 | We have a new Facebook page - please check it out and pass along to friends and family. We will be posting school news here!
| Reminders:
11/12 - First Grade Parent Coffee
11/16 - "Pastries with Percy" for 6th-8th grade parents. Come talk about the Middle School with Percy!
See our schoool calendar for other upcoming events
Click here to visit the "Green Gateway" blog to see what the EAP group has been up to!
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Percy's Blog: Gateway Gets Mindful
Our children collect, interpret, and process information in profoundly different ways than we did, and it is clear that their propensity to become distracted by new stimuli affects their learning. Educators are interested in implementing strategies to focus students' minds and help them balance their emotions, even as their environment becomes faster and more complex. One effective resource schools are beginning to use is developing a mindfulness practice (MP) with students.
Click here to read more of Percy's blog...
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| 40 Acts of Kindness
One tenet of Gateway School's mission is to "develop character and a commitment to personal, social and environmental responsibility". Through selfless acts of charity, service, and philanthropy, Gateway School's faculty, staff, and students have made an impact on the Santa Cruz community. In our 40th year in Santa Cruz County, we are pledging to commit at least 40 Acts of Kindness to continue our tradition of service. Throughout the year you will hear of grade level or all-school service opportunities, which you can assist with.
All-School Service Projects currently happening at Gateway - join Gateway families as we help others in our community:
- Help your student bring in Canned Food for the Second Harvest Food Drive. The 6th grade class leads our entire school in this community service effort; each class collects canned goods, and the 6th graders count and weigh donations by class. Start saving yourcanned foods and look for more information soon as we begin the collection, which will go until winter break. Thank you!
- Help your student bring in gently used or new warm coats for the Annual Coat Drive for needy families. The coat drive is run in conjuction with Classic Cleaners. There will be a collection bag in each classroom (until December 12th).
- Support the Student Council Bake Sale after school on Thursday November 18th. Proceeds support Jacob's Heart's services to families with children with cancer or other life threatening illnesses.
If you work with a local group that needs volunteers or would like to help organize a service opportunity, please contact Gateway parent Karen Hovekamp (Luke '17, Jack '19) @ hovekamp@pacbell.net.
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All-School GPA Meeting - Thursday Nov. 11,
8:45am - 9:45am
Please remember to join us for an open discussion with Gateway Parent Association committee members, our Head of School, and Room Parents this Thursday, Nov 11th, from 8:45 to 9:45 AM. The meeting will be held in the West Cliff Room until 9:30 and then we will move outside for our last 15 minutes of Q&A, if needed. Everyone who attends can enter a drawing for two complimentary tickets to the 2011 Gateway Auction!
Meeting Agenda:
1) Preview of our Brain Rules event,
2) an introduction to our EAP program,
3) Gateway's 40 Acts of Kindness project,
4) establishing a new Parent Multimedia Group, Family Science Night, the Gateway Dad's Group, changes to upcoming traditional events, and your feedback on our recent Fall Festival event. There will also be time for us to hear from you so please bring your questions, suggestions, and ideas for the GPA.
I look forward to seeing you and hearing from you on Nov 11th. Sincerely, George Delli-Santi
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Annual Giving Campaign Update
To-date we are at 59% parent participation. Last year we reached 90% parent participation. Warm thanks to those who have already participated. We ask all other parents to join in by making a gift or pledge (to be paid by the end of the fiscal year) to the Annual Giving Campaign, "This is Our School" now.
We want to get the Campaign wrapped up before Thanksgiving, so now is the time to show your support by pledging TODAY! Your donation directly impacts the faculty and children. You can make your tax-deductible donation online at www.gatewaysc.org/giving/donate.html or submit your pledge to the Development Office for tracking.
Double your gift with a Matching Gift: Does your company have a matching gift program? Gateway is a 501(c)(3) and may be eligible to receive a donation from your employer.
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8th Grade Washington DC Fundraisers:
Shave Ice Sale - Friday Nov. 12 - 8th graders will be selling shave ice after school on Friday for $2 each.
Family photography session with 8th grade parent Laura Lucas. For a nominal fee of $25, you will receive high resolution digital images of your family portrait. All proceeds will go to the Class of 2011 8th grade Washington DC fundraising. Make an appointment directly with Laura through email: lucasjohnlaura@aol.com.
