The Tuesday Notice

Dear Siskiyou School families,

We are delighted to invite you to our annual Welcome Night on Thursday, September 11, from 5:45–8:00 p.m. Please arrange for childcare to attend this evening and see the details posted below.

As we complete our first full week of school, we are grateful for how smoothly the children are settling into the rhythm of the year, even as the season shifts around us. The Welcome Night evening is a special time set aside just for adults (parents and guardians) to gather as a community. Together, we will share a time for important school business and then meet in classrooms with teachers.

We are especially thankful to our School Board, who will be serving a catered dinner for us all. Their service helps nourish our school in many ways!

We look forward to welcoming you this Thursday and sharing in the warmth of our school community.

With appreciation,

Katherine Holden

Administrator

This Week

Mon, Sept 8 to Wed, Sept 10: Class 7 Orientation Trip to Mt. Lassen

Thurs, Sept 11: Welcome Night, 5:45 to 8:00 pm

• Dinner served, Class Meetings to follow, no children, please (see details below)

Fri, Sept 12: Class 4 to tour Downtown Ashland

Next Week

Mon, Sept 15 to Thurs, Sept 18: Class 8 Orientation Trip to the Oregon Coast

Mon, Sept. 15 to Fri, Sept 19: Picture Week with Bryon DeVore (see schedule below)

Tues, Sept 16: Board Meeting, 6:00 to 8:00 pm

Wed, Sept 17: Middle School Wellness Program Informational Zoom Meeting, 6:30 pm (see details below)

Fri, Sept 19: Class 3 to Wandering Roots Farm

Fri, Sept 19: Class 4 to Crater Lake

Looking Ahead!

Tues, Sept 23: Class 3 to Leonard Orchard, 8:45 am

Wed, Sept 24: Class 7 to Gonzalez-Neale Farm, 8:45 am

Thurs, Sept 25: Apple Crisp construction with Class 5 parents, time TBD

Fri, Sept 26: Michaelmas Harvest Festival, community potluck, and Class 2 play, 3:30 pm

On Thursday, September 11th, we're excited to welcome our parents and guardians for our Welcome Night. Please join us at 5:45 p.m. for a community dinner followed by Class Meetings. Please be sure to line up childcare for your children. We hope all families can at least send one parent or guardian. If you have multiple children, please divide your time between meetings. We hope this advance notice helps you arrange childcare. See you all there!

Timeline for Event:

• 5:45-6:15 p.m.: Dinner provided by the school. Please bring dinnerware!
  
• 6:15-6:45 p.m.: Community Meeting.
  
• 6:45-8:00 p.m.: Parent Meetings with class teachers.
• Childcare will not be provided for this evening.

A few reminders:

• Please bring your own plates, utensils and cups to support this eco-friendly event.
• PARKING -- Please always use your best parking and driving manners on Clay Street and the surrounding neighborhoods.
  
• Drive SLOWLY (25 MPH or less) on Clay Street.
• Stay OFF cell phones while driving on Clay Street.
• Park APPROPRIATELY-- leave driveways and the road completely open

We're happy to have alum parent Bryon DeVore (www.bryondevore.com) take student and class photos for us this year. Please do all you can to ensure your child can join their class for their morning class photo. Please see the schedule here and mark your calendar.

• Monday, Sept. 15 - Class 2 & 1
• Tuesday, Sept. 16 - Classes 6 & 4
• Wednesday, Sept. 17 - Classes 3 & 7
• Thursday, Sept. 18 - Kindergarten & Class 5
• Friday, Sept. 19 - Class 8

Please join us Wednesday, September 17, for an evening on Zoom about our developmental Wellness Program. The Wellness Program has become a very important part of the Siskiyou School curriculum, and this evening is an opportunity for you to learn more about it and meet some of the teachers of that curriculum.

Under the umbrella of our Wellness Program, students in grades 4-8 receive between 4-8 Wellness Program classes each year. Different presenters, specialists in their field, come into the classrooms to talk to the students about specific topics and facilitate discussions with the classes around these subjects. The program was established in 2015 with the following goals:

• To support teachers in holding the social & emotional development of the children.
• To ensure that Siskiyou School students are given the tools and language to have conversations around their feelings and difficult topics.
• To ensure that Siskiyou School graduates have accurate information and appropriate guidance about range of “wellness” topics related to healthy relations, healthy choices & self-care, appropriate use of social media, sexuality and gender -- with all topics brought with developmentally appropriate sequencing and language.
• To ensure that the school has protocols and lines of communication in place to properly support students needing extra support socially and emotionally.
• To provide education for parents on issues adolescents in our community are facing and guidance for how to navigate these issues with their kids.

