From the PTA
| Welcome back for another wonderful year at La Entrada School. Regardless of how fun summer has been, the prospect of a new school year is exciting! If you haven't already been on campus to check your teacher assignments, they are now posted.
Here are some important items the PTA wants you to know about:
Online Membership and Volunteering
The PTA is continuing its efforts to modernize and streamline the process of supporting the school community. Building on last year's consolidation of the first day packets between La Entrada, Las Lomitas, the district, and other school programs and organizations, the La Entrada PTA is moving online! Your membership form and dues can be completed online using Paypal, volunteering for our wonderful programs and activities has moved to Jooners, and an up to the minute calendar resides online. We hope these changes will make it easier for you to support our school community and help our committee chairs and volunteers plan, organize, and implement activities. If you still are uncomfortable with online transactions, all forms are available in the school office in the PTA binder.
First Day Packet Stuffing
We need YOU! Please come to help stuff the first day packets on Wednesday, August 18 from 10:00 to noon. This is a great chance to reconnect with your school community, to help with an important PTA service, and get a early preview of all that important information. The consolidated packets make stuffing more complex than previous years, so we ask that children do not help, so bring a game along or allow some time on the playground.
Supply Lists
Most teachers have provided their supply lists in advance. You can find them on the LE Website under "Back to School Supply Lists" http://www.llesd.k12.ca.us/leclasses.html. Thank you to all the teachers who have posted their list.
Hot Food
Come see your kids at lunch and help serve hot food at the same time! If you are available for 40 minutes once a week or once every other week, serving hot food is a great way to see your children, connect with other parents, and help with a vital PTA service all at once. If you have an interest, please contact Julia Massa at gershenberg@sbcglobal.net with your availability or sign up online http://www.laentradapta.org/volunteer.html (click on "Hot Lunch" on the left sidebar.) You may work any combination of days each week or every other week. You may work only the 4th/5th shift (10:50 to 11:30), only the 6th/8th shift (11:45 to 12:30) or both. If you can't commit to a regular schedule, but would like to substitute, that works too!
Please don't wait for the volunteer form. Hot lunch begins Monday, August 30 and we need to have plenty of help to get off to a good start.
Welcome Coffee
The initial general meeting of the La Entrada PTA and the Volunteer Fair will be held
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 25, at 8:45 a.m. in the MUR.
Please join us for coffee, conversation and a short business meeting. We will have computers set up to allow you to sign up for the wide variety of volunteer activities available.
In summary, dates to note include:
· Wed., August 18 - MUR for First Day Packet Stuffing, 10:00 am
· Thurs., August 19 - Students New To District Orientation, 10:00 am - 1:00 pm
· Fri., August 20 - Meet the Teacher, 9:30 am
· Mon., August 23 - First Day of School
· Wed., August 25- Welcome Coffee, 8:45 am, PTA General Meeting and Job Fair - all are welcome!
· Thurs., August 26 - Parent Information Night, 6:45 pm to 8:45 pm
· Fri., August 27 - Picture Day
· Mon., August 30 - Hot Lunch begins
Enjoy this final week of summer with your family.
Marsha Abbott and Lucia Tedesco
PTA Co-Presidents
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| From the Principal | Dear La Entrada Community,
As always, there is a high level of energy and La Entrada during this time of year. We are starting a new school year, and the teachers have been busy preparing their lessons and classrooms. Parents and students have been preparing for new schedules. As I am writing this newsletter (just a week before "Meet the Teacher"), I know that we are headed into a terrific school year!
I must start the new year by recognizing some people/groups that contribute so much to making sure we are ready for the start of school:
- Our wonderful Maintenance, Operations, and Transportation Department. They are dedicated to making sure the campus is ready to go on the first day.
- Our Technology department for the updating, maintenance and support they give.
- We couldn't get everything done in the office without the support and assistance of Marja Rudge, who does too many things to list.
- All of our teachers who spend countless hours preparing curriculum and their rooms.
- Our PTA for all of their help in getting calendars and packets, etc. ready.
- And all our wonderful students and parents who will be here on August 23 ready to learn and ready to work in partnership to reach our vision.
New Daily Schedule
We will be starting this year with a new daily schedule for our 6th-8th graders. The schedule will be mailed home so that you can review it with your child prior to the first day of school. The new schedule builds in a brunch time and allows for periods to happen at different times of the day (over the course of a week).
Our new schedule also changes the school end time on Wednesdays. School will now get out at the same time on Wednesdays as it does every other day of the week. (2:50pm for 6th-8th graders, 2:40pm for 4th and 5th graders)
Brunch/Recess/Lunch Food
Brunch (6-8) and Recess (4-5) are good times for our students to eat a morning snack. Eating a healthy snack in the morning can have a positive effect on their classroom performance. A healthy lunch is equally important so that students can focus in the afternoon.
During the first week of school, all students must pack food for brunch/recess/lunch. Hot lunch service will not begin until the second week of school.
For 6th-8th graders, there will be no brunch time on the first day of school. This will give us time to work with the students on brunch procedures before brunch begins (on the second day of school).
Schedule Changes (6th - 8th Graders)
There are two reasons that your child's schedule may change in the first few weeks of school.
If your child wants a schedule change, s/he should pick up a schedule change form in the main office. When the form is filled out and returned with a parent signature, Mrs. Lowe (our counselor) will review it and see if it is a change that is possible. Mrs. Lowe will call your child into office to review whether or not the change is possible. Please note that many changes are not possible due schedule complexities. Mrs. Lowe may call your student into the office to mandate a schedule change that is necessary to better balance classes. We attempt, during the first few weeks, to move some students out of larger classes and into smaller classes. If one of these changes occurs to your child, please know that it is to the benefit of all our students to balance the classes as much as possible.
