Orientation and such

waiting for assembly to start

We designate our first two days of every school year to orientation. It involves welcoming our new students, a ton of scheduling logistics, and going over school rules and procedures. It takes two full days and a lot of collaboration and hard work.  The kids all receive their new books for the year and are measured for new school uniforms.  We have our guardians fill out a school agreement form to be sure that they do their part and commit themselves to our mission. We've been trying to figure out the bus pick up route and fill out paperwork for each and every one of our student files.

We go over the dress code, health and hygiene, morning assembly, attendance, and safety. The kids rotate from station to station. I was with Man Kumari (our science teacher) and Safira (our home fellow) and we definitely had the serious station. Our topics included stranger danger, drugs and alcohol, bullying, and sexual harassment. Not the most "FUN" things to talk about and the conversation varied depending on the age group but the kids really did follow along and participate, and it felt good to have an open and honest conversation with them.

We also have our students sign an honor code and we talk about what it means to be a Kopila student both in and outside of school. The kids pledge that they will not "lie, cheat, steal, or disrespect others."  John implemented the honor code this year and it's been a really good way to hold the kids accountable for their actions. 

Over the next few days the kids will get split up into their houses, (Harry Potter style) and then the competition for the Kopila cup begins! We're kicking off this week with a big field day competition. Assembly was really great today.  Ben announced the kids who made honor role and the principal's list.  We introduced our new school bus driver, Ganesh, and our new school nurse Srijana! We're so excited to welcome them both to the team. The kids seem really into the school spirit and ready to kick off the new year.

In other news, our well rig hit 120 feet today and things are looking pretty muddy!  Water (at our future High School site) should come any day now.

Thank you all so much for sharing in our school bus excitement and Matt Madeiro's birthday surprise! Thanks to my teachers, principal, staff and fellows for all their hard work these past few days :)

Krishna Bogati and Sagar on the front porch all ready for school

First day of School Surprise

Today is the first day of school and boy do we have a big surprise!!!!!  Our school bus has arrived just in time for the new year!!!

This is a game changer for our students and exactly what we needed to expand our reach and provide access to kids who would not have the chance otherwise. It will also be saving many of our current students 2-5 hours (on foot) of commuting each day.  That's extra time they can spend on homework, helping siblings, and doing work around their homes. As for me, I can finally fit my entire family into one vehicle. What a gift!!!  

Test driving! Our little tribute to Matt MadeiroView from my office. My heart skips a beat every time I look out and see the bus parked there.Thank you Matt Madeiro and all of you who made this dream come true!  It is starting to feel more and more real by the day.  We're coordinating the bus route and bus stops and timing today and tomorrow.  First pick-ups start Wednesday.  Thanks for sharing in our excitement!!!  More videos and photos to come. We love you. xoxo  

 

on the home front

Naveen, Birendra, Deepak

The kids here at home have been troopers this week while the fellows, staff and I have all been tied up with admissions and various projects going on. They've read books and watched too much T.V. and cleaned their rooms. They are really good about entertaining themselves. Yesterday they made their own remote control car out of a coke bottle. I promised them a game of cops and robbers (their favorite) the other night but then someone walked in the gate to ask something about admissions, and then one of the school kids came in with a staph infection that I wanted to treat and before I knew it, it was dinner time. It's amazing how fast the days go. Time just gets swallowed up. I find myself staring at my children every day in awe and asking myself how they got so old. I swear Santosh sprouted like a bean stalk this month and little Krishna Bogati turned into a teenager over night. I feel like I'll wake up next week to a house full of teenagers. I did some math last night and realized that in just three years we'll have six 18 year olds.  

I am trying to treasure the quiet moments we have together and sadly there have been very few of them these last few weeks with so much and work and travel. Insert mama guilty feeling here. It's the worst. I'm looking forward to getting back into a steady routine with the new school year and trying to stay conscious of the fact that every single moment is precious.  

We've been doing these little "family meetings" where we talk in smaller groups about certain topics. The boys, Ben and I talked about fighting the other night and taking the "higher road" rather than punching, kicking, throwing stones, and getting physical. We're working on it :) I gave all the boys a few practice scenarios and asked them how they'd handle different situations. Their answers made me laugh. A few of them are enrolled in mandatory yoga and meditation classes with Nena and it seems to be helping.  

