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MDUSD Monday Memo (from last week)
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"To the Members of the Mt. Diablo schools community,
Fifty-five million dollars. Nearly one-third of what the Mt. Diablo Unified School District is currently spending on employee salaries. Fifty-five million dollars. The amount of the deficit our District would be facing in June 2011 under the budget Governor Schwarzenegger proposed for 2009-10 on New Year's Eve.
Yesterday, Monday, January 12, several of us from the District attended a workshop in Sacramento to hear a presentation on the impact of the Governor's budget proposal on education.
The financial news just seems to be getting worse." (more...)
Click here to read the rest of last weeks MDUSD Monday Memo. While you are there sign up to receive your own weekly copy. Click on the "Join our mailing list" icon at the bottom of the page.
Want to read more memos? Click here to visit the Monday Memo archive page.
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Parcel Tax Committee meeting, Jan 21st
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The proposed cuts by the State are unprecedented. The threat to the quality education of our children is very real.
The time to act is now.
Over the past five years, the state budget crisis has forced the Mt. Diablo Unified School District to cut close to $30 million from its budget. And there's more to come. The Governor's latest proposal is estimated to drain over $55 million more through 2011 from our local classrooms.
It's time to take matters into our own hands.
Many of you already make a major difference by volunteering your time or contributing to fundraisers here at Strandwood. But more will be needed to truly ensure that our children will continue to receive an excellent education in our community.
A committee is forming to explore securing a substantial and stable source of local revenue to support our school district as a whole, including a possible ballot measure as early as June of 2009.
If you're interested in really making a difference and stepping forward to become an active part of this critical initiative, please join us at the next meeting:
Wednesday, January 21st at 6 pm
District Office
1936 Carlotta Drive, Concord
Come prepared not just to share your ideas but to take an active role in the course that the committee decides to embark upon. Invite others who may not receive this message to come along with you. And if you can't make this meeting, please consider coming the following Wednesday, Jan 28, same time, same place.
Jenny Reik, on behalf of Citizens United for Excellent Schools (CUE)
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Community Campaign for Education
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 The Foundation for Pleasant Hill Education (FPHE) is conducting their first annual campaign during January and February 2009. FPHE is committed to raising $55,000 to help support the 11 public schools in Pleasant Hill through grants for language arts, math, science and the arts for the 2009-2010 school year.
In the next school year our district will face state funding cuts of between $6 and $11 million. District finances are expected to be especially lean through 2012. A Community Campaign for Education is needed in Pleasant Hill to help maintain the current levels of education in our schools during difficult budget years. By coming together as a community (businesses and residents with or without children) we can help bridge the funding gap and secure Pleasant Hill's reputation as a community that values education.
Please join with FPHE to contribute to the Community Campaign for Education:
Donate online at www.fphe.org or send a check to FPHE, P.O. Box 23851, Pleasant Hill, CA 94523
Donate during Donation Days - January 21 and January 28 at the following locations on both dates:
**SCORE Educational Center on Crescent Drive, 2:30-4:30 PM
**Safeway on Contra Costa Blvd, 4:30-6:30 PM
**Most Elementary Schools, for 30 minutes beyond the Wednesday early dismissal time. Look for FPHE representatives.
For more information email generalinfo@fphe.org or visit www.fphe.org.
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Presidential Inauguration
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The next presidential inauguration will occur on January
20th, 2009. Upon that day Barack Obama will take the oath of office and be
sworn in as the next president of the United States. Our students have
followed the election process, both at home and school, this year. On Tuesday,
our students will watch this historic event at school. As a staff we wanted our
students to have an opportunity to participate.
Upper grade students will watch the inauguration ceremony
via a streaming connection in the MU room. Primary grades will gather in D1 and D2
to watch it on television.
Don't follow your
dreams; chase them.
- Richard Dumb
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Author Visit
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 J. Scott Savage will visit Strandwood on Friday, January 23rd for an upper grade assembly. Our students will enjoy a lively presentation by the author of Farworld (click to go to the website).
Amazon.com says " Other people may see thirteen-year-old Marcus Kanenas as an outcast and a nobody, but he sees himself as a survivor and a dreamer. In fact, his favorite dream is of a world far away, a world where magic is as common as air, where animals tell jokes and trees beg people to pick their fruit. He even has a name for this place- Farworld." Click here for a few customer reviews.
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Scholastic Deadline Extended
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The deadline for turning in your Scholastic Click!  orders has been extended to January 28th. If you need a copy of the catalog there are some in the office.
You can also order on-line at http://clubs.scholastic.com/cool/login.jsp. Our user name is strandwood and the password is click.
