Plants!

This was a great week on site. There were several issues still awaiting resolution including general landscaping, retention pond plantings, and lighting on the site. After much discussion with folks at the town and some of the neighbors those issues have all been solved and we have begun to purchase the plants for the site. We are buying them from a great nursery called Taylor's Nursery in Raleigh. The folks there are going out into the field this week to tag our plants where they grow. They will be deliver mid-November and then we will be doing the installation as a community. If you have any expertise in landscaping or planting and would like to help out with the planning we would love to hear from you soon.

Glimpse: We are beginning to consider the paint effects that we will use throughout the school. Because our children see the world from angles that we as adults don't usually, it is really important that our decorating encompasses the whole space and not just the standard four
walls. For instance, what will the children see when they are being changed? How will we use the ceiling spaces to inspire the children, and or to educate them? Our younger children may spend an hour a day being changed. How can we use the building in that case to enrich that time? Because our building has to have dropped in ceiling tiles in order to meet code we have thousands of squares waiting for us to be creative enough to turn them into murals. What will it all look like?

We are beginning to dream about that now. In the dining room, for instance, we think that the ceiling should look like the sky- maybe as seen through a cracked ceiling??? Or with acoustical tile clouds hanging down at different lengths to diffuse the dropped in lights?

And how about the floors? A standard vinyl tile floor can easily be painted to become the most beautiful and fanciful carpet in a matter of hours. Or a garden? Or a bridge? There is no limit to the wonder that we can create with the building if we see it as a learning tool- and we do!

If you are an artist and you would like to be a part of the planning or the execution of the painting, or if you, like us, are not artists per se, but great artistic support, and you would like to be involved on the painting days we would love to speak to you soon.

Gas? Or no Gas?

The question of the week has been Gas? Or no Gas? It has been very interesting to be present as the question of whether or not we have gas appliances and fixtures has unfolded throughout the week. The question is complex as it would seem that there are lots of pros and cons. Some of them impact our costs. Some of them impact the environment. As the conversation continued it became evident that the two perspectives would clash at several intersections and we needed to make decisions that were in the best interest of the environment WHENEVER we could afford to.

We wish that we could fast-forward our project a decade when environmentally responsible materials will be the most cost-effective to build with. In 2009 the truth is that it is VERY expensive to build a green building- sometimes ten times the cost of less eco-friendly materials.

Our answer to the builders is not all that helpful. Our answer is "Use the most eco-friendly materials that we can afford every time." It is a true shame that that is the best that we can do. The water lines were installed this week. The concrete is ready to pour and we are just waiting for dry enough weather to pour it. As soon as the concrete is finished the walls will go up. We should see the framing begin in the next week or two depending upon the weather.

We still have no new news about an opening date. We asked this week and were told that they have until December but still expect to be finished before that deadline. Weather delays are certainly not helpful at this stage. Once the walls and roofs are on we will be able to work every day regardless of the weather. We need a stretch of dry days to get there though. As we write this we are watching the sky growing darker and darker...

Glimpse: The half-day program is going to open on September 1, 2009.
We have secured the use of two classrooms at the Hillsborough United Church of Christ where our Infant Program is currently housed. The classrooms will be run in exactly the same manner as our current Middler and Preschool Rooms. We are very pleased to announce that our beloved Mr. Sean will be heading the new program and will teach the older of the two classrooms to get the program started. The other classroom will be led by Rachel Bachenheimer, currently the director of the Child Care Services Association Child Care Program. Rachel is a former Carolina Friends School, Durham Early School teacher, and CCSA technical assistant. We are thrilled to have them both as a part of our inaugural half-day classrooms.

Progress, Progress and MORE Progress!

We have just left a walk through of the land. It was so much fun to see the buildings all staked out. After four years of dreaming and planning we were able to stand in our new offices for the first time! What an exciting time.

This week: The sewer and water lines were installed. The footings are dug and we were told this morning that the concrete may be poured before Monday. The materials have begun to arrive and we are full force ahead.

At this point we have no new information about the timing of our opening. We will continue to update you as new information becomes available.

***WE ARE PLEASED TO ANNOUNCE THAT WE HAVE ARRANGED TO RENT TWO ADDITIONAL CLASSROOM SPACES FROM THE HILLSBOROUGH UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST (THE BUILDING IMMEDIATELY ADJACENT TO THE CURRENT LITTLE SCHOOL IN OUR PARKING LOT) TO BE USED TO OPEN OUR HALF-DAY PROGRAM. WE ARE AWAITING FINAL DETAILS AND THEN WE WILL GO AHEAD AND BEGIN TO DECORATE THE SPACES. THE TEACHERS HAVE BEEN HIRED AND THEY ARE ABSOLUTELY INCREDIBLE, WELL-QUALIFIED, WONDERFUL PEOPLE WHO WE ARE VERY PROUD TO HAVE AS A PART OF OUR STAFF. WE WILL BE ANNOUNCING ADDITIONAL INFORMATION OVER THE COMING WEEKS BUT PLAN ON A SEPTEMBER 1ST OPENING AT THIS TIME.

WE WILL BE TAKING AN INITIAL ENROLLMENT OF 12 CHILDREN (TOTAL) FOR THESE TWO CLASSROOMS. IF YOU ARE PLANNING ON STARTING WITH US ONCE WATERSTONE OPENS BUT WOULD LIKE TO GET STARTED EARLY IN THE HALF-DAY PROGRAM YOU CAN CONTACT MARY AT: mailto:MARY@THELITTLESCHOOL.net FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE VERY LIMITED REMAINING SEPTEMBER 1, 2009 OPENINGS IN THE HALF DAY PROGRAM.

Glimpse: The Little School has always been committed to embracing the diverse traditions of all of our children. The problem has been that we are a nearly homogeneous community and have been since our inception. We have been so pleased to have many families with diverse cultural and ethnic backgrounds applying to join us in the coming year. We are so very excited to get to know these new families and to hear about their experiences while learning about their particular cultures. To date, families from eight countries and five continents have joined the
school. We are so pleased to be a school that is rich in community and culture.

We have all of our permits!

We received our last permit Thursday afternoon ten minutes before the close of business for the long holiday weekend at the county! That means that we are ready to begin building our buildings on Monday! If you have not been over to the site it is worth the trip. The land is cleared and flat. It has been tamped down and the building pads are ready to accept the concrete for the foundations. The retaining walls are completely finished. The retention pond is also finished. The footing locations have been identified and flagged. You can actually see where the buildings will be now.

In the coming weeks:

1) The footings will be poured and inspected.
2) The foundation will be poured and inspected.
3) The framing and trusses will be installed.

After that it is all finish work- siding, roofing, drywall, etc.

Thank you all for your incredible support these past (extremely stressful) weeks. We are so grateful for your care, concern, and encouragement.

Glimpse: We conducted an experiment in looping this past year. For those of you unfamiliar with the term, looping refers to the movement of teachers with children from classroom to classroom. We decided to move one of the teachers from each classroom last year. In theory, this teacher moves with the children as the expert on the children while the other teachers stay behind as the classroom experts. We read a fair amount of research on this subject and in the end decided that the only way to know if this would work would be to give it a try. This last movement was a large success. We have decided to continue to loop at least one of the teachers when the majority of the children move to the next classroom. This time, we asked the teachers who would like to make the move with the children. This is an excellent opportunity for our teachers to spread their wings and experience a different age group that they may consider working with in the new school. We began this process last month with teacher visits to their new classrooms. The teachers will officially be in their new classrooms beginning tomorrow.

In the future, we intend to continue to work with this system until we find a combination of movements that is unique and best suited to the Little School.