PTA News
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Parents...Thank You! Thank You! Thank You!
Your membership participation (71%) is generously supporting our 2015-16 La Entrada PTA! Thank you to all who contributed to these various PTA events, programs, and services ( P.S. it's not too late to join and contribute here.)
Program Insight: Field Trips & In-House Enrichment:
Although $16,000 (23%) of our budgeted expenses are allocated to fund one field trip per grade level, the overall costs often exceed these available funds due to transportation costs and entrance fees for large grade sizes. Teachers thoughtfully select their field trips to align with their curriculum and/or educational value. If necessary, some teachers may ask for additional parent donations to cover more expensive (or additional) field trips. Some teachers may choose to bring in speakers/exhibits for in-house enrichment. This may also be an area we allocate additional funds with the excess revenue received.
School directories are coming in October
The school directory will be released in early October. It was held up this year due to some technical difficulties but we are working as quickly as we can to get it out to you.
La Entrada Lunchtime Enrichment
LELE is a lunch-time club that meets once per month, with a different club meeting each week. This year LELE will be on Mondays or Wednesdays at lunch so if you have time between 11:15 a.m. and 1:00 p.m., you could participate in a fun club! The Leopard's Faire will be held on Sept 16, 17, & 18 at lunchtime. This is when your children have the opportunity to sign up for the clubs of their choice so please encourage them to come check out the Faire at lunchtime this week. We are currently planning to offer the following clubs: Book Club(s), Expect Respect (school and community service), Latin, Knitting, Physics, and Geo Bee. If you are interested in volunteering for one of our clubs, or if you would like to lead a Book Club for your child's grade level please email Amy Harber Thipphawong. If you have an idea for a fun lunchtime activity "club," we also welcome parents with new ideas.
The Apple for the Classroom program is a way for parents to support their children's teachers directly. All the teachers and specialists at La Entrada have been invited to create a "wish list" of items that would help to further enrich their classrooms. Wishes may include classroom supplies, gift cards, subscriptions, or donations toward a special activity or field trip.
To view the lists, please visit our website.
Once at the site, select the list you want to view. Teachers' lists are divided into two sections, so you can choose to bring an item directly to the classroom or you can choose to make a donation via PayPal.
Thank you for supporting our teachers and enriching your children's experience at La Entrada.
Please submit your box top coupons and keep collecting more every week!
If you have not done so, please sign up for the Box Tops email. Sign up by September 30th and earn 5 Bonus Box Tops for our school!
Thank you so much for your continued support!!
Don't forget that your everyday online purchases can also help our school. Please visit the box top website and designate La Entrada as the school you wish to support. Then, every time you shop online, as long as you enter through the Box Tops web page, a percentage of your purchase will be credited to our school. Please check for the various participating products. Every coupon is valuable and worth 10 cents. Submit your box tops in a small ziplock bag with your child's full name and core teacher name to the school office. There will be a cereal box there for collection. Please do not submit the expired ones.
Have friends, grandparents, families, office staff, etc. collect Box Tops and bring them in to raise money for our school. We will keep tallying the coupons every week, so please send them as you collect. LE Teachers and staff are also welcome to participate.
GRADE LEVEL GATHERINGS
Grade Level Gatherings are festive, adult-only, cocktail parties hosted by families in each of the different grades. These social events are a great opportunity for the the parents in each grade to get to know each other better outside of school. Please save the date and plan to join us! Evites are coming soon.
4th Grade
- Friday, September 25, 7:00-9:00 p.m.
- At the home of Katie and Brian Boland
- Please RSVP via Evite - COMING SOON
5th Grade
- Friday, October 9, 7:00-9:00 p.m.
- At the home of Sarah and Craig Bjorkman
- Please RSVP via Evite - COMING SOON
6th Grade
- Friday, October 2, 7:00-9:00 p.m.
- At the home of Lynn Heublein and Neil Takacs
- Please RSVP via Evite - COMING SOON
8th Grade
- Friday, September 25 7:00-9:00 p.m.
