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KEY DATES
AUGUST 20
New parent reception 5:30pm
AUGUST 21
Student Council Work Day
AUGUST 22
First day of school
8:20am-10:30am
(see parking note below)
AUGUST 23
Second day of school 9am
Minimum Day (end 12:30pm)
AUGUST 25
Back to school picnic 3pm
AUGUST 27
Tennis season starts
SEPT. 2
No School, Labor Day
SEPT. 9
Volleyball season starts
SEPT. 11
Picture Day
Dress Uniform
SEPT. 17
Curriculum NIght (6pm)
for all grades
SEPT. 30
Grade 6 to Camp SEA Lab
OCT. 1
Grade 7 to Ashland for Shakespeare Festival
OCT. 12
Imagine Fall Fundraiser
(Save the Date!)
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4 Days till the Start of School!
Ready or not, here it comes! Reality has finally settled in on kids, parents, and teachers alike: we are going back to school! It can be easy in these last few days to forget what it is like for our kids. New faces, new schedules, new routines, new ways to dress, new expectations - a seemingly endless string of unknowns.
What we want them to remember, whether they are middle school veterans, lower school students, or students totally new to the school is that we are all here for each other. Not a single person knows everything or is good at everything. EVERYONE has to ask for help and EVERYONE has to offer help. This will be a fantastic year! Let's have fun with it.
The entire faculty will be meeting for three days before school starts to re-group, renew commitments to themselves, the kids, and the parents. This is a wonderful group of teachers. We will discuss communication standards, what personal characteristics and learning outcomes we want for our students. We will also become better acquainted with new classroom technologies and the Beehively learning management system.
We look forward to seeing all the kids, and their parents, this week. Have a great week!
Scott Parker
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Notes About the First Week of School
August 22 is the first day of school for k-8. This is a very short day: arrival at 8:20am and school from 8:30-10:30am. This will give students a chance to meet their teachers, and become acquainted with new and returning classmates.
Parents will not visit classrooms on Thursday. Parents will, however, stay and meet for coffee and some very pertinent information at 8:30am in the Activities Center/Gym. Parents will be strongly encouraged to participate as a volunteer, in some capacity. Sign ups will be on-going, but will start on Thursday.
A representative from Beehivley (www.beehively.com) will be available to help new and returning parents make sure that they are registered, as this is the school's primary communications system for parents and teachers, grades and on-line progress checks, as well as emergency notifications. Parents NOT registering on Beehively is not an option.
8:20am (Mon-Thur) will be the regular start of the school day. 9:00 am is the regular start time for Friday. For the 22nd, however, we have allowed for a slight cushion with drop offs. As in year's past, the Curotto family is kindly allowing us some overflow parking, for specific events, in front of their neighboring property and along the side closest to the school. Please do not park in their driveway. A parent volunteer to help make sure that parking at the Curotto's lot would be greatly appreciated.
August 23 is also a short day: 9am-12:30pm.
August 25 Back to School Picnic: 3pm-6pm (There is no charge. Bring your own favorite picnic for your family, drop a blanket and relax with the community)
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Students Taste Test Lunch Options
A dozen of our students volunteered to come try out a variety of menu items from Sonoma Market last week. The market wanted to do some research with actual Presentation students as to which of their many ideas for our school lunches would be deemed to be most appealing (and delicious). The students were very enthusiastic and loved filling out the formal feedback form.
Thank you to Lisa Atwood for arranging the taste test and to Sonoma Market for hosting the event.
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Presentation Revamps/Expands Climbing Program
There are some exciting changes in the works with Presentation's climbing program. Our climbing instructor for the past two year, Patrick Smithson, has moved on to other opportunities but we are lucky to have other climbing professionals eager to step in to coach our students.
Professional climber Taylor Knott was recently named by Professional Climbers International as the head coach of the Sonoma community climbing program. All families with interested students are invited to come meet Taylor and learn more about the program this Tuesday, August 20 from 4:30p.m. to 6 p.m. at the private climbing barn across the street from campus. If your student is interested in climbing, please rsvp to nolan@proclimbers.com. You can download the flyer to learn more here.
The climbing team is composed of three "levels": Youth (grades K-2), Intermediate (grades 3-5), and Elite (grades 6-8). All three levels use the same practice facility at different times during the week. Climbers on different levels of the team will have opportunities to interact with each other at competitons, weekend trips, and summer camps. Practices will be after school on Tuesday, Wednesdays or Thursdays, depending on level.
Email Taylor for more information and plan to stop by to meet him on Tuesday.
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Volleyball and Cross County Starting up
This will be a busy fall for Presentation athletics with volleyball, cross country, climbing and tennis seasons beginning shortly. Click HERE for the cross country permission slip. Click HERE for the volleyball permission slip and all Presentation athletes need to download the concussion information and waiver form HERE.
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Presentation Student Summer Explorations  We have heard reports of our current students and alumni taking part in terrific programs this summer. Please send us information (via reply email) so that we can share these ideas with our entire school community.
