From the Interim Director

Dear Madrone Trail Community,

As we move through these final weeks of the school year, there's a special kind of energy in the air—one that signals we’re getting close to the finish line. You can feel it in the breezeways, in classrooms, and out on the playgrounds. There’s laughter, anticipation, and a shared sense of pride in how far we’ve all come since the fall.

Our students are showing signs of growth not just academically, but socially and emotionally as well. It’s inspiring to see their confidence bloom as they wrap up projects, prepare for performances, or simply enjoy these last weeks with their classmates. And our teachers—who have poured their hearts into this year—are guiding them through the final stretch with the same dedication and care they’ve shown all along.



There’s still important work to do, and plenty of opportunities ahead to celebrate our achievements together. Whether it’s upcoming field trips, end-of-year plays, or quiet classroom moments of reflection, these next few weeks will be filled with meaning.



Thank you for your continued partnership. Let’s make the most of these last chapters of the school year—together.

Kelly Ruse

Interim Executive Director

kelly.ruse@madronetrail.org

From the Board

Hello Madrone Trail!

It is hard to believe that the school year is almost over but we are working hard to button the year up in the best way possible. Here are some of the things the board has been working on lately:

First, a few of our board members along with some faculty and administration have been working to revise the discipline policy to ensure clarity, consistency, and accountability. Those revisions should be done in the next few weeks.

Second, our budget committee has been putting in a lot of work to finalize next year’s budget. Things are looking really good for the school financially and due to some unexpected funding we have been operating in a surplus this year which puts us in great position next year. We are always brainstorming new ways to raise funds and create sustainable revenue streams so that we can provide all the services our students need to thrive.

Additionally, the hiring committee is currently in the process of searching for a new full time executive director and right now are collecting as many qualified applicants as possible. We will keep you updated as more information becomes available.

Finally, we want to express how grateful we are to this community and how it responds to adversity. Transition is always hard but the school is doing so well. A special thank you to Kelly Ruse for stepping in as interim director and the faculty for keeping things stable in this time. 

If you have any questions, concerns, or feedback please feel free to send an email to board@madronetrail.org.

For the Good of the School,

Madrone Trail Board of Directors

Parent/Teacher Conferences

Our Spring Parent/Teacher Conferences are coming up next week, May 21-23. Please click below to sign-up for your slot to meet your child's teacher.

Re-enrollment Form

Please fill out the Re-enrollment form. We need to hear from every student (except graduating 8th graders) if they are returning or not for the 2025-2026 school year. The form is due by May 30.

From the Kitchen

Next week’s special sandwich is Meatloaf with Cheddar on a Hoagie Roll. That’s right! Our beloved turkey meatloaf in sandwich form! Get it while we have it. This is a “while supplies last” special.

Chef Evan

evan.wilson@madronetrail.org

Thank You Parents

Thank you to all the parents who provided food this year for the faculty at our faculty meetings on Wednesdays! Please make sure you claim your items that have been left throughout the year. They are in the faculty room ready to be reunited.

From the Athletic Director

Track & Field

The track banquet and awards night was Wednesday. It was a great way to end the track season here at Madrone Trail. We saw so much success this year in track & field with lots of broken records and high district finishes. Enjoy some pics of the evening below.

2025 Madrone Trail

Track & Field season awards

District Podium finishes

6th grade

Juno Battisti- 3000M 4th place 13:47.47

Lily Bevers- Long Jump 3rd place 12’11” (PR) (6th grade Madrone Trail school record)

District Podium finishes 7th/8th (18 events total)

Women’s events

Natasha Wright-Shot Put 5th place 28’2” 5th place

Fiona Maple-Javelin 4th place

Fiona Maple-High Jump 4th place 3’11”

Bailey Briggs-200M 3rd place 29.62

Bailey Briggs-High Jump 5th place 3’11”

Bailey Briggs, Kaydence Garvin, Gracie Walker, Jazelle Santos Ward- 4x100M 6th place 1:01.82

Bailey Briggs- 400M 3rd place 1:05.0 (PR) (New Madrone Trail school record!)

