End of Unit Assembly
The
end of every unit is marked with an assembly to showcase the work of one or
more classes. The Unit One Assembly,
held last Friday in the gym, featured the Grade 4V class doing a musical on the
California Missions. Under the direction
of their English teacher, David Giesen,
the class entertained the audience with a colorful and informative show which
featured no less that 10 catchy songs.
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News from the Head of School
Building a Strong Presence in the Willows
GAIS
has been at the Elliott Road
campus for over  twenty years and it still surprises me when local residents
tell me that they have never heard of the school. In the past few years we have been working
hard to put GAIS on the map and in the minds of our neighbors in the Willows and hopefully in the City of Menlo Park. To this end we have developed
partnerships with the Menlo Park Little League Baseball Organization and the
American Youth Soccer Organization involving the use of our playing field. A
local Boy Scouts chapter uses our school as a base. Community outreach in the form of art
exhibits at the Café Zoe have been popular and a good way to showcase our
student's artistic talents. With the launching of the new International Middle School
in 2011 we will also be able to offer our outstanding MYP program to children
in the local community that did not have the opportunity to GAIS for the
Elementary School.
An
easy and effective path to a positive presence in the local neighborhood is
through the rigorous respect of the established traffic and parking rules. This
involves maintaining the 15 mph speed limit on Elliott Drive,
not parking on the street, and stopping to let neighbors exit from their drive
ways. Our annual meeting with the neighborhood will be set for early November
and we hope for the same positive, respectful and collaborative atmosphere that
we have worked hard to achieve. Let's
all be more than just good neighbors, let's be the role models!
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IB Corner by Maike Silver
One
of the key educational principles behind the PYP and the MYP is that its'
foundation lies in conceptual understanding. Many of you still might ask
yourself what exactly does this mean? This is best explained comparing facts,
topics and concepts. A fact is something that is very specific, relates to a
certain event, time or object. The same is true for a topic except that it is
usually a broader generalization. A concept on the other hand is something that
is universal, timeless and can be described in one or two words.
As we are developing central ideas in the PYP or unit questions in the MYP we
begin by looking at facts and topics we want to study and identify the
important concepts connected to these.
As
an example, a factual central idea might be: The Chinese immigrants who came to
San Francisco
in the 1800's established the "huikuan". In order to bring this to a higher
level of generalization using a broader topic we might want to change it to: All
groups that have immigrated or migrated to the United States have established social
organizations.
Considering
that this did and does not only happen in the United States we replace local
facts with universal concepts and create a central idea like: In all human
societies, forms of social organizations emerge to satisfy the needs of individuals
and groups. Understanding that this is
very theoretic we use facts (often from local areas) to help the students
dissect this idea and understand the concepts.
The
difference in the end is that we do not ask the students to repeat facts in order
to show us their knowledge, but look for ways for them to show us their
understanding of the big concepts embedded in the central idea. Facts limit you
to specific knowledge while concepts help you understand bigger pictures.
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Preschool Corner by Heike Schmalstieg
On
November 1st and 2nd, we will have our first Parent Teacher Conference of the
year. The 3- and 5-day classes will have their Conference Day on Monday. There
will be no classes and no child care offered on that day. The 2-day class will have their Conference
day on Tuesday November 2nd. There will be no class for the 'Otter', all other
groups have a regular day, including child care in the afternoon. Parents will
be able to sign-up for a 20 minute time slot. Sign-ups will be
done electronically after the Fall Break. I will be also be available for
conferences with parents on that day. Please make an appointment, if needed.
We
look forward to seeing the Preschool families at our annual Game Night
tonight!
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Auction Party Countdown - only 2
weeks to go
Invitations
to our fundraiser auction on October 23rd were sent out some time ago. If you
need additional invitations, please stop by the office. We hope to see all of
you at the auction party, so please RSVP now.
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CPR Training at GAIS
All
GAIS staff members have CPR training every two years. This year's group of 25 teachers and
staff attended a three hour training
session in the gym on how to deal with a variety of accidents and provide
critical first assistance in the event of life threatening emergencies.
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Morning Drop-Off - Some Helpful Hints
Although
we have come a long way with our morning drop off procedures, there are still
some improvements that can be made to reduce the occasion jam ups and build
good neighborhood relationships. Here are some tips:
-
Students could
have their backpacks with them and thus avoid the need to open the truck/boot
- Start saying your
good-byes as you are driving down Elliott
- Always go right
to the front of the line and never let your children off before the marked spot
- Only park your
car if you have business in the office or a meeting
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Cub Scout Popcorn Sale
The
Cub Scouts at GAIS will be selling delicious gourmet popcorn during the week
after Fall Break. This is our big yearly fundraiser. We hope to raise funds to help support our
many activities throughout the year, such as day and overnight camps, rocket
launching, museum visits, and overnight adventures such as to the USS Hornet. GAIS currently has scouts in the 1st through
4th grades. Please come by and treat yourself to our famous popcorn! Popcorn
will be on sale Monday, Oct. 18 after school and Wednesday, Oct. /20 after Preschool
and school lets out. For more information, please contact Regine Staufenberg at
rssubs@yahoo.com or Trish Jung at ppjung@aol.com.
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German Book Fair Oct. 26-30
The
German Book Fair will also include a book donation program. Our goal is to build up the library collection
of German books for our young beginning and emerging readers. When you visit
the Book Fair please consider donating one book to the library. This will be
something that students will enjoy for years to come. The Book Fair will be open Tuesday October 26
to Friday, October 29th from 8:30-15:30 and on Saturday, October 30
from 9:00 am till noon.
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Peninsula Oktoberfest
On October 23, at the Courthouse Square in downtown Redwood City from noon
onward, there will be the first ever Peninsula Oktoberfest celebration. There
will be food and music, and fun activities for kids. Come and stop by the GAIS
booth, and enjoy the celebration ahead of our "Night of Fright" party!
http://peninsulaoktoberfest.com/
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