186th Street Elementary School A Hoot of News March 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, Where, oh where has our school year gone? The time is moving along rapidly and it seems like we just got started a few days ago. Can you believe it is already time to start planning for the 2015-2016 school year, testing is just around the bend, and spring break is next month? Parent/teacher conferences are scheduled for March 2nd to March 6th. Report cards will be given at the conference. It is important for you to stay in contact with your child’s teacher. The teachers will be discussing your child’s academic progress and whether he or she should be promoted to the next grade level. It is important for you, as the parent, to know if your child is meeting grade-level standards. Students who are not meeting the standards for the grade level are at risk of repeating the grade. We want all students to be successful in school. Communication between school and home is very important to your child’s success. 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’ springtime with improved student achievement. Hoot! Hoot! Hooray! Sincerely, Marcia Sidney-Reed Principal Parent Involvement Opportunities… March 2nd – March 6th Parent Conferences – 1:55 p.m. dismissal March 2nd 9:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. Family Arts-n-Crafts March 3rd Vote…Vote…Vote!!! March 3rd , 10th, 17th & 24th 9:00- 11:00 a.m. Madres Activas March 6th 8:30 a.m. ELAC Meeting March 6th 5:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m. Reading Pajama Party/Movie March 12th 9:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. Owl Parent Institute March 13th 10:00 a.m. PTA Meeting March 19th 8:30 a.m. Shake 2015 – Emergency Lockdown Drill March 19th 3:00 p.m. Owl Peace Leadership Team Meeting March 23rd 6:00 p.m. Tea Time to Talk to the Principal/SSC March 24th 6:00 p.m. 5th Grade Parents’ Culmination Meeting March 25th Spring and Culmination Pictures by LifeTouch March 30th –April 6th Spring Break and Cesar Chavez Holiday – School Closed We are happy to salute our outstanding citizens for the month of February. These students are being recognized for being excellent role models for citizenship, sportsmanship, and leadership. Pre-Kindergarten: Dominic Rosales, Ashley Gonzalez, Adam Duarte, Mayte Clemente, Anabell Hernandez, Daisy Rojas, Kalyx Nipales, and Milly Zapata Kindergarten: Alan Soriano, Luna Cruz, Isaiah Vazquez, Isabel Powers, Noah Castro, Arianna Lawrence, Edgar DeLeon, Catherine Gutierrez, Destinee Lumapas, Gabriel Mot, Hannah Perez, Noah Ornelas, and Ayah Alyafeai First Grade: Daniel Salcido, Zoee Ryan, Joseph Rodriguez, Hillary Mendoza, Christian Molina, Nalani Orozco, Monica Chuc, QQ (Lanxin Xu), Bridget Molina, Rehyanna Tauala, Erik Gonzalez, and Lyric Thompson Second Grade: Junior Perez, Alondra Alvarez, Andrew Lopez, Karina Reyes, Jesse Rivera, Adam Garcia, Sergio Ocegueda, Joselyn Baez, Alyssa Aguirre, Martin Carbajal, Fernando Hernandez, and Briseis Morales Third Grade: Wendy Iturriaga, Victor Hernandez, Johnell Hames, Rayven Smith, Dennis Yanes, Jalyn Ware, Jose Martinez, Melanie Rodriguez, Emiliano Diaz, Unique Lyons, Bryan Medina, and Amy Covarrubias Fourth Grade: Jair Flores, Haley Yates, Rodolfo Gonzalez, Kimberly Knights, Kale Nipales, Katelynne Galloway, Jocelyn Membrila, D’arco Ahumada, Collin White, and Danny Candelas Fifth Grade: Juan Arellan, Zeinab Sandu, Emmanuel Delgado, Jocelyn Bautista, Robert Miklo, Giselle Santisteban, Jahir Cipriano, Janette Cortez-Ricano, Jordan Faison, and Briana Perez Character Word of the Month The word for the month is citizenship. Citizenship is doing your share to make our school and community better. This means cooperating with others, getting involved in community affairs, staying informed, voting, being a good neighbor, obeying laws and rules, respecting authority, and protecting the environment. Teach your children to be good citizens by following all the school rules and respecting the rights and property of others. If we foster good citizenship, our communities will be safer and happier places to live. Book of the Month In our quest to build our students’ vocabulary and academic language, we are continuing our tradition of all classrooms for March is Each Kindness, an award-winning book written and illustrated by Jacqueline Woodson. This book, with its powerful antibullying message, was recommended by the Peace First Team. The story Testing is coming… is a a group of girls who won’t play with the new girl, Maya. Every time Mark your calendars for our upcoming testing program. Students in grades Maya tries to play with Chloe and her friends, they reject her. As a result 3-5 will take the new Smarter Balanced online assessment as a practice test of their unkindness, Maya stops coming to school. Chloe’s teacher gives a this year. Please make a special effort to have your child come to school on lesson about how even small acts of kindness can change the world and time and ready to soar: Chloe thinks about how she lost an opportunity for friendship, and realizes March 1st – March 27th Grade 5 Fitnessgram how much better it could have been if she had shown a little kindness to th th March 11 - 12 Grade 2 OLSAT GATE Testing Maya. Our children will learn that kind acts, no matter how big or small, th nd April 13 - May 22 Grades 3 – 5 Smarter Balanced Test can help make the world a better place for all of us to live. May 4th – May 15th Grade 5 CST Science Test Testing Tips for Success… • • • • • • • Encourage your child to take responsibility for homework and class study. Help your child learn how to find information independently. Praise your child for work done well. Make sure your child has breakfast at home or at school. Make sure your child has enough sleep at night. Avoid any unnecessary absences during the testing period. Avoid any tardies. Testing will begin at 8:30. Students who are tardy to school will not be permitted to enter the classroom until the testing is completed. Shake 2015 Our annual spring emergency earthquake drill is scheduled for Thursday, March 19, 2015. This is a time for our students to practice emergency procedures in the event of a real emergency. The children will participate in schoolwide lockdown. Please discuss emergency procedures for your home as well. Make sure you have a designated meeting place for the family in the event of a real emergency. March is safety month. Check us out on Facebook… 186th Street School has a facebook page featuring many of our funfilled activities. Please like us on facebook at 186th Street School. Poem of the Month The March Wind (Anonymous) "The March wind roars like a lion in the sky, And makes us shiver as he passes by. When winds are soft, and the days are warm and clear, Just like a gentle lamb, then spring is here." School Behavior Protocol for Parents Parents, if there is a problem with your child and another student, please speak to the school authorities. Do not talk to the other student directly. We will intervene to help solve the problem, but under no circumstances should another parent come to our campus with intentions of reprimanding another child. We will work relentlessly to provide a safe and civil environment for all of our students. Fifth Grade Parent Meeting As the end of the school year approaches, we are planning all kinds of special activities to make our 5th graders’ final days in elementary school extra special. In an assembly with the principal, teachers, and students, all fifth grade students were warned that their participation in the culminating events would depend upon their ability to display outstanding citizenship and exemplary academic effort in all of their classes. The activities are a privilege, and students must earn the right to participate. We will hold a parent meeting for all 5th grade parents to discuss and plan all of the special end-of-the-year activities for our 5th grade students. The meeting will take place on Tuesday, March 24th at 6:00 p.m. in the auditorium. All 5th grade parents are encouraged to attend.