Our new teacher has developed a list of supplies you can purchase (or, better yet, repurpose). This list may be expanded, but we want to give families a head start on assembling their child’s needed items.

(Please clearly label all supplies with your child’s full name.)

• Caddy with handle for supplies
• Pencil box or pouch
• A bin for books
• A flat bin for papers
• A special chair–bean bag or similar
• Slippers for indoor use
• Rainboots for outdoor use
• Waterproof rain jacket or poncho
• One to two changes of clothing (to be stored at school and replenished as needed)
• Two masks per day
• Two water bottles
• A bottle of alcohol-based hand sanitizer
• A lunch bag with appropriate ice packs/Thermos for cold/hot food
• A backpack
• General Classroom supplies
  • Pencils with erasers (preferably #2)-at least 4 per day
  • Crayons (12 or 24 pack)
  • 2 pocket folders with prongs
  • 2 glue sticks
  • Wide-ruled composition notebook
  • 1 pair child scissors (either blunt or pointed tips)

Hello everyone! We’re excited to announce that our paperwork is mostly completed–just a few loose ends to clean up. We have a bank account, so we’ll be contacting those of you who are committed to the school soon to get your deposit. We’ll also be sending out your application packets and welcome materials. Beginning next week, committed families will begin to receive their weekly newsletter.

We’re really excited about where we’re at with the school. It may seem like things are moving slowly, but there’s a lot of small details that have to be ironed out. Lots is happening behind the scenes, and we’re getting closer and closer to having everything ready to go.

We’ve made the following progress during the past week:

• We’re working out details for a Plan B/C for if widespread sickness does hit the school. We’ll be presenting that to committed families soon.

• We’ve been interviewing potential teachers for the past few days. We haven’t found our perfect fit yet, but as you know, interviewing leads to clarity. We’re getting good insight into what will work best for us.

• Finally, we’ve been reviewing curriculum and standards. We will be assessing (in a noninvasive way) every student according to the Iowa Standardized Testing standards. This is the national standard that will give us a better idea of where our kids stand academically. The Iowa test is both more rigorous (comparing our kids to the national average) and more forgiving (kids test to what they know, not to standards they perhaps cannot yet meet). More details on that soon.

If you know anyone who is interested, it looks like we have four seats in the classroom that could be filled. We’re trying to limit capacity, but if there is a family that needs two seats, we could potentially accept one or two additional children.