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DECEMBER 14, 2009
Good Morning
Every Monday, Email Club members receive important information regarding upcoming events and communications from The PTA and Strandwood staff via the Roadrunner. The Roadrunner also provides links to important flyers and new items on the school website. Do you have any comments about this Roadrunner or suggestions for future Roadrunner articles or features? Drop us a line at strandwood_emailclub@hotmail.com. | |
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Important MDUSD Community Meeting Tonight |
| Please join parents, teachers, staff and principals for this important meeting about protecting academic programs and continuing student success in our local elementary, middle and high schools.
Our Schools Need Your Help. By working together as a community we can make a difference in our neighborhood schools. We want your input to help support core academic programs like English, math and science and to attract and retain qualified teachers. Come hear how you can help protect academic programs at your neighborhood school. Join us at this meeting to work together to support education in our community
What: Local School Community Meeting
Where: Willow Creek Center, 1026 Mohr Lane in Concord
When: Monday, December 14 at 7:00pm Directions: Off Highway 680, take Monument Blvd. exit east and make right at Mohr Ln. to 1026 Mohr Ln. Local School Community Meeting . -------------
If you would like to see the survey regarding another parcel tax (which this meeting is about) please click here for the agenda item for last week's meeting and then click on the attachment. If you would like a copy of the survey, email us at strandwood_emailclub@hotmail.com and we will send you one.
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Adopt a Family
By Nancy Ferguson, PTA Community Outreach Coordinator |
In this year of economic crisis, our "adopt a family" activity is going to be helping local families that have been hit especially hard by this economy. I would like to collect gift-card donations as that would be the easiest way to help these families. Please email me or call me to arrange a pick up of your donation.
Nancy Ferguson fergnancy@yahoo.com 925-207-3006 |
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Read and Dream Reminder |
 Due to Winter Vacation, (Dec. 21--Jan. 4), Read and Dream logs will be due on Monday, January 4. Awards will be given out on Friday, January 8, to those students who have read their grade level minutes.
Don't forget to bring your reading logs home and write down those minutes!!
Read and Dream Coordinators | |
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Box Tops / Webkinz December Contest |
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Please remember to put your name on the outside of your bag when you turn them in. We had a couple of large entries with no name!!!
December Box Tops will be due in the office on Friday, December  18th. Remember we can earn money from shopping on line too! Favorite retailers like Target and Barnes and Noble will give back to Strandwood, just by using the Box Tops Marketplace. Please use the Box Tops link at the bottom of www.strandwood.org to shop!!!!! This is EASY money for our school, especially in December! Thanks for your support!
Coordinators, Sophie Harrington and Courtney Turner (4th Grade) |
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Jump Start Day MC/Visa Charges |
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Due to technical problems the Jump Start Day credit card charges were just submitted. The charges should show up on your next statement. Thanks. |
Nutcracker News
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 On behalf of the Nutcracker Committee, we'd like to give a BIG thank YOU to our wonderful teachers, staff, and incredible Principal Liz Kim for all of their support and help with the production. This year's performance would not be possible without the help of over 100 volunteers. From the dressing room parents to the runners to the many other volunteers - there are too many to name and you know who you are - thank you for helping to make our children shine on stage!
We would like to acknowledge and give special thanks to the following volunteers:
Backstage Tech: Suzie Silva; Set & Decoration Coordinator: Violeta Maddox; Make Up Artist: Lea Harrington; Permission Slip Coordinator: Cindy Turner; Dance Instructors: Rose Bargmann, Alison Clary, Jennifer Hedrick, Carolann Ianora, Denise Nylund, Katie Roarty and Debbie Wilson; Dressing Room Coordinator: Stacy Monroe; Ticket Coordinator: PTA; Videographers: Dave Reik and Mark Foley.
We would like to especially spotlight someone who has worked tirelessly year after year to ensure that every student "sparkles" on stage both in their performance as she teaches them the dances down to the very last detail of their costumes...Costume Mistress and Dance Teacher Stacy Monahan. This will be Stacy's last year with the show as her son graduates. She will be greatly missed. We'd like to thank Stacy for her many years of dedication and commitment to the show!
Recycle those Basic Costumes:
If you would like to recycle/donate your child's basic costume or need to return the ones you borrowed from the Nutcracker Committee, please drop them off (cleaned) in the box labeled "Nutcracker Basic Costumes" in front of the office.
If you really enjoyed the show and would like to see this tradition continue, please consider volunteering for a key role on the Nutcracker Committee - contact either Diane Kastell dikastell@yahoo.com or May Hanecak may_hanecak417@yahoo.com for more details. |
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Order Your Nutcracker DVD's |
Nutcracker DVDs - A holiday treat for all
Did you forget to order a Nutcracker DVD of your child's performance last Saturday? As always, this year's Nutcracker was specially shot and edited by our resident Strandwood dad pros and will include a behind the scenes chapter with special footage of your children in the classrooms getting ready for their big number. DVDs are $10.00 for one and you can buy a second DVD (of the same performance) for just $5.00 so you can share the memories with your relatives or friends. (Second DVD orders of a different performance are $10.)
