{photos by Emily Ferrarini}
For new and returning families alike, today we bring you a friendly guide to one of our favorite places – the Den! Emily Ferrarini will be leading us through it, so let’s go…
Our school store and library at SLOCA are together referred to lovingly as the Den. The Den is a cozy place for you to grab a cup of coffee, gather with friends, meet other parents, read a book, and simply hang out. New this year, we ask that you keep your phones tucked away, and enjoy connecting with others face to face, the old fashioned way. Today, I’ll be channeling Mister Rogers and giving you a (virtual) tour of one of the most charming places in our neighborhood! Let’s visit SLOCA’s Den!
We are so lucky to live in SLO, where it’s almost always a beautiful day to be outside. We have tables and chairs set up, so you can eat your lunch, study, or enjoy a conversation in the sunshine. Even though it’s not in the building, we still ask that you model a balanced relationship with technology – put your phones and laptops away! (You are welcome to use your laptop in the Lo-Fi Lounge.)
Coffee, hot tea, apple cider, cocoa, and refreshing kombucha are available for purchase in the store. We sell SLOCA mugs, water bottles, and glass jars and growlers, so you can save a little bit of plastic while representing our school. We also sell bottled drinks, chips, granola bars, and other snacks. The snacks are a big hit with our students, especially if they are lucky enough to have a snack card on file with us.
Pre-purchase snack or coffee cards in the store that we keep on file for you to use as you wish. We have kombucha cards, too!
We serve Bluefin coffee for just a couple bucks, so drop by after the morning meeting, peruse the offerings in the store, and say hello to old and new friends. We have recently teamed up with a local startup company that makes compostable coffee cups. (planttrash.com)
We have worked hard to stock the store with everything you need for your home days – required curriculum, supplemental books and materials, and supplies. We also have beautiful gifts, classics for you or to enjoy with your children, math and science materials, art supplies, games, shirts, hats, water bottles, tote bags, and more. We get new stuff often, and you just never know what you will find in the store. We do our best to offer quality, educationally rich items at the lowest prices we can manage (about 10% below retail most of the time.) We also have a cart outside with some discounted items, and a few used books. We have SLOCA gear in many sizes and designs, too.
Our library takes up a few rooms on the other side of the Den. Emily, the librarian, is always happy to provide suggestions for good books. Everything you find is available for checkout. Help your students learn how to check books out themselves – it’s such a great feeling of independence for them when they can come during recess and pick out a new book. Middle school students in need of community service hours are invited to speak to the librarian, too. There is always plenty to do.
The picture book room is a colorful, inviting room with an ever-changing display of beautiful storybooks. Many of our families check out a big stack to last them all week. Purposefully chosen, our library books are selected for quality, beauty, and educational merit. We choose books that connect to history, books with timeless themes, and books that engage the imagination. We even have board books for your little ones.
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In the fiction room, the books are organized by the author’s last name. Books for early readers have their own little section, but beyond that you will find everything from Beverly Cleary to Jane Austen in this room. A few recommended titles are on display around the room, and the Battle of the Books have their own section as well. We have a lot of wonderful historical fiction that connects to American history, we have the latest Newbery Award winning titles, and we have a few out of print gems that nonetheless make for perfect family read alouds! It’s not unusual to find a few students plopped down on the round rug with a book in this room. This is also the room where the youngest SLOCA students join the librarian for story time during their school day.
In the nonfiction room, books are organized by Dewey Decimal System. And don’t worry if you don’t have it memorized – we have small signs to guide you. We always have a few good books on display, too. There is a new little area in this room dedicated to nonfiction picture books. Remember, nonfiction encompasses science, history, information, but also folk and fairy tales, poetry, and music. There are some great books tucked away in this room! We also have board games and puzzles available for playing in the library. If you stop by after school, you’re likely to stumble upon a big group of kids gathered around playing chess, Uno, Scrabble, or Settlers of Catan.
We hope that this “tour” has acclimated you just a bit, and that you will feel welcome to stop by the Den. We are open every school day, from 8:15 – 3:00. The women who work in the store are all SLOCA parents who have been around for a while – ask questions, introduce yourself, and get connected. We have been first timers before too, and we have stuck it out because we believe doing education this way is well worth the effort. And we couldn’t have done it without community (and a few cups of coffee!) So drop by the Den, buy that one last curriculum book you were waiting on, coo over someone’s baby, volunteer to take the trash out, check out a library book, have a kombucha, or just sit for a while with your thoughts. The Den is for you. It is a place for quiet, a place for conversation, and we hope you’ll enjoy it.
Thank you, Emily! Now I have a hankering for some coffee or kombucha, and a good book… hope to see you parents around the Den soon!
