Inspiring Wonder and Awe - Madrona School shines it's light in December

Dear Parents,

December is filled with celebrations at Madrona School. They are celebrations of light, life, and joy. Here are some of our celebrations and why we hold them.

Advent
The definition of advent is "the arrival of a notable person, thing or event." In our school, we celebrate this event to recognize, philosophically and scientifically, our whole environment, with the crowning arrival of the human being. Here is the verse we sing and say during school in the coming days:

The first light of Advent is the light of Stones,
The light that shines in crystals, seashells and in bones.

The second light of Advent is the light of Plants,
Plants that reach up to the sun and in the breezes dance.

The third light of Advent is the light of Beasts,
Light that feels and moves in the greatest and in least.

The fourth light of Advent is the light of Humans
The light that thinks and wills, and seeks to understand.

These verses ring true for all of humanity. We all have the mineral kingdom in us; bones that hold and support us in a living way. We have life within us that sets us apart from the mineral kingdom that we share with the plants. We have movement and feelings like the animals but there is something that sets us apart as well. Humans are not perfect by any means; I'm sure you know that. But as a teacher, with the children I teach in front of me each year, I feel a certain truth that I am witnessing the evolution of humankind, slowly but surely, towards a brighter reality. This is the advent. The kindergarten and grades students gather every Monday morning to sing together in celebration of Advent.

St. Nicholas & Santa Lucia
The legend of St. Nicholas: One day, the wealthy Nicholas overheard his poor neighbor lamenting the inability to afford to care for his daughters. Each night, the three daughters would leave out their shoes to dry, so Nicholas took the opportunity to secretly leave each one of them gold in their shoes.

At Madrona School, the teachers delight in any chance to bring awe, wonder, and joy to our students! I hear St. Nick visited the whole school this year with some delicious "gold" to be found.

The legend of Santa Lucia: One night a ship arrived at a village during a great famine. Upon the ship was a girl dressed all in white with food and clothes for the needy. Since she needed both hands to give away her gifts, she placed a wreath of candles upon her head.

At Madrona School we usually select a 2nd grade student to wear a wreath of light. Then, the students of that class travel throughout the school, giving out treats with song and celebration. Sometimes the Santa Lucia parade also travels to our neighborhood senior residential homes. This year we will celebrate Santa Lucia on Monday, December 13.

Spiral of Light
I'm sure it has not gone without notice that our days are truly getting darker as we approach the winter solstice. Nowadays we have about nine hours of daylight. Remember those long summer days? It seemed like we easily had fifteen hours of light!

When all around us is dark, our school provides a celebration to remind us that we all carry a light within us. During the Spiral of Light, our school comes together in silence around a spiral of fir branches. At the center of this spiral one candle stands lit. Each family takes a turn walking into this spiral, lighting a candle of their own, and placing it along the spiral. Slowly, the entire spiral fills with light. The light of our community shines bright through the dark winter night.

This year we welcome all of you to join us in the Madrona School play yard in celebration of the Spiral of Light. Please bring a candle and candle holder, made out of an apple with the core whittled out for the candle. We will begin at 4:30. Please bring camp chairs for your family.

I am so excited to celebrate these festivals with the children and I hope to see you all at the Spiral of Light on December 12.

Warmly & With Light!
Ms. Catherine, 1st/2nd Grade Teacher

Celebrating a Healthy School... Madrona School has maintained a COVID-Free campus since the beginning of the pandemic

Dear Madrona School parents,

Last week I had the opportunity to deeply understand and follow our health protocols. I woke up Wednesday morning with a mild sniffly nose and that vague, cotton ball feeling in my head that I get when I have a cold. In a normal year, I would have gone to school without thinking about it. However, this is not a normal year. Out of an abundance of caution, I stayed home and watched my symptoms. I knew that if they disappeared within 24 hours I could return to school, but if they lasted longer, I would have to get a COVID test or quarantine for 14 days. I decided to get a test so that I was ahead of the game if the sniffly nose didn't go away by the next morning. I'm glad I got the test because my ever-so slight cold symptoms didn't go away so I had to wait for negative test results before returning to school. Friday morning I opened my email to discover I was negative for COVID, which was my suspicion all along. It was very inconvenient to stay home, but it was the right thing to do for the community.

Last year, as a result of masking, frequent hand washing, and the care the whole community took to stay home when sick, I didn't have any cold or flu symptoms all year long. It was great to have a little vacation from illness. But, I am also glad to have a mild cold to give my immune system a work-out. And it is working well. I was right as rain by Friday.

Moral of the story: if your child is sick, please keep them home and follow the return to school protocols linked in the COVID-19 tab on our website. It is inconvenient, and it is worth it.

Many of you have already experienced this same dilemma. I appreciate your choice to keep your children home, despite the fact that they may be missing a first milestone of the year. It is that care of our community that adds to the specialness of Madrona School.

Thank you, Jocelyn Waite
Head of School

Back to School Letter, September 8, 2021

LETTER FROM THE HEAD OF SCHOOL

The faculty and staff are busy preparing for a new school year. We are eagerly anticipating the arrival of the students to campus, both returning and new students. 

This fall we find that not much has changed from last fall. Despite strong vaccination rates on Bainbridge Island, with the persistence of variants like Delta the cases of COVID-19 statewide are rising. We have put in place the same policies and protocols that we followed last year. Masks will be worn in the Kindergarten through 5th grade when inside and outside when physical distancing is not possible. We will check the students' temperature and general wellbeing at arrival every day. We will have handwashing stations set up for regular cleaning and sanitizing. 

Our full health policy and protocols are linked here:

Madrona School COVID-19 Health Policy

Madrona School COVID-19 Protocols

Last year we were able to offer in-person school all year and had no active cases of COVID-19 in our school. This was only possible because of the care all our families took to prioritize the health of our community when making choices to socialize outside of the school community. Our families are asked to read and sign a Community Commitment which outlines our expectation that the Madrona School community is prioritized above all other social engagements. Given our success last year, we are confident that we will be able to safely navigate in-person school throughout the year. We will offer a fully outdoor parent/child class for ages 12 months (walking) - 3 years, a fully outdoor preschool program for ages 2 1/2 - 4, a fully outdoor kindergarten class for ages 4 - 6, and two mixed age grades classes: 1st - 2nd and 3rd - 5th. Follow this link to find our application and application process. 

I admire our teachers and staff who have worked hard to create a safe, enriching, and viable school experience for your students. If you have any questions or would like further information, please don’t hesitate to contact me at hos@madronaschol.org. We look forward to welcoming your students in September.

With warm regards,

Jocelyn Waite

Head of School

Orchestra lessons culminate in a beautiful concert at Madrona School

Dear Madrona School parents,

For those of you who took the opportunity to attend our strings concert last week, you know how moving it was. The outdoor setting, the fact that we had probably not attended a concert in over a year, and the students who truly rose to the occasion after a school year of many absences and upsets to our routines all were ingredients for a magical event. Thank you, Justine Jeanotte, for creatively working with our students, whether in person or remote, for your patience with never knowing who would attend class on any given day, and for your positive attitude during a trying year. Your skill and expertise were clearly on display. Our music program, consisting of violin, viola and cello lessons, is one of the many things that makes our education special. I am so glad our students had an opportunity to show our community the hard work they have put in this year.

Sincerely, Jocelyn Waite
Head of School