Currents

Watershed Happenings

May 31-June 4 Senior Trip

Jun 5 Golf Team @ Hiawatha,
7:00 a.m.
Jun 5 Last day of school, ends at
Noon
Jun 6 Graduation, 2:00 p.m.
Jun 6-7 MN State HS Ultimate Frisbee
Tournament
June 9 Open House
Jun 9-11 Faculty In-Service
June 10 School Board Meeting
June 17 School Board Meeting

Sep 8 First day of school

ADMIN NOTES
–Phil Grant, Administrator

Congratulations to all of our 2009 graduates, their families and teachers!
Graduation is at the Downtown Minneapolis Library’s Reception Hall at 2:00 p.m. this Saturday, June 6th. Location address: 300 Nicollet Mall, Minneapolis, MN 55401

Carolyn Mueller, mother of Eva and Rosa Powell Mueller (grade 9), will be remembered by family and friends during a celebration of her life, 2:00 to 4:00 p.m., Saturday, June 13th, at Edina Morningside Church, 4201 Morningside Road, Edina, MN 55416. The Watershed Community is invited to attend.

Site News: Last week, the School Board voted unanimously to pursue the Greater Minneapolis Crisis Nursery (CN) site as our preferred location. It’s located at 4554 Fourth Avenue South in Minneapolis, approximately three miles from our current location. That vote also authorized final negotiations to conclude with Board Chair Endel Kallas, Faculty Chair Matt McElrath, and myself representing Watershed. We’ve had productive meetings with representatives of the Crisis Nursery this week and are moving towards a final board vote soon. I, for one, am very excited about moving into our own space, with room to grow, convenient to 35W and on bus lines (11 and 46).

I’ve heard many questions about the CN site. I will address them in Currents, both regular and special editions as needed. In addition, the board and staff are planning meetings to address the many items associated with a move. Yes, we will be asking for your help! Stay tuned.

I want to thank all members of the site committee for their time, energy, and commitment to Watershed during a long, complex search process. We investigated dozens of possibilities but the CN site always emerged as a top possibility.

Site committee members: Endel Kallas, Craig Wenberg, Ginni Lambert, Tom Klein, Nell Ubbelohde, Matt McElrath, Tim Welch, and Phil Grant.

Note from City of Lakes Waldorf School (downstairs from us): this Friday, June 5, they will have a groundbreaking for the rain garden they’re installing in the parking lot. It will be right in front of the Watershed entrance on the north side of the building. We will remain open for business, but keep this in mind when visiting us in June.

Yearbooks will be available for $20 this Friday, the last day of school. Bring cash or a check payable to Watershed High School. Many thanks to Ginni Lambert for heading up this spring project!

Questions, concerns, ideas? Give Phil a call at 612-871-4363 x206, or email him at pgrant (at) watershedhs.org.

NEWS FROM THE FACULTY CHAIR
–Matt McElrath

Senior Play: Watershed Seniors, along with several underclassmen, alumni and faculty, performed Charlie and the Chocolate Factory on both Friday and Saturday evenings this past weekend, with the house at near capacity for both performances. Audience reviews were that both shows went very well, with high energy and great performances. Congratulations to director Kristin Aitchison and the entire senior class on two well received and very fun performances.

Athletics: Watershed athletics will end its spring season this weekend with the Minnesota State High School Ultimate Frisbee Tournament. The Waves will have a minimum of 8 games over the course of the weekend, with the prospect of additional playoff games on Sunday. The tournament will be held at the Polo Grounds in Maple Plain.

The golf team will have its final outing this Thursday morning at Hiawatha Golf Course at 7:00 a.m. This year’s golfers want to extend a warm thanks to Hiawatha for hosting our team again this year.

Last Day of School: This Friday, June 5th, is the final of day of school for the year. Students will be completing their Block and Quarter classes on Thursday. The schedule on Friday will allow students to review goals with their sponsor, establish a preliminary schedule for next year, sign yearbooks, and help clean the school. After these activities all students will head over to the park adjacent to the Minneapolis Institute of Arts for a brief ceremony and ice-cream social. The day will conclude around noon, although some students may choose to stay at the park to play volleyball and ultimate frisbee with the faculty.

Scheduling: The Pedagogy and Curriculum Committee has issued a preliminary course schedule for the 2009-10 school year. Sponsors will be reviewing this schedule with students during the final day of school. Draft schedules will be compiled by the middle of July and mailed to students and their families, allowing for further feedback and flexibility before the start of the year in September.

Grades: Teachers will be submitting their final grades on Monday, June 15th with grades being mailed to families in mid to late June.