- At the home of Shirley Chiu and Richard Li
- Please RSVP via Evite - COMING SOON
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From the Principal
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Dear La Entrada Community,
I am excited to be into September and thankful for a smooth start to the school year. I have enjoyed getting to know the new 4th graders and seeing how much the others have grown over the summer. As the number of students increase we grow in staff size (enrollment 805). Some of you met the new teachers at "Meet the Teacher" and PIN but for those who didn't, I want to take this opportunity to introduce them to the larger community.
Caryn Carlson is a new 5th grade teacher. Before joining the La Entrada team, Caryn Carlson taught for 14 years in the Oak Grove School District in San Jose. She has taught grades 2-5, as well as spending a few years as a literacy coach. She is trained in Reader's and Writer's Workshop and excited to collaborate with her colleagues at LE. This year she is most looking forward to learning from the challenges that come with a new position, as well as working with the La Entrada staff and families.
Cheryl Rowe is the new 6th grade core teacher and this year marks her 15th year of teaching. Most of her experience has been in San Ramon teaching 6th grade Core. She moved to the area last year, and she's absolutely thrilled to join the illustrious La Entrada team! She finds 6th graders to be incredibly creative, curious, and enthusiastic; a wonderful age group to teach. In her free time, she enjoys walking her dog, doing yoga, reading, writing, traveling, and horseback riding. She's sincerely looking forward to getting to know the La Entrada community!
We have new additions to our Special Education Team. Lauren Anderson, our Resource Specialist for grades 6th & 8th, has worked as a 4th grade teacher in Vallejo and a 4/5 combo teacher in Antioch. After budget cuts in those districts, she returned to school and received her Masters and Special Education credential. She's taught K-5 RSP in Antioch for the last 5 years. She is looking forward to teaching in a district where the community is supportive and children are everyone's priority. She's excited about working with new and talented people.
In addition to Lauren, we are excited to introduce Rebecca Reddy who has her dual credentials in special education and general education from San Francisco State University. Rebecca worked for the San Bruno Park School District for a combined 8 years, six in special education and two in general education. While there she obtained an additional certificate in Autism Spectrum Disorders. She was also on a team who developed and provided several professional development seminars on the Common Core Standards. This year she looks forward to supporting a diverse group of learners in multiple settings.
Lisa Sharp is the third credentialed staff we added to our Special Education Team. She started her professional life working for nonprofit organizations in the Washington D.C. area. When she had my own children, she began to volunteer in their school and realized how much she enjoyed working with the students. She spent many years working as a substitute in Maryland, Texas, and California as her husband's career took her family farther west. She completed her master's degree in special education and began teaching full-time in 2011. She taught first and second graders in Palo Alto, and moved to middle school in South San Francisco Unified for the past three years. She's very excited to be working at La Entrada in the Strategies Class and is looking forward to building relationships with her students and within the LLESD community.
Announcements
Silent Study Center: Our Silent Study Center is up and running after school on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays. Students are welcome to attend the Silent Study Center in the library where they can get homework done and/or silently read a book until 3:40 p.m. For many students, there are "Late Buses" that take students at 3:40 p.m. (Please confirm that your child's route has a late pickup.) Also, please note that there is no Sign Up process; your child is welcome to attend any Monday, Tuesday or Thursday.
Upcoming Events: 9/21 - School Loop Training for Parents at 6:30 p.m. in the computer lab 9/23 - 4th-5th Grade Parent Math Night at 6:30 p.m. in the MUR Warm regards, Shannon
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School News
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 Math Team Try-Outs
September 29 and 30
Calling all students who love challenging math! The MathCounts Foundation (mathcounts.org) holds a national competition series for middle schoolers, with "bee-style" math contests. La Entrada's math team (the Mathemagicians) competes in the regional MathCounts competition each February.
Tryouts will be held September 29 and 30 for spots that have opened up on the team.
