Middle School

8th Grade students are excited about the Costa Rica trip. Students are focused in class knowing that they will soon be applying their Spanish. We have been learning vocabulary useful when traveling including asking and giving directions, describing a location, exchanging money, giving orders, describing a location, and expressing preferences. We also read about a Costa Rican legend entitled Turrialba about a volcano that was formed from the death of a princess and her lover from a rival indigenous tribe. Students both read the story and answered questions in Spanish. As we get closer to the trip we are going to learn more about Monteverde and the cloud forest we will be visiting in Costa Rica.

7th Grade students have been learning verb forms to articulate need, desire, obligation, and preference using the verbs tener+ que, necesitar, ir, gustar, necesitar, preferir, and desear in conjunction with regular and irregular verbs. Vocabulary work has concentrated on the areas of the home and school. The 7A students drew, explained, and presented a comparison of their cuarto ideal, or ideal room, with their cuarto en realidad, or actual rooms. They also illustrated, described, and presented their horarios, or class schedules including their preferences and additional commentary. They will finish the semester by completing an interview project in which they prepare a poster and description of a classmate.

We continue to study the geo-cultural diversity of South America. Students recently completed an essay in which they studied South American cultures including the Inca, Nazca, Omagua, Goajiro, Arawak, and Mapuche. We have also begun to connect our understanding of South American geography to our studies of culture, history and language. The 7B group is focusing on Mexico. Students will learn about geography and culture and at the same time learn how to talk about schedules, various school subjects, tell time and describe people. Later we will apply our language skills by visiting the web page of newspapers from a Spanish-speaking countries. Students will read headlines in Spanish and with the help of a Spanish/English dictionary and the pictures find out about what is going on in countries such as Colombia, Spain, Argentina. This activity is generally very popular with our students because they love to work with computers.

6th Grade students have just finished a unit on Don Quixote de La Mancha and author Don Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra. Many consider Don Quixote the first modern novel and the fact that it was published in 1605 impressed the students. Students

wondered how a 400-year old novel is still so current when it deals with the human condition. We had very interesting discussions about the subject after we watched the musical, Man of La Mancha. Students in the 1b class are finishing the bridge chapter and reviewing the verbs they learned such as ser, estar and tener. Every Wednesday afternoon 1b does an Internet project to learn how to browse the web for news in Spanish. 1A students continue to apply basic conversation starters and introductory phrases. They have also been studying verbs in the present tense including the verbs ser/estar, gustar, llamarse, and tener. 1A students will finish the semester with a letter project in which they design and write a postcard to a classmate from a region in Spain.

Lower School

The 5th Grade has been on a roll since we returned to school. We are learning action verbs and students are so thrilled to be able to describe what they do. We worked with a schedule for a typical day and the students wrote the time and the activity they typically do at that time. They are also learning how to use the Spanish/ English dictionary. This includes how to find a word and figure out whether it is feminine or masculine, and then write the correct article, el or la. One new activity has been reading picture books in Spanish and figuring out what they are about. These are books for native Spanish speakers who are beginning readers, for example, Sapo y Sepo Son Amigos in English is Frog and Toad Are Friends by Arnold Lobel.

4th Grade students are learning adjectives and are thrilled to be able to describe nouns in Spanish. Our latest project is La Casa de Mis Sueños/ The House of my Dreams. This is a pair activity in which students design a house together, draw, color, name and describe every room in Spanish. This project is very popular because it combines art, Spanish, working, and sharing among classmates.

Throughout the semester K-3 students have delighted in learning new vocabulary and celebrating the following holidays: El Día de Los Muertos, El Día de Acción de Gracias, Jánuca, La Navidad, El Año Nuevo, and El Día de Los Reyes Magos. Third graders discussed their vacaciones. Second graders made pan de muertos to celebrate El Día de Los Muertos, and zapatos filled with dulces for El Día de Los Reyes Magos. First graders created and described holiday cards for their familias en español. Kindergarten through third graders continue to apply numbers, days of the week, time, animals, family words, colors, and holiday vocabulary through song, role playing in real-life scenarios, reading, writing, and artistic creation.

