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Parkmead Elementary
Weekly e-Newsletter
October 23, 2013
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| Upcoming Events | |
Oct. 26th - Fall Carnival
Oct. 31st - Halloween Parade
Oct. 31st - Short Day - Dismissal at 12:20
Nov. 1st - District Staff Development Day - No School
Nov. 4th - 5th Halloween Candy Collection - Blue Star Mom's
Nov. 8th - Walk-A-Thon
Nov. 11th - Veteran's Day Holiday - No School
Nov. 20 - 22 Parent Conferences - Shortened Day
Nov. 25 - 26 - Parent Conferences - No School
Nov. 27 - 29 - Thanksgiving Holiday - 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.
PEACEMAKERS
As part of our character program we train 30 of our 3rd, 4th and 5th grade students to be Peacemakers. Peacemakers are trained by a Soul Shoppe trainer over the course of three afternoons. The trainer then follows up with these students later in the year. Mrs. Levinthal, one of our 5th grade teachers, and I also do monthly check-ins and debriefs with these students. A Peacemaker is trained in the following skills:
"I" Messages: the essential communication tool
"The Clean Up": taking students beyond, "I'm sorry"
"Stop & Breathe": an important decision-making and de-escalation skill
How to be an "ally"
Teamwork: through several activities, students will learn the value of working together
Leadership: peacemakers learn about their role as leaders in their community
Once trained, Peacemakers roam the playground with orange vests waiting to help in conflict resolution and be an ally to students in need. We discuss with all students how we can use Peacemakers during lunchtime discussions, whole school assemblies, and classroom talks. Peacemakers are also trained to seek adult help and intervention when student safety is an issue. Peacemakers do not replace our regular yard duty supervision. They provide an effective intervention in typical student conflicts.
Please follow this link for a brief Peacemakers video: http://youtu.be/0lgYAWR1sfA
PARKMEAD IS GOING GREEN
Last spring we added recycling to our lunchroom routine. This week we started a composting program in the lunchroom. The first few days have been a great success. One year ago we had one trashcan at the end of each lunch table (10 trashcans total). Each day this week we have filled one and a half trashcans, one recycling can and half of a composting can. This is a benefit to our environment as well as a cost savings in trash bags and trash pick-up fees. Thank you to John Hanscom for helping get this program started. Another thank you to Mr. Dick for your brainpower and flexibility in making this work in our lunchroom.
TRAFFIC REMINDERS
Azalea Circle Drop-Off and Pick-up
No Parking in staff spots and handicapped (with out an appropriate placard)
No Parking around the circle
Drop-off = PCS K ONLY (Rooms 1 and 2)
Pick-up = PALS I, II, and III and PCS Rooms 4 and 5
Newell Drop-off and Pick-up
Stay in car
No Parking in staff spots and handicapped (with out an appropriate placard)
No Parking in drop-off and pick-up areas (7:55-8:30 and 2:05-2:50)
Drop-off = PCS 1st-5th (including 1st from Room 25), PALS I, II, and III
Pick-up = PCS 1st-5th, PALS and Room 25 K
Chris Reddam - Parkmead Principal
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| Halloween Candy for Troops |
What to do with all that Halloween candy?
Bring your extra Halloween candy to the CANDY COLLECTION for the Troops. We'll be collecting candy at both the Magnolia and Azalea circles at drop-off only on Thursday & Friday November 1 & 2. The candy will be donated to the Blue Star Moms to send in care packages for the Troops. Please feel free to include notes of support from you or your children to include in the Holiday Care Packages!
Let's keep this Parkmead tradition going! For more information or to help, please contact Kelly Wright at kelwright@gmail.com. Thanks!
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| Parkmead Science Fair Survey |
Parkmead Science Fair committee would like to survey your interest in attending Science Night in January 2014. The goal of Science Night is to get students excited about science and to think about their Science Fair projects. It will likely take place in MPR 6:30-8:00 PM during a weekday evening.
