.Hello from the Executive Director.
A good way to remedy a cold morning is to have a warm heart.
~Kieth Wynn
Hello Bronco Families,
As cold as the mornings are this week, I am so happy to work amongst a sea of warm hearts! Today, a student who has been struggling with reading since kindergarten came in and read to me in the most fluent, confident voice. It was beautiful! This is the reason I became an educator. Nothing beats watching children blossom. It is also a testament to the caring, supportive, persistence of our students and staff. Here at CCCS, warm hearts prevail. Today, I witnessed the outcome of this magic in the confident smile of a student who did not give up on herself because of this team who wouldn’t allow it and kept faith even when she had none in herself. My heart feels so warm today to be working with the best of the best.
We are fortunate to work in a whole community of warm hearted folks. One of our biggest supporters has been the Countryside Christian Fellowship Church. The pastor, Terry Dawson, kindly allows families to park in the church parking lot to alleviate congestion in our own parking lot and to provide additional space for COVID safety. In return for the church’s magnanimity, we are asking families to please be mindful of the designated parking area for the church and not to park in the private residence driveway. We are also asking families who live close by to speak with your children about not cutting through the parking lot as a shortcut. The city put sidewalks in for safety reasons. The potential for an accident is high when students cut across the parking lot as cars are coming and going during drop off and pick up times. Please help us be good neighbors and demonstrate our gratitude to the Country Fellowship Church by using the sidewalks, parking in the church parking lot only, and keeping careful watch on the children walking amongst the cars to meet their ride home.
Now, the dreaded COVID update…. There is not much to share today. We have not received any updates that are different from what we learned last week, but we hear that news is coming soon that may impact how we move forward with the mask rule changes scheduled for March 31st. Hopefully, we will have new information to share by the newsletter next week.
I hope you have a wonderful week surrounded by the warmest of hearts and the friendliest smiles.
Warm regards,
Lisa
.Hello from the Dean of Student Services.
Recently my mother told me that failing math in the 4th grade was the worst experience of her life. She is almost 70. I was surprised, but not surprised. School memories can be particularly painful, even if the rest of your life is not a breeze.
Volunteer Opportunity: :lts, past school suffering can become a badge of honor. (Haven’t you heard the line, “I used to walk to school in the snow, uphill both ways” at least once?) Chi:::ldren in the 60s, 70s, and even 80s and 90s often experience pride now about their “toughness,” perseverance, and the ability they needed to muscle through difficult things.
In our current society, some laud this past version of student strength while others lament it. Some think schools are improving while others feel education is going downhill. In other words, we are caught between two worlds. There are two sets of values warring against each other. That is the confusion our children are absorbing.
For most adults, what is happening socially is a mental swamp. What are we supposed to teach our children about the world when things are so disorienting? What struggle is the right struggle for kids to be having? What difficulties are the right ones to be removing? What is too easy or too hard for our children? How much are we responsible to make things right for children so they are ready (for a future we ourselves can’t see)? How much are we sabotaging children by making things too quick to access? Are they going to know how to work for things?
Still, at the end of the day, most adults do believe in providing children chances for strength - through often we have different versions of what kind of strength is needed for future success.
Some schools focus on all kinds of perseverance, calling this concept “the power of yet.” Educators might ask children to say, “I can’t tell time yet” or “I can’t lift that yet” — instead of children simply saying they cannot do something. This is the equivalent of slogging home in the rain or mud, only they are slogging through their own minds to overcome things. It is one of many ways educators work to target different kinds of strength, training children and targeting different mental “muscles” to keep growing.
Mental strength is increasingly understood as important preparation for future work. After all, many jobs parents hope their children end up securing are mental labor. Mind strength is a skill they will undoubtedly need. The ability to change and adapt (to try new things, to not always have your own way) is understood as essential strength building.
Thankfully, minds and bodies are connected. Learning strength and perseverance doing physical things can impact mental perseverance, and vice versa. For example, learning the strength of saying no in physical labor can transfer to mental or social situations. I myself learned to say the word “no” when I kept breaking farm equipment I was trying to carry alone. I found carrying my friends’ stress also ended poorly.
I’ll close with one kind of strength I’ve been hearing people agree on a lot lately. It’s the strength of facing the unknown. It’s the courage required to acknowledge our ideals are not always our realities. It is the strength to look at what we have, and to do our best with it generously.
As classic wisdom puts it, water is stronger than rock because it can run around obstacles. It can keep flowing. This is a kind of strength this generation of students may develop in spades, if we help them name it and value it as precious. I suggest we do this because this kind of strength may surprise us someday. It may lead us into new understandings and new reconciliations. It may win the day.
While it’s easy to lament what is missing these days, perhaps helping our children be “school ready” means helping them see the muscles they are building in these days. Flexibility and not having what you want is not always pleasant, but it is a kind of necessary human intelligence that has kept us alive age after age.
We need that kind of strength more than ever these days. We need the strength we see water exhibit - to keep rolling for the ocean while laughing like a brook, come what may. Thank goodness for our laughing students. They are why we are here, day after day. We would be wise to let them lead us in continuing to dream and play.
Best,
Liz Bruno
.General Information.