Those who qualify will be able to attend team practices starting immediately and going through the end of the school year. Practice is every Thursday from 3 to 4 pm at La Entrada. There is no homework. But there are snacks.
Try-outs will be by written test, open to students in all grades, offered at 2 different times:
Tues, Sept 29: 6:00 to 7:00 p.m. in the library
Weds, Sept 30, 6:00 to 7:00 p.m. in the library
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Las Lomitas Education Foundation
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Hula over to the annual Sweetheart Dance Friday, Oct. 16th 7:00 - 9:00 p.m. Jensen Hall at La Entrada
Aloha dads, grandpas, uncles and friends! Don your Hawaiian shirts, leis and grass skirts. Grab your favorite little wahine and hula on over to La Entrada for the much anticipated Sweetheart Dance.
Share a special evening with your beautiful daughters* at this beloved annual event held in Jensen Hall at La Entrada. Both Las Lomitas and La Entrada families are welcome. Tickets are $75 per father/daughter couple, $25 for additional children. Get your tickets by clicking here.
* we welcome all Las Lomitas and La Entrada girls and their adults, but sadly we can not accommodate boys at this event. For a special "boys only" event, please join us for the mother/son bowling event on November 7th by clicking here.
 Coming up very soon:
Click here, register and come out and play. . .
- Incoming Kindergarten Mommy and Me Tea - Sept 20
- 6th Annual Gentlemen's Hold'em Tournament Party - Oct 24
- 6th Annual Mother/Son Bowling - Nov 7
- "What's in a Movie?" Workshop for 6th - 8th Graders - Nov 10
If you have a Target credit card, you can enroll in TCOE and designate a school. 1% of all your purchases are donated to the school. Click here
Make sure your grandparents are connected to receive an invitation to Grandparent's Day in the Spring, and our newsletter just for them! Register them here.
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Las Lomitas League
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Classes have begun. All information, including how to contact your child's instructors, can be found on our website.
- If you need to withdraw from a CLASS, you have until 24 hours before the second class to notify the registrar at llleagueregistrar@gmail.com.
- Cancellations are refunded at 90% of the class fee, and there are no refunds after the withdrawal deadline.
Come out and cheer on your La Entrada Flag Football teams. Both teams compete against local middle schools including Hillview, Woodside and Corte Madera. Team schedules are available on the website. First games will be played at La Entrada starting next week.
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Parent Education
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THE PARENT EDUCATION SERIES ON FACEBOOK
Now you can Like us on Facebook! The SUHSD Parent Education Series Facebook page will keep you posted about upcoming parent education events, articles on parenting, schools and education, community parent events and more!
 M-A PARENT EDUCATION SERIES and KEPLER'S BOOKS PRESENT:
"Brainstorm: The Power and Purpose of the Teenage Brain" - An evening with Dr. Daniel J. Siegel
Wednesday, September 16
Event starts at 7:30 pm - Doors open at 6:30 p.m.
M-A Performing Arts Center (PAC)
The Peninsula Arts & Letters and Kepler's Books is pleased to bring internationally acclaimed author and UCLA psychiatrist Dr. Daniel Siegel to the M-A Performing Arts Center (PAC) to present his new work:Brainstorm: The Power and Purpose of the Teenage Brain.
This special evening is presented in partnership with the M-A Parent Education Series and Menlo-Atherton High School.
Dr. Siegel will share the exciting neuroscience behind the heightened social, emotional and creative energy that drives teen behavior showing parents how to turn one of the most challenging developmental periods in their children's lives into one of the most rewarding. Between the ages of 12 to 24, the brain changes in important and, at times, challenging ways. In "Brainstorm," Dr. Siegel dispels a number of commonly held myths about adolescent behavior and demonstrates that during these years children learn vital skills, such as how to leave home and enter the larger world, connect deeply with others, and safely experiment and take risks.
Drawing on important new research in the field of interpersonal neurobiology, Siegel explores exciting ways in which understanding how the brain functions can improve the lives of adolescents, making their relationships more fulfilling and less lonely and distressing on both sides of the generational divide.
