Springer Star Newsletter

May 31st, 2013

In This Issue

Calendar Dates

Principal’s Letter

News and Announcements

Parent Education Opportunities

Student Extracurricular Activities

Quick Dates for your Calendar

June 5, 7pm: Springer Singers Concert,

June 7: Field day

June 11, 8.30am: 6th Grade Jump Rope performance

June 12: Last Day of School

Letter from the Principal

Field Day is Coming!

On Friday, June 7th, Springer will hold the first annual Field Day to celebrate the end of the year. During Field Day, grade levels will travel around campus and participate in several fun activities.  Kindergartners through 5th graders will be playing a number of games run by parent volunteers and 6th graders.  A snack break will be built into the day and healthy snacks will be provided.  Here are some key facts about Field Day:

•  Friday, June 7th is a minimum day with a 12:15 dismissal.  All Kindergartners, in order to participate will be dismissed at 12:15 as well.

•  As always, please make all attempts to have your child at school on-time.  Field Day begins right after Flag Assembly!

•  The day before, each student will be given a custom designed T-shirt that is theirs to keep as a souvenir of our first Springer Field Day ever.  It is important that each student wear their T-shirt on June 7th.  Each grade level will wear a different colored shirt to designate them from the rest of the school.  Please be sure your child wears their T-shirt on June 7th.  

• 6th graders will assist in escorting students to the various stations and in helping our parent volunteers in running the activities.

• The day will end with a school-wide Hershey's Kiss Relay.  

Field Day promises to be a lot of fun for our students.  What a great way to end the year; a school-wide celebration of fun and memories!  I want to thank the members of the Field Day Planning Committee for their hard work as well as the parent volunteers from each classroom who will help run the various events.  

News and Announcements

Summer is Coming.  Keep on Reading!

Wherever you go this summer, whether it’s Disneyland, Tahoe, Yosemite, London, the park or even your own backyard, LASD library eBooks can go with you.   Students can now check out up to 7 eBooks at a time from their online school eBook library.   Just visit the LASD Libraries website at to learn more about library eBooks.  If you already know your library card number and the eBook PIN code, start browsing for free eBooks now!  Need help?  Just ask your librarian.  There’s no reason to carry around a heavy suitcase full of books this summer.   Load up your Kindle, iPad, phone or any other device now and have a great trip.  Your library eBooks will automatically be returned after 3 weeks - it’s that easy.  

Also, for the junior high schools, it might makes sense to remind students know that some required summer reading books are available on eBooks.  Students can learn more here

Kick-Off for LASD Instrument Drive

Music enriches lives, and LASD is dedicated to offering instrumental music to every 5th-8th grade student who wants to participate. In order to give all students access to quality instruments, LASD will be conducting an instrument drive May 30-June 30. Donating your working used instrument will ensure that all students, regardless of need, will be able to learn about music and be part of a weekly or daily music program at our elementary and junior high schools. Now is the time to clean out those closets, talk to relatives, neighbors, and friends, and put those instruments that are gathering dust into the hands of students eager to learn and be part of a musical group.

·         When: May 30-June 30

·         Where: Drop off at the Los Altos School District Office, 201 Covington Road, Los Altos, between the hours of 8:00 am -12:00 pm and 1:00 pm -4:00 pm. Donation receipts will be provided.

·         What: Working band and orchestra instruments: trumpets, trombones, flutes, clarinets, violins, violas, cellos.

Please refer any questions to Raquel Matteroli, Coordinator of Categorical Programs at rmatteroli@lasdschools.org

MEDICATIONS AT SCHOOL – Please pick up your child’s medications from the health office on the last day of school!   Medications cannot be stored over the summer. If your child is attending summer school, please pick up their medications and paperwork and take them to summer school on the first day. Thank you!

The Curse of Mortifera

Come one, come all!  On Friday, June 7th, a group of fantastic 6th graders are presenting “The Curse of Mortifera” from 3:30 to 5pm in the Springer Multi. This musical was written, directed, rehearsed, designed and will be performed by 6th graders.  These students have been working on this play in conjunction with 6th grade’s “Project Friday” and would also like to use this play to raise awareness about a cause special to them:  Free the Children.  Please come support this group of hardworking and creative students!  This play is suitable for kids 3 and up so please bring your children to the Springer Multi on June 7th from 3:30-5.  The entry is FREE, but donations to Free the Children are greatly appreciated.  Come enter a fantasy world of magic, princesses, dragons, and even jesters!

You are cordially invited to attend the Annual 6th Grade Jump Rope Performance, 

Tuesday, June 11, at 8:30-8:40 a.m.

 Our 6th graders will be performing one show only, we hope you can attend to cheer them on!

SAVE THE DATE: Walk-a-thon 2013 is October 12th!

