Spiral of Light

As the days continue to grow shorter in the winter, we celebrate the image of the sleeping earth and the light to come in the spring with the Spiral of Light. The Winter Spiral is a festival of light, movement, and symbolic change. A spiral of evergreen tree boughs and pine cones is laid out on the floor and decorated with crystals, shells, and plants. Amid beautiful music, each child walks to the innermost point of the spiral, carrying an unlit candle, which is lighted from the tall brightly burning candle in the center. Moving outward, the child places the candle along the spiral pathway, bringing the spiral slowly to light. As each child has his turn, the darkened room begins to glow with the beautiful candle light.

The schedule is as follows:

Tuesday, December 10

8:45-9:30: Rosebud Kindergarten

9:30-10:30: 1st grade

11:00-12:00: 6th grade

1:30-2:30: 5th grade

Wednesday, December 11

8:45-9:30: 7th grade

9:30-10:30: 2nd grade

11:00-12:00: 3rd grade

Thursday, December 12

8:45-9:30: Daisy Blossom Kindergarten

9:30-10:30: 8th grade

11:00-12:00: 4th grade

1:30-2:30: Parent slot

Ski Club

Ski Club is happening again this year! The Registration link is live and will be open until December 20. Click the link below to sign-up. Scroll down and click on Madrone Trail.

Who: 4th-8th graders, any ability level

When: Friday nights, January 10, 17, 24, 31 (make up day)

How: Register online, December 6-20

Cost: $117 for lessons, lift ticket, and ski or snowboard rental (less if you don't need a rental and/or a lift ticket). Scholarships will be available if needed.

Any questions, please contact Mr. Niq, the Ski Club Coordinator, niq.allen@madronetrail.org

From the Beautification Committee

The "Deck the Halls" decorating event was a great success due to the wonderful turn out of parents, staff, and students! Thank you to all who participated in that event! Our school looks so festive. 

We would love to see a wreath on every door so please consider bringing in a wreath or better yet buying one from the 8th graders before or after school to donate to one of the classrooms that still needs one. We are still in need of 9 wreaths. Thank you in advance for your generosity!

Madrone Trail Shirts and Hoodies

We have good and bad news about purchasing shirts and hoodies if you missed getting one during the pre-order window. The good news is the link is now live again to purchase Madrone Trail shirts and hoodies. We are also not raising prices as previously stated. The bad news is that due to changes on Moxley Media's side they are only able to offer a few colors going forward. We chose to keep the most popular colors for sale. Choices are now limited to Red, Black, and White in the limited edition design, and Blue in the classic design. Also, the pick up location will now be at Moxley Media instead of the school, or you can choose to get it shipped.

Play Performance

You and your family are cordially invited to attend a performance of the Oberufer Shepherd's Play at Madrone Trail on Wednesday, December 18th at 2:00 pm. This 17th century folk-retelling of the classic Nativity Story will be performed by a small troupe of local Waldorf educators and other friends of the southern Oregon Waldorf community. 

The play is not just for children! Families are encouraged to attend together, but Madrone Trail staff are organizing volunteers to arrange for extended after-school care on that Wednesday in case you would like your child to attend. More details forthcoming! 

Meal Program Update

We had a great week in The Dragon Cafe serving up our latest menu, and the customers are happy! The highlight was today’s “Foreign Friday” meal featuring a Korean inspired beef bulgogi with rice and spicy marinated cucumbers. A few students weren’t feeling adventurous, but others took a leap, coming back to beg us to keep it on the regular menu. One student said it’s the best thing we’ve ever made! The critics also agree that our new oatmeal muffins, French toast sticks, and crispy grilled cheese breakfast roll-ups are off the chain! We will be increasing our numbers on these items next week to the best of our capacities.

Korean-inspired Ground Beef Bulgogi with Spicy Cucumbers

Specials next week…

• All week: Delicious, creamy potato soup loaded with other veggies (vegetarian, contains egg), served with choice of bread & butter, croutons, or mozzarella cheese stick… 
• Oatmeal muffins: flavors differ from day to day, for example, coconut raisin, blueberry or chocolate chip
• Special crispy grilled cheese breakfast roll-up on Friday: egg, cheese & homemade beef chorizo (with grass fed beef from Rusted Gate)

Here is the new menu in case you missed the last Friday Update:

Chef Evan

evan.wilson@madronetrail.org

Farm to School Update

Exciting News for Madrone Trail!

We’ve partnered with Rogue Produce to bring two great initiatives to our school:

1. Local Food Deliveries: Enjoy fresh, locally-sourced produce delivered to Madrone Trail every Friday afternoon.
2. Food Scrap Pick-Up: Help us reduce waste! Weekly food scraps are collected and donated to local farms, creating compost to grow the food we love.

To support this program, Rogue Produce is offering a Farmer’s Market Membership for just $10/month. Members can shop their Online Farmer’s Market, enjoy free delivery to Madrone Trail, and access exclusive weekly sales.

