We are in need of more volunteers for our passage presentations next week. If you are available to volunteer, please sign up using the link below. We also encourage you to share this sign-up link with family members, friends, community members, and anyone else who may be interested in supporting our students.
https://www.signupgenius.com/go/20F0C4FABAF22A1FF2-63854463-passage#/
Thank you for helping us celebrate and support our students’ hard work and growth. We truly appreciate your time and involvement at PCCS.
What is Passages?
This is a celebration of learning, an opportunity for each student to show his/her best work to a panel of adults who have not yet seen it. Students are accustomed to showing their work to their own teacher, parents, and classmates. The panel adds an important element of professionalism and authenticity to the process.
What is the purpose of Passages?
Rather than passing students on from grade to grade without acknowledgment, we
have chosen to mark that experience with a meaningful event. Students go through
Passages at the end of 2nd (Primary), 4th (Intermediate), 6th (Upper Elementary), and 8th (Middle School). This is a celebration of learning, an opportunity for each student to show their best work to a panel of adults who have not yet seen it.
Each panel will include a PCCS staff member, a PCCS parent (not the student’s parent), and another member of the Pocatello Community. Students are accustomed to showing their work to their own parents, teacher, and classmates. The panel adds a different element of importance, professionalism, and authenticity to the process.
We call this process “Passages” for two reasons. It represents a student passing from one multi-grade level to the next AND the presentation serves as a rite of passage.
We hold our students to a high level of quality and accountability. In order to move on, a child must provide evidence that he/she has mastered the standards for that grade level. Panelists do not make decisions about advancing or retaining students, but you will be giving important feedback to students regarding the presentation and content of their work. Our portfolio assessment system serves as a way to collect that evidence as well as showcase the type of learning we value as an educational community. Every portfolio represents an incredible amount of hard work over time.
Please note that Thursday, the 21st is Field Day and a full day of school. Hot lunch will not be served, please remember to send your students with a packed lunch on this day!
He has kindness and greatness to share!
From his website ( https://takeheartrocks.com/ ) :
"While living on the Washington Coast, I began experiencing deep bouts of depression. One day, the darkest of my life, I found a small, white, naturally-shaped heart, tumbling in the surf. Instantly, I saw it as my reminder that I matter, am loved, and am not alone.
At the time, I was a Spanish teacher. When I noticed that students were going through difficult life experiences, I would go to the beach and find a heart rock to be their reminder that things will get better. I'd invite them to keep it for as long as they need it, and then to pass it on.
After a while, I couldn't find more naturally-shaped hearts on the beach, so I got a little tile saw and began roughly carving my own.
I began hiding them in public places, and watching people become ecstatic upon finding one. I realized that if I made enough heart rocks, I could make the world a better place with them, AND that it would be fun for me too! So, I made hundreds of them.
Then in 2019, after being diagnosed with bipolar disorder, and losing a loved one to suicide, I swore in my grief that I would make 100,000 hearts and convince good people to give them to their loved ones.
My hope was that if I made enough hearts, surely someone would use one someday to save the life of a loved one.
Years, and hundreds of thousands of hearts later, I'm aware of 125 instances where a life has been saved.
AND THE BEST PART ABOUT MY STORY???
Is that this is only the beginning!
I will use my life to make millions of hearts and inspire people to share them with their loved ones.
If there's even the smallest chance it could help one person, isn't is worth all the effort?"
We love to have parents, community members, and past students serve on these panels. This is one of our events that we rely on many volunteers to make it happen. Each student in 2nd, 4th, 6th, and 8th grade will present a portfolio of their work to show what they learned and how they met standards to pass on to the next multi-grade level.
Don't forget if you have a child participating in passages this year to include their name and teacher in the comment section of the signup sheet. This helps us to make sure your time doesn't overlap with your child's passage presentation.
You can sign up to be a panelist here:
https://www.signupgenius.com/go/20F0C4FABAF22A1FF2-63854463-passage#/
Thanks so much!
After school on Monday (2/9) and Tuesday (2/10), there will be a table set up outside of the multi-purpose room to sell flowers that have not already been purchased. Come see us then if you would like to pay by cash/check!
On Tuesday 2/11/25 at 4:00 pm ordering (including online) will be closed so we can get notes ready to be delivered the following day.
Flowers will be delivered at the end of the school day on Thursday (2/12).
Each Valentine's flower costs $5. There are 2 ways to send Valentine's love to your kiddo(s), 1: Come see us at the table outside the multi-purpose room after school on Monday and/or Tuesday. 2: Complete the digital order form found below by Tuesday (2/13) @4! We accept cash or check payments (please make checks payable to PCCS). You can also use the Venmo link below to make the payment.
Links:
https://venmo.com/code?user_id=2638911926960128106&created=1769536666
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScc3wqPVhoPRTfow6U_XFHaeMDQGO3nYItUQOK5EZ_QsflIrA/viewform?usp=sharing&ouid=103459360573198357176
"It's OK to have different names"
"It's OK to love each other"
"It's OK to be different"
"It's OK to wear glasses"
"It's OK to be honest"
"It's OK to lose a tooth"
"It's OK to look different"
"It's OK to have disabilities"
"It's OK if you can't play sports"
Kids....they know what's up!
In January, we focus on the design principle,
DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION:
" Both diversity and inclusion increase the richness of ideas, creative power, problem-solving ability, and respect for others. In Expeditionary Learning schools, students investigate and value their different histories and talents as well as those of other communities and cultures. Schools and learning groups are heterogeneous. " ~Expeditionary Learning Outward Bound
