Bear Valley Field Trip

Dear Bolinas-Stinson Families,

ALL-SCHOOL FIELD TRIP TO BEAR VALLEY

3rd Grade at Bear Valley

It was a beautiful day at our all-school field trip to Bear Valley last Friday. Each year, we take three all-school field trips, one per trimester. These field trips focus on building a strong sense of community and providing an opportunity for students at different grade levels to connect with each other. Our day started off with a teamwork competition, led by ML and Willow, that had students working together, singing, moving, and having fun.  Willow also shared a “School Peace Branch” and encouraged students to write a message or poem for peace to place on the branch, in celebration of the upcoming International Day of Peace Day, tomorrow, September 21st. 

Grades 5th-8th, Mt. Wittenberg, Point Reyes

All classes K-8 participated in various nature activities by grade level.  Kindergarten, 1st and 2nd grade learned about being park rangers with Ranger Kenny and Ranger Doug and toured the Bear Valley Nature Center; 3rd and 4th grade went on a nature hike to Divide Meadow with Rachael & Don Jolley; 5th grade hiked to Wittenberg-Sky-Meadow with Anna & Julia; and 6th, 7th and 8th grade hiked Horse Trail up Mt. Wittenberg and back down with ML, Ilie, and Zach - Whew! A great day was had by all. A special thank you to our wonderful parent volunteers, we loved having you along!

WELCOME ILIE WATTERSON, IN HER NEW ROLE AS INTERIM ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL

The board of trustees unanimously approved the Interim Transition Plan that establishes Ilie Watterson as both middle school Math teacher and Interim Assistant Principal. Ilie comes well prepared for this role. She completed her Administrative Credential last June and is excited to take on this new responsibility and shared her thoughts below about this change.

I am stepping into my dream job this year as Assistant Principal and Middle School Math Teacher.  I am grateful to work at Bolinas-Stinson where the board, administration, teachers and community all value deep learning and education and are all striving for continual growth and improvement.   

I am particularly interested in how we can all thrive together by holding health, wellness, and equity at the forefront of our decision making processes.  Equity was a key theme within all of my coursework and the premise of the current pedagogy is that we use equity as a lens to view everything we do instead of as a separate entity.  In this way, it permeates the whole school.  

I look forward to bringing continuity to our administrative team while also bringing newness and energy to the school and year.  I hope to meet and collaborate with each of you as educational partners as the year unfolds.

We are so glad to have you in this new role Ilie! Please feel free to reach out to Ilie if you have questions for her.

HEALTH, WELLNESS AND SAFETY

Student Wellness Survey for Grades 4th-8th

We strongly believe in supporting the behavioral and emotional health of all our students. This year, as part of our health and wellness focus, our students in grades 4-8 will be completing a brief survey that measures their behavioral and emotional health. This survey is part of an initiative through the Marin County Office of Education and in collaboration with Project CoVitality (www.covitalityucsb.info) to support health and wellness research for all students.

Participation is voluntary and completely confidential. Students who agree to participate will complete a short survey two times a year during class. Prior to taking the survey, all students will be informed that opting out will not impact their standing at school. The BSUSD Student Success Team (SST) will review the results of the survey. If your child’s responses indicate they need additional support, the Student Success Team will reach out to you and invite you to meet to determine next steps. Parent consent is needed if any further assessments, interventions, or services are conducted or implemented. 

If you do not want your child to complete the survey or to participate in the research, please return the opt-out form that will be sent home this week. You or your child may withdraw from participation at any time. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions.

Health, Wellness and Safety Committee October 3, 2022

The BSUSD Health, Wellness and Safety Committee will have our first meeting on October 3rd, 2022, from 3:30-4:30 in the Bolinas Campus Library. This Committee will be meeting on the first Monday of every month to plan emergency drills, training, and work with our local partners/1st responders to improve our school’s emergency preparedness and response protocols. If you have questions or are interested in participating on this committee, please contact me for more information.

New BSUSD Program ~ Farm Fresh Kids ~ The Garden to Table Connection

2nd Grade in the Garden

We are working to improve our BSUSD food services and garden education program to incorporate locally sourced, farm fresh, organic produce and provide wholesome and nutritious snacks and lunches for our students. We will be collaborating with food service specialists to improve how we purchase, prepare, and get our kids involved in what they are eating. Our very own Courtney Barend will be overseeing this multitiered effort to ensure that our students experience the full circle of caring for the garden: prepping, planting, growing, harvesting, recipe building, cooking, and eating. Courtney will be using the Life Lab curriculum to work with students on the following program goals:

  • Deepen student connection to the Earth  

    • Help students to recognize the interconnectedness of nature

    • Inspire curiosity in the world around us

    • Build social emotional connectedness and self-sufficiency/self-confidence/pride/ownership

  • Connect to other school programs

    • Become a zero waste school

      • Composting, Reduce, Reusing, Recycling

    • Serve organic, healthy whole foods that are harvested locally

      • Utilize local, organic, fresh produce in our food service program as much as possible

      • Include students in the farm to table process with our school garden and local farms

Working together, we are making wonderful things happen this year at our school. Thank you for your support and participation!

Please reach out to me with any questions or suggestions,

Warmly,

Michelle