Rogue Produce will reduce our compost pick-up fees as our community signs up for the program. Join us in building a sustainable and healthy community! 

Learn more about Rogue Produce here and contact them with any questions about the online membership (541-301-3426).

Roll Up Your Sleeves for Farm to School!

Ms. Carrie has an ongoing list of projects around campus that could use a few extra helping hands! She will be available on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons from 2:15-3:15 pm on school days to direct. This is a great chance to earn your volunteer hours, support the gardening curriculum, and help build up our very own farm-to-school program at the same time. Tools and supplies will be provided. Bring gloves! In case you are curious, here is a list of current projects.

8th grade Fundraisers

The Butterfly Class is raising money for their 8th grade trip. We have several ongoing fundraisers and more coming up soon. Thank you for your support, we really appreciate it!

Wreaths

We are selling some beautiful and very fragrant wreaths before and after school everyday until we run out. They are $25 for 1 or $40 for 2. They would look wonderful adorning your front door or smell even better hanging above the mantle. Look for us at a table in front of the school or under the breezeway in inclement weather. 

Greeting Cards

In addition to selling wreaths we will also be selling beautiful greeting cards featuring amazing artwork by the eighth graders, starting on Monday. Look for us at a table outside the entrance and help support us while picking up some beautiful cards to use as gifts or for writing thank you notes for all the gifts you receive during the holiday holidays. They will be sold in packs of 10.

Concession Stand

The Boys' Basketball teams have one more home game on Monday, December 9 at Rogue X and will be hosting another concession stand. Come cheer on the JV and Varsity Boys Basketball teams and support the 8th graders by buying some yummy snacks to make your experience a little tastier and give you fuel while you cheer on the Dragons!

Cans & Bottles

Keep bringing in those cans and bottles, every bag helps!

Spotlight on Second Grade

The Swallowtail class has been growing in leaps and bounds this year as we continue our journey through second grade! With the Midwinter festival season upon us, we have begun keeping the time of Advent as we look forward to the return of the light in late December. 

Each week of Advent recognizes one of the four kingdoms of nature: Stones, Plants, Animals, and Human Beings, in that order. This week, each morning we lit the Light of Stone, which gave a certain theme of bones, shells, and rocks to our lessons! The children heard the well-known parable of the wise man who builds his house upon the rock, and the foolish man who builds his house upon the sand. When the storm comes and the winds howl, the house on the rock stands firm, but the house built on the sand is washed away! Not only does this story serve as a profound moral lesson about standing on the firm rock of Truth, but it also gives us a chance toi practice our reading and our writing as we put it down in our main lesson books. 

The children also modeled oysters out of beeswax, including the precious pearl that grows within each one as a special gift of the Mineral Kingdom. 

Spotlight on Games Class

We have been doing lots of fun things in Games class despite the weather! We are bundling up and playing outside no matter how cold it is. First through fourth grade have been practicing hand clapping and movement verses as a warm up in the beginning of class. Once they get good at the verses we start playing with doing the movements in a variety of ways; using just our thumbs, our elbows, the back of our hands, and even our feet! These grades are enjoying tag games and are continuing to practice cooperation and good sportsmanship.

Fifth grade has begun their practice of discus and javelin for their upcoming Olympiad. Sixth grade has started practicing skills for their upcoming Medieval Games, including staves. Right now they are just practicing balancing and tossing them to each other, but soon they will get to fence with them.

On especially rainy days like we had a few weeks ago, seventh and eighth graders get to practice some circus arts in the gym. So far they have done spinning plates, diabolo, and juggling scarves. Archery will be another skill they will get to practice coming up soon.

Winter Weather Procedures

As winter approaches, this is a reminder that Madrone Trail follows the decisions made by the Medford School District regarding severe weather procedures. Please refer to social media or media announcements for guidance from MSD. We will also add info to the homepage of our school website. When in doubt, if Medford closes, we close!

In the event school needs to be delayed, canceled, or released early (due to an unexpected weather event occurring during school hours), the following decisions are possible:

• Normal school hours – snow routes: some bus routes in higher elevations change due to snow or slick road conditions. Snow routes are posted ahead of time at https://msd549c.com/busroutes.
• Cancellation:  School and district are closed.  Essential safety personnel may be asked to work if safe to do so.
• Two-hour delayed start – regular routes OR snow routes: School begins two hours after regularly scheduled start time. Regular bus routes or snow routes may run, depending on road conditions. 
• Releasing school early – normal routes OR snow routes: School is released early due to hazardous road conditions. Buses may run regular routes or snow routes, depending on road conditions.

Ugly Holiday Sweater Day

Community Offering-- Tomorrow!

Quote of the Day

Handlettered by Ms. Cori

MADRONE TRAIL PUBLIC CHARTER SCHOOL

www.madronetrail.org

Madrone Trail Public Charter School does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, marital status, sexual orientation, religion, disability, or age in its programs and activities.