The Answer is Love

Aloha Waverider Families,

Itʻs been a busy first quarter as we wind down our last week.  We had a really fun night at our first dance of the school year this past Friday.  It was so great to see our students dancing, playing with their friends and enjoying their school after school hours.  I am grateful for all the parent, staff and teacher volunteers that helped the dance be such a great success.  I am especially grateful to Ms. Fitzpatrick for organizing the dance and making sure that all the details were taken care of.  We are hoping to have a dance each quarter to celebrate our awesome middle school and to have ongoing safe social activities for our keiki.

We started our HOKU Student Achievement Rotations this past quarter and it is great to see students reading a book of choice, writing about that book and working on a targeted intervention to improve in literacy or working on enrichment projects.  I have enjoyed visiting the classrooms and seeing the rich conversations that students are having with their HOKU teacher about what they are reading and writing about.

We continue to work on campus beautification and shining up our spaces to invigorate the learning happening here.  Our custodians are working hard to keep our campus clean and I am grateful to Ms. McCombs, our vice principal, for steering this initiative on our campus.  When you are on campus please notice the positive notes that students are leaving across campus about smiling, and trying your best, and being kind.  It is always nice to read them as I walk the campus.

Lokelani School is an amazing middle school and I am happy to be here serving our keiki and families to ensure that they have maximum opportunities to grow both academically and socially.  I welcome your feedback and any ideas you might have on how we can improve our school.  There is a lot of love at this school from our students, teachers, office staff, custodial, cafeteria, educational assistants, parents and community partners.  No matter how stressed out the day may become with emails, paperwork, phone calls, it is always important that we remember that "Love is the Answer," and our students come first.   No matter what, love transcends everything and makes your day better.  My mission is to ensure that our students are safe and that they continue to love to come to school, and we continue, as a school wide community to support the love of learning that each student intrinsically has.

Happy October!

françoise

We are the world.

I wasnʻt sure where to start for our inaugural newsletter for school year 2017-2018.  I was asked by our outstanding PCNC, Halleh Dunicliffe to submit something for and I belabored on what the theme should be and what my focus should be each month.   I decided that I want to focus my piece in the newsletters on the joy of learning.  I am fortunate enough to be raised in a multicultural and bilingual home where critical thinking, diverse rich conversation and the love of learning was ubiquitous in my childhood.  My father is a retired nationally recognized middle school principal and has and continues to be an inspiration to me in my work as a school leader, parent and person.  He taught me the gift of learning and the tenacity in which I need to advocate for my students so they reach all of their educational goals.  I am so excited that our faculty and staff have joined me this year in implementing so many awesome programs to enrich the education of our students at Lokelani.  We started the AVID program this year to prepare students for college, a Spanish Language and Art elective, and added a physical education teacher to ensure that all students have physical education each year.  In our three year academic plan, our school aspires to become an International Baccalaureate Middle Years Programme school.  We are in the exploratory phase of becoming an International Baccalaureate school and researching what it will take to get this prestigious recognition for our school.  Our parents and community members are an integral component of bringing this international programme to our school, so I have a task for all of you.  In the cafeteria there are two maps.  I am asking, students, parents and families to send our school postcards when they travel so that we can pin them to our maps.  I want to show our students all the places we have been and all the places we can dream to go to.  I would like our students to know that there is a whole world out there for them to explore full of diverse learning opportunities.

I look forward to a prosperous, successful and fun school year.
Take care,
Françoise

Student Energy!

It is so great to have our students back on campus.  I am enjoying getting to know our new sixth graders, our new students in seventh and eighth grade and reconnecting with familiar faces from last year.  I love the beginning of the school year and checking in with our students about what they did over the summer and their hopes and dreams for this school year.  Our school comes alive when the first busses drop off our students.  I am here for our students to ensure that they have maximum opportunities this year.   I welcome studentsʻ suggestions on how we can make our school better as well as parent input.  I hope to see all of you at our Open House on August 30, 2017.  More information will be posted soon on our website.

Tomorrow, we have our all school assembly letting students know about all the exciting opportunities they can enjoy during their middle school years.  I told someone the other day that I am the luckiest person in the world because I have a job that I love where I get to inspire children to learn and dream.  Our students, your children energize me to move forward and to ensure that the time is now to brighten their educational journey.  I have rolled up my sleeves and am determined to lead this school into continued prosperity.  Please join me and participate in this great energy on our campus.  

The Classroom is the Third Teacher

Learning is multifaceted.  We learn from our teachers, each other, our families, and our life experiences.  The physical space we learn in is also a teacher.  I asked our teachers at Lokelani to design their classrooms to mirror the learning that they want to happen this school year.  I believe, the learning space should inspire students to collaborate, wonder, and dream about all the multiple opportunities they have for their lives.  When I was a middle school student, I loved going to my language arts class where there were spaces for me to work in groups, read independently, and conference with my teacher.  It was comfy, peaceful and inviting.  I felt safe taking risks and asking questions.  My science classroom was decorated with artifacts from exemplar science labs and comfy spaces for us to work in which included a loft in the classroom.  My art class had student work displayed like a gallery all over the room.

