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Weekly Post
February 24, 2014
Presentation Notes on How Math Education is Evolving
On February 11, David Foster from the Silicon Valley Math Initiative presented to packed room of parents. Here is a link to his presentation on Common Core Pathways
 
Thank you to everyone who attended and to the Innovations in Education Team for promoting so well and filling the room.
 
John Dean
Director of Learning and Media
Portola Valley School District
Learn About the New Smarter Balanced Assessments

Teaching is changing and so is testing! Learn how student knowledge will be measured with the new Smarter Balanced assessments, March 6th at 7pm in the Corte Madera Annex.

 

Starting in the 2014/15 school year, standardized testing in California will happen in a very different way.  The multiple-choice, paper and pencil STAR tests are being retired, and students will instead take online, adaptive Smarter Balanced assessments intended to measure not only subject knowledge, but also critical thinking and problem-solving skills.  On March 6th, PVSD is fortunate to host Justin Wells, Associate Research Director for Performance Assessment at the Stanford Center for Assessment, Learning, and Equity, and an expert on the new Smarter Balanced assessments. Justin  will discuss why Smarter Balanced assessments will provide a more authentic and rigorous measure of learning, and how teachers, administrators and parents can best prepare students for these tests.  We hope you can join us.    

In This Issue
PTO Needs Your Help
eScrip Update
Lunch Announcement
Bingo Night
Waders and Waterproof Boots Needed
Community Section
This Week's Calendar
Ormondale * Corte Madera * District
Mon, February 24 (B) 
Kindergarten begins full day

School Site Council Meeting, Room 12, 3:20 pm
Tue, February 25(A)
Wed, February 26 (B)
ORM Pride Assembly
11:30 am
Thu, February 27 (A) 
ORM Community Coffee
8:15 am  
Opera Assembly, "How Andy Found His Voice", 9:25 am 
Fri, February 28(B)  
ORM Read Across America

CMS "Mardi Gras Dance"
(6th thru 8th grade), 7 pm 
Weekly Post Reminders: 
To submit an article to the Weekly Post, please send it to [email protected].  Deadline is Thursday at noon.  See the PVSD website for more information

The PTO Needs Your Help!
We are in need of an Assistant Treasurer (no accounting experience required!) that can help finish out the year and then take over as Treasurer next fall.  We will also have additional open positions in that same area...
 
Please contact Heather Prelle, our current Treasurer, for more information:
Treasurer - Oversee all financial aspects, monthly account reconciliation, deposit/withdraw funds for all events except those listed below, financial reporting/budgeting, all QB entries.

Assistant Treasurer - Deposit/cut checks (via on-line bill pay) for all CMS sport programs, collect/deposit funds for book fairs, send Treasurer documentation for QB entries.

Auditor - Perform audit and fill out tax forms.
eScrip Update

We need your help to keep earning money for our schools!  Safeway has made an important change.  Paying for your groceries with a credit card will no longer earn a contribution.  Use your Club Card and please pay with any form of payment that is NOT a credit card so our group will earn.

And, if you have not signed up yet, please go to http://www.escrip.com/signup

today! 

 

Thank you for supporting our schools!


If you have any questions please contact Michelle Bellomo: [email protected]

 
 Ormondale Home
Lunch Announcement

Beginning on Monday, February 24th, Kindergarteners will begin enjoying full days of school! Along with the extra hours of learning and playing, all students will be at school over the lunch period. If you prefer to order a meal that will be ready for your child to pick up at lunch time, just follow the simple steps listed below.
 

Choicelunch provides nutritious, delicious meals for our students, and is available for every student, every school day; including minimum days. Please note, there is no charge for students approved for the free and reduced lunch program.
 

Register today! To register online and order, visit: http://www.choicelunch.com, click on the Order Now option located on the left top corner of the page. Create your new account and order!
 

Registration code is "PVSD"
 

Or you can pick up a paper menu at your school office. Would you like to earn a free lunch for your child? Volunteer to serve lunch! Every day you volunteer to serve lunch your child will receive a lunch credit!
 

The Portola Valley School District is an equal opportunity provider and employer.  

Bingo Night!!

Bingo night is almost here.  Mark your calendar and plan to come March 14th from 6:30-8pm MUR at Ormondale.  Please come enjoy friends, family, prizes, popcorn and licorice.  Just $10 per family for 1 1/2 hours of BINGO.  To pre-register, fill out this form and place in the box in the Ormondale office.  Registration forms will be available for pick up in the office.  You can also pay at the door the night of the event!  Hope to see you all there.