Fiona Maple, Bella Waterman, Chloe Royer, Natasha Wright- Sprint Medley 2nd place 2:21.4 (PR) (New Madrone Trail school record!)

Men’s events

Solomon Stricker- High Jump 6th place 4’5”

Silas Moon- 100M 5th place 13.22

Luke Walker- Javelin 5th place 91’0”

Theo Gerig- 400M 4th place 1:04.04

Theo Gerig- Long Jump 6th place 16’0”

Lincoln Stegall, Shawn Long, Peter Lummer, Luke Walker- Sprint Medley 2nd place 2:07.17 (PR)

Theo Gerig, Roman Roberson, Titus Stewart, Silas Moon- 4x100M 5th place 56.28

Roman Roberson- Shot Put 3rd place 34’2”

Roman Roberson- Discus 3rd place 90’0.5” (PR) (New Madrone Trail school record!)

Silas Moon- Long jump 2nd place 17’2” (PR) (New Madrone Trail school record!)

School Records 2025

Women’s events

200M Hurdles: Malaya Sigalove 38.6

Shot Put: Natasha Wright 28’3”

High Jump: Fiona Maple 4’2”

4x100M: Juno Battisti, Aiza Caran, Malaya Sigalove, Lily Bevers 1:00.9

400M: Bailey Briggs 1:05.0 (Done at Districts)

Sprint Medley: Fiona Maple, Bella Waterman, Chloe Royer, Natasha Wright 2:21.4 (Done at Districts)

Men’s events

400M: Theo Gerig 1:02.1

1500M: Titus Stewart 5:40.8

Shot Put: Roman Roberson 36’2”

Javelin: Luke Walker 113’6”

Discus: Roman Roberson 90’0.5” (Done at Districts)

Long Jump: Silas Moon 17’2” (Done at Districts)

Athletes of the year by grade

6th grade male athlete of the year-Ari Emptage

6th grade female athlete of the year-Lily Bevers

7th grade female athlete of the year-Bailey Briggs

7th grade male athlete of the year-Gray Bardsley

8th grade female athlete of the year- Fiona Maple

8th grade male athlete of the year-Roman Roberson

Coaches’ Choice awards

Most inspirational- Male: Luke Walker, Female: Malaya Sigalove

Teammate of the year- Male: Peter Lummer, Female: Bella Waterman

Most improved- Male: Lincoln Stegall, Female: Willow Deame-Pezzano

Most Coachable- Male: Caleb Guidotti, Female Aiza Caran

Leadership award- Male: Silas Moon, Female: Bailey Briggs

Trophy Awards (Based on points in that category)

Jumping events Queen- Lily Bevers (33 jumping points)

Jumping events King- Silas Moon (41 jumping points)

Throwing Events Queen- Lily Bevers (20 throwing points)

Throwing events King- Roman Roberson (56 throwing points)

Distance Queen- Juno Battisti (26 distance points)

Distance King- Titus Stewart (20 distance points)

Sprint Queen- Malaya Sigalove (46 sprinting points)

Sprint King- Theo Gerig (32 sprinting points)

Final Awards

Overall Male track athlete of the year- Roman Roberson (69 total points)

Female track athlete of the year and season MVP- Lily Bevers 93 total points)

Student Athlete of the year- Theo Gerig

Theo is 3-sport athlete this year, participating in Cross Country, Basketball, and Track & Field and is a “straight A” student.

Soccer Club

Remaining soccer club dates: May 21st, May 28th

Go Dragons!

Jeff Roberson

jeff.roberson@madronetrail.org

Madrone Trail in the News

On Monday the Otter Class attended the Children's Heritage Fair at Hanley Farm. They participated in several activities geared toward Oregon 4th grade history curriculum. While at the fair, they were interviewed by KOBI 5 news! They were excellent representatives of our school and had a great time at Hanley Farm.