New News at La Entrada
As you can imagine, each year our number of students changes. The real changes, however, occur because the number of students in a particular grade level change. This leads to new adventures for staff members. Here are some of our adventurers for this year:
- Jennifer Thelen has moved to the 4th grade team. Many of you will know Ms. Thelen as a 5th grade teacher. She did, however, teach 4th grade at La Entrada for a number of years. She is very excited for the opportunity to work with 4th graders again.
- Our wonderful 6-8 math teachers are all mixed up this year! Diane Campbell will be teaching Algebra and Geometry; John Ertola will be teaching 7th grade math; and Pat McGrath will be teaching 6th grade math. They have all spent countless hours this summer preparing for their new assignments...so while we mixed them up...they will not be mixed up when it comes to instructing our students in math.
- Brenda Nixon has moved to Las Lomitas. She will be teaching a 2nd/3rd combination class. It takes a very special teacher for a combination class, and while we will miss her, we know that she will have a great time at Las Lomitas.
- Ashley Eastman will be on maternity leave during the first part of the school year. Natalie Kevranian will be the teacher during this time. Ms. Kevranian joins us from McKinley Elementary School. Ms. Kevranian and Ms. Eastman spent a lot of time planning together this summer. Our students are going to benefit greatly from both of these excellent teachers.
A Safety Note
Please remember that our parking area can get very congested during drop off and pick up times. We hope that as many as possible will come to school on a bus, bicycle, or by walking. If you do have to drive your child to school, please be sure to review the drop off procedures outlined in my previous letter home, or in our handbook (available online at www.llesd.k12.ca.us/lehome.html).
Remember that you can only turn right when leaving our parking lot during drop off and pick up times.
Also, please note that we do confiscate bicycles, skateboards and scooters belonging to students that have brought them to school without a helmet.
In Closing
Communication is the key to a successful organization. "Meet the Teacher" (on Friday, August 20th, from 9:30-10:30) is one way to start positive communication between the school and home. I hope that you will take advantage, as your personal situation allows, and participate in the school experience by attending school activities.
I hope to see you all at Parent Information Night on Thursday, August 26. This will be another opportunity to get to see and hear from your child's teachers. A schedule for this event will come home on Tuesday (August 24) with every student.
In addition, please know that all of the staff members can be reached by email and voicemail.
I know that, by working together, we will make this the best year yet at La Entrada.
Warmest Regards,
Larry Thomas
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School News
| School Bus Schedule
The school bus schedule will NOT be included in the first day packet.
If you need one, please make sure to pick up a copy in the office on "Meet the Teacher" Friday 20th.
8th Grade Washington D.C. Trip Informational Meeting: Tuesday - 8-31-10 @ 7pm in MUR.
Mr. Thomas and Mrs. Dineen will host an informational meeting for any parents interested in learning more details about this year's 8th grade DC Trip on February 19-25th. We will discuss highlights of the trip, costs and fundraising opportunities. Please join us in the MUR. |
| From the Foundation | |
Dear District Parents:
It is an honor and privilege to serve as the Las Lomitas Education Foundation President this academic year. I am in awe of the amazing parents in our District as well as the incredible quality of Foundation Board members with whom I have the honor of working. I truly believe that it is through the combined efforts of these parent volunteers, along with the School Board, administrators and teachers that our District continues to be the top District in the State!
All of us at the Las Lomitas Education Foundation would like to welcome you back for the 2010-2011 school year. We hope you had a great summer and are excited for another great year at our award-winning school district.
As you may know, the Foundation is a non-profit, volunteer based, community organization dedicated to fostering and enriching the tradition of educational excellence in the Las Lomitas Elementary School District. The mission of the Foundation is to raise funds to close the gap between the increasingly expensive cost of high quality education and declining public funds. We are proud that last year, 84% of district parents gave a tax-deductible cash contribution to the Foundation.
This year, we are asking all parents to donate $2,000 per child and we aim for 100% participation. We truly hope we can count on your family!
To help garner your support, one of our primary goals is to educate everyone about the Foundation's important work. To that end each classroom is assigned a Foundation Ambassador (FA). These are parent volunteers who will serve as a resource for information about the Foundation's work and many events. They will also be available to answer any questions you may have. Your FA will be introducing his/herself in the coming weeks, and then will serve as your link to the Foundation throughout the year.
Also, we will send home information in your child's first-day packet that we hope you will review carefully. This packet includes important facts about our District's financial situation, and explains in detail why our Foundation's support is so critical to the high-quality education we desire and our children deserve. This packet also includes information about other Foundation programs, such as eScrip and engaging your child's Grandparents. If you misplace this packet or any of the forms, please see our website at www.llef.org. Every week, please look for important Foundation news in this newsletter under the Foundation logo above. You can also access our website at www.llef.org. We look forward to another successful year that will renew our commitment to maintaining the educational excellence of our District. Thank you, Diana Sunshine |
Sequoia Union High School District News
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Menlo-Atherton High School PTA computer donation program
WANTED - old computers, monitors, and parts, working or not, for Menlo-Atherton High School PTA computer donation program. We will securely erase all your information, refurbish/repair the computer, and send it home with a hard-working, needy student from East Palo Alto or Redwood City. Corporate and personal donations are welcome, and we provide receipts for tax deduction purposes. To donate one computer, or a truckload, contact Sue Kayton, kayton@alum.mit.edu, 650-853-1711. More information is posted at http://www.suekayton.com/MAHigh/computerdonations.htm |
| Community News |
Remember to mention La Entrada at the register and Kepler's donates 10% back to our school.
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| Leopard's Spot Submissions | The Leopard's Spot is published every Monday (except Mondays following holiday weeks). To submit items for inclusion in the newsletter:
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