Dear Parents,
 
Welcome to our new school year! As Gateway School ushers in its fortieth year in the Santa Cruz community, I would like to offer a warm welcome to the new families who are joining our community and invite them to spend this year learning about our rich traditions, building new relationships, celebrating our past successes, and helping us to envision our promising future.
 
I am pleased to announce the recent arrival of two of Gateway's newest 'lil Sharks.  Both of our second grade teachers welcomed new grandchildren this fall. Cathy Oster is the proud grandmother of Jackson Cyrus who was born on August 25th, and Patricia Skowrup's first grandchild, Luke, was born on Monday, September 7th!
 
From now through mid-October, Gateway school will focus on the first of six themes in our new Character Education program - Identity Awareness.  In our Lower School, students will be asking the central questions, "Who am I?" and "Who are you?"  In our Middle School, students will grapple with this theme - albeit at a more sophisticated developmental level - in their Core classes.  Identity Awareness, knowing about and feeling comfortable with yourself, helps students explore and understand their personal identity so that they can build a strong foundation for developing healthy relationships. 

 
For new parents, I am certain that as you immerse yourself in the community, you will build strong and enduring relationships with our parents and faculty.  I encourage you to learn about Gateway's culture and ethos and to participate in the many traditions we have established over the past forty years.  These ceremonies and celebrations unite us through a common set of principles and ideals, and create a sense of identity around universally shared values.  They make our school truly special and unique.
 
I am energized by the relationships I have built with teachers and parents throughout my first year.  I look forward to working with you to support our students and advance the school's mission.  Our teachers are truly inspirational role models for our students, and our parents have demonstrated their commitment to working with the school to nourish our students' minds, their sense of self, and their love of learning.  We are all united in the common goal of raising engaged, compassionate, and empathetic children.
 
I hope everyone will join me in welcoming all of our new families to the school. I am confident that this will be one of Gateway School's finest years ever. 

 

I look forward to seeing you at Back to School Night on Sept. 10th for K - 5th and Sept. 16th for 6th - 8th!
 
Warm Regards,
 
Percy

 

Back to School Nights:
Kindergarten - 5th Grades, Thursday, September 10th, 6:30pm for New Families, 7pm for returning families, Childcare is available for $5.  Please sign up for childcare ASAP in the Main Office so we can plan for staffing. DUE TO LICENSING RESTRICTIONS WE CAN PROVIDE CARE FOR SCHOOL AGE CHILDREN ONLY.
 
6th-8th Grades, Wednesday, September 16th, 6:30pm.  Parents will meet in the West Cliff room at 6:30. After a brief intro they will be excused to follow their children's schedule of classes.
 
School Photos Take note of the day your child's class is scheduled below.  Don't forget to send a comb with your child!
Thursday, Sept. 17th:  Emily's K, Rachel's 1st, Patricia's 2nd, Jen/Julie's 3rd, Kurt's 4th, Tess's 5th, 6th, and 8th
Friday, Sept. 18th:  Liz's K, Haley's 1st, Cathy's 2nd, Kaia's 3rd, Sari's 4th, Bill's 5th, and 7th
 
Middle School French Enrichment Course - offered by Patty Lucas.  Wednesday mornings 7:40 - 8:25am. Open to all Middle School students, but priority will be given to 8th graders.  Class size will be limited.  For more information, see the Wednesday flyer on the website www.gatewaysc.org/news/index.php
 
After School Chess - Gjon Feinstein's chess class will begin on Tuesday September 22nd, look for the flyer soon.
 
Hot Lunch Program - Our hot lunch program with Ohlsen Foods began on September 2nd.  If you would like your child to receive hot lunches you must complete the yellow form and submit payment to the Main Office.  New sign up forms will come out monthly.
 
8th Grade Washington DC Fundraiser - Pizza Sales!  Get your hot after school snack and support our 8th graders' trip to DC!  Starts Wednesday Sept. 23rd and will be every third Wednesday after that 2:45 - 3:30pm.  K-3rd in front of school, 4th-8th in the Church parking lot. For more information, see the Wednesday flyer on the website at www.gatewaysc.org/news/index.php
 
SPECIAL OFFER - Extended through the month of September - Summer Family Beach Portraits help to fund our 8th grade trip to Washington DC!  Professional photographer and Gateway dad, Steve Kurtz, will be offering a family beach portrait sitting (through September 30, 2009), that includes an 8x10 print for ONLY $59.95. All proceeds from the sittings will go to the Washington DC trip as well as 20% of additional orders. The sittings don't need to be Gateway families, so invite your friends and family to take advantage of this amazing offer! Contact Steve Kurtz 423-9700 or steve@kurtzphoto.com.
www.gatewaysc.org/news/index.php

Second Harvest Food Drive Coming Soon.  In October, the 6th grade class will coordinate our school-wide canned food drive to benefit needy families in Santa Cruz County.  Please start saving your canned food items and watch for more information to come soon.  Last year we donated 2,080 pounds of food!
 
