Welcome Back!

Welcome to the 2018-19 school year! We’re all excited to kick off the new school year with you and your family on Wednesday, August 29!

In the meantime, I want to fill you in on what we’ve been up to this summer. There are three major areas that we have been focusing on in preparation for the coming year: Campus, Curriculum, and Faculty.

Campus

• We have a brand new lower school playground! Our new play structures have multi-dimensional spaces that encourage open-ended and innovative play so that students at a wide range of ages can have a great time with each other and connect with the natural landscape.
• The administration, library, and gymnasium buildings have all been newly painted with colors that are fresh, bold, and inviting!
• We have new student furniture in our 2nd, 3rd, and middle school English, Spanish, and History classrooms, allowing for more flexible and dynamic classroom spaces.
• We increased the number of notebook computers on campus to provide a full class set for all core classrooms, and we upgraded our wireless system with increased internet bandwidth to gigabit fiber.
• We installed new, water-efficient fixtures in our lower school restrooms and locker rooms to further support green practices at Redwood Day.
• We installed new sound systems in our lower school classrooms and launched wireless teacher microphones as a pilot program in five classrooms to align with newly researched and defined best practices for teaching our lower school learners.

Curriculum

• This past spring and early summer, we refined our scope and sequence of learning outcomes for grammar and writing mechanics K-8. Much like our math program, we will emphasize mastery of fewer concepts each year with the goal of students achieving a deeper, more sophisticated, and nuanced understanding and application of grammar and mechanics in their writing by the end of 8th grade.
• We have aligned our lower and middle school schedules so that we are all on the same 6-day schedule rotation!
• We have some exciting changes to our middle school class schedule that include:
• Core classes (Math, Science, History, English, and Spanish) will all meet five out of every six days.
• We have expanded our drama program to a more comprehensive Drama and Speech class that will now be a full-year course, meeting two out of every six days, for grades 6-8.
• Design and Innovation will now be a full-year course for grades 6-8, meeting two out of every six days.
• Physical Education class will be increased to three out of every six days for grades 6-8 with Health instruction integrated into the Physical Education curriculum.
• Every summer, many of our teachers participate in intensive professional development. This supports our teachers to continue to grow as educators and to enrich and inspire their work with students. Here is a partial list of professional development attended by our teachers:
• Columbia University's Teachers College: Reading and Writing Institutes
• Mills Scholars Summer Institute 2018: Building a Culture of Collaborative Adult Learning
• The Teaching Tolerance Curriculum K-12
• Mastering Group Facilitation
• Design and Maker Class Colloquium 2018
• Learning and the Brain: The Neuroscience of Learning Disabilities
• The Power of Mindsets
• Klingenstein Summer Institute for Early Career Teachers

Faculty

• When you return, you will notice some new faces on campus beyond those mentioned in the Comings and Goings letter I sent in June. You will also notice a few familiar folks with new job responsibilities.
• Katherine Stark joins us as our Middle School Art Teacher. Katherine has taught Junior Kindergarten through 8th Grade Art at Alta Vista School in San Francisco since 2013. She holds a B.A. in Studio Art from Lewis and Clark College and an M.A. in Art Education from New York University.
• Todd Petersen joins us as our Middle School Athletic Director and Physical Education Teacher. Todd has been the Director of Athletics and the Physical Education Teacher at KIPP Summit Academy since 2007 and at San Leandro High School before that. Additionally, Todd has held various coaching positions at San Leandro High and Foothill College. Todd holds a B.A. in Business Economics from UC Santa Cruz and an M.A. in Sports and Fitness Management from the University of San Francisco.
• After two years as the Middle School Assistant, Beth Entrekin is transitioning to a new role as the part time Design and Innovation Teacher, helping to grow and enhance our program. Beth holds a degree in Design from UCLA and has prior experience teaching art to elementary school students. She is excited to partner with Cameron Moredock to expand the K-8 Design and Innovation curriculum. As we’re hiring for a permanent Assistant to the Middle School Director, there will be interim support in this position.

Finally, we are excited to have a new lunch service this year. Please keep an eye out for an email from Denise Breland, Director of Student Life/Dean of Students, and Florence Erikkson with details about Flo’s Friendly Foods.

I look forward to reconnecting with you and your children on August 29! Please join us that morning for our Welcome Back Coffee in the Gallery at 8:15 a.m.

Until then, enjoy the rest of your summer!

Best,
John Loeser
Head of School