Event is open to parents, students, faculty/staff, and community members.
Kepler's Books will offer sales of Brainstorm: The Power and Purpose of the Teenage Brain.
"Safety First: A Reality-Based Approach to Teens and Drugs" - with Marsha Rosenbaum, PhD
Thursday, October 8, 7:00 - 8:30 pm
M-A Performing Arts Center, PAC Cafe
Menlo-Atherton High School
Just say no or say nothing at all? This is the question that many parents face with regard to drug use in their teens-whether alcohol, marijuana, or other drugs. Most drug education programs are aimed solely at preventing drug use. After instructions to abstain, the lesson ends. No information is provided about how to avoid problems or prevent abuse for those teens who do experiment. How can you help your kids stay safe?
Join us for an interactive workshop with Marsha Rosenbaum, PhD, founder of the Safety First drug education project at the Drug Policy Alliance and author of "Safety First: A Reality-Based Approach to Teens and Drugs." Dr. Rosenbaum earned her doctorate in medical sociology at the University of California at San Francisco (UCSF). She is the author of numerous scholarly articles about drug use, drug treatment, and drug policy. Her opinion pieces have appeared in USA Today, Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, San Francisco Chronicle, and San Jose Mercury News. In addition, Dr. Rosenbaum is a proud graduate of Menlo-Atherton High School.
M-A Parent Education Series events are free, sponsored by the M-A PTA, the Sequoia Healthcare District, and the Sequoia Union High School District. This event is open to parents, students, faculty/staff, and community members.
Simultaneous Spanish translation will be available.
WOODSIDE PARENT EDUCATION SERIES 2015-16 FALL SCHEDULE
Friday, September 25: Sparking Creativity: Imaging Tomorrow's Schools Hosted at Stanford University, 7:00 - 9:00 p.m. Sponsored by Challenge Success Thursday, October 1: "Helping Young Athletes Reach their Potential" Steve Smith, PhD, Professor and Co-Director of PGSP-Stanford PsyD Consortium, Palo Alto University, 7:00 - 8:30 p.m., Woodside MUR Thursday, November 5: "Workshop on Body Image - Empowering Girls" Brie Mathers, Founder of Love the Skin You're In™, 7:00 - 8:30 p.m., Woodside MUR 
SEQUOIA PARENT EDUCATION SERIES
"Raising Teens with Mindfulness, Resilience, and a Growth Mindset" - with Leah Weiss Ekstrom, PhD, and Fred Dillon, HopeLab
Thursday, September 24, 7:00 - 8:30 p.m.
Sequoia High School, Carrington Hall
Join Leah Weiss Ekstrom, PhD, and Fred Dillon from HopeLab for an insightful discussion of how to raise teens with mindfulness, resilience and a growth mindset. Don't miss this special opportunity to hear from the experts!
Leah Weiss Ekstrom lectures on compassionate leadership at the Stanford Graduate School of Business and teaches at Stanford's Compassion Cultivation Program (CCARE), founded by HH the Dalai Lama. In addition, Leah leads Compassion Education and Scholarship at HopeLab, an Omidyar Group research and development nonprofit focused on resilience. Fred Dillon plays a key role in shaping HopeLab's new initiative to promote human resilience and inner values through social tech innovation.
Parents, students, faculty/staff and community members welcome! Free admission.
Sequoia Parent Education Series events are sponsored by the SHSEF, the Sequoia Healthcare District, and the Sequoia Union High School District.
Simultaneous Spanish interpretation will be provided.
 LA ENTRADA PARENT EDUCATION SERIES
"Parenting the Always-on Generation" - with Gloria Moskowitz-Sweet and Erica Pelavin, My Digital TAT2
Thursday, October 15, 6:30 - 8:00 p.m.
La Entrada School, MUR
Our tweens and teens are "digital natives" -- they have grown up in a world of online access and ever-changing media devices. Do you wonder how to teach your teen responsibility and ethics online, how to ensure they are aware of their actions, and how best to parent them in a digital age?