Calendar
Friday, March 18- Clothing closet open from 11:45am-12:15pm
Friday, April 15- The CCCS Board approved April 15th as a staff preparation day in line with Eugene 4J’s schedule. There will be no school for students on this day
OBOB:
Middle School OBOB quiz for regionals is March 2 at 315 in Room 3
Student Leadership:
The student leadership team had taken on the task of repainting the bathrooms, but we need your help. If you have any spare paint that you could donate or if you’re able to volunteer to help us paint that would be great. Please contact Jen Moiser or Beth Monterrosa if you’re able to help. Thank you!
New Student Lottery Applications:
Siblings who are not currently enrolled but will apply to attend in the 2022/23 school year (as openings become available) must complete the Application for Lottery/Waitlist form. Forms received post lottery will be added to the waitlist. The online form can be found HERE or on our website by clicking on the school information tab and then the admissions ribbon. Applications are due by March 18, 2022 at 3:30pm.
EZ Texting:
You can sign up to receive emergency and weather-related text messages from the CCCS office by texting EZCCCS to 313131. You must sign up annually to maintain the service. Standard text rates apply.
CCCS and SBAC Testing
Every year, students in grades 3–8 and grade 11 complete state tests. These assessments provide useful information for students, parents and schools, although they are only one measure of students' academic success.
Today's state assessments are not the multiple-choice "bubble" tests students experienced in the past. The questions are interactive and go deeper, allowing students to engage with texts, build equations and explain their answers. Students are challenged to think critically and analytically, and apply their knowledge and skills to real-world problems which better prepares them for college and careers.
Standardized test results are generally low-stakes for students, but provide a useful “temperature check” on how students and schools are performing toward the learning standards and where extra attention is needed.
Students in grades 3-8 and 11 will take the Smarter Balanced tests this spring between March and June 8th. CCCS tends to start their testing after spring break. Homeroom teachers will communicate testing plans/schedules via their weekly correspondence to families. Most students participate in state testing, but parents have the right to opt out if they choose. An informational notice about state testing and an opt-out request form are available via the link below. If you choose to opt your child out of state testing this year, the opt-out form must be completed and turned in to the office no later than March 1st, 2022.
If you have any questions at all about state testing or opting out, please contact our testing coordinator Melissa Sepulveda - m.sepulveda@coburgcharter.org Thank You!
State Testing Notice Opt-Out Form can be found HERE.
.PCS Corner.
Hello from PCS (People for Coburg School), the school's parent group. Three things to know or help out with this week….
Tasty Tuesdays: One more week! Thanks to everyone who has been eating out to support CCCS this month. We’ve raised ~$700 from Coburg Pizza, Crumbl & Chipotle, and saw several families at BJ’s last night. Next Tuesday - March 1st - is the final week at Papa’s Pizza (here is the Papa’s flier).
Student Request: Spare paint to donate? Time to help paint? The student leadership team had taken on the task of repainting the bathrooms, but need your help. If you have any spare paint that you could donate or if you’re able to volunteer to help us paint that would be great. Please contact Ms. Mosier (j.mosier@coburgcharter.org) if you’re able to help. And ask your student which bathroom theme they voted for!
Bronco Bash on 5/14 - Volunteers & Donations Needed. On Saturday night, May 14th we’re bringing back our annual auction to raise needed funds for CCCS. This year will be at Shadow Hills Country Club with music, dancing and lots of social time to reconnect with (or finally meet!) other parents, staff, and community members. Please save the date. We also need your help: Please fill out this form if you can volunteer or have something you might be able to donate, or contact our Chair, Jen Derby at mayderby1@gmail.com. Sponsorship opportunities will be announced shortly. Thanks!
LOTS of other exciting updates. If you missed it, last week's monthly PCS eNews is attached HERE and/or please join us at the next PCS Meeting on Friday 3/4 (at 8:30 am on zoom: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89529878617?pwd=eEc4b3ZFV1ZvQ3B5TUdCWVVFRzJQZz09 - Meeting ID: 895 2987 8617; Passcode: 454150). Other questions or comments? E-mail PCS@coburgcharter.org. Thank you!
.CCCS Board Corner.
CCCS Board of Directors currently has an open Board seat. The Board is looking for individuals who have a passion and understanding of CCCS’s Mission and Vision and who are committed to the education of CCCS’s students. Of particular interest to the board are those people who have experience working with budgets and finances. The important task of governing a Charter School is a privilege granted to us by the State of Oregon. Reach out to board@coburgcharter.org if you are interested to receive more information about board work and the rewarding experiences it can offer.
Governance Committee.
.Community Corner.
Volunteer Opportunity
We are in need of volunteers to be Playground Pals! The main responsibility of this role would be to help with supervision during recess and lunch. If you are a fully cleared volunteer please consider signing HERE.
Thank you Thank you Thank you!
Thank you to the parent volunteers who have been helping in the classrooms. We are Grateful to have things feeling a bit more normal around here!
Want to get involved? Email Katie at community@coburgcharter.org.
Thank you to our February sponsor,
Kara Schmidt - Principal Broker & Agent with Elite Realty Professionals!
Help support people, that support our school! Kara is a residential real estate broker that works with buyers, sellers, and investors!