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Family Fun at Parker's Classic American Bistro on Tues, May 24 (5-7 p.m.)
A letter to the OFS community
from Andrew Kutt
What a year its been at Oneness-Family School!
While sitting under the cherry blossoms this spring, I was thinking of the amazing abundance of our community. I was inspired to write a special song, to express my appreciation for the support, friendship and love that you bring! Please click here to listen and to view the lyrics. My intent is not only to acknowledge each of your gifts, but to acknowledge your treasured relationship to OFS. This relationship is built upon our shared goal of building a more peaceful and harmonious planet together.
In addition to sharing this special song, I want to invite you to join me at Parker's Bistro on Tuesday, May 24 for a night of good food, drink and music for the whole family. Oneness-Family School is partnering with Parker's in order to celebrate a wonderful school year, as well as to support the Oneness-Family School Annual Fund.
In order to help reach our $140,000 goal, Parker's will be donating 15% of all dinner sales that night to the Oneness-Family School Annual Fund.
Any new donation on this evening will be matched by our Board of Trustees, up to $5,000.
So we ask for a gift from those who haven't donated yet, and for those who have donated, to consider making an additional gift to maximize the challenge!
Help us reach our goal and have fun while doing it!
Sincerely,
Andrew
Community meeting dedicated to Japan, students make cards and write messages of hope to the victims of the Japan
A recent community meeting was dedicated to those in Japan affected by the tsunami and earthquake. As part of this, students had created cards, and drawings that expressed hope and love
View slideshow of photos.
Andrew Kutt Launches Blog "Peace by Piece"
As the founder of the Oneness-Family School, Andrew has been working for more than 20 years as an educator, songwriter, and poet. His blog will have periodic posts with his insights about education, peace, and more.
Visit Peace by Piece Blog.
Oneness-Family School Celebrates Children of Many Faiths!
On Friday, December 17 at 7 pm, Oneness-Family School celebrated its annual Festival of Lights program and Holiday Bazaar.
The Festival of Lights is a long-standing School tradition that showcases the culmination of the School's curriculum unit on World Religions. Every fall, the elementary classes attend field trips to various houses of worship and sacred places. The purpose of these journeys is to cultivate a deeper understanding of world practices and beliefs.
These studies build up to a special evening program - the Festival of Lights - and through music, song, storytelling, candles and joy we celebrate the spiritual lights and universal teachings of all major religions and spiritual paths.
Before and after the program there was a Holiday Bazaar featuring items the students had made, as well as eco-friendly and fair trade items from local stores and artists. The Holiday Bazaar was a great success, a special thanks to all of the vendors who joined us! If you'd like to sell your fair trade items at our Bazaar next December, please contact Lindsay Goetting.
Harvest Gala and Annual Fund Update
Many of you attended our Harvest Gala and Children's Funfest on November 19. We certainly showed our school spirit by raising more than $45,000 toward our goal of $140,000! This included two gifts of $5,000, one gift of $4,000, one gift of $2,000, seven gifts of $1,000, eighteen gifts of $400-750 as well as other generous gifts. Thank you! This also included $2,225 raised from the silent auction. Not included in these totals is our AppleFest, which will bring in an additional $7,000.
Thanks to all the parents who volunteered to make the Gala and the AppleFest such a success, without you we couldn't have done it! Thank you also to those of you who donated or solicited goods or services for the silent auction. Now we begin the next phase of our Annual Fund campaign. With your help, as well as the help of grandparents, alumni families, and friends of the school we are sure to reach our ultimate goal of $140,000 in the coming weeks.
The Annual Fund sustains the operations of our school and helps ensure that your child has a great educational experience every day. It supports all that is special about Oneness-Family School - including our great teachers and staff, the creative arts programs, fitness and P.E, technology, classroom materials and much more. Learn more about the Annual Fund here.
Our Fourth Annual AppleFest kicked off on Monday, October 18, 2010. A highlight of the School's Annual Fund Drive, the AppleFest raises money and promotes healthy eating.
The School community sells fresh Empire "eco-apples" and fresh-pressed cider from Sunrise Orchards in Cornwall, Vermont, a 40-year old family farm committed to sustainable farming. The apples and cider arrive the week before Thanksgiving in time for holiday pies, applesauce, and just plain good eating. For more information, contact us at apples@onenessfamily.org.
Download Order Form (PDF) - Hurry, order before Nov. 12!
United Nations Day is a much-celebrated tradition at The Oneness-Family School and has been since its founding in 1988. This year, more than 40 representatives from embassies will be the distinguished guests of the School at a special program featuring performances by children in every grade level from pre-K to Middle School. In the OFS tradition, parents are invited to carry the flag of their country in a parade of flags that shows how truly international the School community is.
Last year, more than 50 countries were represented in this parade. For more information about UN Day at Oneness-Family School, contact us.
The Middle School students and teachers will receive the gift of a state-of-the-art Promethean Active Board this fall thanks to the generosity of one student's grandfather, and the parents of the Middle School students. The grandfather contributed a $2500 challenge gift in honor of his granddaughter's 10 years at Oneness-Family School and the start of her final year. Classroom parents quickly acted to raise an additional sum equal to the original gift in order to afford the best board for the class.
The Smart Board is expected to be installed in October and will be a great aid in teaching math, science, language and creative projects. The class is very excited about the possibilities created by this gift. Thank you to all who helped to make it happen!
Dr. Christine Carter shared her research and findings to a full house at Oneness-Family School in spring 2010. She will return again to speak to our community next year, please stay tuned for more details.
On Tuesday, September 21 in Egypt, The Art Mile Mural Project will celebrate the International Day of Peace with pyramids made of peace murals from around the world. The children, faculty and staff of the Oneness-Family School created a beautiful peace mural in 2009 and sent it to California to be included in this international project. We are proud to participate in such a creative and public commitment to world peace.?
Kelly Lewis, former Capital One executive and head of the Lewis Leadership Group, accepted a two-year appointment to the Board of Trustees. Lewis, a native of Richmond, Virginia, is passionate about improving the approach to education for middle school children in public schools. Drawing on her firsthand knowledge of leadership and working in partnership with Moody Public School in Richmond, Lewis founded Bounce. She and her Richmond-based partners have pioneered an innovate approach to teaching real-life leadership skills to sixth through eighth graders ? and to community leaders who participate in the Bounce program. For more information about Kelly Lewis and Bounce, go to: www.wecanbounce.com
Shawn Harrity, who teaches first- through third-graders at Oneness-Family School in Chevy Chase, decides that the last science class of the year is the perfect time to study the ways bees, wasps and hornets are different. Passing around enlarged photos of the insects, Harrity encourages a small group of third-graders to compare wing shapes and thoraxes before he talks about the habits and habitats of the bugs...
See full article here.
The Oneness-Family School community sold approximately 1,000 bags of Empire eco-apples and 500 gallons of fresh-pressed Vermont cider this year to benefit the School's Annual Fund campaign. The apples and cider arrived straight from Sunrise Orchards in Cornwall, Vermont and were distributed throughout the DC metropolitan area thanks to the dedication of parents and students at Oneness. Special thanks to Dave Ebner, who conceived of and spearheaded the Apple Sale for the fourth year.
Shawn Harrity, Peace Arbor (Grades 1-3) teacher featured as one of their "Great Teachers"in 
