Hello neighbors! This is the first in a series of columns that will report on news and events from your friendly neighborhood school, Sunnyside Environmental.
Located on SE Salmon St. between SE 34th and 35th, SES is a K-8 “focus option” neighborhood school. We guarantee admission to all elementary and middle school-aged children within the school boundary, and also welcome many students from other neighborhoods who gain admission through the district lottery. As a “focus option” school we provide a plethora of place-based learning experiences both on and off the school grounds, in addition to traditional academics. This includes visits to parks, rivers, and forests throughout the metro area, as well as to places such as OMSI, SCRAP, the Bird Alliance of Oregon, and a variety of art museums.
On campus, students are able to learn in the garden, cook in the community kitchen, and have weekly art, physical education, and library classes. Our teachers use the Scottish Storyline method in their curriculum, which uses a child’s natural enthusiasm for imagination and story-making to teach anything from science to socio-emotional skills. For example, my elementary-aged children have learned about animal habitats by helping (imaginary) lost baby squirrels decide where to live, and learned about emotional regulation by creating superhero personas with strengths such as “grit” and “mindfulness” who combat villains such as “Glass Man” (who gets disproportionately upset) and “Rock Brain” (who doesn’t like to listen to other people’s ideas). In other words, the Storyline method provides an opportunity for active learning. SES is a lovely learning community.
We welcomed students back on August 27th and it’s exciting to have the hallways full again. We have (slightly) different hours this year; school still begins at 8:45 am, but K-5 releases at 3:15 p.m., while the middle school gets out at 3:30 p.m., so be prepared for a little bit of traffic in the vicinity of the school around those times. Our school is closed to the public during school hours, but after 3:30 p.m. the yard becomes a public park, so feel free to stop by, walk your dog, have your kids play on the playground, and enjoy the space after that time.
If you see a group of school-aged kids with adults biking through the neighborhood in the direction of SES on a Wednesday morning, it’s probably Bike Bus! SES’s Bike Bus is led by SES parents, who organize groups of kids to ride bikes together to school on a weekly basis. This fosters a sense of camaraderie, helps reduce carbon emissions, and encourages kids to embrace cycling as a fun and social activity. SES’s Bike Bus meets at 8:20 a.m. on Wednesday mornings at four different intersections in the neighborhood, and then cycles to school. Each route is led by an experienced adult and SES students of all ages participate. Some SES students join on their own, while others bring one or more of their adults with them.
We will be having our first fundraising event of the year, Run Walk Move, at the SES campus on Friday, October 4th from 9 – 11:30 am. This is a super fun event that many students look forward to every year. Kids are grouped by age, then run, walk, or move in laps around the school yard. For those who would prefer to dance, we play energizing music while instructors lead dance routines on a separate part of the blacktop. Many teachers and family members stand on the side of the run/walk/move route cheering students on, waving streamers, and providing water and snacks, while others join in the running, walking, moving, and dancing. If you know a SES student and would like to sponsor their participation in this event, they would be very happy to receive your donation. Money raised through Run Walk Move is used to support our garden and field study programs.
As a public school, our unfortunate reality is that we are always fundraising. If you are interested in supporting your neighborhood’s place-based public K-8 learning community, we would be beyond grateful.
Donations to either the Run Walk Move event or the Back to School Ask fundraiser can be made at sesptsa.square.site. Thank you for helping us educate local children and for being a larger part of our wonderful school community.
Have questions about SES? Email [email protected] and maybe I’ll answer them in a future column!
