Currents

WATERSHED HAPPENINGS

November 18: All School meeting
November 18-20: Basic Skills Test retakes
November 20: School Board
November 25: Site Committee
November 26-28: No School
December 3: Community Council

ADMIN NOTES:
–Phil Grant, Administrator

Dear Watershed Community,

Our All-School Meeting is this Tuesday, November 18, here at Watershed, beginning at 6:30 p.m. Everyone’s invited to this informative and enjoyable evening: students, parents, faculty, alumni, and community. There’ll be school updates, a major discussion about our site search, and a little fundraising to support students on the Puerto Rico trip and in science class. I hope to see you then!

School Closings: With winter approaching, it’s important to know that Watershed High School will close if Minneapolis Public Schools close. We also call in our closings to WCCO television.

Health Alert: We’ve had strep throat cases in our community lately. Take heed. If ill, students should stay home.

Site Search: Come to the All School Meeting this Tuesday, Nov. 18, for updates and a discussion. The next site search committee meeting is Tuesday, November 25, at 3:45 p.m. here at Watershed. If interested, stop by or let Endel Kallas know. He’s at eakallas (at) gmail.com.

Help Wanted: Watershed is seeking one or two part-time educational assistants—one to focus on mathematics c. 8-12 hours per week) and the other to assist with special education students (18.5 hours/week). As our enrollment has increased, so have our needs. These positions could be combined, depending on qualifications. Let me know if you’d like more information.

Basic Skills Test (BST): Some of this year’s seniors are in a group of students who need to pass the Minnesota BST in order to graduate. Retakes are next week for those who have yet to pass a particular area. The writing retake will be Tuesday, Nov. 18; Math is Wednesday, Nov. 19; Reading is Thursday, Nov. 20. Students will be personally notified on Monday if they need to take any of these tests.

The next Watershed School Board meeting is this Thursday, November 20, 5:30-7:30 p.m. All board meetings are open to the public. If you would like to be on the agenda, please contact Endel Kallas, Board Chair, at 612-724-8467 or eakallas(at)gmail.com.

Questions, concerns, ideas? Give me a call at 612-871-4363 x206, or email me at pgrant (at)watershedhs.org. Have a great week!

FACULTY NEWS:
–Matt McElrath, Faculty Chair

Athletics: Saturday is the final day for the running club. Although the forecast looks clear, the temperature is expected to be icy for the season-jmending Turkey Trot. Runners will be scrambling for the finish line and hot chocolate after completing the five-kilometer race in Chaska. Many thanks to this season’s coach, Paul Peterson, for helping develop Watershed’s running club.

The basketball team met with coach, Norman Benson, on Thursday during lunch to prepare for the upcoming season. The team is still looking to recruit players, both boys and girls, so if you’ve always been interested, Watershed’s team offers the perfect opportunity to develop your skills in a competitive, yet cooperative environment. We will plan to practice Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays throughout the season. We look forward to a great turnout for the first practice this Monday.

Anthropology Guest Speaker: The sophomore anthropology class welcomed Dr. Gil Tostevin, a professor of anthropology and human evolution at the University of Minnesota as a guest speaker during Thursday’s Main Lesson. Dr. Tostevin presented a lecture, followed by nearly an hour-long demonstration of flint-knapping; the art of making tools out of stone, bone, antlers and other materials using percussion. Students were amazed that the stone tools created from a block of Obsidian were easily capable of cutting paper or shaving arm-hair. Students were able to ask numerous questions, ranging from historical gender roles to the significance of toolmaking in fostering human evolution and progress. We greatly appreciate Dr. Tostevin’s visit and look forward to the possibility of visiting the University campus to practice flint-knapping during future Main Lessons.

BOARD NOTES
–Endel Kallas

One of the gifts we share at Watershed is the opportunity to engage directly with each other and share information and ideas on the plans and operation of the school. This is an especially active week in which your involvement is at the forefront. The success of the all school evening, like the success of the school itself, will reflect everyone’s contributions. Please attend, enjoy the coffee and good company, and do your part!
The stakeholder surveys that have been received to date are humbling in the deeply caring, concern and commitment they express. Please continue to share your thoughts and, if you have not done so already, submit a handwritten or online response at your earliest convenience. Printed copies are available at the front desk and on-line at :
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=pHdSOQ9_2bFomyGGGCiG99xw_3d_3d

We look forward to seeing you in person on Tuesday!

