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Parkmead Elementary
Weekly e-Newsletter
October 2, 2013
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| Upcoming Events | |
Oct. 3rd - Auction Planning Meeting
Oct. 7th - International Walk to School Day
Oct. 8th - PTA Meeting
Oct. 9th - PALS General Meeting
Oct. 14th- 18th Red Ribbon Week
Oct. 26th - Parkmead Carnival
Oct. 31st - Minimum Day
Nov. 1st - No School
Nov. 11th - Veteran's Day (No School)
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| Principal's Message | |
The Character Theme for October is RESPECT
"If you have some respect for people as they are, you can be more effective in helping them to become better than they are." --John W. Gardner
Respect: Yellow or Gold - like the Golden Rule
* Treat others with respect; follow the Golden Rule
* Be tolerant of differences
* Use good manners, not bad language
* Be considerate of the feelings of others
* Don't threaten, hit or hurt anyone
* Deal peacefully with anger, insults and disagreements.
CHARACTER AT PARKMEAD
At Parkmead we work on teaching to the whole child. This includes conflict resolution and character development as well as academics. We work character development in several ways:
- Character Counts! is a District adopted program that drives our character themes. There are six pillars of character (Trustworthiness, Respect, Responsibility, Fairness, Caring, Citizenship). We focus on a pillar each month during whole school assemblies, lunchtime activities, and teachable moments within the classroom.
- Soul Shoppe is our conflict resolution program. Jen from Soul Shoppe visits us four times a year. She teaches a very specific language they can use to resolve conflicts. As a staff we help support the use of this language. The students also participate in a program called "Allies" that deals with teasing, bullying, and standing up for others.
- Peacemakers are an extension of our Soul Shoppe program. A select group of 3rd-5th graders are trained to facilitate conflict resolution on the playground. They are also trained in how to look for students that might need a friend on the playground.
SOUL SHOPPE
Today all of our students spent some time with Jen from Soul Shoppe. She will be doing classroom visits tomorrow. Students learned/reviewed the "I" message. This is a message students go through step by step with precise language to express their feelings in order to resolve conflicts. Ask them about the "Clean Up" and "I" message." These are great problem-solving/communication tools, at home and school. For more info, visit: http://www.soulshoppe.com/resources/08/tools_of_the_heart_parentguide.pdf.
TRAFFIC REMINDERS - PLEASE DONT DROP OFF IN AZALEA CIRCLE...
...From 7:55-8:25
- Unless you have a child in Room 1 or 2
- NO OTHER CLASSROOMS SHOULD BE DROPPED OF IN THE CIRCLE!
- Follow the flow of traffic to the appropriate drop-off location
- Traffic gets really heavy from 8:05-8:10. If you drop your child off at 7:55-8:00 at the proper location traffic should not be an issue.
TECHNOLOGY UPDATE - THANK YOU PARKMEAD PARENTS
In August each grade level determined what technology would be most useful to their students over the next few years and we made a proposal to the Parkmead Education Resources Council (PERC). On Friday PERC approved technology purchases that will have a positive impact on all Parkmead students. Much of this money was raised at the auction. PERC provides funding and support for whole school activities and materials. The PERC board is made up of PTA and PTO leadership and members.
Thank you parents for contributing to PERC and funding the following:
- Kindergarten - 1 additional iPad (2 total iPads)
- 1st-3rd and PALS II - 3 additional iPads (4 total iPads)
- 4th and 5th and PALS III - 3 Chromebooks
- Upgrade the computer lab with additional RAM and an upgrade to Office 2011
Thank you Parkmead parents!
Chris Reddam - Parkmead Principal
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WCEF
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 Together We're Stronger! October Donation Update
- Thank you! Currently 28% of our families K-12 have made their donation to WCEF for the 2013-2014 school year. All our students appreciate your investment in their education!
- To date we have raised $475,000. Our funded commitments this year total $677,000. (However we need to raise $725,000 to make up for reserves spent last year.)
- If you have yet to make your donation, now is the time! Please take a moment and go online to make your secure donation now.
- Remember monthly payment plans are available. Prefer to send in a check - you can do that too! Click here to download a printable donation form.
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Thank you Parkmead WCEF Site Reps: Catherine Nissen and Harriet Rosen
WCEF and the Parkmead community would like to thank Catherine Nissen and Harriet Rosen for volunteering to be the WCEF Site Representatives. Site Reps act as a liaison between the Parkmead PTA, PALS, school community and the Walnut Creek Education Foundation. If you have questions or need information about WCEF and the programs funded please contact Catherine ([email protected]), Harriet ([email protected]) or call 925.933.9233.
Thank you Catherine and Harriet!
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Legislative Update
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Bill Overhauling Student Assessments (Testing) Awaits Governor Brown's Signature.
Bill AB 484, crafted by Assembly Member Susan Bonilla (14th district, parts of Contra Costa and Solano counties) puts forward the Measurement of Academic Performance and Progress (MAPP) Test to permanently replace the STAR test in the 2014-15 school year. MAPP is a new system for testing our students' academic performance after implementation of the new Common Core State Standards (CCSS). We expect CCSS will result in high-quality teaching and learning in our classrooms. More than 40 states in the USA have adopted CCSS, which, for the first time, gives our nation a solid common educational baseline. Suspension of most STAR tests this year will allow field-testing of the new computer-based MAPP assessment system. MAPP seeks to test the deeper learning and critical thinking skills embedded in the Common Core State Standards - skills that will better prepare students for college and careers in the new economy.