Here are two great examples: in August, rising fifth grader Laura Couchman attended a week of camp at the Circus Center in San Francisco. Circus Center is a non-profit with programs and classes at all levels in acrobatics, flying trapeze, hand-balancing, contortion, juggling, teeterboard, wire-walking, clowning. www.circuscenter.org. Laura had a great time and specialized in the ribbon trapeze. Rising eighth grader Aria Schuler (pictured above) attended the Young Actor's Theater Camp, a coed overnight theater camp for kids ages 8-18 in the Santa Cruz Mountains. Each year, several cast members from the TV show GLEE visit the camp to work with the students. www.campyatc.com. |
Artist in Residence Aaron Redner
and Music Teacher Lynn McArthur Launch Full Slate of Music Offerings
While more specifics will follow in the days and weeks ahead, we are pleased to announce that Aaron Redner will continue to offer the "zero period" Jam Band class on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday mornings this fall (7:30-8:10am) This class is open to all students with experience, but space is limited.
During the middle school elective period, Aaron will offer a Songwriting class and Lynn will offer Guitar. Electives meet Tuesdays and Thursdays from 2:30pm to 3:10pm. This is open to all middle school students, no musical experience necessary.
While the afterschool PERKS classes are still in the planning stages, Aaron plans to offer a PERKS class on Wednesday afternoons called "Beginning Guitar." This will be open to grades 5 and up and students will need to own or rent their own guitar.
Finally, in addition to music being woven throughout the kindergarten curriculum, our lucky kinders will receive music instruction from both Lynn and from Aaron and his wife Alexa. And our first and second grade students will continue to work with both Lynn and Aaron during the school day.
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Introducing: Kathleen Byrne
The first in a series of introductions to new faculty members and those taking on new roles
We are pleased to welcome Kathleen Byrne as our new Spanish teacher for grades K-5.
Kathleen grew up in Sonoma County and she now lives in Santa Rosa. She attended San Francisco State University where she graduated Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Studies and a minor in Spanish. She completed her Multiple Subject Teaching Credential through the School of Education at Sonoma State University. Some of her favorite activities include hiking, traveling, reading Spanish literature, and gardening. She just returned from a summer in South America.
Kathleen can't wait for school to start. "I feel extremely lucky to be working in such an enriching learning environment where students benefit from small class sizes and receive the support and individual attention they need to grow and thrive," she said.
Please join us in welcoming Kathleen to this new role.
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Mark Your Calendars for Curriculum Night 
September 17 is Presentation's Back to School/Curriculum Night (k-8). We are trying something new this year! Instead of three nights, the entire community will be on campus on the 17th to visit their students' classes, hear from teachers, and enjoy some time together.
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THANK YOU !!
We would like to say thank you to our school families and friends listed below, who most generousely donated wine in our annual "Fall Call for Wine" drive. As a result, we are very fortunate to be able to serve a variety of this area's finest wines at our school events.
A special thank you to Donny Sebastiani for heading up our drive and for keeping our school wine cellar well stocked.
Auteur - Kenneth and Laura Juhasz
Cecchetti - Roy and Rachael Cecchetti
Dane - Bart and Theresa Hansen
Don Sebastiani & Sons - Donny and Katie Sebastiani and August and Allison Sebastiani
Garnet - Mark and Mona Couchman
Grieve - David and Kathleen Grieve
Gundlach-Bundschu - Jeff and Liz Bundschu
Hart (personal cellar) - Donald and Charolotte Hart
Ravenswood - Friends
Stonestreet - Robert and Vickie Carroll
Whetstone - Jamey Whetstone and Michelle Hawkins
Ledson - Steve and Amy Ledson
Nicholson Ranch Winery - Deepak Gulrajani
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SCHOOL ANNOUNCEMENTS
Credit Card Billing: We urge all of our school families to complete a credit card authorization form and simply check the box, "charge my credit card on file". Doing so enables all future lunch orders, field trips, event tickets and sports signups to be billed to your card effortlessly. And you will still receive a complete accounting of the charges. Just complete the form and return to the business office. Click here.
Uniform Details: You should have received Presentation's slightly updated uniform policy but it you would like to print out another copy, it is available here.
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COMMUNITY NEWS
BBK: Sign-ups for the Broadway Bound Kids fall production of the Wizard of Oz are going on now. Rehearsals are on Monday evenings. Email bbkinfo@aol.com for more information.
Tennis: The Sonoma Valley Tennis Association has a full program of junior tennis clinics for ages 4-11. Click here to see the complete schedule.
Shakespeare at Buena Vista: There are a few shows left of Romeo & Juliet outside under the stars at Buena Vista Winery. Good for ages 10+. Tickets are available
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Presentation's facebook page enables you to get reminders about important school events and activities.
More than 150 of you have already joined
our online community.
"LIKE" us today by clicking HERE!
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