SENIOR CLASS FLOWER ARRANGEMENTS:

Order your seasonal flower arrangements from the graduating class of 2009. Questions? Talk to Christina Back. To order…

Watershed High School’s Class of 2009 introduces a new opportunity created by students in order to raise funds for their senior class trip.

Seasonal Flower Arrangements for the Nature Table:

Order individually for $15 each or purchase and annual subscription at a discount for $50. These make wonderful gifts for family & friends.

For Autumn: Descend into the richness of fall with a basket of mums, bittersweet and greens.

For Winter: Crisp and luminous silver, white and blue arrangement with a candle to light your way.

For Valentine’s Day: An effusion of reds, pinks and white to embody your love.

For Springtime: Joy expands in spring with this pastel spray of blooms.

Your arrangement will be delivered to you at pick up in the school lobby on the following dates:

November 25
December 18
February 11
May 1

Name:
___ Full year ___(no. of subscriptions) $50. each total_____
___ Autumn ____ x $12.50 each total_____
___ Winter ____x $12.50 each total_____
___ Valentine’s ____x $12.50 each total_____
___ Springtime ____x $12.50 each total_____

Make checks payable to: WHS Class of 2009 Grand total_____
and place in the box located in the office or mail to:
Watershed High School Senior Class
2344 Nicollet Ave. S , 3rd Floor
Minneapolis, MN 55404

WATERSHED HAPPENINGS

November 11: Festival of Compassion

November 11: Open House

November 12: Picture retakes

November 18: All school meeting

November 20: School Board Meeting

November 26-28: No school

ADMIN NOTES:
–Phil Grant, Administrator

Dear Watershed Community,

Our next step in our site search is to obtain preliminary designs for the most promising locations we’ve scouted. Towards that end, Endel Kallas and I were fortunate to meet with representatives of five design, architecture, and engineering firms at the recent Minnesota Association of Charter Schools annual meeting. We expect to learn more in follow up meetings here at Watershed in the next few weeks.

The next site search committee meeting is this Tuesday, November 11, at 3:45 p.m. here at Watershed. If interested, stop by or let Endel know. He’s at eakallas (at) gmail.com. (Site Search committee will not meet on November 18, because of the All School meeting. I urge everyone to attend and learn more about our search and growth plans!)

Here’s a local mental health resource, very convenient for Watershed students: Washburn Center for Children (WCC) is at 2430 Nicollet (the other side of McDonald’s from us), and it offers a variety of mental health services. To obtain services for students under 18, a parent or guardian can call WCC intake at 612-871-1454 to set up an appointment. Once services are in place, a student can simply walk over to the office for therapy sessions or to get help for social service needs. Students 18 and older do not need a parent or guardian signature. Note: WCC does work with uninsured clients.

Some bad news: We’ve had problems with missing items here at Watershed recently. This is unfortunate, but not the first time or first year we’ve had this problem. The school investigates and documents these incidents, but there’s no guarantee of success. For example, two of four recent missing items have been found. The other two may never be recovered, and I share in the frustration. Watershed’s a pretty safe place, but we’re not perfect.

To lessen the chances of these problems, I want to remind everyone to minimize what they bring to school and to keep careful watch on their belongings. This is one of the reasons why we discourage personal electronics. Another reminder is simply to be aware if your student suddenly acquires a valuable object.

Interested in helping out at Watershed? We could use additional office volunteers who come in for two to three hours shifts and work on specific projects. We’re also interested in math tutors and assistants. Let me know if you can help in either of these ways. Thanks!

The next Watershed School Board meeting is Thursday, November 20, 5:30-7:30 p.m. All board meetings are open to the public. If you would like to be on the agenda, please contact Endel Kallas, Board Chair, at 612-724-8467 or eakallas (at) gmail.com.

Questions, concerns, ideas? Give me a call at 612-871-4363 x206, or email me at pgrant (at)watershedhs.org. Have a great week!

FACULTY NEWS:
–Matt McElrath, Faculty Chair

Athletics: The running team is counting down to its season closing race next weekend. Watershed’s star runners–Paul Ronan, Mason Loeffler, and Soren Dietzel–will be competing in Chaska’s Annual 5K Turkey Trot on Saturday, November 15th at 9am. Although the athletes are primed and prepared for the race, they can still use all the support necessary. If you find yourself awake on Saturday morning, come down and join us in completing our running season.

