Redwood Chronicle August/September 2023

Learning at the creek!

Principal's Message

Dear Parents and Students (***see the special safety note below),

Our year at Redwood Adventist Academy is off to a great start with 97 students strong! We are thrilled to have excellent teachers, awesome students, supportive parents, and motivated board members!

As you read through this newsletter and see the photos of what our children are doing every day in and out of the classroom, I pray you will feel the blessing we are feeling as teachers here at RAA. Our outdoor education program aligns with our science program, our teachers collaborate regularly with Farmer Joby, the harvest season, and the curriculum. We are blessed and hope you feel blessed to be here!

Construction is happening throughout the campus and we continue to pray for a double blessing as there are still several projects yet to complete as we Rebuild RAA!

We are here for your children and we see wonderful learning experiences happening throughout every day at RAA and we love the fact that you are a part of our school family.

Thank you for partnering in this rich educational ministry at RAA!

We love Redwood!

Lisa Bissell Paulson, Ed.D.

Principal | Redwood Adventist Academy

385 Mark West Springs Road | Santa Rosa, CA 95404 | (707) 545-1697

***Special Safety Update...as many of you heard, we had an unbelievable situation with wasps stinging several of our 1st and 2nd graders walking across the field this afternoon, August 31, around 3 pm. Given the construction on the office building, the track and field, and the outdoor classrooms, we are using a variety of paths for the sake of safety and unfortunately this pathway had an underground wasp nest. Your children were very brave while all available people assisted with getting them to safety, attending to the stings and alerting the parents via text message alert to come early for pick up. Thank you all for your rapid response. We are so very sorry this happened and we will be working with the children to rebuild their love for the outdoors. We love your children. We pray this never happens again and we are taking steps to rid the area of wasps as early as tonight. We will take a break from the field while we are working to eliminate the wasp nest(s) and find ways to ensure all paths to the creek and forest are safe.

Outdoor Learning with Farmer Joby!

Hot Lunch Program

Our Farm to Fork meal program includes

Breakfast, Lunch, and more!

Check your Family Portal for instructions on ordering hot lunches online!

Kindergarten Highlights with Mr. Steven VandeVere

In Kindergarten, we realized that it is not always easy to play nicely together. It’s especially hard when we want the same stick, stuffed animal, or chair. We are learning how to listen, take turns, talk about how we are feeling, and find solutions to problems. We even have had to take breaks with Mr. VandeVere or Ms. Ari to calm down, but we learned a little bit more about our first core value, respect.

We love walking to the forest and seeing our new log cabin classroom and the stumps for seating under the walnut tree.

Every Monday we will be picking out our favorite books during library time with Mrs. Serna. We are looking for L's and O's, enjoying our stories, and learning more about our new friends.

Every Tuesday and Thursday we get a chance to sing in music class with Mrs. Wright.

This year we have worked on our shapes, and the letters L and O. We are going to be starting G and H, as well as numbers 1-5! Each week will be something new and exciting. We cannot wait to see what’s next.

Thank you to our teacher aides!

1st and 2nd Grade Highlights with Mrs. America McColley!

This month we are learning about the scientific process and what that looks like before we jump into experiments. We have practiced observing nature down at the creek and the students are excited to start doing some research on their computers in the coming weeks.

For Bible Class we have been on a Safari learning how to seek God even when we can’t see Him.

In Math we are learning how to do repeated addition and about even and odd numbers.

We are reading about the first Latino American female astronaut. What a fun first couple weeks of learning!

3rd & 4th Grade Highlights!

This past week, third and fourth grades put what they learned about the scientific method in science class into practice. Farmer Joby and the class designed an experiment with plants and their reaction to light. Each student participated in the “great seed race” where they planted a bean, swiss chard, and lettuce seed.

They hypothesized which seed would grow the fastest and win the race and make it to the top of a cup placed over the plants. The kids observed how the plants grew in the direction of the light from a hole punched into the top of their cup. After observing their plants for a week, they drew conclusions about which of their plants had won the race and why.

The class learned a lot observing their plants grow and then learned even more when we took pieces of their plants to look through our digital microscope.

Third and fourth graders are learning how all living things are composed of cells, and they can’t wait to begin learning about how living things decompose when we start composting next week!

5th - 8th Highlights!

Thank you Mrs. Cheryl Lane and Mr. Brian Lane!

What an exciting start to a new year! We are thrilled to have 42 middle school students in our family. Our focus this year is to provide opportunities for our kiddos to practice leadership skills that focus on our school’s core values. So if you see some 8^th graders with yellow vests helping our Kindergarteners get to their cars safely during dismissal, give them a thumbs-up. This is just one example of the type of service we want our middle school students involved in.

