186th Street Elementary School A Hoot of News January 2015 Owl Pride: “On the Hunt for Wisdom through Education” Marcia Sidney-Reed, Principal Taryn Takaki-Shimizu, Assistant Principal, EIS Sharon Ishii, Instructional Specialist Message from the Principal… Student of the Month Dear Parents, Happy New Year and welcome back to the second half of the 2014-2015 school year. We hope your winter vacation time was a special period filled with magical moments of quality time with family and friends. We are excited about the upcoming months of new learning, new determination, and continued success. As we move into this new year, it is a good time to reflect upon our goals, our vision, and our mission for all of our students. We reaffirm to you that we believe in the equal worth and dignity of all students and we are committed to educating all of our students to their maximum potential. As we reflect upon the safety issues occurring across our nation, we want to take time to reassure you that safety is first and foremost in our school. We will continue to lock our gates, have one entrance to our school, maintain a visitors’ log in the main office, and remind all parents and staff members that safety is everyone’s responsibility. We will continue to model, monitor, and maintain a safe and civil campus. We ask that you please be patient with us if we take a few extra steps of precaution to ensure the safety of all students and staff members. Let’s continue to work together to make a difference in the lives of our children by keeping our expectations high, holding each other accountable, and providing a safe and nurturing learning environment at home and at school. As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me or your classroom teacher at (310) 324-1153. Here’s to a happy hootin’ new year filled with health and prosperity. Hoot! Hoot! Hooray! Sincerely, Marcia Sidney-Reed Principal Parent Involvement Opportunities… January 12th 9:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. Family Arts-n-Crafts January 13th, 20th, & 27th 8:30 a.m. Madres activas Meeting January 15th 9:00 a.m. -11:00 a.m. Owl Parent Institute January 16th 8:30 a.m. 10th Annual Peace March th January 16 10:00 a.m. PTA Meeting January 19th Dr. Martin L. King, Jr. Holiday – School Closed January 20st UNSAT Notices go home January 26th 6:00 p.m. Tea Time to Talk to the Principal/ SSC Meeting January 28th Owl Awards’ Night January 30th 2:30 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. Super Bowl School Spirit Day 10th Annual Peace March, “Stepping Out for Peace” On Friday, January 16th, 2015, the students, staff, and community will take a walk around the school for peace. Each class will wear their Peace First Tshirts, carry a banner to show their commitment to living peaceably with all people, and encourage the community to stand for peace with our school. This event will launch the second semester of Peace Games with a focus on Community Service Projects. The walk will begin at 8:30 a.m. Come and walk with our children for peace. Good Attendance Promotes Achievement Congratulations to the following classrooms for winning the attendance banners for the month of December: Kindergarten: Mrs. Mota First Grade: Mrs. Reyes Second Grade: Mrs. Barnes Third Grade: Ms. Wong Fourth Grade: Mrs. Garcia-Valles Fifth Grade: Ms. Petch SPED: Mrs. Shokatfard We are happy to salute our outstanding citizens for the month of December. These students are being recognized for being excellent role models for citizenship, sportsmanship, and leadership. Pre-Kindergarten: Jorge Cervantes, Breanna Rosas, Adam Duarte, Kylee Esteves, Emily Sevilla, Jaylin Garcia, Kitana Abbott, and Marellyn Valtierra Kindergarten: Marque Jose, Donna Peralta, Arya Najafiasshar, Ksenia Hays, Mathew Cardenas, Oluchukwu Okolue, Makaio Lee, Mya Ochoa, Byran Flores, Leslie Gutierrez, Eduardo Grageola, Delilah Romero, and Karen Solorzano First Grade: Ryan Mathews, Alexander Lopez, Rosalyn Motta, Joseph Rodriguez, Alexia Medina, Jose Juarez, Daviella Casillas, Jimmy Moreno, Valery Mendez, Mahkai Jones, Hannah Cho, Jadelyn Nakashima, and Isys Lee Second Grade: Miguel Bravo, Angela Perez, Dylan Nakamura, Giselle Lupercio, Adam Garcia, Latessha Miller, Javier Nolazco, Laisha Figueroa, Zoey Taylor, Anthony Dees Jr., and Aarielle Arnett Third Grade: Oswaldo Grageola, Maribel Vazquez, Salma Lepe, Gracie Gomez, Leila Garcia-Ceja, Leilani Gomez, Leon Hernandez, Nicole Tumbokon, Jasmine Lozada, Emiliano Diaz, Angel Rangel, and Zoe Ezeudu Fourth Grade: Anthony Gomez, Kasandra Cardozo, Juan Villarreal, Hannah Tumbokon, Toby Ezeudu, Olivia Fields, Isaiah Wise, Ana Marmolejo, and Richard Garcia Fifth Grade: Andrew Alvares, Ernesto Rodriguez, Dana Do, Adrian Soto, Daisy Rodriguez, Shaid Pacheco, Ashley Zamudio, Anthony Arnold, Alyza Ramirez, Adriel Lopez, and Arianna Rojas Character Word of the Month The word for this month is altruism. Altruism is unselfish concern for the welfare of others; selflessness. Parents, teachers, and students can show altruism by helping others who are in need. Work with your children this month to teach them the meaning of altruism and the benefits of being altruistic. This month we can use Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. as an example of an altruistic person. He worked unselfishly for brotherhood, equality, and civil rights for all mankind and made numerous sacrifices for the cause of peace. Book of the Month In our quest to build our students’ vocabulary and academic language, we are continuing our tradition of all classrooms reading the same book each month. Our book-of-the month for January is Teamwork Isn’t My Thing, and I Don’t Like to Share! We are reading another story written by Julia Cook and illustrated by Kelsey De Weerd. Our students met RJ last month and they will interact with him again and see he is having another bad day. RJ’s teacher asked him to work on a report with bossy Bernice, messie Frankie, and Norma who makes poor decisions. RJ gets easily frustrated with his team. With the help of his coach, RJ will learn that working as a team and sharing are skills needed not just on the soccer field, but in the classroom and hone too! Poem of the Month Happy New Year - William Arthur Ward This bright new year is given me to live each day with zest… To daily grow and try to be my highest and my best! I have the opportunity once more to right some wrongs, To pray for peace, to plant a tree, and sing more joyful songs! “Pennies of Love to Help Those in Need” We would like to continue raising funds to help those in need. We are asking all of our students to save a penny a day for 186 days to help make the world a better place for us to live. Our acts of kindness will go a long way to let others know we care. So start saving your pennies and…Let’s soar!!! Owl Awards’ Night Dress for the Weather Students will be recognized for academic and citizenship awards on Wednesday, January 28, 2015. Parents will receive an invitation if their child is involved. The awards ceremony will proceed as follows: 5:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. Grades K – 1 6:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. Grades 2 - 3 7:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m. Grades 4 - 5 During the winter months it gets very cold, but many students are coming to school without sweaters or jackets. Before children leave the house please make sure that they have a sweater or jacket. Wise Owl Academic Play: Please read 15-30 minutes every evening. Readers are leaders!