After School Care:
Kindergarten children who are in our care stay in the West Cliff Room until 3:15pm. If you are here with your own kindergartner during this time we ask that you do not allow them to play on the main playground before 3:15 as this is hard on the children in After School Care. You may watch your own kindergartners in Kindergarten Island and they are always welcome to join us in the West Cliff Room.
 
All Children We offer childcare every school day (except the last day of school) until 5:30pm.  If your child will be here with any regularity it is most economical to sign an After School Care contract.  If the standard contracts do not meet your needs we can create an individualized contract for you.  If you do have a contract you may freely change days within each month.  The After School Care program begins at 2:30pm. Charges for care begin at the child's dismissal time. At 3:15 pm all children on campus who are not being directly supervised by a parent are required to come to the tables for snack and be signed in by the ASC staff.  If you are here with your child s/he is welcome to join us for snack and activities.  If your child is in our care while you are meeting with a teacher or are doing volunteer work for Gateway School you will not be charged for ASC during that time as long as you let Rosemary know and sign a "Don't Charge Me" slip.
 
For safety reasons, we are tightening up on our procedures.  If your child is going to be in After School Care unexpectedly or you have a contract with flexible days, please write his/her name on the clipboard in the Main Office in the morning.  Please sign your child out if s/he has been with us for any amount of time.  The student rosters can be found in the West Cliff Room or on the picnic tables.
 
Sibling Care  If siblings (or car pool groups) have different dismissal times we will take care of your younger children until the older ones are dismissed.  Your older child may pick up the younger one(s) and meet you at the curb.  We do not charge for this service unless both children stay in our care beyond the older child's pick-up time.
 
Full Day Child Care  We offer childcare on teacher in-service days, conference days and during Spring Break if there is enough interest (but not during Winter Break). Please sign up in advance for these days.  Sign up sheets will be on the clipboard in the Main Office before each of these care days.
 
Parent/Teacher Conferences During the time you are in Parent /Teacher conferences you may leave your school age children in our care. Legally we are not allowed to care for younger children.  You will not be charged for care during your conference time unless your child(ren) stay in our care beyond the times of your conferences.
 
Lost and Found - Please label your child's clothing and lunch box. If your child has lost something during the week look in the bin outside labeled LOST & FOUND.  If it has been more than a week, get the key from the Main Office and look through the bin at the end of the building by the bike gate on Eucalyptus.  At the end of each month and during school breaks all items that are left will be given away to organizations that give directly to those in need.  Small non-clothing items are taken to the Main Office.  If you are interested in helping wash and distribute the Lost and Found please speak with Rosemary.
 
Business Office Reminders:
Traffic and Parking Pledges - If you have not done so already, please turn into the Main Office the Parking and Traffic Pledge for this school year that was mailed to you over the summer.  We need each family's signed Pledge in order to document our compliance with the traffic plan of our City Use Permit, as well as to make certain that all families understand the procedures that keep our parking, pick-up and drop-off areas safe for both our students and our neighbors. 
 
Driving on Field Trips - Every class depends upon parent volunteer drivers to make field trips possible.  If you would like to drive on field trips this year, you must provide us with DMV clearance and verification of your vehicle insurance.
 
Here's how to get field trip clearance: If you are not already registered with the DMV's Employer Pull Notice (EPN) program for Gateway School, please take the following steps as soon as possible:
1.  Fill out the DMV form that was sent to you over the summer.  Copies are available in the Main Office.  Return the form to the Main Office along with a check for $10, payable to Gateway School.  Please use one form per driver, and remit one $10 fee per driver.
2.  It can take some time for the DMV to get your initial report to us, so please return your completed form and check now.
3.  If you obtained a driver record report from the DMV yourself during the 2008-09 school year, you must still follow the above procedures in order to drive during the 2009-10 school year.
4.  Make a copy of your Proof of Insurance card and turn it in to the Main Office.  Please remember to turn in a new copy of your Proof of Insurance whenever you renew your car insurance.
Thank you very much for helping to enrich the school experience of your child and his or her classmates by volunteering to drive!
 
