cornelius.

In closing, we warmly thank all of our volunteers who serve with such dedication and in so many capacities on behalf of the school throughout the year. We acknowledge their efforts and many achievements with the deepest appreciation.

To our families, faculty, and staff, I extend good wishes for a lively and rewarding beginning of the 2008-2009 school year.

Ru d o l f S t e i n e r S c h o o l FACULTY SUMMER

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UPDATES

Third Grade teacher, Linda Ogden-Wolgemuth, took a day-long workshop entitled "Handwriting without Tears," which provides teachers with guidance on how to teach both print and cursive handwriting skills. Ms. Ogden-Wolgemuth also attended a weekend workshop called "Courage to Teach," which is a program that gives teachers the time to reflect on, and thereby enliven, their teaching. This was the fifth part of a eight-workshop series, meeting throughout two years.

Early Childhood assistant teacher, Karina Petrarca, helped create and co-direct a small Waldorfinspired parent/child day camp at the Fairview Farm in Bridgehampton. Her colleague in this initiative was Lisa Bono, a former RSS Early Childhood teacher and founding member of "A Child's Haven" the active part of the downtown Waldorf initiative. Lisa is also a Waldorf Early Childhood teacher at The Brooklyn School. The camp program occurred three days a week, completely outdoors, at the Fairview Farm at Mecox, and was filled with farm animals, gardening, crafts, circle time, puppetry and (of course) PLAY! Upper School teacher, Marina McGrew, shares that she has just returned from five weeks in Greece, where she spent two weeks in the city of Thessaloniki, took in ancient Roman sites, Ancient Greek and Byzantine museums and churches, all in preparation for History Through Art class with the ninth grade.

Her trip was completed with three weeks on the island of Skyros with lots of family, snorkeling, hiking as well as exploring a bronze age city and the old village.

After four years working full-time while completing his pre-med requirements and MCAT’s, US Eurymthmy teacher, Rachel Andrews’ husband, Monzur Haque, is now attending New York Medical College in Valhalla, Westchester County. Rachel and Monzur moved to an apartment on campus at the beginning of August and classes began shortly thereafter. During the summer, Rachel spent time learning more about Non-Profit Governance at the NY Tri-State Area Craigslist Foundation Non-Profit Boot Camp: http://craigslistfoundation.org/index.php?page=ny2008 and helped prepare Threefold property in Spring Valley for the upcoming Michaelmas Conference; see pictures of her pruning here: http://threefold-action-group.blogspot.com/2008/06/first-group-project.html.

West African and Brazilian percussion instructor Joe Cardello, is currently playing percussion in the critically acclaimed revival of “Hair” in Central Park at the Delacourte Theatre until September 14th.

Joe reports that the audience response has been overwhelming and he has “been having the time of my life!”

This past July, US Music Teacher Alex Yagupsky, was the program director of the Golandsky Institute's Summer Symposium, a ten-day piano festival held at Princeton University. Participants came from across the United States and as far away as the Far East and Australia. The days are filled with lessons, lectures, master classes and seminars; the evenings feature recitals by world-class artists. The Golandsky Institute is the preeminent center for the Taubman Approach, which instructs pianists and other musicians in the art of coordinate movement, giving them the tools to play with brilliance and with ease. Assisting Mr. Y was our own Eddie Rakowicz '09.

Elizabeth Taylor, Early Childhood Assistant Teacher, began the part time Waldorf Early Childhood Teacher Training this summer and will be in the Sunbridge Program for another 20 months. Additionally, she spent three glorious weeks in Spring Valley doing a summer intensive and will return for a week in November and a week in march before doing it all again a second time next summer, fall and winter.

Ru d o l f S t e i n e r S c h o o l GREEN ENERGY

AT

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RSS

The Rudolf Steiner School has partnered with Juice Energy, Inc. to help us control our electricity costs and reduce our carbon footprint. For the next three years, RSS will be purchasing green power equal to our total annual usage of 232,000 kilowatt hours. This green power takes the form of Green-e certified renewable energy credits generated at renewable facilities throughout the United States. Our purchase avoids over 140 metric tons of CO2 per year, which is like taking 30 cars off the road! Green power harnesses the energy of wind, water, biological waste and the sun to generation electricity.