Other sports are moving inside. Several students joined me on Wednesday to learn the ropes of racquetball at Lifetime Fitness. We will be traveling to the gym at least once a week throughout the winter. I am able to bring six students and there is no charge as long as parents sign a permission waiver.

The basketball will get under way on Monday, November 17th. The team will be meeting with its coach, Norman Benson, during the lunch hour next Thursday, November 13th to make plans for the season and distribute practice and game schedules.

Polling Station Field Trip: Watershed’s students were tremendously excited and interested in this week’s elections. A significant part of both Monday and Wednesday was dedicated toward analyzing the preparations and outcomes of the numerous contests across the country. On Election Day, the sophomore Anthropology Main Lesson conducted an Ethnography at the Whittier School polling station, observing and interviewing voters, election officials, and campaign supporters.

Open House: New students Watershed’s Enrollment continues to develop as several new students joined us this week from more traditional public schools. Many of the students discovering Watershed have described classrooms of 50 students in their previous schools and are thrilled that Watershed is able to offer class sizes of between 15 and 25 students for the majority of its course offerings. Continue to spread the good news about our growing school and invite families to our upcoming Open Houses on Tuesday, November 11th and Tuesday, December 9th, both at 7:00 p.m.

FESTIVAL OF COMPASSION

This festival honors the compassionate, generous nature of our human community. Students will make a stone soup, enjoy a clothing exchange, and craft lanterns to symbolize the light we carry into this darkest time of year as it encroaches. Please send a chopped vegetable of choice for the soup: carrots, celery, onions, cabbage and tomatoes work well.

Students are also asked to bring in any clothing and/or outwear that they’re done with for the exchange. At the end of the day, we’ll donate what’s left to charity. For the lanterns, we need tin cans, tissue paper, glass jars and cardboard canisters from oats or cornmeal. Waxed turnips work well for making lanterns too!

The day will run as scheduled with festivities interspersed throughout.

ENGLISH CLASS UPDATES:
–Christina Beck

The Parzival class will participate in a labyrinth walk at Hennepin Avenue United Methodist Church on Thursday. This meditative journey serves as an outer symbol of the quest. As we make our way through this dense and powerful book, it is my hope that the students will find meaning and joy in their own quests. Parents are welcome to join us. We’ll be leaving shortly after school begins. Please call Christina at ext. 261 if you plan to come.

Some (15) students from Evolution of Consciousness have elected to see Midsummer Night’s Dream at the Park Square Theater on Nov. 18. The cost is $12.50. Checks can be made out to WHS. We will depart at 10:00 a.m. for the 11:00 a.m. show.

BOARD NOTES
–Endel Kallas

The framework for our All-School and class meetings evening on is progressing as follows:
6:30 – 7:00 Gathering and social time
7:00 – 7:30 Update on school-wide issues (Administrative, Faculty, and Board reports)
7:30 – 8:30 Site Relocation Update and discussion (Led by Site Team)
8:30 – 9:00 Class Meetings (Gather as classes/grades - Sponsors, Reps, and families)

To help engage your participation and generate discussion in the site/relocation portion of the evening, a preliminary on-line survey is now available at http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=pHdSOQ9_2bFomyGGGCiG99xw_3d_3d
(A printed copy of this survey will also be mailed directly to current families later this week. )

More on understanding charter schools and how they operate: Our recently renewed contract (our Charter) with Adler Graduate School (our sponsor) states that Watershed High School “will be organized and operated to achieve the six purposes…as provided for in the Charter Law”. Furthermore, purposes 1, 3, and 6 are emphasized as three major points of focus. The purposes as stated in Minnesota Statutes §§124D10, Subdivision 1 are:
1) improve pupil learning;
2) increase learning opportunities for pupils;
3) encourage the use of different and innovative teaching methods;
4) require the measurement of learning outcomes and create different and innovative forms of measuring outcomes;
5) establish new forms of accountability for schools;
6) create new professional opportunities for teachers, including the opportunity to be responsible for the learning program at the school site.

These purposes along with many other key aspects of charter school operation are expected to be among “the points of focus” as Charter schools and their accountability are reconsidered in the upcoming state legislative session.

The MN House K-12 Education Policy Committee has created a Working Group on Charter School issues. The Working Group anticipates conducting three hearings, the first which will be held on Monday, November 10th, 2008 at 5:00 p.m. in Room 500S of the MN State Office Building. The agenda for the first session is scheduled to focus on the history of the charter concept and Minnesota’s charter school law.