AB 484 also provides diagnostic and interim assessments at every grade level at no expense to school districts. Because AB 484 also ends high-stakes testing of California's second graders, a companion bill SB247 requires that the California Department of Education provide grade 2 diagnostic assessments to aid classroom teachers.
Ensuring effective implementation of the Common Core State Standards empowering students to acquire critical 21st century skills has been a top legislative priority for the California State PTA which supports AB484.
More information - use these links
*MAPP http://www.legtrack.com/bill.html?bill=201320140AB484
http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtmlbill_id=201320140AB484
*CCSS http://www.corestandards.org
*SB247 http://legiscan.com/CA/text/SB247/id/879044
David A. Sanan
Parkmead PTA Legislative Representative
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| SPIRIT WEAR | |
SPIRIT WEAR IS ALMOST HERE!
We are happy to report that the Spirit Wear items many of you purchased at Welcome Back Days and Back to School Night are scheduled to arrive this week! Please look for the Spirit Wear Coordinator, Tina Whittington, in front of the school on Friday, October 4th or Monday, October 7th between 2:10 and 2:50 to pick up your pre-paid apparel. (Be prepared to provide the email address or phone number you listed at the time of purchase.)
If you missed these first two orders or you want more Spirit Wear, we are happy to report that due to popular demand, another order has been placed and we will have more apparel along with some fun, new logo items available for purchase at the Fall Carnival on October 26th!
Many of the students are already starting to wear their spirit wear on Fridays and we will encourage everyone to join in as the new orders come in. In addition to "Spirit Wear Fridays" we will be organizing "Spirit Days" once a month, the first being on October 11th. Stay tuned.
Also, those fabulous car magnets you've seen on in the drive-through and around town are still available for purchase through PTA and PTO, along with our logo lanyards. Show your Parkmead Panther Pride wherever you go!
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| Volunteers -- We Can't Do It Without You! | |
Community Day Thanks
We had a wonderful day on Saturday, over 125 volunteers joined in to weed and spruce up the garden, ready the library for the new school year and paint, paint, paint for Creek Kids Care. Thank you! We're still looking for volunteers to help with Red Ribbon week, please consider joining us.
Red Ribbon Week
This year we will be celebrating Red Ribbon Week from October 14-18. This is a week where we promote healthy eating and active lifestyles. We are looking for volunteers to develop activities and staff tables during lunch time (11am - 1pm). Last year we provided tastings of healthy foods and taught the kids about sugar content in beverages. We have enough volunteers to have tables up for two days and would really like to do more.
Please sign up HERE! Email Cathy Wang at [email protected] for more information.
Auction Planning Meeting
Do you have hidden marketing or computer skills, like to coordinate parties or just want to be involved in organizing Parkmead's biggest fund raising event? If you answered "yes" or even "maybe" then please come to the Auction planning meeting scheduled for this Thursday, 7:30 p.m. in the Parkmead Library to learn more about areas that you can help out with in making this Spring's Auction Party even more successful than last year.
If you can't make the meeting and would like to help, please contact Jeffrey Neve ([email protected])
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| International Walk to School Day - October 7th | |
International Walk to School Day is Monday October 7th!!
Parkmead will be joining schools from around the world to celebrate International Walk to School Day on October 7, 2013. Parents and children from participating neighborhoods surrounding Parkmead join together as a walking school bus, picking up walkers along the route to school. Special prizes will be handed out to walkers in front of the school. Please contact Kelly Patton ([email protected]) if you can help by heading up a walking school bus in your neighborhood.
Walk to School events work to create safer routes for walking and bicycling and emphasize the importance of issues such as increasing physical activity among children, pedestrian safety, traffic congestion, concern for the environment and building connections between families, schools and the broader community.
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| Reflections |
Do you like art? Do you express your ideas through art? Then the nationally recognized PTA Reflections program is for you! Take the opportunity to participate in this year's program. The theme is "Dream, Believe, Inspire". Show your creativity in any of the following art categories: Visual Arts, Photography, Music, Film or Dance.
You can learn more about Reflections Program by visiting, http://www.capta.org/sections/programs/reflections.cfm or Clicking HERE to download the PTA Reflections Student Entry form. Remember all submissions must be turned into the front office by October 14th!
If you have further questions, please contact [email protected]. Looking forward to seeing your artistic talents come to life!
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Community Information and Flyers
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These flyers are updated on a weekly basis. Click here to find district flyers and to download the information that interests you.
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| e-News Submission Guidelines |
- Deadline for Weekly eNews is Sunday at 6:00 pm
- Send all weekly eNews submissions to [email protected]
- Copy Principal Chris Reddam ([email protected] ) on all submissions
- Articles should be submitted in the body of an email - not formatted or in another file
- Attachments cannot be included in the eNews, but articles can be linked to a website
- Please provide all necessary links for images and websites
- Articles are run for one week, submit a new article for resubmission if needed
Community information must be sent to the District Office for approval. Please click here for the procedures.
Thank you for your cooperation.
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