Springer Star Newsletter

November 16th 2012

In This Issue

Calendar Dates

Principal’s Letter

News and Announcements

Student Extracurricular Activities

Quick Dates for your Calendar

November 19th-20th: Parent/Teacher Conferences (no school)

November 21st-23rd: Thanksgiving Break

November 28th: Family Dinner Night Out at Chevys

Letter from the Principal

Happy Thanksgiving!

Enjoy the time with your family and friends.

News and Announcements

Your Immediate Attention Please:  I am receiving numerous complaints regarding unsafe driving in front of Springer and in the parking lot.  I have written about this many times and am growing increasingly frustrated at the reoccurrence of unsafe driving - much of it by our own parents.  Reports include: u-turns in the middle of Rose Ave., blowing through the crosswalk with the crossing guard and children in the crosswalk, and blocking access in the middle of the   the parking lot by stopping to let children out.   All of this is unsafe and puts our students at risk.

Please, please be attentive and law-abiding when dropping off and picking up.  Your children are watching your example.  

Let's give a huge round of applause to Kathy Stiles, Elena Baquero and Denise Massone and their All-Star team for the AWESOMELY successful Book Fair last week! And, in spite of the rainy weather, the Family Night Picnic Thursday night was a home-run! What an amazing and fun time for the kids and adults alike!

And, it’s not too late! The Online Book Fair continues through November 18th, giving you a chance to keep on shopping! All online orders ship for FREE to school after the Thanksgiving break.

Check out the details here.

Thank you for supporting Springer's Allstar Readers!!!

Linda McCartney and LeeAnn Steffen

Springer PTA Co-Presidents

Springer Family Dinner Night Out at Chevys!

Springer’s next Family Dinner Night Out will be Wednesday, November 28th at Chevys!  Please share the attached FLYER with all of your friends and family.  See you there!

Lost and Found

I want to encourage all Springer Students, parents, faculty and staff to take a look in the Lost and Found, which is in the tall cabinet in the hallway between the Multi Purpose Room and the Teacher Workroom. Current unusual items include a blue camouflage pattern sleeping bag, a large blue bathroom towel and a kid-sized lime green camping chair - all of which showed up after the Walkathon. We’ve got new books from the book fair, socks, hats, shorts, sweat pants, goalie gloves, lunch boxes and water bottles. Primarily it’s jackets, sweaters and hoodies. Most likely only half of them belong to Springer students. There are adult size clothes, especially in the men’s section. There is a lot of toddler and preschool sized clothing, so if you come here regularly with a small person, please take a look. If you play sports here on the weekend sometimes, please remind the other parents and your team mates to stop by before or after school. If a team mate from Loyola or Oak leaves a jacket here over the weekend, it stays here, it doesn’t get returned to their school! You might also stop by the schools where you play and check their Lost and Founds too. Finally, if you have any hangers you can donate, we would appreciate that; we’re currently using almost all the ones we have. Thank you!

Santa Clara County Office of Education Library Resources Center has a great collection of Parent Education/Self Help Books not usually found in our regular libraries (also available as eBooks).  Their service is free.  Find out more about them at www.sccoe.org/depts/library/

New Field Day Committee Forming

This year we will be switching formats in the way we handle the end-of-year grade level picnics.  Instead of individual picnics held on separate days, we will have a school-wide "Field Day", tentatively scheduled for Friday, June 7th- which is a minimum day, making our field day a half-day event.   The purpose of the end-of-year picnics is to provide the students with a day of fun and a celebration of the end of the year.  A "Field Day" will still accomplish that purpose.  Please note that this will not affect 6th graders.  They will continue to have their traditional swim party as a final celebration of their years at Springer.

The reasons for this change are many.  First, we believe that the demand for volunteers will be decreased, as each homeroom will only be responsible for one event or activity.  By all homerooms working together on the same day, we can share the workload and resources.  By having the day centrally organized, much of the planning is taken off the plates of room parents.  Secondly, parents who have children in multiple grade levels, and who volunteer at all their children's picnics, will be able to contribute on just one day.  Additionally, scheduling just one day of activities for the entire school eases the hectic end of year calendar.  Lastly, we believe an all-school field day will create a more community feel.

It should be noted that other district schools, notably Covington and Gardner, have used a Field Day model for years with great success.  The students have a terrific time.  

In order for this to be a great event, there is a lot of work to do.  For that reason, we are forming a committee to plan and organize the event.  If you would like to contribute your ideas to this event, please consider joining the committee.   The committee will work out the details of the event, from times and how the classes rotate through the activities, to the materials needed. Once the work is done, homerooms will be assigned an activity to run and a location on the campus as to where to stage the activity.  Please contact Principal Wade Spenader directly if you have an interest in working on the Field Day committee.

Science Fair Judges Still Needed: if interested, click on this link to fill out the online form.  

Funvisors  For all information on current activities, click here.

Student Extracurricular Activities

Do you have a six year old? Are you interested in how reading develops?  Stanford Medical School is conducting a longitudinal research study which uses psychological testing and new brain imaging technology to see how reading skills develop in preterm and full-term children.

Children aged 5 years and 9 months to 6 years and 5 months are eligible to have their reading, language and thinking skills evaluated, at no cost.  Find out more here.

Los Altos Recreation Department

Now through November 26 we are accepting applications for our annual Gingerbread House Exhibit! As always, this exhibit is FREE to both participants and all who visit this sweet event! Houses are to be delivered the morning of December 3, and the exhibit runs that whole week. Applications and rules are available at LosAltosRecreation.org or at the Recreation Office (M-F, 8am-5pm).

To check out and/or register online for all of our upcoming classes and activities, go to LosAltosRecreation.org and click on the photo of our FALL 2012 RECREATION GUIDE. And remember…we have many fun adult classes, too. Check it out!

“ ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas”

Reviewed as a “charming alternative to the Nutcracker,” this show is performed by over 130 students representing 45 peninsula schools (including Springer).  Performances at Woodside Performing Arts Center on Sunday December 9th (1:00pm and 4:00pm), Saturday December 15th, (1:00pm and 4:00pm) and Sunday December 16th, (1:00 and 4:00). Tickets available at www.twasthenight.org or by calling 650-323-5292.

Girls on the Run Program Sign Ups December 1st!

The two words that best describe Girls on the Run are “FUN” and “RUN”.  Every aspect of this program is geared toward helping girls feel good about who they are - physically, emotionally and socially. We are excited to offer this great program to the 3rd-5th grade girls at Springer this coming spring!  Click here for more detailed information!

LA-MV PONY BASEBALL - UPCOMING REGISTRATION

Registration opens November 1, for boys and girls aged 5-19. For more information and to register starting on November 1, 2012 please visit the league website at http://www.lamvpb.org/. or click here.

Spartans Sports Camp Holiday Basketball Camp, December 26th-29th

Visit www.SpartansSportsCamp.com or call (650)479-5906 for more information

MVLA SOFTBALL SIGN-UPS BEGIN NOVEMBER 1st

Learn more about us at: www.mvlags.org

Math Olympiad - Sports for the Mind! Interested in fun, innovative, and challenging math problems?  Fridays after school.  For registration and more information, click here.

Springer Singers: Mondays after school.  Gr.1-3 2:30-3:30pm; Gr. 4-6 2:45-3:30pm

Academic Chess Club, Thursdays after school, see flier for details

How to submit an article to the Springer STAR

Please send your submission to the editor at springer_star@yahoo.com by noon on Monday for inclusion in the next edition. All flyers must be in either WORD or PDF format, accompanied by a brief summary of the activity in the email.  Late arrivals will be included if possible but can’t be guaranteed!