Happy Summer!
We wish all of you a fun and safe summer vacation! The Strawberry Point School office will reopen on August 16, 2010.
Useful Dates for the 2010-11 School Year
- August 23 (Mon) – New Parent Information Night, 7-9 pm
- August 24 (Tues) – Kindergarten Playdate 11 am
- August 24 (Tues) – School Clean-Up Day, 9-11 am
- August 25 (Wed) – First Day of School, 8:30 am
- September 1 (Wed) – Back To School Night, 7-9 pm
- October 22 (Fri) – Student Walk-a-Thon: MAD Dash, 2-3 pm
- October 23 (Sat) – SPS Annual Parent Auction Night, 7 pm
The complete School Calendar will be in the first day packet when school begins. ————————————————————————————————————
Thank you wonderful PTA Parents!
Your PTA dollars paid for many important things this year, including:
- The Art Show, Variety Show, & Science Night
- Student Assemblies
- Kindergarten Playground Expansion
- New Books for the Library
- Document Cameras for the Classrooms
- The Environmental Education Program & Garden with Kiea Wright
- Emergency Preparedness
- Field Trips & Scholarships
- PE and Recess Supplies
- Technology Repairs and Upgrades
- School Materials and Classroom Supplies
CALL TO ACTION – COMMUNITY SAFETY!
A CALL TO ACTION TO ADDRESS COMMUNITY SAFETY AT SPS.
As we are all aware, the traffic/car situation, especially during drop-off and after school is not safe. We have written to the Director of Public Works to address our concerns. This includes widening the sidewalk on East Strawberry Drive towards the Rec. Center, and adding a fence across from the Strawberry Recreation Center driveway and in front of our school to prevent jaywalking between the two facilities.
If you would like to have a safer commute environment for your children, we are asking you to join our efforts by sending a letter to the Director of Public Works and or to The Board of Supervisors (names and addresses below), so we can keep our children safe.
You can write your own letter, especially if you have experienced or witnessed an incident yourself, or you can download a letter that has already been written and sign your own name.
Download Generic Community Letters
Please click here to read other letters: PTA Letter, Other Letters
Here is the contact information for the Director of Public Works, Farhad Mansourian and also Supervisor McGlashen. These are the people responsible for the streets around our school.
Farhad Mansourian
Director of Public Works
County of Marin
3501 Civic Center Dr.
San Rafael CA 94903
Email: fmansourian@co.marin.ca.us
Supervisor Charles McGlashan
Marin County Board of Supervisors
3501 Civic Center Drive
San Rafael, CA 94903
Email: CMcGlashan@co.marin.ca.us
If you send the letter by mail, it is recommended that you follow up with an email to make sure they acknowledge receipt.
Thank you for taking the time to keep our children safe!
Strawberry Point School PTA
Your Generous Donations At Work!
Witness how the learning experience in each SPS classroom is more powerful than ever!
The camera displays live documents and objects on a large screen in real-time.
It’s all the rage:
“When students can see as well as listen, more learners stay focused. It helps visual learners and helps keep everyone more focused and engaged on the topic.”
“Students are able to stay on task with clear live examples of lesson material and demonstrations make a great impact on comprehension and understanding.”
“The camera encourages students to show their work, which eventually leads to better overall performance on tests and internalization of the material.”
“The camera has increased confidence in my students. Students at all levels are equally eager to display their work on the document camera. Shy students are more willing to share as the class is focusing on the work on the screen rather than the person speaking.”
“The kids can’t ignore something that fits the size of the wall!”
Thank you for MAKING A DIFFERENCE!
Strawberry Point PTA
Note from the Principal’s Desk
As the end of the year approaches, life at school gets busier and busier with many fun events. I look forward to seeing many of you at the Strawberry Jamboree this weekend, Science Night, the Variety Show, and many other fun events as this year draws to a close. Following are a few important updates…
On Friday, April 30, one teacher and one student from each Mill Valley School will be honored at the annual Redwoods Awards Ceremony at the Redwoods. The teacher nominated this year to represent our staff is Mary Ann Ellison. Mary Ann currently teaches fourth grade, and also works with our Student Council and Green Team. Receiving the Student Community Service Award will be Fiona Bransgrove. Her teachers describe her as one of the kindest students they have every had, who supports her classmates, volunteers in the kindergarten rooms, and has been involved in a number of school committees and community service events.