Several times a year, the board contributes to the Friday letter with an update on our activities and progress toward annual goals. What follows is a brief update of each board committee’s activities. But first, we want to acknowledge that our primary concern in the last week has been to ensure that a solid plan is in place for managing the school during Carey’s medical leave. The board’s Executive Committee met with both Carey and Ann this week and the full board addressed this situation at the January board meeting on Wednesday. After reviewing the staff’s plans to handle Carey’s responsibilities while she’s out, we’re confident all aspects of the program will be managed well and continue without significant interruption, giving Carey the time she needs to recuperate fully. We’ve let Carey know our thoughts are with her, that we hope she has a speedy recovery and look forward to her return.

As a small school, we’re incredibly fortunate to have the depth of management, organizational structure and commitment of teachers that enable the school to manage through this sort of situation with relative ease. We’d like to acknowledge Carey’s and the Deans’ efforts in bringing the school to this point. As always, if you have questions or concerns about how things will be handled in Carey’s absence, please contact any member of the board, your classroom teacher or Ann, or bring your thoughts and questions to next week’s coffee talk, on Friday 1/30, from 8:00-9:00 a.m. The coming weeks will be a good time to offer your support and appreciation to the entire staff, as many will be taking on additional work during Carey’s absence.

You’ve heard a lot about the Strategic Planning Committee’s recent work in Carey’s last two Friday letters. Completing a Strategic Plan to guide PHS in the next 3-5 years is the board’s most important goal this year. Staff and parent task forces have been focusing on three primary areas—program excellence; financial security and community engagement—most recently participating in an all-day planning session attended by over 50 staff and parents. Once the task force chairpersons have synthesized the results of this session, the committee will hold several community meetings (likely in March) to review the proposed Strategic Plan. All community members will be invited and encouraged to attend and provide feedback. The Strategic Planning process is currently targeted to be complete by the Spring 2004 Corporation Night.

The Finance Committee was engaged throughout the fall and winter with Pascale and the staff in streamlining the budgeting process and preparing a draft budget for 2004-05. We have implemented and documented a much improved budget process that allows for productive input from staff and faculty in an efficient manner. The budget for next year was presented to the full board for review this week. All of the members of the committee also participated in the strategic planning meeting on Sunday 1/11. The discussion focused on ways to increase revenue, while increasing financial assistance and maintaining competitive salaries. For the rest of the year, the committee will focus on drafting the financial security section of the Strategic Plan and continuing to evaluate ASR/Summer Camp financial performance. The Development Committee’s 2003-04 annual fund goal is $130,000. As of mid-January, we’ve raised $117,820. We have yet to solicit several constituencies outside the parent community, so we’re optimistic that this ambitious goal will be met. Planning for the Caribbean-themed Spring Fling is well underway. This year we’re testing a new format featuring a silent auction only, with an emphasis on donations coming from within the PHS community that promote a sense of community (e.g., group dinners and events sponsored by parents, hand-crafted items, great get-aways.) The goals of this year’s event are to raise as much money as in past years (with less work) and to create a fun event that celebrates the diversity of our community and is more inclusive. Please put Saturday, March 13, on your calendars and start planning your donations now.

During the late fall and early winter, the board’s Diversity Committee and several staff members reviewed the 1997 Diversity Coalition Report and updated the (146!) recommendations in that document. Updated recommendations were sent to the full board for use in setting goals and improving board practices. The recommendations were also forwarded to the strategic planning task forces for consideration during the 1/11 planning session. In partnership with the Trustees Committee, the Diversity Committee also facilitated the first in a series of diversity discussions during the December board meeting. The purpose of these discussions is to engage the full board in defining its roles and responsibilities in this critical area. Future sessions are planned for March and June.

The Trustees Committee has been active all year organizing “educational spotlight” presentations at the monthly board meetings to keep board members informed about various aspects of the PHS program. Most recently the board heard a presentation on the scope and sequence of the Middle School humanities program from Mike Orlando and Lisa Spengler. The Trustees Committee has also begun the task of identifying potential new board members for the 2004-05 school year. Recently, you should have received a letter outlining the trustee search and nomination process. A slate of nominees will be presented at the April Corporation Meeting.

We’ll provide our next update in April. In the meantime, if you have any questions about any board activities, please contact any board member.