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Fall Festival - Life Lab Plant Sale Thank Yous
Thank you so much to all the people that worked so hard to make our life lab garden booth beautiful, festive and successful at the Fall Festival: 4th graders Victoria Gorum, Zoey Carmichael and Sophie Frumkin who worked tirelessly selling with a smile all day; Zoey's grandma, Nada Duna, Raymond Samaha, Neli Mashian, Jeannie's friend Whitney, Shiva's mom Vickie, Melinda, Sarah, Susie, and Terence who helped set-up, clean-up, make signs, supervise and generally make everything run smoothly! And a very special thank you to Tim, Virginia and Shannon Ganley and Tali for making the much loved and quickly-sold-out life lab garden pesto!
Great huge thank yous to Nada Duna, Molly Slete and Luen Miller for their fantastically generous donations of beautiful plants and thanks you for all the fabulous expertise you shared with the shoppers! Most plants sold and the others will grace the children's lunchtime gardens and continue to be for sale at the entrance to the garden. I couldn't have done this without these amazing people who made working hard at this event a fun and festive experience! -Caprice
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Gateway's Book Fair was very successful. Thank you to all of the wonderful volunteers who helped with this year's Book Fair. A BIG thank you goes to Alexandra Armstrong who was in charge of our volunteers. Our other great helpers were Karin Clift, Bernice Bernstein, Meredith Marine, Cheryl Ferguson, Michele Clausen, Shannon Ganes, Joanna Manoff, Kathy Tiddle, Jessica Delgado, Petra Bryan, Priscilla Cinque, Cornelia Meier and alumni Johanna Meier, Carolina Martinez, Sara Bassler, Neli Masian, Ana Pena, and Jeff Froshman. Thank you also to 8th Grade helpers Andrew Adelman, Danny Halperin, Carly Dolgenos, Stephanie Reno, Chris Okabe, Michael Lucas and 7th grader Daphne LaRiviere.
*The library received from Scholastic Book Fair a profit of $820.00 worth of books and $1382.00 in cash. This event brings in books and cash to maintain and enhance our program, making it a very important part of our library budget.
The winners of our Guess Our Gateway Heroes theme were: Georgia D., Claudia A., Sogal C., Sahand C., Maddie H., Sophie F., Jack J., Jaime K., Alyce H., Ze'ev B., and Maisie M.
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Semi-Annual Tuition Payments Due This Month: If you chose to pay your child's 2010-2011 tuition on the Semi-Annual payment plan, your second Semi-Annual payment is due by the close of business (5:00 pm) on Tuesday, November 30th. We recommend that families start making arrangements for their Semi-Annual payments now so that the required funds are sure to be available by November 30th. The charge for this tuition payment appears on the 10/31/10 billing statement that was sent to you last week. Your Semi-Annual tuition payment must be made in cash or by check. No late fees will accrue on this tuition charge as long as your payment arrives in the Main Office by 5:00 p.m. on November 30th. If, however, your payment arrives after this time, a late charge of $20 will immediately accrue to your account and your child's enrollment in the School for the remainder of the 2010-2011 school year may be jeopardized. Please contact Rima in the Business Office at x 308 if you have any questions.
Financial Aid for the 2011-2012 School Year: If you would like to apply for aid for the 2011-2012 school year, please click on this link for the complete packet of forms and instructions. In order to apply for aid, you must file a Parents' Financial Statement (PFS) with School and Student Service for Financial Aid (SSS). We recommend that parents file this form online, but parents can choose to file the paper PFS form instead if they prefer. To file online, go to sss.nais.org anytime from November 15th onward; to file the paper form, print out pages 16-21 from the attached financial aid packet and follow the directions in the packet. The Main Office also has a limited supply of paper PFS forms. In addition to filing your PFS, you must also upload or mail to SSS a copy of your complete 2010 tax return. We recommend that parents start preparing now to get their 2010 taxes done as early as possible during the month of February 2011, and file the PFS by February 1, 2011. As long as your PFS is filed by February 1, 2011 and the copy of your complete 2010 tax return is received by SSS by February 25, 2011, your application will be considered for the first round of financial aid awards (the round in which the bulk of our financial aid budget is awarded). If you are divorced, separated or never married, please be aware that each parent must file a separate PFS and each parent must submit a copy of his or her complete 2010 tax return to SSS. Please contact Rima in the Business Office at x 308 if you have any questions.
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Grandparent Newsletter - We now send our monthly version of Gateway Family News to grandparents. If you are interested in having your child's grandparents receive this newsletter which highlights of school programs and events for the month, please send their name and email address to kristin.smith@gatewaysc.org.
Beyond the classrooms, don't miss other school news and photos posted on our Family News Blog page on the Gateway website, as well as on our new Facebook page. Stay informed through these links.
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