Clark Fork Rising

The walls are going up! Check back over the next week for pictures of the big changes.

We had a great turnout at last Saturday's work party--and lots of work got done. Thanks to everyone who showed up (don't forget to keep track of your parent hours). The construction and sewer projects, however, have given us a bigger challenge than usual so we are going to have at least two more work parties before the first day of school.

The next is scheduled for this Sunday morning, August 26th. We'll be there from 8 to Noon, and you are welcome for just an hour, the whole time, or whatever fits your schedule. Bring gloves, garden tools, a cordless drill, baked goods... and we'll be prepared for whatever the joblist fairy leaves for us.

Call or e-mail me, Mark Wilson, if you have questions about the work party: 721-5015/mark@grubshed.net

Work Parties Past and Future

Mark Wilson-father of Nat-adding another voice to the blog. As we get ready for the next work party this Saturday, I thought I would share some of the fun from our last community work day.

On August 8th, the concrete floor of the expansion was poured and an enthusiastic parent/student/teacher work force let loose their creative juices. We embedded hundreds of pounds of glass, rock and metals just below the concrete surface that will be revealed as the the top 1/8th inch of concrete is ground away.

Here is a glimpse at the process:

The top photo shows the concrete pros spreading the "mud" before we started our work. Here, Connor King-Ries and mother Kristin broadcast multi-colored glass beads into the Kindergarten cubby area.

Kindergarten teacher Vicky, her daughter Ashley, and others work on a decorative border for the kindergarten. Our new director, Linda Symonds, had a turn at broadcasting glass, too.

After we finished small areas, the concrete guys "floated" the decorations just below the surface; it was rather worrisome to watch our efforts disappear into the hardening floor, but we were assured that we would see them again.

What room has the Sun, the Moon, and scorpions? Where is the Compass Rose? How many animals inhabit the expansion? Come to our Party on the Slab Tuesday, August 21st at 6:00 p.m. for the grand unveiling. We don't have walls yet, but Clark Fork School spirit is set in concrete.

I hope to see many of you Saturday the 18th starting at 9:30 for our next work party! We'll start preparing the school yard for the arrival of the preschoolers in less than 3 weeks, so wear your grubbies and bring gloves and water bottles. Kids, of course, are welcome-as are people who would like to wrangle the kids rather than toil in the earth. If you can't make it, we'll be having a couple more work days before school starts... the construction and sewer connection have provided us with plenty of opportunity to start racking up those parent hours.

Beehive of activity.

Great week so far - a lot happening inside and out. Sidewalks getting poured, concrete getting ground and polished, landscaping and parking lot shaping up... Not to mention cleaning, re-ordering and planning for the new classrooms and some great organizing being done in the basement work area. Thanks to Craig Shannon for taking on the painting and hanging of cubbies, John Lund for moving around a lot of shelves and bulletin boards, Gabriel Schofield for repairing the sandbox trim and removing the chain-link from the front yard, Brianna Schofield for working on the basement organization and Jacqueline Teasdale for painting.

Landscaping work parties begin this Saturday - get in touch with Mark Wilson - 721-5015 or come to the school Saturday morning to chip in on some playground work. Hope to see a lot of folks at the Slab party Tuesday night - read post below for details. Things are shaping up!

Party on the Slab! Tuesday, August 21 - 6pm!

Clark Fork School and Community Bank invite you to a potluck dinner and viewing of the construction progress at the school Tuesday, August 21st at 6:00 p.m.
We hope you will join us to celebrate. It will be a great evening to re-connect and meet new families, introduce yourselves to our new teachers and Director, Linda Symonds. We’re sending this out to our current email list, but please pass the word around to those excited about our project – Friends and Families alike!

• Community Bank is providing hamburgers and buns, condiments and soda.

• Families with their last name beginning A – I, bring a pasta, rice (starch) salad.
• Families with their last name beginning J – R, bring a vegetable dish.
• Families with their last name beginning S – Z, bring a dessert.


Due to construction, the school parking lot use is a bit limited – there is some parking at the school, but overflow parking is available at Rattlesnake School and near Pineview Park. As always, we encourage walking, biking, carpooling, pogo-sticking, etc Please be considerate of our neighbor’s property if you park on the street near the school.

If you have any questions, call Anne at 728-3123 or e-mail annefogelburchenal@mac.com.

We look forward to a lovely evening.

A Note from a former CFS Teacher and Friend

A couple of weeks ago as I stood and surveyed the big mess created by excavating the playground, a red car pulled in the CFS parking lot and a very enthusiastic woman approached. She introduced herself as Erica Stover, the primary teacher prior to Shirley's arrival. She said she had received our fundraising packet in the mail and just couldn't quite imagine what the project was going to look like and since she was in town visiting, she wanted to check it out for herself. Even in that very disheveled state, she was so enthusiastic and genuinely excited for the school. She spent a bit of time inside and drafted a note to all of the teachers. It was such a wonderful tribute that I wanted to share it with all of you friends following our expansion project...

"This expansion is outstanding! What a giant step CFS is making in this generation. I wish you all the most exciting year ahead. Despite all of the change, I still find CFS so comfy and familliar. Knowing that the school survives and THRIVES is a thrill!"