Order forms were available before each show and will be in the office through December 18th. Cash and checks (payable to Strandwood PTA) happily accepted and all proceeds benefit the Strandwood PTA.
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After School Chess at Strandwood - Register Now
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 The last after-school chess class for Fall is Wednesday, December 16th.
Register now for the Winter Session: January 6 through March 3 (nine weeks) Wednesdays from 12:35 to 1:35 Grades K-5 (but not late K friends due to the time) Note the class starts right after we return from Winter Break so if you want to register, please act quickly..
To register, go online to www.berkeleychessschool.org and choose the link on the left to "sign up for a class". The fee for nine weeks is $98 for the first child, and siblings are half price. However, the first parent to volunteer to assist the chess class by remaining in the room during the class will receive free chess for their child this session. No chess experience necessary! Parent volunteers are required to have fingerprinting and a TB record on file at the school.
Please contact the Berkeley Chess School for more information: 510-843-0150 or bcschool@pacbell.net
Chess is fun and can be learned quickly and easily! Studies have found that the hidden rewards for students of chess are surfacing on test results in reading, science and math and on growth in critical cognitive abilities. Beyond academia, chess influences social behavior, including self-esteem, respect for others, patience and good manners.
The Berkeley Chess School (BCS) is non-profit, and has been offering chess instruction from elementary through high school for 25 years. Former Irish Chess Champion Elizabeth Shaughnessy started the program. Over the years our students have won numerous national and state championships and some have gone on to become Masters, FIDE Masters and International Masters.
Boards and sets are provided for the classes. Reduced fees are available to low-income families upon request. The first child in a family pays full price, additional siblings pay half price. Students at all levels of skill are welcome! The class minimum is 10 and maximum is 20.
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Budget Cut Talks Are In The News Again
By Paul Strange, from the Mt. Diablo Blog
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The State Budget Continues To Be A Disaster
We spent the last few days meeting with School Board Members from all
over the State of California trying to figure out how to best deal with
the next State budget. The word that we are getting from the State is
that the budget shortfall is expected to be $20.7 Billion over the next
18 months. This weekend our Superintendent and fiscal services
department are crunching numbers and trying to come up with the amount
that we will have to cut and a list of proposed budget reductions that
the Board and community can begin to discuss. If the Superintendent and
his staff are able to pull it all together by Tuesday December 8th, we
will begin to look at the list of proposed reductions at the meeting on
Tuesday night. We will not be taking action to make any cuts at the
December 8th meeting, it will only be on the agenda for discussion. We
will likely begin acting on proposed reductions at the January 12, 2010
meeting.
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Jamba Juice Fundraiser |
 Jamba Juice has teamed up with the National PTA to return a portion of sales to the National PTA as well as our Strandwood PTA. Cards will be available in the near future that, when presented to the clerk, will return 10% of your sale back to the Strandwood PTA. Look for more information on this new program in the weeks to follow.
For now, Jamba Juice has provided us with coupons good for $1 to $25 towards a purchase. Those coupons are available in the office and expire on January 4th. Stop by the office and pick up your free coupon today.
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| Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? |
1st Grade Question: Which is closer to Canada, the North Pole or the South Pole?
2nd Grade Question: Is 75 an odd or even number?
3rd Grade Question: Christopher Columbus sailed for the New World with three ships - the Santa Maria, the Pinta and what?
4th Grade Question: What is taken to determine how many people live in a town, state or country?
5th Grade Question: True or False? Sandra Day O'Conner was the first woman ever appointed to the U.S Supreme Court.
Answers are at the bottom of the page.
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Dates, Times and Places |
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December 18th - Principal Pizza Lunch - Blue slips due by Wednesday, December 16th.
December 21st - January 4th - Holiday - Winter Break
January 7th - PTA General Membership Meeting (The 2nd grade teachers will be presenting)
January 8th - Spotlight Assembly
January 12th - Site Council - 3:15 pm in the library
January 14th - Sutter's Fort Parents Meeting
January 18th - Holiday - Martin Luther King Birthday
January 29th - Pizza Meeting - Blue Slips due by Wednesday the 27th
Check all the calendars on the Strandwood website by clicking here.
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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
No new flyers this week
E-FlyersE-Flyers are ones that you can click on to view. As more and more organizations go to paperless this will become a popular method of getting notices to folks.. No new e-flyers this week. |
Return To Top
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| Answers |
1st Grade Answer: The North Pole
2nd Grade Answer: Odd
3rd Grade Answer: the Nina
4th Grade Answer: Census
5th Grade Answer: True
What is it? A ruler
Fact or Not?
1) Fact
2) Not - On April 12, 1961, Russian
cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the
first human in space, making a 108-minute orbital flight in his Vostok
1 spacecraft. Mercury astronaut Alan Shepard became the first American in space less than a month later.
3) Not - Castling is a special move for the king though. If you want to find out more about chess and the Strandwood after school chess classes please click here. Return to Top | |
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