Don't miss it. The biggest community and family fundraising event of the year!!! Enter the T-shirt design contest here. Two winners will be selected from each grade K-5. We'll announce the winners in the fall after school resumes!

WOW: Congratulations to Kimberly Bowman and Aaron Golden for winning the the bi-weekly random drawing for the month of May!    Great job and thanks for riding/walking!!!!!! Kim and Aaron are the final winners for the school year but we want to send one final congrats to all that were randomly drawn this year.

ART DOCENT PROGRAM

Thank you to Katie Cowley, Kacey Fitzpatrick, Lara Rahn, and Lisa Twardowski for lending a hand to the Art Docent program this year.  Congratulations to our newest docent, Kirsten Davis for completing our training, look for her in the class next year!

The Los Altos Art Docents are 90 dedicated volunteers who have taught more than 750 art lessons to the elementary school children in the Los Altos School District.

This year at Springer, the docents taught 115 art lessons.

New docents are taught the LAAD lessons by experienced docents on Wednesday mornings from September through April. The Los Altos Art Docents welcome new members to join the next docent-in-training class in September. To learn more, you are welcome to come to our informational coffee on August, 28th at 10:00 in the board room of the district office.

For more information, check us out at www.losaltosartdocents.org!

2013-2014 Suggested Lists of School Supplies are now available.

To enhance the educational experience of all of our students, Springer is requesting donations of supplies and materials for each child. Please see the grade-level lists of school supplies (at the School-Pak link below) and bring them on the first day of school.

As a convenience to parents, the Springer PTA will continue to offer School-Pak’s online ordering of supplies for grades 1-6. School supplies orders for incoming kindergartners will be handled separately. If you have an incoming kindergartner, please look for further information/details from the school.

School-Pak’s Online Ordering (for grades 1-6) is now up and running! Listed below are the options available to you:

-PREFERRED: Order by June 12 and have supplies sent directly to Springer. Supplies sent to Springer will be labeled with your child's name and delivered to the right classroom by the first day of school.

-You may also choose to have the supplies sent to your home, and your child can bring them to school on the first day. Orders placed between June 15- July 24 will automatically be sent to your home.

To order school supplies through School-Pak or to see the school supplies lists, go to the link below and select the package for your child's grade.

Questions? Contact Hilary Burcell (hilary[at]burcell.com)

Click here for the School-Pak link

2014 Auction Co-Chairs Needed

We are still looking for 2-3 (or more) energetic, fun-loving ROCK STARS to be our co-chairs for the 2014 Springer Auction! This annual "adult-only" party is the largest fundraising event for Springer and we need YOU to help make it happen!! Our kids need YOU to help make it happen!! This year, the auction raised $85,565.13 for our school!! This is vital income that allows the PTA to keep Springer a top-notch school for our kids and community! The proceeds from the auction are used to help provide library and literature books, math, science, social studies, art and music programs, computers, technological materials and playground equipment. Our kids need your help to maintain the high quality of education they so richly deserve :)

Many of the experienced 2013 auction team members will be reprising their role for next year but we need a couple of leaders to come up with a game plan, theme and to oversee the program. So, if you're interested or know someone that may be interested,

please contact Linda McCartney (LM28476[at]gmail.com) or LeeAnn Steffen (loopedlulu[at]yahoo.com). Again, our school and more importantly, our kids need us to make it happen!

Student Extracurricular Activities

Stanford Medical School Research Study: Reading in Preterm and Full term children

Do you have a 6-year old?  Are you interested in how reading develops?

We are conducting a longitudinal research study that uses psychological testing and new brain imaging technology to see how reading skills develop in preterm and full-term children.  If you and your child are interested in participating, please click here for more details.

Architecture Design Camp for 12-14 yr olds

Jonathan Pearlman of the San Francisco architecture firm Elevation Architects will be conducting his first ever Design Camp at the Neutra House in Los Altos from June 17 - 21.

Jonathan says "We are gearing the course for 12 to 14 year olds who are starting to show an interest in architecture, landscape, or urban design fields. We will have short morning talks, drawing and design exercises, field trips to architect's office and building sites around the area.

The last day, we will do a group design exercise. Each Day will run from 8 to 5 and we will be working out of the Neutra House."

Elevation Architects' website is at http://elevationarchitects.com

More details are available in the online brochure and the application form

Los Altos Recreation Department

HELLO, SUMMER! The new Summer Recreation Guide is out and registration for all (residents and non-residents) is now underway. We have a few early-starting classes and camps slated for the week of June 3, with the bulk of our activities up and running in the weeks after that. Take a look through the new guide to see all that we have to offer this summer for kids (and adults)!

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

Catch the fun of our summer camps and classes!

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.

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!