Your Monday Morning Roadrunner from Strandwood Elementary

JANUARY 18, 2010

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.

In This Issue

The Passing of a Friend

Box Tops and Subway

Fact or Not?

What Is It? Guess what the photo is!

MDUSD Board Meetings and Budget Cuts

Pasta Pomodoro Fundraiser

Single Plan fro Student Achievment

School Site Council

Wacky Wednesdays Are Back

Math Night for Parents

Pleasant Hill Police Safety Information

Dinner Dance Information

Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?

Dates, Times and Places

Flyers Available in the Office

The Passing of a Strandwood Friend

H. Richard Frew, 10/30/32 - 01/02/10.
Resident of Pleasant Hill, CA.

Dick grew up in Antioch, CA. He served our country in the Korean War as a medic. He was a teacher and administrator for over 30 years, touching the lives of hundreds of Mt. Diablo Unified students. He was awarded many honors, including the MDUSD Teacher of the Year. Upon retirement he volunteered at Strandwood and Gregory Gardens schools.

Dick Frew loved life. He leaves behind a legacy of a man who was kind, caring, full of integrity and humor. All those who knew him loved and respected him, and are thankful for his many gifts. He brought fun, joy and compassion to children and adults alike. He will be truly missed.

A celebration of Life for family and friends will be held in May. ln lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to The Wellness Community, 3276 McNutt Ave., Walnut Creek, CA 93497 or to a charity of your choice.

Please honor Dick by contributing a page to our memory book. Send to Susan Kessler.

(There is a plaque mounted under the blue bench near the flagpole recognizing Dick's contributions to Strandwood. He was substituting at Strandwood all the way through last year. If you would like to contribute a page to the memory book you can drop it off in the office and it will get to Susan. To donate to the Wellness Community just click on the link above. The Contra Costa Times also has a guest book you can sign by clicking here.)

Box Tops and Subway

Thanks all of you who continue to turn in Box Tops! Our December winner is Brett Anderson in Miss Lefin's class! Congratulations to Brett for collecting 157 Box Tops!! January collections will be due on Friday, January 29th.

What could be better than a Subway sandwich to get your New Year's Resolution to eat better off to a good start? Earning money for Strandwood Outdoor Education is the answer! Simply purchase a gift card for Subway restaurants and register the card on line at www.subwayschoolrewards.com. Enter our zip code to find Strandwood. It is that easy! A portion of every purchase will go directly to helping fund our fantastic Outdoor Education program for the 5th grade

Photo courtesy of the Bargmann family.

Calendar
Click the calendar below to go directly to the Strandwood web calendar.

FACT or NOT?

The One Hundred Years War lasted 100 years.

Of a population of 30,000 in St. Pierre only two survived the 1902 volcanic explosion of Mont Pelee in Martinique.

In genetics, DNA stands for Deoxyribounucleic Acid.

WHAT IS IT?

This is a close up of an object. What is it? The Answer is at the bottom of the page.

MDUSD Board Meetings and More Budget Cuts

Once again we find ourselves facing cuts to the school budget. At the Roadrunner, we will do our best to keep you informed of the news as it becomes available. Please, do your best to stay informed of the changes that might/will effect all of us in the Mt. Diablo School District.

Special School Board Meeting

As a result of the Governor's budget proposal, the projected deficit in the school district ending balance as of June 2012 has grown from $17 million to $35 million. In consequence, we will need to make additional reductions to our expenditure budget.

The Board of Education has scheduled a special meeting on Wednesday, January 20, at 7pm at the Dent Education Center, 1936 Carlotta Drive in Concord.

The purpose of the meeting is to solicit public input on the additional cuts that will need to be made. Staff will present a brief review of the budget, but the majority of the meeting will be spent listening to parents and community members regarding budget reductions.
This is a very important meeting, and I hope you will be able to attend.

Dick Nicoll Interim Superintendent

______________________________

School Finance 101

"Why do our schools receive lower per pupil funding than any other state?"

If you've wondered why our schools get lower per pupil funding than any other state in the nation, or worried about looming cuts - the 32nd District PTA is offering "School Finance 101" on Monday, January 25th. Check it out and RSVP to nmvandell@comcast.net :

Pasta Pomodoro Fundraiser

Join us for dinner on Wednesday, January 20th at Pasta Pomodoro. Twenty percent of your bill will be donated towards the Strandwood Outdoor Education Fund. Take a night off from cooking and enjoy an evening in downtown Pleasant Hill. If you don't feel like going out on a school night - order a meal to-go. Either way, it's a night off from cooking!

Please print and present this flyer to the server when ordering. Thank you!

Single Plan For Student Achievement

Interested in what our school's goals are for this school year? Take a look our district website. PDF copies of the drafts of schools' Single Plan for Student Achievement (SPSA) can located for all to view on the district website under the Our Schools tab. Once you have clicked on your site, scroll down to the bottom of the page and look where the SARC is located. (or you can click here to go directly to the SPSA) Our school board will be reviewing them on Jan. 12 at the school board meeting then accept them at the Jan. 26th school board meeting.

Questions? See Mrs. Kim!

(Check out the California Healthy Kids Survey starting on page 72. I think you will find it very interesting and eye opening. Editor)

School Site Council

The School Site Council (SSC) is a major part of the overall decision-making structure at every public school. They are a group of people who are elected by their peers to represent the members of our school community.

Their primary role is to guide the site planning process to ensure that the needs of all students are specifically addressed in the Single Plan for Student Achievement (SPSA). The SPSA is a living document that highlights the goals for the school and the programs and dollars that the school needs to turn these goals into a reality for students.

Wacky Wednesday's Are Back

That's right, Wacky Wednesdays are back. The first one up is Sports Jersey/Team Spirit Day on February 10th.

Don't forget that every Friday is Strandwood Spirit Day. Wear your Strandwood shirts or yellow/ blue clothing.

Also, you can purchase new Spirit Wear on Wednesday, February 3rd from 12:30 to 1:00 at the PTA door.

February 10 - Sports Jersey/Team Spirit Day

March 10 - Crazy Hair Day

April 14 - Hawaiian Day

May 12 - Sun Glasses / Crazy Hat Day

Math Night for Parents

Are you concerned about your child's performance in math?

Are you interested to learn about the newly adopted state math standards?

Do you want to learn several effective methods that you can use at home to help your kids with their math studies?

Save the date for Math Night for Parents presented by The Pleasant Hill Education/Schools Advisory Commission. It will be held Monday, January 25th, from 7-9 p.m. at Sequoia Middle School. We will have a presenter, Phillip Gonsalves, who will focus on the math curriculum K-8. Phil has been working with our school district to help teachers for at least a year now. He works for Alameda County Office of Education. He has helped parents in our district understand how best to support their students with Math homework.

This event is FREE but it is recommended that you register to insure there will be enough space and materials. Participation will be cut off at 150 attendees so register now.