Click the link to see the news story:

https://kobi5.com/news/students-go-way-back-for-hands-on-history-lessons-274219/

2025-2026 School Calendar

Important dates to note:

• First Day of School: August 25
• Winter Break: December 22-January 2
• Spring Break: March 23-April 3
• Last Day of School: June 4

You can also find a copy of the calendar on the website here.

Spotlight on 8th grade

Rudolf Steiner envisioned a school that would support the whole human being—body, soul, and spirit—through an approach to education that is artistic, developmentally appropriate, and deeply human. Central to his vision was the importance of continuity in the student–teacher relationship. Ideally, one teacher would journey with a class for eight years, building deep trust and understanding with the students and their families. This relationship-centered model was a cornerstone of the first Waldorf school and remains a defining element of Waldorf education today.

In many Waldorf schools, this ideal is not always possible—but in the Butterfly Class, we have been very fortunate. I first met many of the children in my class when they were in Kindergarten with Miss Leann and Miss Tina. Along the way, we’ve said goodbye to some dear friends and welcomed new ones into our circle. As we look back on our time together, I find myself reflecting: “What were the most important things I taught them? What lessons have they learned? And what will they carry with them into the future?” Only they can truly answer those last two questions—but I can speak a bit to the first.

Throughout our time together, I’ve done my best to understand and honor Steiner’s purpose in crafting Waldorf education. His beliefs were rooted in a spiritual view of the human being. He held that moral and spiritual development are essential to education, and that children should grow into adults who are free-thinking, compassionate, and guided by purpose and responsibility. With that in mind, I placed equal importance on academic learning and on how we treated one another in class. I worried less about long division and more about kindness and integrity. I taught them to understand that how we treat others determines how we feel about ourselves. Starting in fifth grade and continuing through middle school, we spent 5–10 minutes each morning meditating and practicing stillness, striving to gain awareness of and control over our restless minds.

Experiential learning was also central to Steiner’s vision. He believed students should learn by doing—through farming, building, observing nature, and engaging in meaningful work. We spent a great deal of time on hands-on projects, and one of my proudest memories is from third grade, when we planted, harvested, threshed, winnowed, ground, and baked wheat into bread. Just this year alone, we have made lip balm, soap, cheese and hollandaise sauce and we finished up the year by creating telegraph machines and sending messages to each other across the classroom in Morse code. My love for the outdoors was a guiding force as well. From the very beginning, we hiked together weekly in local parks, rain or shine. Each year we made pilgrimages to Lithia Park and the Table Rocks, and made occasional ventures to Grizzly Peak, Roxy Ann, Applegate, Fish, and Howard Prairie Lakes, the Rogue, Wood and Smith Rivers, the Redwoods and eventually our class trip to Santa Cruz.

I also brought my love of music and dance into the classroom. I truly believe that music is the medicine that can heal humanity’s ills—greed, anger, fear, and apathy. We learned to sing and play ukuleles together, had weekly dance parties, and explored folk dances from around the world. In 5th grade I took advantage of my years practicing hula to teach them a holiday hula that we performed for the school. (For many years I performed hulas with brothers from my halau at May Faire). These joyful moments were just as important as any academic lesson—helping us grow as a community, connect with other cultures, and express ourselves through rhythm and movement.

Ultimately, Steiner saw education as a path to freedom. His goal was to help children grow into adults who could think clearly, feel deeply, and act with purpose—individuals capable of renewing society with creativity, love, and insight. I hope that, in some small way, I have helped my students take a few steps along that path. I know I’ve done my best.

~Mr. Tryllium

Spotlight on the Rosebud Kindergarten

For so many reasons, this work that I am called to do in the Waldorf Kindergarten is the most rewarding work that I have ever done. There is so much wisdom in this pedagogy and I am happy to be a vessel for bringing this to Madrone Trail.

