DECEMBER 19, 2013

Looming For Life

Two students from Ms. Schuster's 2nd Grade class (Sofia LeGrow and Kennedy Cullum) have come up with an incredible idea. As you may have noticed, Rainbow Loom Bracelets are quite popular. Sofia and Kennedy came up with the idea to make bracelets and give them to kids in hospitals in the surrounding area!

They will be collecting bracelets through 1/10/14 in the office. The girls will be delivering the collected bracelets to George Mark Children's House, Oakland's Children's Hospital and John Muir on behalf of Strandwood Elementary!

Click here for more information.

Please help our wonderful Strandwood students make a difference for sick children by participating in "Looming for Life." Bring your completed bracelets the main office between now and January 10th. The bracelets will be taken to the hospitals in late January.

Thank you!!

Annual Dinner Dance Auction is Approaching!

Our Annual Dinner Dance Auction event is rapidly approaching. We have reached out to over 600 local and national organizations and have already received a number of great donations. We have found, however, that the best donations come from within our school community. There are literally hundreds of ways to help: rental houses, timeshares, airline miles, professional services, baking, and gift certificates just to name a few. Many more ideas can be found on our PTA website: http://www.strandwood.org/auction/PTA_Auction_Ideas.htm.

If you are ready to donate or have questions, please contact Molly McCabe: president@strandwood.org. In order to be included, we need your donation by February 1, 2014. Thank you!!

First General PTA Meeting of 2014

The first general PTA meeting of 2014 will be held on Thursday, January 9th in the Strandwood library. The focus of the meeting will be fundraising. We will provide an overview of each of our PTA fundraisers: what the programs are, what they entail, how many volunteers are needed, and how much money each raises. This is your chance to give us input on the types of fundraising events you'd like us to include in the 2014-2015 PTA budget. We'll also give you an update on our biggest fundraiser, The Dinner Dance Auction, coming up in March!

Hope you can join us. As always, free babysitting is provided.

Winter Chess

The Winter Session for Chess begins January 8th & registration is open! It's taught by Berkeley Chess School on Wednesdays after school at Strandwood. Chess is fun and can be learned quickly and easily. Studies have found that chess helps improve test results in reading, science, and math, and produces growth in critical cognitive skills. Beyond academia, chess influences social behavior including self-esteem, respect, patience, and good sportsmanship. And did we mention...it's FUN! Boards and sets are provided for our classes. The minimum class size is 10; maximum is 20.

Strandwood After-School Chess Club

Wednesdays, January 8 through March 26, 2014

12:35 pm - 1:35 pm*

Grades: 1-5

On the first day, go to B-9; thereafter, class will be held in B-7 & B-9

$156 for 12 weeks

https://www.berkeleychessschool.org/signups/signup/400

*Please remember to be on time to pick up your child after Chess Club. The parent volunteers for the chess program cannot be responsible for supervision after 1:35 p.m. Parents: please pick up your children promptly at 1:35 pm on Wednesdays. Thank you for your cooperation!