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Dinner Dance Auction News
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Tickets are for our March 7th Dinner Dance Auction are on sale now! Take advantage of the early bird discount & buy your ticket for $35 before Janury 31st! $40 regular price if purchased after January. Tickets can be purchased online at www.strandwood.cmarket.com or contact Cindy Turner at pcturner@sbcglobal.net. Tickets do sell out for this event so don't wait!
You make our event a success! Here's how you can help:
Got Wine? The auction committee is collecting wine/champagne once again for our popular wine toss at the event. If you can spare a bottle or two for us to use it would be greatly appreciated. All wine can be dropped off at Leslie Shank's: 327 Maryal Rd. (off Strand Ave.). Stop by at any time to place the wine in the box on her porch and pick up a tax-deductable form for your contribution.
Got Family Donations? Every year our wonderful Strandwood families come through with themed party donations to be auctioned off at the event. Past parties include: 70's Theme, Flip Flops and Lemon Drops, Make-your-own Gingerbread House party, Movie Night, Pool Party (just to name a few). Partner up with other families to help throw one of these parties . For more information on donating a party, please contact Katie Roarty at kmroarty@comcast.net
For everything you need to know about this event and more (including donation forms), click here for Strandwood's Dinner Dance Auction page or go to the website, www.strandwood.org and look under the PTA tab.
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Kindergarten Registration
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Pre-registration packets will be available starting tomorrow, January 20th Pre-registration of children eligible for kindergarten in August 2009 will be conducted in all Mt. Diablo Unified School District elementary schools on Tuesday, February 3, 2009. The hours of registration will be 9:00 - 11:00 am and 1:00 - 3:00 pm. Click here for more information on immunization, physical and dental requirements..
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Website Tips
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| Did you know that Strandwood.org has links to great educational websites? Click here to visit the Students section of the site. For Ed1Stop and Renzulli Learning you will have to get our user names and passwords from your teacher as we are not allowed to publish them here. Check it out. |
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Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? |
1st Grade Question - The Philippine Islands are located is what ocean?
2nd Grade Question - True or False - A suffix is added to the beginning of a word.
3rd Grade Question - What black colored material is used to make pencils?
4th Grade Question - According to the song, from the halls of Montezuma, to the shores of Tripoli, who fights our countries battles in air,on land and sea?
5th Grade Question - After Columbus's voyage in 1492, the Spanish and Portuguese began bickering about land claims. Who served as a mediator in these disputes? a) Vasco da Gama b) Quees Isabella or c) Pope Alexander.
Answers are at the bottom of the page. |
Dates, Times and Places
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Important Dates and Times
Jan 21 - Chess Classes Start
Jan 21 - Sutter's Fort Meeting in the MU Room - 12:45
Jan 23 - Upper grade assembly - J. Scott Savage - 9:15am
Jan 29 - Assembly - Lily Cai - 9:10 - 9:55 and 10:00 - 10:45
Jan 30 - Principal Pizza Lunch - Blue slips due by the 28th
Field Trips:
Jan 23 - P2, P3 & A3 - Delta Discovery - 11:50 am to 5:00 pm
Jan 27 -All Kindergartners - Jelly Belly Factory, 8:00 am to Noon
Jan 27 - All 2nd Graders - St. Marys College
Holidays:
Jan 19 - Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Birthday
Feb 9 - President Abraham Lincoln Birthday
Feb 16 - President George Washington Birthday
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In the Office
Flyers regarding the following items are available in the office this month. You can also click on the link, if there is one, to go directly to that site
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Moving
Arts Dance Auditions for A Rock & Roll Hansel & Gretel- www.movingartsdance.org or 825-8399
In
Defense of Kids: Youth Safety & Self-Defense Classes - www.indefenseofkids.org or 685-9383
California Adventure Camps - www.caladventurecamps.org or
952-4450
Youth
Deals for Cal Basketball Games - www.calbears.com
or 1-800-GOBEARS
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Answers |
1st Grade - Pacific Ocean
2nd.Grade - False - A prefix is added to the beginning of a word
3rd Grade - Graphite
4th Grade - United States Marines
5th Grade - c) Pope Alexander
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Calendar
Click below to go directly to the Strandwood web site calendar.
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Fun Facts
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The first fax machines were in commercial use in Japan in 1949.
Horses in Charleston, South Carolina have had to wear diapers in public since 1975.
Certain penguins have been saved from entering oil polluted water by tape recordings of killer whales.
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Strandwood ID: 37102 |
Strandwood ID: 0136556299 |
Get your SHARES card in the office.
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