Springer Star Newsletter

March 29th, 2013

In This Issue

Calendar Dates

News and Announcements

Parent Education Opportunities

Student Extracurricular Activities

Quick Dates for your Calendar

April 3, 7pm: PTA meeting

April 4: Springer Open House

April 5: Minimum Day

April 8-12: Spring Break – NO SCHOOL

April 22-26 Book Fair

April 25: Blach incoming 7th graders Info Night

April 27: Junior Olympics

May 11: Springer Giants Day

News and Announcements

PTA MEETING - April 3, 7pm (Staff Room)

Come hear Gail Roosakos talk about the Project Cornerstone program at Springer!  She will discuss how parents can set an example for their kids and also what to do if they see a bullying or exclusion situation in progress. In addition, learn how YOU can get involved in teaching the program's uplifting lessons to our kids!

We will also be voting to approve the slate of nominees for next year's PTA Executive Board, as well as the Audit Report for the first half of this school year. Hope to see you there!

Springer Auction - set sail in style!

Woo hoo! Was that auction event a party or what?! A big PTA SHOUT OUT to Renee Johnsen, Wen Crane and the entire Auction Team for the fabulous job they did in putting together a night to remember!  It was so much fun!  You could feel the energy and sense of community as we all came together to celebrate our largest fundraising event of the year!  Everything turned out beautifully….the venue, the decorations, the music, the food!  Not to mention all the incredible items and parties donated by the extremely generous Springer community (that's YOU)! The auction team is busy tallying up the proceeds from Saturday night so stay tuned for an update on how much revenue this event has generated for our school and kids!  And, if you're a winning bidder, be sure to check for your confirmation email(s), along with details on how/when to pickup any tangible item(s). If you weren't able to attend the party Saturday night, no worries! You will have the opportunity to "bid" on parties that still have space available. So, keep an eye out for further communications with more details from the Auction Team!

Linda McCartney and LeeAnn Steffen

Springer PTA Co-Presidents

Art Show

Springer's Open House and Art Show is on Thursday, April 4.   We are looking for volunteers to help prep, hang and take down the student art work.  Three shifts are available during the school day, March 19th through April 5th.  Click here to sign-up

Spring Family Picnic

Spring is officially here!  And that means that we are getting ready for the Spring Family Picnic, with food trucks, music, games, and more.  If you would like to help with this fun event, please contact Amanda Steele atamsteele[@]ymail.com

Living Classroom Spring schedule

Do you like nature, gardening, hands-on education in science, history, and math? Love to help in the classroom or in the school gardens? Then come to our Docent Training Sessions offered by the Living Classroom Program to become a garden docent. The Living Classroom is LASD's garden-based education program that offered 630 lessons last year, K-8th grades at all LASD schools. We are always looking to add new volunteers who love to have fun with students and acquaint them with the wonders of nature.

All Training Sessions are: Mondays, 8:30am – 11:30am - at the District Office

For dates and more details, click here

Saturday, May 11th is the Springer Community Day at the San Jose Giants!

Game time is 5pm and our very own Springer Singers will start the festivities with their rendition of the national anthem. Discounted tickets will be sold on campus closer to the date, so stay tuned!

And, back by popular demand, the 2013 Springer Auction will offer one lucky Springer boy or girl the chance to throw the first pitch at the game!! So be sure to attend the auction on March 23rd to place your bid on this fabulous prize for your child!

Junior Olympics are coming - save the date!   Saturday, April 27th for 4-6 grades.

Parent Education Opportunities

MVLA Council presents: Bully: The Film

Join us for a showing of  Lee Hirsch’s 2011 film, “Bully”, followed by valuable discussion, moderated by Gloria Moscowitz-Sweet (The Parents Place, DigitalTAT2) and Jack Weinstein (Facing History), parent educators and experts in bullying prevention.

Tuesday, April 23, 2013, 6:30-9:00 pm at Mountain View High School Spartan Theater

Admission is Free

EDtalks with LASD: New and Upcoming

April 3rd:      Extreme by Design  6:30-8:30pm

Interested in learning more about Design Thinking and the implications for education? Come watch Extreme by Design, an hour-long documentary film that highlights the design-thinking experience for students at Stanford in a course called Entrepreneurial Design for Extreme Affordability. This event will be interactive and co-facilitated with staff from Stanford's d. School. Extreme by Design will air nationally on PBS in Fall 2013.  

To sign up, go to Your Event URL: http://www.eventbrite.com/event/3197714402

April 19th:    STEM Education & Beyond

May 24th:     Ed Tech/Technology Integration

All Edtalks are held in the iLearn Studio, located next to the District Board Room.  For more details on these, including times, visit Edtalks on the LASD Website.  

Student Extracurricular Activities

Saturday, May 11th – Los Altos Hills Pathways Run/Walk

9:00 am at Westwind Community Barn, 5K, 10K and 1 mile Family Fun Run.

Please register on-line here. Use the Discount Code of "owlhouse".  (The discount is for $10 off of the 5K and 10K run/walk).   All participants receive an owl design dry-wick t-shirt.

LEGO Club's last LEGO Exhibition of the Year will be held at The Springer Open House on Thursday April 4. Students will be displaying creations they are working on at lunch.

We welcome displays from home as well to be a part of the exhibition. Students can bring their creations on Thursday April 4 in the morning to the Exploratory Lab for exhibition that night. Please attach your student's name on the creation. Questions please contact Laurie Pasmooij 650-224-7859.

LASD Student Film Festival: Friday, March 29 at Covington Elementary from 4-6pm.   

Spartan Sports - Spring Break Basketball Camp (Open to grades 4-8), April 8-12, 9am-12pm

For more info or to register, visit www.SpartansSportsCamp.com or call 650.479.5906

Los Altos Recreation Department

Registration for Los Altos Recreation Department spring camps, spring classes and summer camps is underway. As we like to say, sign up early and often!

During the week of April 1, we have 37 youth classes beginning. (Yes, that is correct…37!) Surely, if your child (ages 2.5-17), has an interest in something, we have a class for that! We are offering classes in arts & crafts (first art classes, art for families, printing making, exploratory art, adventures in art); cooking (classes for kinder, young and tween chefs); music (musical stories, musical adventures for toddlers, Latin music for families, music for babies/multicultural English/Spanish); and sports (fencing, gymnastics, soccer, and tennis). Sign that child up!

If you are thinking ahead to spring break (week of April 8), check out our spring break camps (listed on page 1 of the spring recreation guide).

To read about and register for all of our spring classes,  spring camps and summer camps, go to LosAltosRecreation.org and click on the photo of our SPRING 2013 RECREATION GUIDE.

Remember, we have a great variety of adult classes, too. Check us out!

Medaka no Gakko, a Japanese cultural summer program runs from June 24-July 12, 2013 at the Palo Alto Buddhist Temple in Palo Alto. For more information, please visit www.medakanogakko.org or email medakanogakkopaloalto@gmail.com.

After School Soccer Program for Grades 4-6

Wednesdays, 3:00pm – 3:45pm starting March 27 For more info or to register, please go to http://tinyurl.com/mvla4-6 or visit www.mvlasc.org and click on After School program

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!