The little girls meeting last night turned into us all sitting on my floor eating mangos and then I let them sleep over, 8 of them laying side by side on a few mattresses. I woke up the next morning to their bodies all tangled together with their blankets. So precious. The older girls have turned into my protectors.  They have their eyes on me, making sure I'm not too stressed and wanting to know what they can do to help and every day I look at them and wonder how I ever got so gosh darn lucky. I'm taking them all out to dinner for some girl time tonight. We haven't done that in forever.

School starts on Sunday! The books have arrived. Our teachers are getting their rooms and schedules together. The fellows have been incredible with helping get ready for the new year and holding down the fort. I don't know how I got so lucky with this team.

Happy Weekend Wishes!

xo Maggie

the new school year

Congratulations Sabitra, Kopila Valley Class of 2030!The admissions craze is over and we have selected 32 amazing little Kopila Scholars for the new year!  I can't wait to introduce you all.  Today and tomorrow we have Teacher-In-Service and then our first day of school starts Sunday with orientation. I am so excited to welcome 4 new teachers to our team and for everything this year has in store for us. There is nothing I love more than a fresh new start!

We have so many exciting ventures planned for the new year.  A poetry slam, field day, our school play,  service projects, organic gardening projects, our first science fair and much much more!  My goal is to involve our friends here on the blog as much as possible and hopefully get some interaction going on with videos and some posts from the Kopila Kids' themselves.

Did you know it's the start of the year 2070 In Nepal?  2070 HERE WE GO!!! 

admissions 2013

Today was our first day of admissions.  So much of the past few weeks has been a whirlwind.  It was all a mix of final exams, report cards, closing off the school year, hiring new teachers to join the team, and getting ready for our official expansion into 9th grade.  Yes, believe it or not it is the end of our school year (we follow the Nepali lunar calendar) and yes, we now have 9th graders at Kopila which means that we are officially a high school.  I have to pinch myself every day when I look at the older kids, at their faces, which have seemingly transformed into young adults over night. 

Our 8th graders spent months gearing up for a big national exam that they get ranked and scored on.  It's called the D.L.E. and it's an exam everyone takes to graduate from 8th grade and move into high school.  They all worked really hard together to prepare, by taking extra classes before and after school and doing practice tests on the weekends.  It was the first time as a school that we've taken this exam and none of us really knew what to expect.    It was a hard process for me personally because I don't believe in "teaching to a test" but I also wanted the kids to go into it with confidence and make our mark as a new young school.

Today at around 4 p.m. the results came in.  A few of us were sitting in the office totally spent from a day of tough decision making and admission chaos when our Vice Principal, Min Sir walked in the door with a big smile across his face. 

"The Chief District Education Minister said to tell you congratulations," Min Sir said.

"Why?" I asked, totally out of it and having no idea what the paper was that he held in his hands.

As it turned out every single one of our 8th graders placed in first division on their exams.  And ten our students were awarded with distinction.  I held the paper in my hands and felt a little teary eyed.  It really is an incredible accomplishment.  I left school to go find all the kids for hugs and to tell them how proud I was.  Really, I am so so proud, not just of their marks but of all the time they put into studying and working hard to achieve something so big... together.

I have to say that with each year that goes by our admissions process gets a little easier.  We have learned a lot and going into our fourth year this year and I'm finally starting to feel like we're getting the hang of it.  We ran 5 rooms with 5 separate panels made up of teachers, the fellows, administrators and our board members, with makes it much easier to collaborate, make decisions, and bounce ideas off of one another.  I'm learning to trust the team and not get so emotionally bent out of shape over every case.  I truly believe that we get the students who are meant to be here, so I really just try to go with my gut and encourage the team to do the same.  We have a short list that we will work on narrowing down tomorrow.  And by the end of tomorrow, 30 new little Kopila students for the new school year.  Wish us luck :)  Thanks for letting me brag about the kids, our proud moment today and their D.L.E exams.  And thank you so much for all of your support. 

Love from us in Nepal!  We'll have a lot of exciting news this week so come by again soon ;)