Springer Buzz!
December 6th, 2013

In This Issue

Calendar Dates
News and Announcements
Parent Education Opportunities
Student Extracurricular Activities

Quick Dates for your Calendar

December 6th--February 7th: Kinder Registration
December 13th at 1:00 PM: Winter Concert 4-6 grade vocal & instrumental
December 19th at 8:00 AM till first bell: Pajama day! Hot Chocolate & candy cane sale. Prices are $1.00 for hot chocolate and 25 cents for candy canes
December 20th through January 5th: Winter recess

News and Announcements

LAEF: End of Year Reminders:
If you haven’t already contributed to LAEF, make your donation before December 31 to get your deduction for the 2013 tax year.  If you have already given, thank you so much for supporting smaller classes, enrichment, innovation, and STEM at Springer School.  Also, order beautiful holiday cards from TinyPrints using the LAEF storefront, and 25% of the proceeds go to LAEF! Start here: http://www.tinyprints.com/storefront/laef

LAEF Representatives at Springer are:       
Nancy F
Susan Longyear, sue.longyear@gmail.com
Brooke Schiller, bbwc@sbcglobal.net
Kristin Najarian,kristin_najarian@yahoo.com

Make Your Tax Deductible Donation Today!  www.laefonline.org

PTA Nominating Committee Volunteers Needed

Looking for a fun, short-term way to get involved with the Springer PTA?  The PTA needs volunteers to join the Nominating Committee whose job it is to determine the slate of officers for next year’s PTA Board.  The PTA Board nominations are held in March.  If interested, please contact us at: springerpta@gmail.com.

News from the District Nurse

Sometimes it is difficult, especially early in the morning, to know whether or not to send your child to school. With the flu season right around the corner, the following guidelines are indications that you should keep your child home. Thank you for your help, to control the spread of colds, flu, and other contagious illnesses.

LOS ALTOS SCHOOL DISTRICT HEALTH SERVICES DEPARTMENT
WHEN TO KEEP YOUR CHILD HOME FROM SCHOOL
Keep your child at home when he/she has any of the following symptoms:

Fever                                                                   Chills
Vomiting or diarrhea                                           Nausea                                                   
Sore throat or trouble swallowing                       Coughing, sneezing, and/or runny nose
Rash or unusual sores or spots                          Headache                                              
Generalized muscle aches and pains                Wheezing or trouble breathing               
Unusually red, crusted or burning eyes

If you or your child develops a cold that includes a severe cough or a cough that lasts a long time, it may be pertussis (whooping cough). The best way to know is to contact your doctor.
You need to keep your child home until he/she has been symptom-free without mediation for 24 hours.

Today is the last day to Bee Generous in our Holiday Drive.  Please come to the office before 4:00 PM today if you would like to participate.

Dear Springer Families,

Thank you for your generosity in our "Bee Generous" Family Giving Tree Holiday Drive!  We still have many wish cards hanging on the Giving Tree in the office, so please stop by if you're interested in helping a child in need this season.
Also, please check backpacks and ask your children if they chose a wish card.  We'd hate to leave a wish unfulfilled.  Thanks!
Here is more information on the program:
The Family Giving Tree’s Holiday Program works with local social service agencies that register children and homeless persons in need. Their agency partners interview these families to evaluate their specific needs. Their requests are sent to the Family Giving Tree Elves who then print these individual wishes on cards and distribute them to host organizations like ours throughout the Bay Area.

Here's how you can help:
Choose a wish card in the Springer office and fulfill a child’s wish.  Cards will be located in the office on our "Bee Generous Giving Tree", starting Monday, November 18.  All gift donations should be unwrapped with the wish card securely taped to the package.  Gift donations are due in the office by Monday, December 9.
Please contact Diana Rudolph (drudolph@lasdschools.org) or Linda Smith (lripley-smith@lasdschools.org) if you have any questions, or visit www.FamilyGivingTree.org for more information about the program.

ONE WARM COAT DRIVE

The Springer Cub Scouts from Den 1 are collecting clean reusable coats and jackets to be distributed directly to local children and adults in our community.  Please help us with the One Warm coat drive and bring your coats and jackets to the box in the Springer School Office between Monday, December 9 and Thursday, December 19. 

For more details click here.

Dear Sixth Grade Parent/Guardian,

As you may know, I teach your child's CSTEM class that meets weekly. I have created an online newsletter to
share some of the exciting work they are doing in my class: http://tinyurl.com/CSTEMnewsletterNov2013

I will post links to the student programs on the CSTEM site later in the year. Currently, please ask your student if they would like to show you their programs or CSTEM online notebook.

There will be a CSTEM showcase on Thursday May 1, 2014 from 3.30-5.00 pm in the Almond multi, please save the date. More details coming soon.

The sixth grade students are enjoying learning programming, and I love seeing their enthusiasm and creativity. They will learn more in the coming weeks using different languages and tools.

Please do send me your feedback on the class and any questions,
Sheena Vaidyanathan (Mrs. V), 6th grade CSTEM Program,  Los Altos School District
Email:  sheena@lasdschools.org    http://www.losaltos.k12.ca.us/District/Portal/CSTEM

Ready, Set, Go!  The First WOW Competition Starts Next Week!

The first WOW competition will start next week.  On Tuesday and Wednesday, be sure to walk or wheel to school and zap your tag.  The top 3 classes with the most walkers and wheelers will get 5 minutes of extra recess!  Remember, you won’t get counted unless you zap in.  We’ll announce the winning classes on Friday.

