Gardens and Grounds:
The Gardens and Ground committee will focus on improving and building a multi-level hutch to house our bunnies. We will add a transparent roof to the hutch and ensure they have plenty of room to run around.
We are also participating in the Green School Initiative again this year. Our teachers record many of the nature-based lessons held during class time and/or with Mr. Matan. Here’s a little more information about this program from the Cobb County Government website, “The goal of the Green School Initiative is to recognize schools in Cobb County that have an active environmental education and outdoor learning program and to encourage teachers to facilitate ecological enrichment and appreciation for the natural world with their students. Green Schools are recognized annually.”
CAB:
The CAB Committee is working to select a diversity and inclusion study for our faculty and staff to engage in during the second semester. We also finalized details for the upcoming toy drive for MUST Ministries and began planning for our MLK Day of Service on January 15th. This project will build on last year’s making and delivering meal packets to area open-access food pantries. Additionally, we have begun a system for compiling, vetting, and sharing resources to bring more diverse stories, histories, and lessons to our classes in a way that is accurate, appropriate, and honoring. If you have resources, especially books (for all ages), that you love and know to follow these guidelines, we would love your recommendations! We are especially looking for books written by people from the cultures they portray or discuss. You can email book suggestions to CAB@thegardenmarietta.org.
Additionally, Ki Kim (lead teacher in Kindergarten Turtles) participated in a workshop through Sunbridge Institute, Calling It Like It Is: Uncovering and Dismantling Racism in the Waldorf Movement.
Also through Sunbridge, Ki Paulyna (lead Third Grade teacher) and Ki Lesley (Admissions Director) will be participating in Decolonizing our Curriculum, and Ki Holly (lead teacher for Kindergarten Chickadees) and Ki Virginia (Kindergarten Turtles assistant) will be participating in Fostering Belonging in our Classroom Communities in the second semester.
Faculty Study:
We continued to discuss the relationship of the 12 senses, how they complement and support each other, and how they also strengthen the inner life of the child as they become more aware of what they are taking in from their environment.
We will finish up the senses next week and then move on to a new topic. We plan to take up a skill for our working together: the practice of consensus decision-making. There are wonderful resources for this work that the committee will be exploring over the winter break to share with the faculty in January.
Festivals:
The autumn months are full of planning, gathering, and experiencing various festivals that bring together the greater Garden School community in the spirit of fun, reverence, and meaning. From the last weekend of September through the first week in December, the festivals committee works on bringing five festivals to our students and community. Some of these festivals lean more into our pedagogical ideals, while others are simply for the fellowship of gathering in community. Each festival is led with care to reflect our school’s belief that in a world that tends toward busyness and noise, we aim to slow down and bring experiences that help us appreciate the simplicity of the world around us. These festivals are supported by a number of parent volunteers who are essential for the success of these events. Thank you to all of our volunteers for supporting our school's rich festival life.
The following is a comprehensive list of Fall Festivals:
Day of Courage
Kingdom of Halloween
Lantern Walk
Thanksgiving Luncheon
Winter Spiral
Colleagueship:
The Colleagueship Committee has been working on planning training opportunities and our In-services for the coming semester. The Committee also reviewed proposals from CAB for a diversity and inclusion study for our faculty and staff to engage in during the second semester.
For faculty training, the following have already been undertaken so far this year:
The First, Second, and Third grade teachers recently participated in the first of three virtual weekend-long Literacy in Waldorf Schools workshops. Our January In-service will include work with Catalina De Luna Garza as she helps us to understand Waldorf-inspired perspective on the mood of each class developmentally. We will also work together in grade level and committee meetings as we prepare for the Spring semester.
Various training sessions for CAB committee members have also been scheduled.
The Committee coordinated booking Diana Graber, Author of Raising Humans in a Digital World, to speak with our parent community in January. Diana Graber is also the author of the 3-year Cyber Civics program that our Middle School students recently started in Sixth Grade.
Finally, the Colleagueship Committee has begun drafting the 24-25 school year calendar and schedule.