If there is not sufficient interest to attend, we will not organize Science Night. However, if there is an overwhelming interest, we will invest a significant part of our budget to make it special. For example, we may offer a science show by Chabot Science Center or other science outreach programs.
If you have not already done so, please complete the online survey below by October 31, 2013. Thank you.
http://goo.gl/NyOt2f
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| BOO-TASTIC Parkmead Carnival is HERE! |
Saturday, October 26. 3:00 - 6:00 pm
Grab your ghosts and goblins & descend upon this year's best of Hallow's Eve carnival. Don't miss out on this longstanding Parkmead Halloween tradition! Harrowing carnival games, Games 2U video van, giant jumpy, classic carnival fare, & The Great BOO! Bakery will dazzle your ghoulies' senses.
Yes! It Takes a Village! ... THANK YOU TO ALL OF YOU WHO HAVE VOLUNTEERED TO HELP RUN THIS EVENT!!! This event cannot happen without the countless parent volunteers.
http://www.signupgenius.com/go/20F0B4AA5A82BA02-fall still some spots open!
Volunteers: go to the office, look for directions on the doors. Otherwise contact Jill Berg 925-437-3384 or Tanya Rogow 415-845-9586
BOO Bakers- drop your treats off from 1:30- 2:30pm Oct 26 to Kirsten Cox - coxbox@sbcglobal.net
Gluten Free- contact Cathy Wang - cathywang@astound.net
Carnival location: BLACK TOP
Parking: Doris- Eaton is available!
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| Parkmead Partners |
Do you run a business and are interested in participating as a supporter of Parkmead Elementary School? Maybe you would like to be a "Parkmead Partner" this year? If you might be interested, please email Whitney Wilson at loveourabc@gmail.com and she can give you more information. Thanks for all your support.
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| PTA Website Update | |
Following the adage "If we don't improve, we become irrelevant", the Parkmead PTA has embarked on a project to make improvements to its website to enable it to become a more effective communication portal. Specific changes that have been made over the past couple of months are as follows:
About Parkmead page U
Updated "Character Counts" for October
Our PTA page
Update board members for 2013-2014
Updated Meeting calendar
Programs page
Update Reflections information
Our News page
Revised PTA meeting time for November
Added Parkmead Halloween Carnival Volunteer Opportunities
Contact us page
Revised web page contact info
Over the next five months, PTA's Website project team will be implementing further enhancements to the web site by:
- Benchmarking against other school's PTA websites
- Obtaining feedback on improvements to content and layout
- Designing site for user friendliness and communication effectiveness
Please visit the site and offer your questions and suggestions to Bryan Yeh at thermodyne@aol.com. |
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WCEF Thank-A-Thon
Beginning this Thursday, October 24, volunteers will be calling all our 2013-2014 parents, alumni and community donors to say thank you and let you know how much we appreciate you and the donation you made in support of all our students K-12!.
Haven't made your donation yet - please consider doing it today! We would love to give you a call to say thanks. To donate, click here. _________________________________________________________________________________  Register today! Entry fees go up after October 31! Be part of Walnut Creek's premier holiday event, the FORMA Gym 21st Annual Turkey Trot 5K/10K Run and Kids Fun Run, by participating or volunteering on Thanksgiving morning, November 28. Last year WCEF earned $20,000!! It's a healthy activity to share with thousands of other enthusiastic runners and you will be home in time to get the turkey in the oven! To register for the race, click here. To volunteer November 26, 27 and Race Day, click here. _________________________________________________________________________________
Don't let the name confuse you! First Friday Business Deals Good All Month Long!
Check out our October First Friday and the businesses supporting our schools and students. These businesses have invested in our students' education and are offering special discounts throughout the month of October - just be sure to mention WCEF! |
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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 Monday at 5:00 pm
- Send all weekly eNews submissions to parkmeadenews@yahoo.com and
- Copy Principal Chris Reddam (CReddam@wcsd.k12.ca.us ) 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.
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