Help Gateway go green!  If you would like to help us save paper and postage, you can have your monthly billing statement delivered to you by email instead of US mail.  About 25% of our families have already signed up for this option.  If you have not yet signed up and would like to do so now, please email your request to Rima in the Business Office at rima.dunton@gatewaysc.org.  Thank you very much.
 
Upcoming Events:
Santa Cruz Area School Garden Open House, Saturday September 12th, 10:30am - 1:30pm.  There are 8 school gardens on the tour, including Gateway's!  Our Life Lab Garden tour will be led by students, and there will also be shed painting, a plant sale, and solar cookies for sale.  Email Caprice at caprice.potter@gatewaysc.org for more information or visit www.lifelab.org/openhouse.php.  We hope to see you there!
 
6th Grade Beach Cleanup September 18th - Gateway has adopted It's Beach and this commits us to undertaking three beach cleanups each year.  On Friday September 18th, our 6th graders will complete our commitment to the beach by providing the school's third beach cleanup for 2009. That date is a county-wide school beach cleanup day.  Saturday, September 19th is the county-wide cleanup that any family or individual can participate in.  Contact Save Our Shores at www.saveourshores.org  if you'd like information on how to participate.
 
Book Fair is coming up soon and volunteers are needed!   Book Fair profits are a major part of our library budget.  The Book Fair coincides with the parent teacher goal setting conferences on October 8th and 9th.  Volunteers are needed on Wednesday, October 7th to set up, and on Thursday and Friday October 8th and 9th to work at the Book Fair and help with breakdown on Friday afternoon. Parents who are interested in volunteering, or in helping with publicity or scheduling of volunteers can contact Merle at merle.froshman@gatewaysc.org or x320, or can sign up in their children's classrooms during Back to School Night.

 

I hope everyone is having a great start to your school year!  This year's Development Team is planning for some fun ways to raise the funds needed to complete our budget and to fulfill the mission of our school.  Gateway, like other independent schools, structures our budget to keep tuition as affordable as possible for the largest number of families. Since tuition does not cover the entire cost of a Gateway education, we raise this annual operating "gap" between costs and tuition revenue through charitable giving.
 
This year, our Annual Giving Campaign (October 2009) has a goal of $260,000, and our Auction event (February 6th, 2010) and on-line auction (winter 2010) are targeted to net $90,000. Thank you in advance to every family for helping us reach our goals for the 2009-2010 school year. Every child at the school benefits immediately from this support.
 
Our Development Program also raises funds for Endowment to help build our school's general and financial aid endowments for future generations that attend Gateway. We also seek major gifts from families who are capable of this level of giving to help advance the mission of the school through special projects or to reach goals set out in our Board of Trustees' Strategic Plan. If your family has an interest in these areas please feel free to talk to me or to Percy.
 
Please join me in thanking 7th grade parent and trustee Virginia Ganley for Chairing our Development Committee again this year. Virginia is joined by the following Board members who help direct and implement our Development activities: Angela Chesnut, Ryan Brandt, Christina Falco, Denise Lee, and Anne Rowley.  And extra big thanks to our 2010 Auction Co-chairs: 2nd & 4th grade parent Andrea Hultzen and Kindergarten and 8th grade parent Amy Jensen.
 
The first All-Volunteer Meeting for the 2010 Auction is Friday Sept. 11th at 8:45am in the West Cliff Room. Come hear about the theme and the new location for the event, and get involved in this major benefit fundraiser! For working parents who would like to help with the event and cannot make that meeting time, please e-mail Andrea at drehultzen@sbcglobal.net or Amy at AJKJensen@gmail.com and let them know of your interest in being involved.
 
Gateway School has chosen the Life Lab Science Program housed at UCSC to receive a portion of funds raised at the February 2010 Auction event.  As a point of interest, A Taste of the Harvest - Life Lab Science Program's Annual Benefit and Auction and 30th Anniversary - will be held at the UCSC Life Lab Garden on Saturday Sept. 12th from 4:00-7:00pm.  For more information or to purchase tickets, visit www.lifelab.org/dinner.php
 
Enjoy the year at our wonderful school!