Green power generation is “clean”, creating electricity without the production of air pollutants that lead to acid rain, smog, and climate change.

Juice supplies universities, schools and businesses cost-effective management of volatile electricity prices and climate change solutions. By designing and managing an energy purchasing strategy for our school, Juice Energy, Inc. will help RSS control our costs allowing us to be socially responsible while remaining budget conscious.

Additional benefits: • The Rudolf Steiner School is purchasing over 695 thousand kWh’s of green power, representing 100% of projected electricity usage over the next three years.

• The green power purchase takes the form of Green-e certified renewable energy credits (RECs) generated at facilities across the U.S. • The purchase supports renewable generation; reducing fossil fuel-based generation and avoiding the emission of over 140 metric tons of greenhouse gases each year.

• The purchase qualifies the Rudolf Steiner School for membership in the EPA Green Power Partnership program.

• This purchase offsets 100% of the Rudolf Steiner School electricity-related greenhouse gas emissions.

MEET

THE

MAYOR!

During the last week of school in June, the rising 5th. Grade visited City Hall.

We were surprised when the Mayor appeared from his office to greet us. Our excursion was in conjunction with the 4th. Grade curriculum on Local Geography and History.

From Class Teacher, Dale Bennett

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COMMUNITY MARKETPLACE Honoring the Past—Recognizing the Way Forward This September, the Threefold Community will mark the 75th Anniversary of the first Anthroposophical Summer School at Threefold Farm with a three-day Michaelmas conference. Conference presenters and participants will span the generations, from representatives of Threefold’s early years to newly minted activists who are committed to effecting genuine social change today. The conference will celebrate the coming together of diverse perspectives to imagine creative ways in which new social, educational and economic impulses can take root and flourish.

Michaelmas Weekend, September 26–28, 2008 Threefold Educational Center, Chestnut Ridge, New York Questions? Contact Jordan Walker at Jordan@threefold.org / (845) 352-5020 ext 19 The Melbourne Composers League and Anna Monea present

Below the Star-Stretched Sky New music for trombone and string quartet from Australia and Korea Performed by Barrie Webb and Silo String Quartet Compositions by Brenton Broadstock, Eve Duncan, Joseph Giovinazzo, Jesmond Grixti, Sang Hee Kwon, Chan Hae Lee, Peter Myers and Young‐Eun Paik.

28 September 2008, 8.30pm Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall 57th Street & 7th Avenue Tickets: $75 ‐ $90, $55 student and seniors For 50% off ticket price, use this code at the box office, Carnegie Charge or CarnegieHall.org: stars6816

STILL

LOOKING!

If you have an extra room or sleeping space (or know of one), please let me know. I need a place to spend the night on Tuesdays and Wednesdays during the school year. Some weeks I will be traveling but most weeks I will be at the Steiner School. Help!

Louise deForest; Pedagogical Director of the Early Childhood Program Please call 212-535-2130 x255 or 845-270-5107

PHOTOGRAPHY SHOW (Excerpt from MUG 9/4/08)

RSS alumni parent and grandparent, Shelia Metzner, is an extraordinary photographer, adept in many genres—fashion, still life, landscape, portraits—but the work always seems startlingly fresh. There's a retrospective of her career, including selections from her latest series, 36 Views of Brooklyn Bridge (above), at the Visual Arts Museum, through October 4th.

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Fall Fair 2008 Saturday, November 22nd Please join co-chairs Lena Armel and Jamie Carter at the first Fall Fair meeting of the year: Wednesday, September 17, 8:45am Lower School Cafeteria

**** We invite all parents to join one of our workshops —no experience necessary— Dolls:

Sarah Brooks & Susann Villanueva, parent leaders Friday mornings 8:30-10:45; Lower School Cafeteria Woodworking :

Renate Poliakine, faculty leader Wednesday evenings 7:00-9:00 & Friday mornings 8:30-10:00 Lower School Woodwork shop Handcrafted Gifts: If you are interested in leading the Handcrafted Gifts Workshop, please contact Shannon Williams or Stefanie Casillas immediately!

For questions, please contact Shannon Williams or Stefanie Casillas by phone (212-535-2130) or email (swilliams@steiner.edu )or (scasillas@steiner.edu).