Here are some of the activities we’ve done this month:

· Spaghetti tower challenge

· 5-8 choir (singing for Chapel next Friday)

· 5/6 in the process of getting their Food Handler’s Certificate

· 7/8 picking corn and melons from the farm

· 5-8 watching 30 minutes-1 hour of “Chosen” per week

· 5-8 preparing for Presidential Fitness Test

The Sports Corner

by Mrs. Campbell, Athletic Director

RAA Volleyball

Your RAA Wildcats have already been practicing hard for our volleyball season as part of the Middle School Sports League. Our students in grades five through eight have brought their energy to the volleyball court, and they are enthusiastic about learning the fundamentals of volleyball and getting the opportunity to play other small schools in our area. We are fortunate to have RAA parents who will be coaching the team this year. Our head coach is Mr. Tamanaha.

Our coaches are committed to teaching our players the fundamentals of volleyball in an encouraging and uplifting environment where character development is valued as much as skill development.

The coaches and kids have been working hard to prepare for our season which will begin the week of September 11. Be looking for our full season schedule which will be sent out as soon as the MSSL league gives it to us, and make sure to come out and cheer for our Wildcats!

Co-ed Volleyball teams: 7th grade and 8th grade

Practices Tuesday/Thursday

Games Monday/Wednesday

Game Schedule will be distributed

Remember to turn in physical, permission slips, and fees prior to Game day/week, September 11.

RAA Football Invitational at Rio

Co-ed teams: 4-6 grade and 7-8th grade

Practices at 4 pm Mon/Wed @ Rio (September 6, 11, 13, 18, 20) We need parents to pick up at Rio. Thank you!

Rio Lindo Academy has invited us to participate in the middle school flag football tournament, grades 4-8, on September 24 and the Sports Camp on September 25.

We are excited to introduce the fundamentals of flag football to our kids and give them the opportunity to meet kids from other schools from all over the area. Mark your calendars for September 24 and September 25!

Appreciate Mrs. Serna helping us in the Library! We love to read at RAA. Mrs. Serna is also a reading specialists and tutors several of our students. Thank you Mrs. Serna!

Happy Birthday!

September 1 Eve St Martin

September 14 Kian Mateo Zakeri

September 18 Aevri Martin

September 22 Mrs. Cheryl Lane

September 24 Peyton Gienger

September 25 Rainer Arber

October 3 Dawson Schultz

October 3 Dalianna Garcia

October 5 Amaya Oberto

October 9 Dr. Paulson

October 10 Joziebella Rich

October 12 Judah Hale

October 18 Navtej Upadhyay

October 18 Farmer Joby

October 21 Alexa Monzon

October 24 Eli Barcenas

RAA Calendar of Events

Picture Day is Tuesday, September 5!

School Picture Day is September 5!

We begin taking photos at 8:30 am!

Watch for ordering details

(a week or two after picture day)

to order your child's photos online.

Back to school swim party @Rio, front office building progress, parents on the first day of school and more!

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Click on the link or letter below for our safety procedures on campus.

RAA - Safety On Campus

Be sure you stop by the office for a Visitor Pass if you need to be on campus during the school day!

Special Safety Update...as many of you heard, we had an unbelievable situation with wasps stinging several of our 1st and 2nd graders walking across the field this afternoon around 3 pm. Given the construction on the office building, the track and field, and the outdoor classrooms, we are using a variety of paths for the sake of safety and unfortunately this pathway had an underground wasp nest. Your children were very brave while all available people assisted with getting them to safety, attending to the stings and alerting the parents via text message alert to come early for pick up. Thank you all for your rapid response. We pray this never happens again and we are taking steps to rid the area of wasps as early as tonight. We will take a break from the field while we are working to eliminate the wasp nest(s) and find ways to ensure the path to the creek and forest are safe.

Thanks to all the 7th and 8th grade student helpers during pick up time!

Be safe!

Just arrived in the mail!

Thank you to Versacare for the Hummingbird Robotic Kits for RAA. We signed up for this free drawing at the recent NAD Teacher Education Meetings in Phoenix. Versacare supports our stem program and most recently funded our student grant proposals.

Thank you for being an RAA Ambassador!

Redwood Adventist Academy’s students, parents, and alumni---are RAA Ambassadors! When you share the good news about Redwood, invite prospective students to RAA, tell a children’s story at church, assist us with connecting with potential families, or share what is happening at Redwood to colleagues, church members, or neighbors, you are being an ambassador! Please let us know if we should follow up and contact them! Call 707.545.1697 or email [email protected] for questions or for more information.

https://www.weloveredwood.com (includes our updated calendar)

https://www.facebook.com/redwoodadventistacademy

https://www.instagram.com/weloveredwood/