"CFS shaped me in ways I will honor for the rest of my life. Goodness knows, I almost lived here year round! This environment is in my heart forever. All my best to you 0 over the waves of change and off to new horizons. Have a fantastic adventure!"

CFS Teachers in the Woods!

Seven of the nine teachers for our coming school year were privileged to attend a three day Mentoring Workshop provided by Ravenwood Natural Science Center, at a location southeast of Big Fork, Montana. The teachers became the students, participating in a variety of experiential learning activities peppered with discussions and teaching seminars. This unique weekend experience will serve as a catalyst for even more outdoor experiential methods in our own class communities. Be watching for such awareness-stretching developments as "Camouflage, Flash Flood, and Freeze," frequent "off trail" saunters, and a general excitement in the air. In addition to the wonderful mentoring modeled for us by the Ravenwood staff, Brett and Laura Holmquist, the workshop also served to create new and cement old bonds between staff members. We are ready as a team to dive in and create a really exciting year for our students!

Parent Jobs

Hello all! Thanks to all of you trying to reach our new job coordinator, Lauren Fern, to get signed up for tasks around the school. If she hasn't contacted you yet, never fear! Lauren is the working mom of two active kids and she is new to this role (a brave woman considering it's a year when we are adding a lot of new people and logistics into the mix). She and Board VP Jacqueline Teasdale, and last year's parent job coordinator, Brigid Wilson, are meeting this week, gathering some info from teachers and expansion committee members about their most pressing needs, and reorganizing the system a bit to try and best serve everybody. There are a lot of calls and arrangements to make. If anyone out there is interested in assisting Lauren with coordinating jobs, we could sure use more on that team. We'll also be searching for a few new preschool parents to become Classroom Representatives - they attend a monthly board meeting and help facilitate the needs of parents and teachers. It's an elected position, so if you're interested, contact a current board member f0r more detail once school starts up.

It is fun to discover what people's passions and talents are and learn the ways they are most interested in participating. There are always tasks in classrooms helping teachers and kids, but we could also use folks with skills in compiling our weekly newsletter, keeping up our yard and building, planning some social and fund raising events, publicizing the school's expansion and capital campaign, helping with the Spring Auction - all kinds of things! If you're a history buff and/or scrap booking wizard, we have a lot of school pictures, mementos and stories that could be nicely compiled to celebrate the school's 25th year. If you're an organized type that doesn't mind shopping, I think we're still searching for a person or team to be the school supply purchaser.

And, of course, if you have a professional skill or connection you want to lend, we're always appreciative of those offerings. And, of course as the construction continues, we will need people to lend their creative, skilled labor and logistical minds to assist with all of the details of growing.

You will be receiving a mailing from the school in August with orientation materials and information specific to classrooms from your child's teacher.

Subterranean Homesick Blues

At this time last weekend, I was looking at the parking lot and beautiful playground of CFS and feeling a bit shaken. Getting the school hooked into the sewer proved to be a challenge and a mess! The stub for public sewer is located on Dickenson – just north of our parking lot and the school’s plumbing wasn’t all tied together in a way that made it easy to connect. On top of that was the discovery of a water line which feeds two neighboring houses (but not the school) in the same trench that needed to be excavated for the sewer line to avoid further damage to the parking lot. Compounding the difficulties is the incredibly rocky soil of our fine Rattlesnake Valley. Wow! – wow there are some enormous boulders in there. So, last weekend, as I inspected the giant gashes and piles of rubble, I wanted to run for the hills. I am still hearing phantom excavator-track squeals, beeping and crashing; I couldn’t even take pictures.

I am now happy to report that Clark Fork School is now connected to the public sewer system. This may not seem monumental, but I think it’s been a topic and anticipated ordeal for the school since the property was purchased in 1993 – it’s only a small detail in the overall scope of our expansion, but I am happy that future CFS members won’t need to deal with a failing septic system. And, if anyone ever wants/needs to know what lies beneath the grounds of Clark Fork School, I now feel more knowledgeable about that topic than I ever wanted to be.

So, after a week’s efforts by Troy and Jim of Trymark Excavation, things are really starting to take shape around the foundation and I am feeling ever so much more confident that the playground can and will be made functional – and even inviting – for our youngest CFS students returning to campus just after Labor Day. The site-work (mostly on the west so far) has included the foundations for new pathways leading up to the building’s entrances, nice grading to add functionality and interest to the outdoor areas surrounding the new construction, and just generally dealing with the transitions between new and existing areas (there’s actually a pretty significant elevation change on the property that I hadn’t really noticed before).

One of the most challenging and fun parts of planning this new space has been to consider all of the uses and elements that make the outdoor space of our campus unique and adding new features while maintaining the character that those of us around the school know and love. Once the basic structure is in place, there are going to be a lot of places where the community’s creativity and efforts can refine and personalize the grounds for enjoyment and learning possibilities for our kids – and that’s really the whole point –right!?

Anyway, for those of you that visited the site week before last, and for the teachers witnessed the carnage, I appreciate your continued patience and positive thinking – everything will come together. I hope you come back for a visit in the next week or two to get a new perspective. We will be trying to reach people for some work party evenings to get some things back into place – inside and out in the upcoming weeks – so stay tuned and thanks ahead of time for your involvement in a parent cooperative!