In some ways I am but a facilitator, creating the space for magic to enter. I provide form, so that the children can have freedom. Like most of us, I see the value of being in nature and having the opportunity to slow down with no particular plan in place. 

I take my work seriously and do my very best to provide a rich environment for their learning. This takes much strength of will and etheric forces everyday. So, I appreciate when the Spiritual beings and the elements (and Elementals) help me with my task.

Yesterday, I took the Rosebuds on the bus to Doc Griffin Park. The magic began once we entered the bus. For the past week I have observed the children to be very social during transitions to the point that our quiet moments were not so quiet. I had to access my bag of tricks many times this week in order to gain their attention. It felt a bit chaotic to me and knowing that field trips are out of rhythm, I thought to myself, “perhaps I should not have planned this field trip?” 

Once on the bus as we began to travel down the road the children were sitting two by two and I took a deep breath and listened. They sat next to their partners, spoke excitedly about what they saw as we whizzed down the road together. It dawned on me that the bus ride provided form for this social interaction to be able to happen. This is appropriate for the end of the year, in the midst of 14 Rising 1st Graders.

We arrived at the park and by many standards it is just a small city park, it has a bit of lawn, some picnic tables and a playground. I insisted that the children don their rain pants and rainboots for this excursion, they all obliged, though some begrudgingly.

Once they had their gear on the children asked many times, “Can we go to the playground? ” to which I responded, “We shall see.” For I knew in my heart of hearts that the real playground was one that they had not yet seen. They followed me down the steep bank to the creek below. 

Feet first, hands first, squealing with glee the children scooped up water, gathered sticks, caught water bugs, tried to catch fish, ‘saw sharks’ and “heard an Indian that lived in the tunnel." They used their legs to scramble up the bank, hung from branches by their arms, used their hands to walk with giant sticks stating that they were cavemen, they also used their hands to tenderly and carefully wait for the perfect bug to float near to them so that they could catch it.  

Within this freedom, we still had form, for example when we used our classroom transition songs to bring us together for hand washing, lunch, and snack. Then, we went back to work, the children made dirt slides, built fairy houses, played puppies and basically smiled and laughed the whole time. One child who tends toward melancholic declared, “well,..I have water in my boot,.. but I don't care!” He proceeded to run up the bank and back to the large puddle, where he jumped exuberantly in with both feet. I heard another child say with a tone of reverence, “I love the water, the water is my friend.” What a gift it is to be able to offer real life experiences to these growing human beings. To quote Cynthia Aldinger, author and teacher, "life is the curriculum."

~Miss Gina

Sprouts Program 2025-2026

We are continuing to accept applications for the 2025-2026 Sprouts Preschool Program. Interested families who have not yet filled out the Sprouts Program Interest Form should fill out the form to get on the list. Once you have submitted the form, the program manager will send further details about the program, teacher bios, cost, etc., for your review so you can make the best decision for your family. Applications will be sent out to families who have submitted their form.

Your child must meet the following criteria to be eligible to apply:

1. Child must be 4 years of age by December 1st, 2025 to be considered for the 25-26 school year. 

2. Child must be potty trained.

3. Child must be able to be away from parents for at least a four hour period.

4. Note: Enrollment into the Sprouts program does not guarantee a spot in Kindergarten

For further questions, please contact office@madronetrail.org.

State Testing

The window for taking our state-wide assessment, the SBAC, is now open. Students in 3rd-8th grade are tested annually in Language Arts and Math, and 5th and 8th graders are tested in Science as well. As per Oregon law, parents and guardians have the right to opt their children out of this assessment. In order to do this, you will need to meet in person with our School Test Coordinator, Ms. Cori, to sign the opt-out form. Please email her to set-up a time to meet if you wish to opt your child out of state testing, cori.royer@madronetrail.org. As a reminder, 3rd, 5th, and 8th graders do not have to take the Spring I-ready assessment so they can focus all of their attention on the SBAC.

Quote of the Day

Handlettered by Ms. Cori, dedicated to the Marigold class

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.