Beginning on Monday, May 3 and continuing through Friday, May 14, our students in grades 2-5 will participate in the state STAR tests. Students are assessed in language arts and in math. All tests are un-timed. We have arranged a schedule that breaks the tests up into the smallest sections possible, and are making every effort to make the experience relaxed and enjoyable for all of the students. Each grade level is testing only three days each week, with most sessions being an hour or less. The results from the tests will be mailed to families in August. The data from these tests, as well from other grade level and classroom assessments, are important for us as a school in looking at our own school programs, and also in making sure we are meeting the needs of individual students. It is very important to us as a school that all students participate. Please make every effort not to schedule appointments or absences on these days. As is true on any school day, a healthy breakfast and good night’s sleep will always be beneficial, as will arriving to school on time, with time to spare.
We are well into planning for next year already. We will have four kindergarten classes again next year, as well as a fourth first grade class. We will be doing orientations for our 94 incoming kindergarten students during the week of May 17. My estimate at this point is that we will have approximately 412 students in the fall.
I am pleased to announce that our new first grade teacher will be Zandra Marulanda. Zandra has been teaching short term assignments in a variety of grade levels in Sausalito, San Rafael, and Mill Valley. She recently completed her Master’s thesis on social and emotional learning strategies. Zandra will be a wonderful addition to our staff. Lauren Sidle and Tara Sprague, who taught kindergarten here for a number of years will be sharing a contract in first grade. We are excited to have Tara back with us. I do not anticipate any other changes to our teaching staff at this time.
As parents, your main thought is most likely about the placement of your own child in a class next year. Several years ago, the Mill Valley Principals worked together on the following letter. As always, I welcome your comments and questions any time.
Thank you for all you do to support our wonderful Strawberry Point community.
Fondly,
Leslie Thornton
Dear Parents,
As we look ahead to next year’s classroom placements, we know some parents would like to request a certain teacher or a certain friend in the class with their child.
All of our teachers are wonderful and represent a wide range of teaching styles. Your child will profit from working with all kinds of “mentors” during the nine years they may study with us.
Our staff spends many hours working in teams to establish balanced classes to assure a mosaic of students with varying interests, needs, strengths, cultural backgrounds, and languages. For children with very specific and individualized needs (e.g. physical, emotional, or learning disabilities), we again work as a team to assure those special areas will be accommodated by the new class placement. Because of these factors, we will take into consideration only extraordinary circumstances that you may share with us about your child. (A desire to be with a certain teacher, or with a certain child, is not an extraordinary circumstance.)
Once the classes are set, there will be no changes unless there is a truly unusual situation that is discussed fully with the parent of the child, teacher, principal, and superintendent. Even with this, changes will not be made during the first two weeks of school. We generally find that once students settle into the new grade, they acclimate quickly, make new friends and can always see their other friends during recesses, field trips, or other all-grade activities.
We ask for your trust and we thank you for respecting our professional judgment. We ask that you not put teachers in an awkward position of answering to your requests for a certain person. If you do say, “Please put my child with ____,” the staff will respond, “I’m sorry, we cannot promise matches with personnel or students.”
We appreciate your cooperation with this placement procedure.
Mill Valley School District PrincipalsSPRING WORK PARTY SATURDAY 4/24
This Saturday we have a Spring Work Party planned from 9am -11am.
We will be creating a Herb Spiral in the garden,
and adding new mulch to the wetlands path,
planting, weeding, and more!
Bring gloves, hats, rakes and weeding tools.
We will provide water and snacks.
Kids welcome!
Sponsored by SPS Environmental Education and the PTA
Kiea Wright, Lisa Terry and Anne Forell
Email lisa@ionix.net or call 819-7983 for more info
SPS JAMBOREE MAY 2nd, 2010
Sunday, May 2, 12 – 4 PM
FREE Admission!
Bring a picnic, blanket, chairs
Enjoy field games, cake walk, obstacle course and much, much more!
Musical Entertainment by:
Jigsaw and Chemistry of the Heart
Free Woody’s ice cream
Please bring an item for the Bake Sale!!
Purchase a hot dog, burger or sandwich – popcorn – cotton candy
We will need many VOLUNTEERS at the event. Please email Patty Ginnebaugh at patty@designmind.com with the one hour shift you can work sign up in your classroom
No Skateboards, scooters or bikes please
*All Children must be accompanied by an adult
Food Sponsor: Revolution Foods
Platinum Donor:
Tamalpais Bank
Important Message from Superintendent Ken Benny
Greetings Mill Valley Learning Community:
We are all now fully aware of the severity of the economic crisis in the state of California and the resulting impacts on public school budgets. It’s hard to pick up a newspaper without catching headlines about school cutbacks and pink slips. You are probably beginning to wonder about your own Mill Valley School District and the impact of state cuts and declining property tax revenue on your child’s education.
