Springer Buzz!

September 27, 2013

In This Issue

Calendar Dates

News and Announcements

Parent Education Opportunities

Student Extracurricular Activities

Quick Dates for your Calendar

October 2, Wednesday, 7pm:  PTA meeting

October 12, Saturday: Walkathon

October 25, Friday: Coffee with the Principal

October 31, Thursday: Annual Costume Parade

News and Announcements

Please join us at our next PTA meeting on Wednesday, October 2nd!

Our guest speaker will be Joannie Craddock, Springer's STEM teacher! She will be giving us an overview of this amazing new program that's got our kids excited about learning science and math!

PTA & LAEF work together!  Both organizations cooperate to fund enrichment programs for our children.   The PTAs raise funds for “stuff”—important items and supplies needed to support activities such as art, science, library and PE, as well as technology for the classrooms and so much more!  LAEF raises money for “staff” to pay teachers who provide the enrichment programs and who teach additional classes to keep student-to-teacher ratios low.  Both PTA and LAEF are critical to our children’s education in the Los Altos School District. So please donate generously to both—every year!

LAEF representatives at Springer are:

Nancy ​F

Susan Longyear, sue.longyear[at]gmail.com

Brooke Schiller, bbwc[at]sbcglobal.net

Kristin Najarian (member at-large), kristin_najarian[at]yahoo.com  

Learn More & Make Your Tax Deductible Donation Today!  www.laefonline.org

A very small request from Mr Spenader

Dear Springer Parents,

We have a very exciting opportunity for you.  For those of you who have been dying to get your ‘hands a little dirty’ while helping out your child's school in a big way, I would like to invite you to volunteer to be part of the famed ‘Springer Lice Squad.’  This elite platoon of fastidious parents make themselves available, sometimes with little notice, to selflessly check the hair of children who may have contracted lice.  

 In all seriousness, while there is no epidemic or reason to worry about the health of your child or the sanitation here at Springer, we do want to plan for the future so that we can deal with the situation in an effective and expeditious manner.  When a child is found to have lice, our secretary and clerk have to stop everything they are doing to check everyone in that child’s class.  We then have to check siblings.  If a sibling is found to have lice, we have to check everyone in their class.  We also have to do a lice check on all 6th graders before we send them off to Science Camp.  It can be particularly busy during the holiday season, as we tend to see more children with lice immediately after a holiday break.  Therefore, there is a real need here for a squad of about 10 parents whom we can call on to help us with this.

We will train all volunteers and provide them with latex gloves; there is little to no danger of contracting lice while checking the children for lice.  We seek to have volunteers who do not work or have a fairly flexible schedule so that they could come in as need.  If you would like to volunteer for the 'Springer Lice Squad', please email Linda Ripley-Smith (LRipleySmith@lasdschools.org) or simply call the office.  

Thank-you very much.

TWO WEEKS TILL THE WALK-A-THON!

Getting ready for the Walk-a-thon on Saturday, October 12? Great!

But first, dust off your walking shoes and grab some friends for National Walk-to-School Day on Wednesday, October 9! More info coming next week…

Meanwhile, don’t forget to turn in your green sponsor form to the cubby in the office on (or before!) Friday, October 4 to earn a special surprise! If you’ve gotten all your sponsors already, early forms are much appreciated. (Don’t forget to sign the waiver on the back.)

Finally, WE NEED VOLUNTEERS! We can't do it without you. Check out the Google doc for job descriptions and to sign up online by clicking here!

Questions?  Contact Karen McKinley karenhey[at]stanfordalumni.org or Christy Gammons  christine.gammons[at]gmail.com

Lunch Club News

Dear Springer Community,

Next week for Lunch Club we are going to try something different. Have you heard of Caine's Arcade and the Cardboard Challenge? (It makes me tear up every time I watch it.) If you haven’t seen it yet, here is a link: http://cainesarcade.com/cardboardchallenge/

We have been collecting boxes and other recycled materials for the past month. Students will have the opportunity to work in a group or independently to create an arcade game out of a cardboard box. Rather than restricting which grade level can come each day, I plan to be open Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday for all grade levels. Students may come one time or all three days. They can even work on it at home and bring in pieces they have created. On Friday at lunch, we will take the games outside for everyone to play.

