Springer Buzz!

January 10th, 2014

In This Issue

Calendar Dates

Letter from the Principal

News and Announcements

Parent Education Opportunities

Student Extracurricular Activities

Quick Dates for your Calendar

March 22nd: Springer Auction

Principal’s Letter

Springer Gives Back Update!

On December 17th, our students, working with their buddy classrooms, spent time collaborating and creating crafts to give to the needier members of our community.  The campus was a busy workshop, with lap blankets, scarves, decorated picture frames, holiday wreaths being designed and manufactured by our students.  Each item had an attached card on it, stating that "Springer Gives Back" and the names of the students who made it.

On Thursday and Friday of that week, with the help of parent volunteers, those items were delivered to Villa Siena Retirement Center, the Los Altos Sub-Acute Rehab Center, Lucille Packard Children's hospital, and other locales.   The deliverers reported back that the recipients of these gifts were so appreciative and even more touched to learn that the products were made by students themselves.  Our children took great pride in what they had accomplished - and rightfully so!

I want to thank all the parent volunteers who did so much prep work to make this spectacular new tradition happen at Springer.  I also want to thank our teachers who inspired and supervised our students.  And, I want to express my extreme appreciation and pride to our wonderful students who did such a great job.   The 1st "Springer Gives Back" was an enormous success.  In short, it was a combined collaborative effort that demonstrated how much of a caring community Springer really is.

Site Council Survey is Coming! Please take it

On Monday, we will email every family the link to the Site Council Survey.  Every other year, the Site Council puts together a survey of questions, on a wide range of topics, for parents to answer regarding their experience at Springer.  The data from this survey is analyzed and the Site Council then makes recommendations to the administration and PTA.  The goal is always to improve Springer School.

The survey opens on Monday, January 13th and will close on January 31st.  We will periodically send additional email reminders with the link attached.    Depending on the number of children you have at Springer, the survey can take anywhere from 10 to 30 minutes to complete.  We've also worked this year to eliminate some of the redundancy of the questioning to make the survey more streamlined and efficient.

The more families that take the survey, the more valid the data; therefore I encourage you to take the time to complete the survey.  The information we derive from it is important and it is a good way to get your voice heard on certain elements of our school.

News and Announcements

LAEF End of Year Reminders: Happy New Year! Did you notice the progress bar on the LAEF sign in front of Springer? We have made great progress toward our goal for the 2013-14 school year, thanks to all of the families who donated in 2013. If you are not among them, please go to www.laefonline.org and donate now. We still have $1 million to raise, and we strive for 100% participation.

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

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.

Pertussis Booster for Students in grade 6: Students currently in grade 6 must have proof of a Tdap or Dtap (Pertussis or Whooping Cough) booster given after their 7th birthday (after 10th birthday is recommended) in order to begin seventh grade in August of 2014. Please provide a copy of your child’s immunization record to your school office by March 14, 2014.

Save the Date! Prom Night Springer Auction 2014 – March 22, 2014 at 6:30 p.m., at Michael’s at Shoreline.  

The auction committee cordially invites you to Prom Night Springer Auction 2014. Find your favorite prom outfit (any era)— dress-up as much or as little as you want-- for the biggest party of the year to raise funds for our school.

Volunteers Needed! It’s volunteers like you that help make the auction the grand success that it is! Join your friends and volunteers. Click here <http://tinyurl.com/m28c6dl> to sign up to help via a google doc or you can cut and paste this link into your web browser: http://tinyurl.com/m28c6dl

We need volunteers to help with planning, on-site and with post-auction support.

Biked or Walked to School at Least 25 Times This School Year??

The WOW team will be distributing 25, 50, and 75 trip/mile tags to students on Tuesday and Wednesday of next week. Please be sure to stop by the WOW table in the morning before assembly to see if your name is on the list for a tag.  And in the meantime, be sure to keep zapping in!  

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

EVERYTHING IS PERFECT

Los Altos World Records 2014

Want to be in the Los Altos World Record Book?  Czech Republic artist, Katerina Seda creates collaborative actions that center on the daily lives of ordinary people.  As part of Project Los Altos, SFMOMA on the Go, she is creating a book and exhibition of the people in Los Altos with an “ordinary talent”.  Seda focuses not on feats of strength or skill, but on the everyday attributes that make a person unique – the bluest eyes, the largest collection of baseball cards, legos, or dolls, the biggest holiday light display, etc.  Visit www.everythingisperfect.org for more information and to submit your record.  Deadline for submission is January 31, 2014.

Does Your Son Love to Sing?

The Ragazzi Boys Chorus is holding SingFest 2014, a free half-day mini-camp for boys between the ages of 7 and 10 on Saturday, January 18th. This low-key, fun event is a great way for boys to "test drive" the Ragazzi Boys Chorus and see if it's right for them.

For more information and to sign up for this event, please click here!

Also, please feel free to reach out to Chris and Vicky Brey, parents of a Ragazzi chorister, for more information. You can look them up in the Springer Directory.

Online registration is now open 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

Click here for more detailed information!

LOS ALTOS-MOUNTAIN VIEW PONY BASEBALL

For more information and to register please visit the league website at http://www.lamvpb.org/

MVLA SOFTBALL SIGN-UP

Learn more about us at: www.mvlags.org

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.