The Zoom link will be emailed out to current parents on Monday, September 15.

Clay Street is impacted significantly by our drop-off and pick-up times. Thank you for your patience and following instructions of our traffic team.

If you pick up siblings, please do come at the later time. A little later is ALWAYS better. If you come early we will have to have you circle Clay Street while you wait for the second child. Even if you're picking up one child, please be patient and flexible to circle Clay Street if the class is later getting out. We need to keep everything moving to ensure it stays open for our neighbors.

PLEASE USE YOUR TURN SIGNALS/BLINKERS! It's hard for us to see you in the car, to remember if you're picking up or driving by, or sometimes to see the driver at all! Your turn signal helps us understand and anticipate how the traffic will flow. For the safety of our traffic team and to help get you in and out more quickly, please use them at the entrance AND the exit.

Pedestrians & Bicyclists - Please wait at the crosswalks until you've been given the OK from the school traffic directors. We want to keep the traffic flowing as much as possible.

Please keep in mind we need to keep our neighbors happy. Park only in appropriate spots and keep your speed down to 20 mph. Thank you!

The 2025-26 School Year Directory will be available soon!

We'd love to have your business in the Siskiyou School directory! Directory ads are printed in black and white in the back section of the directory. Ads are:

• $10 for ¼ page (about business card size)
• $20 for ½ page (about 5x8.5)
• $50 for a full page (8.5x11)

All we need from you is a high-quality jpg, png, or pdf file of your business logo (or a logo and some short text) and we can add it to the directory. We can put in any file really, it's just a matter of how crisp it turns out. Ads and payment are due by Friday, September 12. Send to amy.bull@siskiyouschool.org.

If your child will be absent, please either use the attendance voicemail box by calling the main office line and extension 14 when prompted (541-482-8223, ext. 14) or send an email to both class teacher and our office manager, Amy Bull. Please leave a detailed message with your name, your phone number, the day you called, and the reason for your child’s absence. If illness related, please give detailed symptoms and note kids can return to school after 24 hours well. Thank you.

We strive to keep our children and faculty safe. With new faculty, staff, and students even if you're a long-time volunteer we may have people that don't know you and why you are on our campus. Please help us out!

If you come onto campus:

1. Enter through the main building.
2. Stop by the reception area and check in (sign in on the visitor sheet).
3. Get a visitor lanyard.

This protocol is not to make our parents feel unwelcome, but to keep track of everyone on campus and with our children. Thank you!

Our Blue Heron Class, 8th grade, is happy to announce the return of their hot lunch fundraiser! This year they are offering an two days of hot food. The program allows your child to receive a hot meal delivered by the 8th grade class directly to their classroom for either the rest of the school year or for the first semester. Second semester orders will be placed in January.

Currently forms are available to sign up for Pizza Thursday (see below). Stay tuned for another lunch offering for Wednesday!

First Semester Hot lunches begins the first week of October.

As our hot lunch program is a fundraiser, we cannot offer refunds for days of student absences. Cancellations for the remainder of the semester can be made at any time if your child no longer is interested in the meal. Both a form and pre-payment for the semester or year must be received in the office for the lunch order to be placed.

Forms are due on Wednesday, September 24, and can be turned in at the table in the front hallway. If you have questions, email amy.bull@siskiyouschool.org. Thank you for supporting the 8th grade trip!

We are excited to offer some new Siskiyou School swag just in time for the fall!

T-shirts in red with a white logo will be for sale at Family Welcome Night this Thursday! Shirts are $15 each, available in size child XS to adult XL. You may pay with cash, a check made out to the Siskiyou School or Venmo.

Sweatshirts in forest green and a white logo are available for preorder for $40 each, in sizes child XS to adult XL. Use THIS FORM to preorder sweatshirts by Friday, September 26th.

Kindergarten is off to a lovely start of the school year. The children have entered the school year, eager to learn, work and play together. It takes about two weeks for the class to form and acclimate to the rhythm of the day and classroom guidelines. They are kind and engaged, ready to learn and grow together. Having half days for the first week of school allows the children to find pacing with the new school year, as they work hard to adjust to a new program or new class configuration. The class is already actively engaged in circle time and our daily activities. Our first crafting project is sewing a needlebook, which will hold their needles for our sewing projects this school year. Thank you, families, for all of your love and hard work to support your children in their developing independence and with their social skills.