The Mill Valley School District is facing critical financial decisions as we confront deepening state budget cuts and a faltering economy that threaten our ability to fund all of the educational programs, services and staff we value in our schools. The Board of Trustees is holding a special budget study session on Wednesday, March 31st at 6:00 pm at Strawberry Point School at which we will discuss these very real budget challenges. Please come and get informed about the school district’s upcoming financial decisions and how it may impact your student.
Four important things you should know:
- The school district’s two primary revenue sources, property taxes and state funding, are declining for the first time in recent memory. Instead of growing at an annual rate of 5-7%, our property tax revenue is projected to decline next year by 0.25%. We expect state funding cuts to be at least $1.4 million for each of the next two school years. This compares with cuts of $610,000 for the current school year.
- Our enrollment has grown tremendously, by over 425 students (20%) since 2005-06. Because our school district is “Basic Aid,” we do not receive any additional funding for enrollment increases and must fund these significant costs from our operating revenue, which is steadily declining.
- These significant cuts in our state funding mean that we will need to cut at least $1.4 million from next year’s school budget. Salaries for our teachers and staff make up 86% of our budget, and the remaining 14% is used for everything else, such as textbooks and insurance. It will be extremely difficult to maintain our current workforce for the 2010-2011 school year, let alone accommodate a sixth consecutive year of student enrollment growth. It is certain this coming year’s reductions will impact people and programs.
- State economic conditions are bleak. We are going to face budget challenges for at least the next three to five years and must plan accordingly.
Please get involved and stay informed as we work together in these challenging economic times. We strongly encourage you to attend the special Board Budget Study Session on Wednesday, March 31st at 6:00 pm at Strawberry Point School.
Sincerely,
Ken Benny
Superintendent
A Message From Principal Leslie Thornton
Dear Families,
I can’t believe it is March already. We are clearly feeling the impact of our El Nino year with all of the rain. Thank you for driving extra carefully on these rainy days. I have been out assisting traffic in the afternoons whenever possible. If anyone else has the time to help out, it would be great!
Progress Reports: This is a busy month as teachers are assessing their students in preparation for March progress reports. Progress reports will be sent home on Thursday, March 18 for students in grades 1-5. Kindergarten families will be having conferences this month. Be sure to contact teachers with any questions you may have. This is a great time to touch base as parents and staff to support students in any areas needed. A number of our staff members are piloting a new progress report this year. Parent feedback on the new format is appreciated.
Student Writing Project: Also this month, all students will be completing a writing piece which our teachers will be scoring together on Friday, March 19 during our staff development day. Our purpose is to deepen our professional conversation about the teaching of writing, and use the results to guide instruction for this year and beyond. Looking at the span of writing from kindergarten through fifth grade is always valuable. We have the opportunity to have Greg Hamilton, who worked previously with the Marin Teaching Network, working with us on this project. We will be joined on March 19 by the teachers from the Bolinas-Stinson school. We appreciate the support of the parent community for our three staff development days this year. This will be the last one this year.
Staff News: Congratulations to Tara Sprague who taught kindergarten here until this year. She gave birth to a her first child, Santiago, on March 2.
School Hours: Beginning next year, our school hours will be aligned with the times for the other Mill Valley schools. The instructional minutes will remain the same, but we will begin at 8:30 and end at 2:50. On Wednesdays, we will end at 1:45. This will accommodate students who have before and after school activities at other schools, and also staff members who have meetings at other campuses after school.
School Facilities Use: I want to take a moment to clarify the use of our school facilities. Any events, meetings or activities on campus need to have District approval. This includes our buildings, blacktop, and field. As far as our field, per our existing permit from Bay Conservation and Development Commission (BCDC) for the Strawberry Point field, we are not allowed to have any organized sports groups using this field until the monitoring plan is complete. We are permitted for School use only. Our permit from BCDC requires us to monitor the field and adjacent wetlands for a 5 year establishment period. We must submit 5 annual reports that show 5 years of improvements of the planting and surrounding wetlands. We are in the 1st year of our 5 year monitoring plan.
If you do wish to use any MVSD facilities, even for a one time use, all information can be found at http://www.mvschools.org/facilities/Use/use.htm. Thank you so much for your understanding.
As always, I welcome your suggestions, ideas, and feedback.
Thank you for all you do to support Strawberry Point !
Sincerely,
Leslie
School Pool Marin
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