• Staff Appreciation Week: April 29-May 3
• Minimum Day: May 1
• Summit Swirl Fundraiser: May 1
• Community Meeting: May 3
• Community Meeting: May 13
• PTC Meeting: May 15
• Coffee Cart: May 20
• Memorial Day (no school): May 27
• PTC Coffee Cart: June 10
• The Great Skate: June 14

Staff Appreciation Week is this week! Huge thank you to all of our parent volunteers. So much goes into the planning and execution of this incredibly special week, and we couldn't make it happen without parents like you!

Coffee Cart + Great Skate Raffle: At the next PTC Coffee Cart on May 20, you'll have the chance to purchase Great Skate raffle tickets! The grand prize is a RadRunner2 Radbike (e-bike).  

Recent Grants: The PTC has been able to fund new classroom furniture, including bookshelves and a Chromebook cart. We also provided funding for the upcoming Better World Day, providing plants and materials for SELS' new pollinator garden.

Open Positions: We're looking for a co-chair, secretary, and board liaison for the next school year. Reach out to ptc@truckeecharterschool.org, chat with a current PTC executive, or join us at our next meeting on May 15 (location TBD) to see if you might be interested in joining this amazing team! Learn more about the PTC and see our executive team here.

Together We Are Crew,



The SELS PTC

We are just a few weeks into our Kinder-garden Expedition, and so much has already been learned! We have spent time learning about parts of plants, the life-cycle of plants, and are investigating ideal growing conditions. Our recent expert from the Village Nursery was very impressed with the knowledge the kids already had. These students have become such keen observers of their environment that they are not only noticing the new spring blooms, but the pollinators that are visiting, and even napping, inside the flowers. 

In the coming weeks, we will begin to plant our pollinator garden to accompany the kids’ bee hotels and work to create a welcoming environment for our pollinator friends.

The Telfer Crew has had a busy month! We have started the Amazing Me part of our expedition. Students are learning about themselves through journaling and listening to their parents' stories in class. They will continue to learn about themselves, culminating in a found poem including their spirit animal, their journaling, and their parents' stories! 

They have been working hard transforming our class into their spirit animal habitats, finishing their animal writing and their animal art piece with Ms. Frieberg. We also visited Animal Ark in Reno to see different animals and ask questions about our own spirit animals. 

In April, we finished our SELS Adventure Swim Lesson program at the Rec Center. Students saw such an improvement in their water safety, swimming, and comfort in the water during our six weeks of lessons. 

We are looking forward to our first campout in May! 

Gallagher Crew News

This month at SELS we are celebrating one of our favorite Design Principles, The Natural World. The Gallagher Crew has been discussing all the ways in which nature can be our teacher, and students are making connections to our previous unit on ecosystems. 

We have spent time enjoying beautiful poems on nature in class each week. Students have also been reflecting and observing in nature and have used those observations to create their own poetry. Students really wanted to find a way to give back, so we showed our love and appreciation for the local ecosystem by doing a community cleanup near campus. The Gallagher Crew loves nature!

Welch Crew News

"The best way to learn is by doing." ~ Old proverb. The Welch Crew is taking their learning to the next level with our Ready, Set, Go! Expedition on the physical science behind all our favorite sports. Students enjoy spending time outdoors, learning about each sports' physics. Completing science labs that require playing with balls to determine which sports balls bounce best on hard surfaces, grass, or dirt, was a highlight for our crew. As a collective group, we learned that balls that need to bounce are best used on hard surfaces (basketball, tennis, and ping pong balls), and balls that need to stop are best for grass surfaces (golf and soccer). The best part of this learning expedition is the ability to play, be active, and learn about sportsmanship, all while understanding the principles of physical science. 

This month, the Hansen Crew wrapped up their H2OH! Case Studies. We just completed our spring overnight trip to Pyramid Lake. We tested water samples on our way there, visited the Pyramid Lake Museum, and had a spontaneous opportunity to work with the Paiute Tribal Fishery; we watched them separate spawning fish, and students had a hands-on volunteer experience. We will wrap up the rock cycle with tumbling rocks, mosaic art, and a nonfiction narrative. We are also working on our final projects, prepping for 5th-grade Passages, and getting ready for several more spring fieldwork dates! 

The Brisbin Crew kicked off fieldwork season visiting sections of the Truckee River, testing for water quality health, and staying overnight in Pyramid Lake. Our Crew toured the Paiute Museum and Visitors Center, and learned about the history of the lake and the traditions of the people who live there. Students spent time on Pyramid Lake's beaches, reflecting on the journey of the Truckee River and the power of this great source of life. Next up, we examine ice and its influence in sculpting the Earth, continuing our studies in how water shapes land.

Spring fieldwork season is upon us and the Worster Crew just completed our jam packed Coastal Climate Tour. We were able to collect information and sound clips for our climate change podcasts during the 4-day trip. We spoke with solar experts and drove around their solar installation, inspecting it from all angles. We also toured the Tesla Megapack factory and saw the insides of city-sized batteries.

Day two highlights included visiting the Santa Cruz land trust sustainable farm and an electric boat tour. Surfing with the Wahine Project and learning about boardwalk roller coaster physics provided opportunities for building crew connections and created opportunities for adventure. NOAA scientist Mike Jacox and a visit to the UC Davis climate adaptation plant nursery gave us insight into how we are adapting to a changing climate on land and coast. Students are brimming with ideas and are feeling connected and ready for group work and creating our podcast this spring. 

The Santos Crew has been busy building their knowledge of DNA, genes, and genetic editing. They have been modeling what happens at the molecular level inside each cell for various processes like transcription, translation, and replication. They have also been modeling how the genetic editing technology CRISPR works. For their final product, the crew will produce a documentary to encourage audiences to think about the ethical and/or unethical uses of the technology. They have been practicing and experimenting with filming and learning how they can work together as a team to make the best documentary possible. 

Students have also been inviting community members into class to learn about how they help build a great Truckee community. The students have learned a lot about people working to make our community enjoyable, safe, and organized. We want to say, "thank you!" to all our community members who work so hard to make Truckee special. 

Hall Crew spent this month immersed in all things immigration as they dove deeper into their Expedition, Power to the People. We spent four days on fieldwork exploring and experiencing various cultures in San Francisco, including a trip to the Immigration Station on Angel Island and scavenger hunts throughout Chinatown, Little Italy, and Japantown. We wrapped up our case study exploring who has access to power in our country by creating immigrant suitcases and poems for immigrant voices to represent what immigrants might bring with them, both literally and figuratively. We are also working hard on our slam poems for social justice and are excited to share them with everyone at the end of May.

Consider making a donation!