Miss Caterina and the administrative team have been working on getting the WECAN certification for our kindergarten, and are preparing for a site visit next month. WECAN stands for Waldorf Early Childhood Association of North America. Their mission is to foster a new cultural impulse for the work with the young child from pre-birth to age seven. Based on an anthroposophical understanding of human development, WECAN is committed to protecting and nurturing childhood as a foundation for renewing human culture. We look forward to our certification through WECAN.

~Ms. Caterina

Our community classifieds are posted as a service to our Siskiyou School families and our broader community. If you would like to include something in the classifieds, email your text (a few lines in length) or an image file (png or jpg only), to kristin.beers@siskiyouschool.org no later than Monday by 3:00 pm. We may edit it for space purposes. Classifieds are included for two weeks, require a break for a week, and then can be renewed upon request.

The beginning of the school year is here! Does your child need some extra support? Experienced Waldorf class teacher available for virtual tutoring and curriculum support for grades 1-8 and highschool. Expertise includes math, reading, and writing. Check out my website and feel free to reach out.

catherinehdixon.com

Hello all, we’re a former Siskiyou School family & staff listing our Talent 5 bedroom, 2 bath home for rent, and are hoping to connect with a long term renter. It’s 2450 sq ft w pretty views and a lovely yard! We wanted to reach out to the school community to see if anyone is looking. Below is the link to the Zillow listing. We are offering an open house walk thru this Sunday 2-4 pm for people interested. Thank you! Chris & Tracy John

1323 Lithia Way
https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/62655983_zpid/?view=public

The Resilient Youth Internship Program is a paid internship designed for youth ages 14-25 who are interested in hands-on, real-world learning. Interns gain practical skills in regenerative gardening, teamwork, leadership, and creative problem-solving, while contributing to community resilience. Guided by experienced mentors, participants explore projects that connect them more deeply with themselves, their peers, and the land.

The program runs for 6 weeks, Sept 15-Oct 24 for 2 hours, 2 days a week. This fall, interns will take part in outdoor building and painting projects, eco-arts activities, and team-based learning experiences. The program offers opportunities to work outdoors in all seasons (including light rain) while developing resilience, responsibility, and confidence. There are 3 spots left for the Fall session. Youth participants are compensated for their time with a $150 stipend, making this a supportive and rewarding learning experience. For details and registration visit: https://www.sunnyjlindley.com/internship_info_2025

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https://www.gofundme.com/f/donate-to-enrich-starlight-meadows-curriculum

The Hamazon's present, “Improvised Shakespeare,” a performance where comedy improv takes a theatrical romp in Shakespearean style. Inspired by such plays as Romeo & Juliet, A Midsummer Night's Dream, and Macbeth, The Hamazons will deliver a full-length improvised play filled with love, death, revenge, jealousy, ambition, misunderstandings, magic and mystery!

Friday & Saturday, Sept. 12 & 13 at 7:30pm*

Sunday, Sept. 14 at 3:00pm

*note earlier start time

At The Bellview Grange

1050 Tolman Creek Road, Ashland

Advance tickets $17 online at www.hamazons.com

$20 at the door

We still have spots to fill in our Improv classes and our sweet Make Believe Explorers.

Ashland Children's Theatre - Fall classes enrolling soon! Acting and improv classes for ages 4-17. Online registration starts August 14th. Go to www.ashlandchildrenstheatre.com

"Learn in nature, learn from nature"

Some of you have asked for me to share the info of the other half of Singing Earth's work (mine is the Singing part, and my husband Robin runs the Earth part). Here it is:

Fall Nature Programs with Ashland Outdoor School

kids, youth and adults: Sign ups open now

Wilderness skills, blacksmithing, nature awareness, animal processing, and more. After school and weekend classes.

https://www.natureskills.org/

Robin: blisswagner@gmail.com

Wednesday Sept 10th at 6pm: Robin gives a talk "Kids Off Screens: Empowering Youth through Nature Skills"

https://artemisiainstitute.com/event/kids-off-screens-empowering-youth-through-nature-skills/

Email: office@siskiyouschool.org
Website: www.siskiyouschool.org
Location: 631 Clay Street, Ashland, OR, USA
Phone: 541-482-8223