Clara Barton Open School

No School Friday

There is no school this Friday, March 31.  It is a district-wide staff development / record-keeping day for staff.

A Moral Dilemma!

Amber's 1st and 4th period Language Arts classes recently held a week long mock trial (the people of Salinas Valley vs. George Milton) as part of their study of Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck.  The 7th and 8th grade students became members of prosecution or defense teams, witnesses (Crooks, Curly, Candy, Slim, Carlson, and Boss), part of 12-member jury, or the judge. 

The result in both classes:  a hung jury!  This led to a writing assignment.  The students each wrote a persuasive essay in the form of a business letter to the judge, writing from the standpoint of a community member whose voice must be heard on the guilt or innocence of George Milton.

Plant Sale Forms Available Online

The annual plant sale is underway, and all Barton students have been given a supply of order forms. 

A copy of the order form is available here (in PDF format), and will continue to be available via the link under the heading "Annual Plant Sale" in the right-hand column of this site. 

The online form is useful if you want to quickly send a form to relatives and friends that live a little bit outside the immediate area.  You can direct them to this site to follow the link, or you can save the form to your computer and e-mail it to them.

Happy selling!

Barton 101 This Thursday!

The Leadership Council would like to invite you to an evening of learning about “progressive education” and Barton “Open” School.  It is important for us as parents to understand the philosophy behind open education and develop a better understanding of what makes our school unique and wonderful! Our second session provides an introduction to the Responsive Classroom program.  There will be an overview from Linda Crawford, the Director of Origins, and then an opportunity to participate with Barton teachers and other parents in small groups for a real live "morning meeting".

Please come to our second Barton 101 event on Thursday, March 23, from 6:30 to 8:00 PM in the commons. This is a parent-only event.

Upcoming Minneapolis Public Education Discussions

Several forums focusing on issues in the Minneapolis school district are scheduled next week.  Links are provided below for more information.

Monday, March 27     Town Hall Meeting with MPS Superintendent Bill Green

Interim Superintendent Bill Green will hold a town hall meeting on Monday, March 27, from 6-7:30 p.m. at Anne Sullivan Communication Center, 3100 E. 28th St., Minneapolis.

Town hall meetings are held across the city in an effort to inform and engage families in discussion about issues that affect the district. The meetings are an opportunity for families to ask questions of district leadership and to learn about important initiatives.

Wednesday, March 29  Minneapolis Federation of Teachers Discussion

The Minneapolis Federation of Teachers invites parents and community members to discuss education and teacher unionism on Wednesday, March 29, 7:00 - 9:00 PM.  Click here for more information.

Thursday, March 30, 2006  School Board Reform? 

A forum to discuss varying points of view about moving from a city-wide election to a district-area election and considering mayoral appointments, sponsored by the MPS Parents Forum and others, will be held Thursday, March 30, 7:00 pm.  Click here for more information. 

Other Events

Link to Parents United Network for more about other events and ways to become engaged about issues impacting our schools. 

Easy Money

Barton parent and Target employee, Mark Layton, along with Zoey, and twins Bryce & Max (kindergarteners), presented a check for $2443.20 to Steve Delapp at last week’s leadership council meeting.  Because families, teachers and members of the community designated our school and shopped with their Target Visa or Target Cards we received this donation through their Take Charge of Education program.  A big thanks to all currently participating in this program!

If you have a card and have not designated Barton, please consider doing so - grandparents, alumni, friends or neighbors can help, too.  (They don’t even have to be local residents).  Program details can be found at www.target.com/tcoe.

To learn about other ways you can help Barton scroll down to see the SUPPORT BARTON sidebar to the left and click on Fundraising Information and Guidelines.

Primary Spanish

Students from Mark's classroom are making Incan quipus (textile recording of numbers) during study of the Inca empire in South America.  Latin American culture is emphasized along with Spanish language in the K-2 Spanish Specialist Program taught by Karen Karis.

Flat People - Flat Me

In room 120 each child created a cardboard version of himself / herself and mailed it to some place interesting. Students mailed themselves to places all over the world. Some of the places were Venezuela, Chicago, Arizona, New York, Nigeria, and many more. With their Flat Person each student wrote a letter requesting the return of the Flat Person and some information about where the Flat Person had been.

Within weeks the Flat People began returning - along with letters, photos, and descriptions of lots of interesting places. Each student shared their own Flat Person's travels with the rest of the class, providing a window into places around the world that were exciting and varied.

In this photo, a student and her father read a letter that was returned with her Flat Person from Venezuela. That letter was written in Spanish and told all about the variety of animals, plants and places that the Flat person had visited! Click on the photo to enlarge it.

Stop by to look at the map in the hallway outside room 120. You will see the Flat People and the places they have been.

Timelines and Skylines

Rooms 102, 104 and 106 had an exciting day exploring the city on Thursday, March 2.  They scampered around the Sculpture Garden, ran across the Stone Arch Bridge, tiptoed through the oldest church in Minneapolis, ate lunch Downtown, and traveled to the top of the government center!

The trip was part of an ongoing unit of study called Timelines and Skylines. The three classes are thinking about three key questions:  What makes our city special?  What was our city like a long time ago?  How can I explore and learn about my city?

We hope that our students are inspired to keep exploring the city with their families!  You can see many more photos by linking to the Room 102 website.

No School Friday

There is no school this Friday, March 3.  It is a district-wide staff development day for teachers.