Join Gloria Moskowitz-Sweet, PPSC, LCSW, Erica Pelavin, LCSW, PhD, from My Digital TAT2 for an interactive workshop in "Parenting the Always-On Generation." This event is recommended for anyone interested in an overview of the digital landscape and learning about thoughtful ways to navigate media with your kids. You will come away with strategies that support both you and your student.
LE Parent Education Series events are free and open to parents, students, faculty/staff, and community members. This event is sponsored by the La Entrada PTA.
If you have questions regarding any parent education events listed above, please contact Charlene Margot, M.A., Founding Director, The Parent Education Series, by email or call (650) 868-0590. For Spanish, contact Mayela Ramirez, Parent Center Coordinator, 650-369-1411 x 63105.
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Community News
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Cub Scout 2015-16 Registration
Want to know about Cub Scouting at La Entrada? All interested families with boys entering grade 4 are invited to join us at Menlo Park's Pack 222 Ice Cream Social, Sunday, September 20 from 1:00 - 3:00 p.m. at Oak Knoll Elementary School. We'll have a fun, activity filled kickoff event! See how far you can shoot the Water Balloon Catapult! If you have further questions, please email Robert Freeman (a proud parent of two Cub Scouts) and you can visit the Pack 222 website here.
 Portola Valley Flight NightCome see a spectacular demo of model aviation! Watch expert pilots fly radio controlled airplanes, sailplanes, and helicopters! Get a birds-eye view from in-flight TV cameras! Watch illuminated model aircraft perform aerobatics at night.
Get a taste of flying using an R/C simulator. Let an instructor teach you to fly an R/C airplane using a "dual control" system. Build and take home your own "pie-plate" glider.
Free and open to the public!
September 19, 2015, 5:00 - 9:00 p.m.
Portola Valley Town Center
765 Portola Rd, Portola Valley, CA
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Sequoia Union High School District Open Enrollment Policy:
New changes to 9th Grade Open Enrollment were approved by the Board of Trustees effective for the 2015-16 school year. Open enrollment information for the 2015-2016 school year can be viewed here.
Get to Know M-A High
School
Interested in what's going on at Menlo Atherton High School? Sign up for M-A's BearNotes to receive the weekly newsletter here.
Shadowing
A visit can be very important in helping students determine which high school will be the best fit for them. Shadowing takes place on Mondays, Tuesdays and Fridays from October through February. Shadowing is very popular and appointments fill fast, so sign up early to reserve your spot. Available dates are filled on a first-come, first-served basis.
View and request shadow dates here.
Get to Know Woodside High School
Interested in what's going on at Woodside High School?
Sign up to receive the Woodside High School weekly newsletter here.
Shadowing
We look forward to giving you a glimpse of a day in the life of Woodside High School student. We understand that students have a choice. We encourage you to give Woodside High School strong consideration. Shadowing occurs on B-days during 2nd- and 4th- periods, brunch, and lunch. The shadow program is run in conjunction with the leadership program at Woodside. Leadership students will be the guides for the shadows coming to visit Woodside.
View and request shadow dates here.
Be a part of a public education reform movement that prepares students for 21st century success in college, career, and life!
For more information on Summit Schools, click here.
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The Leopard's Spot is published by the La Entrada PTA as a service to the La Entrada families and community. Before submitting an article, please read our newsletter policies. To submit an item, email it to the editor at leopardsspot@llesd.org by 12:00 midnight on the Wednesday prior to the Monday publication date. Submissions to personal email accounts are not accepted.
Submission Requirements:
- In the subject line of the email, please include the section in which you wish your item to be placed (see our newsletter policies for the list of our regular sections); for example, the subject may read "PTA News" for any item related to PTA programs.
- Send the article in the body of an original email: submission sent as Word doc or other attachment will be rejected.
- Provide a .jpg attachment for all pictures and graphics.
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