As I walked around Lokelani today and visited classes, I saw teachers that put in a lot of effort to create an optimum learning enviornment that exudes a passion for learning.  An eighth grade science teacher had beautiful lights on her walls, with several different areas in her class for students to work in groups, collaborate and problem solve.  A seventh grade social studies teacher decorated his walls with student work from past projects.  A seventh grade science teacher had pictures of herself and important people in her life, as well as past student work and organized areas where students could access the supplies they needed to be more independent.  Our seventh grade language arts teachers had collaborative work spaces, beautiful libraries of books to choose to read, and cooperative learning spaces.  We as a school, are dedicated to designing learning spaces where students are engaged and enjoying their learning.  

We continue to work on facilities improvements to allow these creatively designed spaces to exist.  I meet at least weekly with our facilities and maintenance team to discuss school facility improvement.  I am grateful for the team of teachers, students and parents that organized the beautiful mural.  Our beautiful mural really brought life to the front of our school.  I was very fortunate to attend an award winning middle school with meticulously designed learning spaces and I hope to recreate this same kind of purposeful learning space for our students at Lokelani.  

Gratitude

Aloha Waveriders,

I am so grateful to be your new principal at Lokelani School.  School starts for all sixth, seventh and eighth graders on Monday, August 7, 2017.  Classes start at 8:30am.  We will be on a special schedule the first day so that you can meet all of your teachers.  There will be people with bright yellow vests all over campus if you need help finding your classes.  We know it is the first day so we will be available to help you.  Donʻt worry!

Please remember to be in your uniform!  You need to wear your Lokelani t-shirt and Lokelani sweatshirt if you need one!  You will get your ID and lanyard that you need to wear at school on the first day in your homeroom.  The bell system is on our IPADS so students will learn more about that when they arrive.

Also, please check out our new website:  www.lokelanischool.k12.hi.us.   There is a lot of information there to keep you in the loop about was is happening at our school.

Get a good nightʻs rest this weekend and we canʻt wait to see your happy faces Monday morning!

Aloha,
Ms. Wittenburg

Opening Day!

Pūpūkahi I Holomua: Unite to Move Forward

Today was the first official day back for our teachers.  It was jam packed with new news, old news, new people and old people, or shall I say wiser, more seasoned educators.  There is so much going on here at Lokelani and I am excited to be part of this new "Wave" of change at Lokelani.  The theme for our opening day was our Vision:  Pūpūkahi I Holomua: Unite to Move Forward.  I tried to chant the vision and was grateful for the help I received from my local teachers.  All of us are collectively responsible for the success of our keiki.  I am excited to collaborate, innovate and celebrate all of our successes this year.  Our students at Lokelani will rise to new heights in their education and I am excited that we had a great start to this school year.  I am grateful to be part of this adventure in teaching and learning.

We got this!

Happy New School Year!

Aloha Lokelani Ohana,
I am excited for this new school year and have high hopes for our students!  Students return to school awake and eager on August 7, 2017.  We are focusing on three concepts this year as a school: rigor, relevance and relationships.

Under RIGOR, we will be starting our honors program in grades 6, 7, 8 in science, English and math.  We are starting a Spanish language program in the sixth grade and will expand it to each grade level each year.  This is a preliminary step in becoming an International Baccallaureate Middle Years Programme school.  We are expanding our learning opportunities in our elective program, our school garden, intramural sports program (REACH) and extracurricular clubs.

In the area of RELEVANCE, we are starting the AVID with two AVID electives in the eighth grade as well as a school wide initiative to have all students use Cornell notes and the binder organizational system.  We will also be enlisting the AVID Word of the Week and AVID Goal Setting during our advisory, HOKU period.  Lastly, we are dedicated to implementing project based learning and design thinking in each of our classrooms, so students see, analyze and apply what they are learning to real life projects which will prepare them for their career and college post secondary goals.

Our third "R," RELATIONSHIPS" is so important for our middle school and embodying the 16 characteristics of a middle school child.  We are reinvigorating our six interdisciplinary teams and our advisory curriculum: Tribes.  Our wellness committee is resurfacing this year and we are working with our district resource teachers to implement mindful and social emotional learning for our keiki.

We have a lot going on at Lokelani this year, and we hope that you will get involved with all these exciting initiatives.  Please join our PTSA (parent, teacher, student, association), SCC (school community council) and attend our parent nights.  Ask your children daily, what they learned each day and frame it in the three "R's: Rigor, Relevance, and Relationships."  Please join me on this exciting journey of learning and achievement.  I look forward to an exciting and prosperous school year.

Take care,
françoise