If you don’t mind dealing with the chaos of the unknown, I'd love to have you come to the lab and help. I have no idea how many students will come each day, the more the merrier (I hope.)

We're using VolunteerSpot (the leading online signup and reminder tool) to organize our upcoming activity.

Please sign up for STEM Lunch Club Volunteers - here's how it works in 3 easy steps:

    1. Click this link to go to our invitation page on VolunteerSpot: http://vols.pt/5YSu7r

   2. Enter your email address: (You will NOT need to register an account on VolunteerSpot)

   3. Sign up! Choose your spots - VolunteerSpot will send you an automated confirmation and reminders. Easy!

Note: VolunteerSpot does not share your email address with anyone. If you prefer not to use your email address, please contact me and I can sign you up manually.

Thank you,

Ms. Craddock  (jcraddock@lasdschools.org)

LAST CHANCE TO ORDER 2013 "BACK TO SCHOOL" SPIRIT WEAR!  

Get your BTS Spirit Wear before it is too late!

·  If you missed the online BTS form, you can print the paper Spirit Wear form from the Springer website by clicking here!  

·  If you ordered via the online BTS form, payments must be received by Monday, 9/30!

·  If you have paid for your online BTS order, your order is being processed.  Thank you!

·  If you are not sure if you ordered Spirit Wear on the BTS form, please contact Donna Murphy at jcdrm@yahoo.com.

·  Shirts will be ready for you to pick up at the Walkathon Spirit Wear Table.

Orders and payments must be received by next Monday, 9/30!  It is unlikely we will be able to meet the minimum needed to place another order this year.

Questions?  Contact Michelle Mihopoulos at michellemihopoulos[at]gmail.com or 408-892-5082.

FUNVISOR PROGRAM:  For current and ongoing Funvisor activities, please click here!

Questions:  Please contact Clare Delaney

Parent Education Opportunities

Reading in Preterm and Full Term Children

Do you have a six year old? Are you interested in how reading develops?  Here at Stanford, we are 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.

If you are interested in having your child participate in this study, please click here for more details.

Student Extracurricular Activities

GirlSPARC

GirlSPARC - a Science Plus ARithmetic Club - is an after-school extracurricular STEM program for 2nd - 6th grade girls, with the goal of exposing girls to engineering, math & science topics in a fun, supportive environment.  We are offering the program twice a week - Mondays for 2nd & 3rd grade girls, and Thursdays for 4th, 5th & 6th grade girls.  It is an 8 week program, starting on 9/23.  For more information, contact Tracy Stone, tracygstone[at]yahoo.com, or Anita Mathew, anita.mathew10[at]gmail.com.

Play In A Box After-School Fall Drama Class

Springer Elementary is teaming up with Peninsula Youth Theatre to offer after school drama this fall! Students will learn the basics of acting, character development, story-telling and theater terminology while having fun and rehearsing a show.

For more details or to register online, go to:  http://pytspringerfall2013.eventbrite.com

Public Speaking Classes

"Public Speaking Classes" for grades 3.4.5.6 on Wednesdays 2:50pm - 3:55pm (starting 9/25/13) (There will be supervision for 3rd graders from 2:25-2:50pm)  For registration and more information, click here!

How to submit an article to the Springer STAR

If you have an article to submit to Springer Buzz, please send it to the editor atspringer.buzz@gmail.com by noon on Monday for inclusion in the next edition.  Late arrivals will be included if possible but can’t be guaranteed! All flyers must be in either WORD or PDF format, accompanied by a brief summary of the activity in the email.