BOARD NOTES
-–Endel Kallas, Board Chair

Evaluation Surveys: The surveys for assessment of the Administrator and the Faculty Chair are available at the following links. Choose the “Not Applicable” or “Don’t Know” options in areas where you do not have direct experience or knowledge of factors being evaluated. Thank you in advance to all who participate. Submissions will be accepted until 9:00 p.m. on June 8th.

Administrator Survey
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=cH9S9M3ifKnEQY_2fr2BdIYQ_3d_3d

Faculty Chair survey
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=Z28wIb8Il9HSnMTZ9dVr0g_3d_3d

The next school board meetings are scheduled for Wednesday, June 10, and Wednesday June 17, both at 5:30 p.m. All board meetings are open to the public. Please contact Endel Kallas with any questions on the agenda. 612-724-8467 or eakallas (at) gmail.com.

Watershed Happenings

May 29-30 Senior Play, 7:00 p.m.
May 31-June 4 Senior Trip

Jun 5 Last day of school
Jun 6 Graduation

Jun 9 Open House, 7:00 p.m.
Jun 9-11 Teacher workshops
Jun 18 Board Meeting, 5:30 p.m.

Sep 8 First day of school

ADMIN NOTES
–Phil Grant, Administrator

Senior Class Play: Watershed High School’s class of 2009 is performing Charlie & the Chocolate Factory, based on the book by Roald Dahl. Please join us for a magical adventure!

Performance dates and location:
Friday, May 29, 7:00 p.m.
Saturday, May 30, 7:00 p.m.

Calvary Baptist Church
2608 Blaisdell Avenue
Minneapolis, MN

(This is the same location used for this year’s Medieval Feast.) Tickets will be available at the door for $8 for adults and $5 for students. The play is best for ages nine & up.

Attendance concerns: I hope all students have a strong finish to the school year. However, some students have been leaving school early. We’re aware of this and are concerned. We don’t have the resources to call home every time a student is not in class, but please let the office know if you’re wondering about your student’s attendance. I also encourage you to talk with your student about the importance of a good finish. Last impressions are almost as important as first impressions.

Tax dollars at work: I recently attended state training on SERVS, a new data system for Minnesota schools. It was well worth it, for I learned more about how the ARRA (stimulus package) will benefit Watershed. Not all components of ARRA affect us, but learning about several thousand additional dollars was a high point of the workshop. We will certainly use those dollars to benefit our students.

Questions, concerns, ideas? Give Phil a call at 612-871-4363 x206, or email him at pgrant (at) watershedhs.org.

NEWS FROM THE FACULTY CHAIR
–Matt McElrath

Athletics: The Waves played under the lights of the football stadium during their last regular ultimate match of the year. The team’s decisive win, 15-6, extended Coach Toni Kerans’ winning streak to two. With this season-ending victory over Irondale High School, the Waves end the season with a 5-2 record. The team is contemplating entering the State Tournament during the weekend of June 6th. Look for more details in next week’s newsletter.

Watershed Forum: The Forum met last week to discuss the possibility of the school’s move. After hearing the enrollment, and financial and demographic variables, students discussed the prospect of moving versus remaining at the current location. A group of Forum students looked at one of the potential sites during lunch on Tuesday. These individuals, along with other students, will have an opportunity to offer their feedback in advance of this week’s site decision.

SCHOOL NEWS
–Christina Beck

Plant Clearance: BUY 10, get 10 free! That’s 20 organic plants for $10! Come up to the third floor during school hours to get pepper plants, perennials, and herbs. Help get the seniors to South Dakota! Thank you for your support.

MN Private College Week - June 22-26
Juniors and sophomores, explore college options during MN Private College Week. They make it easy for students and parents to get a feel for several campuses in a short amount of time. Campus tours and general information sessions are held twice daily all week long at the 17 institutions across the state. You choose which colleges you want to visit, and register online for free. Start planning your road trip, and start mapping out your future. Register online at www.mnprivatecolleges.org/mpcw.

BOARD NOTES
-–Endel Kallas, Board Chair

One of the fundamental responsibilities of a nonprofit board of directors is to understand the components of a healthy relationship between the board and the parties given authority and responsibility to operate the school on a day to day basis.

To address this requirement, the Board has undertaken the performance review of both the administrator and faculty co-chair. This review involves all board and board committee members, faculty, and staff. The school community is invited to participate in this process, also.

Evaluation surveys and instructions are available at the following links. Choose the “Not Applicable” or “Don’t Know” options in areas where you do not have direct experience or knowledge of factors being evaluated. Thank you in advance to all who participate. Submissions will be accepted until 9:00 p.m. on June 8th.

Administrator Survey
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=cH9S9M3ifKnEQY_2fr2BdIYQ_3d_3d

Faculty Chair survey
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=Z28wIb8Il9HSnMTZ9dVr0g_3d_3d