Reed Newsletter • January 18, 2024 

Online PreK & Kindergarten Registration (new families only) for 2024-2025 school year

January 18 & 19

Deadline to express interest for PTA Nominating Committee (details below)

Friday, January 19

Reed PTA Meeting

Wednesday, February 14 at 9:00am in Room 17

Mid-Winter Break (NO SCHOOL)

February 18 - 23

Staff Development Day (NO SCHOOL)

Monday, March 18

2023-2024 Reed School Calendar

Dear Reed Families & Caregivers,

Happy New Year! Yesterday was our first school wide spirit day of the new year and it was fun to see so many “spots & stripes'' across the campus. As always, a strong sense of enthusiasm and community was felt throughout classrooms, on the playground, and at our Community Time assembly. To further nurture the spirit of community, Reed School will be participating once again in the Great Kindness Challenge and we invite families to participate as well. Please read below for more information. 

In addition to appreciating the expressions of joy and kindness that students share, it is rewarding and powerful to see firsthand the growth and development our Reed Raccoons demonstrate at this time of year. We see students beginning to add more details to pictures and stories, tackle problem solving with greater independence, internalize foundational skills, develop stronger and more effective communication skills, and much more. It truly is an exciting time. We hope you are noticing it too!

Warmly,
Mary Niesyn & Staff

The Great Kindess Challenge • January 22-26
Once again Reed School will participate in the Great Kindness Challenge. This is a week dedicated to creating a culture of kindness and compassion on campuses worldwide. As part of an annual tradition, Reed School is participating in this proactive and positive initiative from January 22-26. Activities that promote kindness will take place in classrooms across the school. Families might enjoy using the Family Edition Checklist to spread a little extra kindness throughout the community. Together, let’s see how many acts of kindness we can share!

Early Pick-Ups Gentle Reminder
Parents and Caregivers, while we understand the temptation to pull your child early from school to get a headstart on the weekend and/or holiday break, please understand the challenge this creates for the classroom learning environment as well as your child’s individual learning. Classroom teachers frequently experience multiple interruptions during lessons throughout the day as students are checked out to start weekends and holidays early.  While teachers do their best to make up lost learning with students, there truly is no substitution for first time instruction. Please be mindful of the impact early leaves have on our learning community. We thank you for your understanding!

Reed School PreK & Kindergarten Registration: January 18 & 19
PreK/Kindergarten online registration begins today for incoming students new to Reed School (due to technical difficulties, registration was not available yesterday as planned). If you have an incoming age-eligible PreK or Kindergarten child, please register as early as possible.  Early registration is important so we can plan and secure staff and classrooms. Please also pass this along to any friends or neighbors in the district.

*Current PreK & Kindergarten students do not need to re-register. Current students will remain automatically enrolled. 

Specialist Corner: Art Note from Ms. Caldwell
In December, every Reed Raccoon created their first clay project and made snowman.  It was so much fun and I am very proud of their efforts! Here’s what students are working on now:

PreK: Classes have been working on the differences between abstract and realistic art. I am so impressed with their ability to grasp this concept! They are now working on an abstract using salt, glue, and watercolor.

Kindergarten: We finished making fireworks using straws and tempera paint. We will be moving on to pattern snails with torn construction paper.

1st Grade: I read a story about the life and work of Kandinsky. Now we have been working on a Kandinsky inspired abstract using fluorescent tempera paint.

2nd Grade: We are finishing up our perspective trees with watercolor and ink. The students have worked really hard and taken their time to produce some striking artwork.

*As always, we are grateful to the Foundation for Reed Schools (FRS) for supporting our specialists!

Transportation Survey
The Transportation Authority of Marin (TAM) is conducting a survey to solicit feedback from students, parents, school officials, law enforcement, and other parties involved with the Marin County Crossing Guard Program funded by TAM. The feedback will be used to assess the effectiveness of the Program, to identify areas for potential improvement, and to inform future funding decisions.  TAM conducts this survey about every five years (last survey was administered in 2017), so your feedback is very important to us.  Please take a few minutes to complete this Questionnaire (one per student) at your earliest convenience. For questions related to the survey, please contact Julia Griswold, TYLin (Consultant at TAM) at 415.410.1477

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/TAMCG23

2023-2024 YEARBOOKS

The 2023-2024 yearbook promises another fun-filled, all-color, book of school day memories. While you’re checking off your back-to-school list,

reserve your child’s yearbook today! 

ORDER YEARBOOKS HERE

Please contact Jennifer Schmidt (jenniferjschmidt@gmail.com) or Bobbi Kezirian Kleinbrodt (bobbi.kezirian@gmail.com) with any questions.

Please note: If you have multiple Reed students, you will need to do separate SchoolPay transactions to purchase each student’s yearbook. If you experience an issue with SchoolPay, please log out of SchoolPay and purchase each yearbook as a GUEST. 

To confirm whether you have already purchased a 2023-2024 Reed Elementary yearbook, please search your email for the following keywords (with no quotation marks): SchoolPay E-Receipt Reed Yearbooks 2023-24

Seeking 2024 PTA Nominating Committee Candidates!

The RUSD PTA is seeking PTA members to serve on the 2024 Nominating Committee for the PTA Executive Board. The committee will be composed of five members and one alternate, with knowledge of all three school sites and their volunteer communities. Meetings of the Nominating Committee will be held in February and March with the goal of delivering a final slate by late March.

The names of those expressing an interest in serving on the committee will be voted upon by the PTA membership through a confidential online survey. To be considered, or to vote, you must be in good standing and be current with your PTA dues. Not sure if you’ve paid your dues? Click here to check!

Open board positions that the 2024 Nominating Committee will work to fill include:

• District Executive Vice President
• District Treasurer
• District Auditor
• District Parliamentarian (appointed)
• District Historian (appointed)
• Del Mar Site Chair
• Reed Site Chair
• Reed Treasurer

If you are interested, please contact Wendy Martin at wlmartin786@gmail.com by January 19th.

Reporting a Reed School Absence 

All students are expected to attend school on a consistent and on-time basis. If your child is going to be tardy, absent, or leave school early for any reason, please be sure to email OR call and notify the office:

reedattendance@reedschools.org

(415) 435-7840  extension #1

Please Provide the Following Information:

• First and last name of your child
• Your relationship to the child
• Teacher's name
• The reason for the absence or tardy

RUSD Mission & Vision: Each student will be challenged and inspired to reach their fullest intellectual, social-emotional and creative potential to positively impact the world.