Springer School encourages all of our families to walk, bike, or scoot to school whenever possible, and WOW makes it fun and rewarding for kids to participate.  This free program tracks how many times your child walks or wheels to school. If you have any questions about the program, please contact the WOW team: Kevin Beedon ksbeedon[at]gmail.com, Kacey Fitzpatrick kfitz[at]avalon-enterprises.com or Sharon Tan sharontantan[at]yahoo.com.

Cornerstone Corner

This month the Springer students, staff, and community are being asked to do one kind thing for another student every day.  The purpose in encouraging “intentional acts of kindness” is to help students develop empathy and express tolerance for others.  Take this opportunity to have conversations around caring, empathy, and compassion.   Encourage your child to actively seek out opportunities to help, care for, and encourage others. More than 500 students performing daily acts of caring for three weeks equals over 7,500 buckets filled!  Check out this video on teaching Tolerance to our kids.

2014 Springer Auction, Call for Amazing and Unique Experiences
The Springer Community is amazingly well connected and extraordinarily unique! Your 2014 auction committee is looking for one-of-a-kind experiences that only the Springer Community can make possible. Here are some ideas:
- Access to unique experiences: sports teams (high school to pro), behind the scenes tours (workplace or other), cultural experiences, etc.
- Access to someone famous, unique or interesting
- Vacation homes (flexible dates are best)
- Air miles or hotel points
Be creative and share your ideas and connections and benefit Springer! You can help make this year's auction amazing!
Please note a follow-up call for Community party ideas will come a little later in the year.
If you have an amazing or unique experience idea to offer, please contact the 2014 Auction Committee at: springerauction@gmail.com.  Or if you prefer, you can fill out our form.

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

Art Club for 4th-6th grades begins Monday, December 9th! Join us for a 10-week winter session focused on A World of Art.  You will paint, draw and sculpt using traditional art from other cultures as inspiration.  Different regions of the world are studied each session!  Using a variety of mediums you will learn new techniques from CSMA faculty while creating art from around the globe!

Register at http://www.arts4all.org/register/index.htm using course #53330

Online registration opens tomorrow, Saturday, December 7, at 8:00 am for the 2014 Girls on the Run season!
Registration is ONLINE ONLY.  To register your daughter, please follow the link: http://www.gotrsv.org/sign_up_a_girl

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-6th grade girls at Springer this coming spring!

Click here for more detailed information!

A Cheerful Noise Winter Concerts - Featuring Past/Present Springer Students!
Saturday, December 7, 2013 at 5 pm
First Congregational Church
1985 Louis Road, Palo Alto
Ticket information
Sunday, December 8, 2013 at 4 pm
Old First Church
1751 Sacramento Street, San Francisco
Ticket information
Sunday, December 15, 2013 at 4 pm
Cunningham Memorial Chapel
Notre Dame de Namur University
1500 Ralston Avenue, Belmont
Ticket information

Ragazzi Boys Chorus presents A Cheerful Noise. Take some time out of your busy Holiday schedule to enjoy the vocal beauty and youthful energy of our upper-level trebles and changed-voice singers. Classics of choral literature will be featured, including pieces by Mozart, Purcell and Handel. Patrons are invited to sing along with carols, and will be treated to the hushed intensity of Franz Biebl’s Ave Maria. Ragazzi will also present an exciting piece by Paul Halley that combines the ancient chant Ubi Caritas with African chants and drumming.

‘Twas the Night Before Christmas, December 7^th/8^th and 14^th/15^th
This wonderful holiday show, reviewed as a “charming alternative to the Nutcracker,” will be performed by children of all ages at Woodside Performing Arts Center on Saturday December 7 (4:00pm), Sunday December 8 (1:00pm and 4:00pm) Saturday, December 14, (1:00 and 4:00), and Sunday, December 15 (1:00 and 4:00).
Tickets available at www.twasthenight.org or by calling 650-323-5292.  Come support your fellow Springer student!  For more details, click here

Los Altos Recreation Upcoming Holiday Events
Santa Visits are on the books for Dec 13 and 14. Due to the popularity of the big elf, this allotted time fills up quickly, so don’t delay if you would like a house visit from the big guy himself. Get on the waitlist if your timeslot is taken. Next, we’re offering 3-day holiday camps (Dec 20, 23 and 24): Camp Candy Cane and PreTeen Holiday Camp. Great for kids and their parents (who might be a wee bit busy at that time). Lastly, the New Year’s Day Fun Run returns to downtown Los Altos at 9am sharp on…when else…January 1. A fun and free way to welcome the New Year

For more information on all of these events—plus all our on-going classes—go to LosAltosRecreation.org and click on the photo of our Holiday Fun kids.
We have HOLIDAY FUN in Los Altos!

LOS ALTOS-MOUNTAIN VIEW PONY BASEBALL - REGISTRATION NOW OPEN!

Registration is now open for the 2014 baseball season!  LA-MV PONY Baseball is for boys and girls aged 5-19. This is the 29th year serving our community. We hope you and your families will join us on and off the field as we once again make this a very special year for our players, coaches, parents and the community. Practices begin in early March, and games go from late March through the spring.  Please register as early as possible in the coming month for our league's planning purposes. For more information and to register please visit the league website at http://www.lamvpb.org/

MVLA SOFTBALL SIGN-UP
Registration for the Spring 2014 season of MVLA Girls Softball opens on November 1.
Learn more about us at: www.mvlags.org

Public Speaking Classes
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 at springer.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.