For the flyer, click here. Any questions please contact Kelly Richardson: [email protected]

Corte Madera Home
Attention All Hunters, Fishers, Foragers or Other Adventurers...

... if you have waders or other water proof boots that you could loan out, the CMS Outdoor Ed. Students would appreciate borrowing your gear ... (roughly until April or May).  We would love your help to deck us out for some non-soggy explorations!

 
We are monitoring biotic and abiotic conditions of the lovely vernal pool between campus and the PV Ranch.  We need to wade out to collect flora and fauna in order to see how they change through out the season.  We are interested in looking for differences in populations by regions of the pond and depth.   We will also measure physical factors like the surface area, depth, and some basic chemistry.  
 
There have already been huge changes in the diversity and growth phase of the microfauna, but we need to get out into 40 cm and 50 cm deep water.
 
Here is a sample of one student's notes.
 

The sketch shows our practice of applying scale to a scientific illustration as well as the use of the proper taxonomic naming conventions.
 

Waders, waders, waders ... my kingdom for some waders!  We want to keep exploring.

Community Calendar and Events
M-A High School Drama Dept. Presents "Seussical the Musical"

See your favorite Dr. Seuss characters come to life, including Horton the Elephant, The Cat in the Hat, Gertrude McFuzz, Mayzie La Bird, and a little boy with a big imagination, Jojo. Journey from the Jungle of Nool to the Circus McGurkus to the invisible world of the Whos. The Cat in the Hat tells the story of Horton, an elephant who discovers a speck of dust containing Whos, including Jojo, a Who child sent off to military school for thinking too many "thinks." Horton faces a double challenge--not only must he protect the Whos from a world of naysayers, but he must guard an abandoned egg, face ridicule, danger, kidnapping, and a trial. Ultimately, the powers of friendship, loyalty, family, and community are challenged and emerge triumphant!

ORDER TICKETS ONLINE: http://www.thecenteratma.org/ or purchase tickets at the door an hour before curtain, at $12 for adults, or $8 for students, children, and Seniors.

Seussical is fun for the whole family; recommended for ages 4-102!

At the Center for Performing Arts:
 
Friday, February 28, 2014 - 7:30 PM  
Saturday, March 1, 2014 - 7:30 PM  
Thursday, March 6, 2014 - 7:30 PM  
Friday, March 7, 2014 - 7:30 PM  
Saturday, March 8, 2014 - 7:30 PM

 Menlo-Atherton High School's Performing Arts Center, 555 Middlefield Road, Atherton
Woodside High School Drama Dept. Presents "Beauty and the Beast"

Beauty and the Beast Hits the Stage in Redwood City

The Woodside High School Drama Department invites the public to step into the enchanted world of Disney's "Beauty and the Beast", as they present six performances at the Woodside High School Performing Arts Center. The show begins March 14th and runs through March 23rd.  Based upon the Academy-Award winning animated feature, this Broadway stage version includes all of the wonderful songs written by Alan Menken and the late Howard Ashman, along with new songs by Mr. Menken and Tim RiceDirected masterfully by Barry Woodruff and Kim Harvath, this "Tale As Old As Time" includes a talented cast of over 50 students who will act, sing, dance, and tumble their way into your hearts. The show is filled with fantastic music, magical costumes, spectacular sets, and larger than life characters.  The experienced production team of Don Coluzzi and Ruthie Smith, along with Bill Tolles and his orchestra, guarantees a perfect opportunity to see local family theater at its best. Presented by special arrangement with Musical Theater International (MTI), this is one of the most ambitious shows to date for the increasingly popular musicals being produced by Woodside High School.

 

Performance dates:  

Friday, March 14 & 21 at 8 pm

Saturday, March 15 & 22 at 8 pm

Sunday, March 16 & 23 at 2 pm

 

Tickets: Adults $20.00Seniors (65+) $15.00Staff/ Students (college and under) $10.00. 

Purchase tickets  online: www.whsdramaboosters.com or call the Box Office @ (650) 367-9750 (x43706) to reserve your seats.

Contact: Donna Losey [email protected].

Costumes Needed for Nonprofit

Do you have leftover Halloween costumes? Need to get rid of old dress-up accessories? You can use these costumes to help others.

 

Clara M., a 7th grade Girl Scout, is working on her Silver Award project. She is trying to help girls in the Daughters of Farmworkers program, a program that permits girls who are daughters of migrant farmworkers to participate in fun activities. After learning that the girls really enjoy theater, she decided to build them a drama closet, putting together the closet herself. However, she really needs help from the outside community to gather costumes and accessories.

 

She needs many different kinds of gently used costumes. Any type is great! Pirates, pharaohs, animals, doctors...

If you have any costumes, accessories, or other helpful items, please contact Clara at [email protected] and you can have her pick up them whenever is convenient.

2014 Performing Arts - Camp W

A performing arts camp coming to Corte Madera School? How would you like to improve your problem solving and communication skills through the lens of performing arts? Sing a variety of music?  Learn more about theater and improvisation? CAMP W'S Performing Arts summer class will allow beginners and experienced performers to express themselves in a unique and creative manner.  

Class Location: Corte Madera School, Room 503

Dates:
Session 1(Performance and Theater): June 16-June 27, 9:00-3:30 
Session 2(Music and Theater): July 7-18, 9:00-3:30  

Fees:
$900 per session
Sign up now and receive a 10% discount

Extended Care Daily Fee (8:00 am - 9:00 am): $125 per 2 week session or $15 per day.
Extended Care Daily Fee (3:45 pm - 5:30 pm): $175 per 2 week session or $25 per day.

Eligibility:
4-7th grade (BASED UPON THE 2013-14 SCHOOL YEAR)

To learn more about the camp, please visit campw.weebly.com or contact William Frederick at [email protected]

Hope to see you this summer! 

Creative Writing Summer Camps

Play your way to the page! All of Society of Young Inklings' camps are game-based and use improvisational theatre exercises to get creative juices flowing. 

 
Invent A Story (Ages 7-9)
Young writers will explore the essential elements of story: character, setting, conflict, and plot development while inventing their own unique short stories.
 
Christ Church: Portola Valley
June 23-27, 9:00-12:00pm
July 7-11, 9:00-12:00pm
 
Synapse School: Menlo Park
July 14-18, 9:00-12:00pm
July 21-25, 9:00-12:00pm 
 
Novelist's Workshop (Ages 9-12)
Young writers will explore the finer points of story development. Students are free to come to camp with a novel-in-progress, or start from the very beginning.
 
Christ Church: Portola Valley
June 23-27, 12:30-3:30pm
July 7-11, 12:30-3:30pm
 
Synapse School: Menlo Park
July 14-18, 12:30-3:30pm
July 21-25, 12:30-3:30pm
 
Tuition is $245. Register online at www.younginklings.org. For the flyer, click here.
The Talking Playhouse 

The Talking Playhouse in Redwood City offers Social Skills Groups, Writing with Visualizing and Verbalizing™ from Lindamood Bell™ and Executive Function Therapy with "ORGANIZATIONAL LIFE�".

 

ORGANIZATIONAL LIFE is a curriculum designed to help students organize their thinking (cognitive) for academic tasks and logistical (physical environment) for paperwork, homework assignments, binders, backpacks, desk and bedroom.

 

We build executive functioning skills such as planning out tasks, time management, increase goal directed persistence, develop sustained attention, enhance task initiation, develop more flexibility, understand how to sequence & prioritizing, enhance working memory, learn to navigate the big picture &  identifying how to solve the organizational challenges thus increasing motivation to task.

PARENT TRAINING: We teach parents to increase productivity and maximize your child's organizational skills with more independence and less tug of war.

 

For more information please contact: [email protected]  

Encore Lacrosse 
Encore Lacrosse is excited to host the most FUNdamental lacrosse camp for introductory and intermediate players! Sign up to play the "fastest sport on two feet!" No previous experience is needed for beginners as safe soft balls are used, and lacrosse sticks can be purchased ($30) and delivered at camp. Equipment rentals are available for the intermediate division. For more information visit the intro/intermediate tab of the lacrosse section at www.EncoreLacrosse.com or e-mail at [email protected] .
Make Dreams Come True...Donate Dresses or Accessories! 
The Key Club at Menlo-Atherton High School is sponsoring a dress and accessories drive to benefit The Princess Project. The Princess Project promotes self-confidence and individual beauty by providing free prom dresses and accessories to high school girls who cannot otherwise afford them. With your help over 1,100 girls will be served by Princess Project Silicon Valley dress giveaways this Spring!

 

Ideal donations include long or short, formal gowns from 2008 to new in excellent condition and in all sizes and colors.  Accessories should be stylish, clean and in excellent condition.

 

Where to Donate: Menlo-Atherton High School Front Office, 555 Middlefield Road, Atherton

When: Monday - Friday 7:30am - 4:00pm through the first week of March

Contact: If you would prefer for us to pick up your donations or need a donation receipt please e-mail Sally Carlson at [email protected]