Springer Buzz!

April 18th, 2014

In This Issue

Calendar Dates

News and Announcements

Parent Education Opportunities

Student Extracurricular Activities

Quick Dates for your Calendar

April 21 – 25: Book Fair

April 24: Book Fair Family Night, Family Picnic and Art Show 5-8pm

April 26: Junior Olympics

May 1, 3.15-5pm: CSTEM showcase at Almond School

May 7, 8.45am: PTA Meeting

May 24, 5 pm: Springer Day at the San Jose Giants

News and Announcements

Did you Know?...LAEF funds Physical Education Specialists for 1st-6th graders

Junior Olympics is this weekend! Your contributions to LAEF help make this very special tradition possible, by funding the Physical Education program for all first through sixth graders. Make plans to cheer on our student athletes on Saturday, April 26 at Mountain View High School, and please continue to support the PE program with your donations to LAEF!

LAEF representatives at Springer are:

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.net

Springer Book Fair

Monday April 21 – Friday April 25

8:00am – 3:30pm

Grand Opening Monday, April 21, 8:30am - 10:00am

Bring your friends and come in for coffee, pastries and books!

Book Fair Family Night, Art Show & Picnic

Thursday, April 24, 5:00–8:00pm

Join us for food trucks, art, fun, and shopping.

All for Books donations will support Reach Potential Movement’s "Bookshelf in Every Home" Kindergarten Literacy Program, which provides books for under-resourced families in Mountain View and throughout the Bay Area.

Shop Online from Springer’s website April 21 - May 4

If you can’t find it in the multi, you’ll likely find it on the online fair, with 65% more books than we can fit in the Multi.

Please discuss your family’s purchasing guidelines before the event to help children make good choices.  A hold area will be available daily if you prefer to make purchase decisions together after school.   

As this is a fundraiser, all sales are final.

Spring Family Picnic

The Spring Family Picnic is almost here! This year, the event will be held in conjunction with the Book Fair and the Art Show, so you can do some shopping, admire your children’s work, raise funds for the school, and have a great time hanging out with friends, all at the same time!  Please sign up to help staff some of the fun activities that will be going on.  We look forward to seeing you at the picnic on Thursday, April 24.

Cornerstone Corner

This month’s ABC book: “Enemy Pie” by Derek Munson shows the difficulties and rewards of making a new friend. The summer had seemed perfect until Jeremy Ross moved into the neighborhood, quickly becoming the narrator’s “enemy number one”. The narrator’s father, a caring adult in his life, offered to help with a recipe for enemy pie. The chief ingredient in enemy pie was time spent in the company of “the enemy”. Thanks to Dad’s special recipe, Jeremy and the narrator discover they have a lot in common and become friends.

Goals of lesson:

1. Understand that prejudice may cause one to have a perceived enemy.

2. Learn not to judge others.

3. Develop a growth mindset that embraces meeting new people and discovering new things about classmates and friends.

4. Expand friendship-making skills to include overcoming self-imposed obstacles, like prejudice and stereotyping.

To reinforce this lesson at home:

Ø  Talk with your child about her or his friends. Ask questions to find out what they're like.

Ø  Get to know your child's friends and their families. Point out what you like about them.

Ø  Don't jump to conclusions based on first impressions.

Ø  When your child is involved in a conflict with a friend, listen to find out what is happening.

Ø  Role-play how to start a conversation with someone new.

Ø  Below are a few qualities of a good friend. Discuss with your child what each word means:

·       Loyal

·       Trustworthy

·       Open-minded

·       Encouraging

·       Caring

When you “catch” kids modeling positive behaviors...Notice, Name it, and Celebrate it!

LOS ALTOS HIGH SCHOOL ATHLETIC BOOSTERS - ANNUAL SPORTS MADNESS SALE

Saturday, April 19, 2014, 9:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. next to the LAHS Student Parking Lot

For more details, click here

Help Springer win the Drive Less Challenge April 22-May 7!

To celebrate Earth Day 2014, Green Town Los Altos is sponsoring its 4th annual Drive Less Challenge and School competition!  Starting April 22, this two-week competition encourages Los Altos, Los Altos Hills and Mountain View residents to explore alternatives to driving kids to school in gas-powered vehicles. Kids learn lasting habits from their parents, so why not encourage healthy commuting habits by walking, wheeling, or carpooling with another family?

The competition will be between the 10 Los Altos area public elementary schools plus Egan and Blach middle schools for the Greenest School in each category. WOW parent volunteers will be at school to cheer on your students during the Challenge. The School District will survey student’s mode of transportation to school on Bike to School Day - May 7- the last day of the Drive Less Challenge. This survey will determine the winners.

The Greenest School awards include the following:

1. Greenest School - Percentage of students using alternative green transportation i.e. bike, walk, rollerblade, carpool with another family, public transportation; anything but being dropped off by a parent in a car.

2. Most Improved - Most improved when compared to the last measurement taken in May 2013.

3. Parent Participation - Highest percentage of parents pledging to Drive Less at www.DriveLessChallengeLA.com. Parents must note their school affiliation to be counted.

GreenTown Los Altos will notify the Principals of the winning schools as soon as the counts are in. A commemorative plaque will be awarded to the winning schools along with a school-specific celebration Party.

May the best school win!

CSTEM Showcase: Almond School 3.15-5pm, Thursday May 1, in the Multi.

Play fun computer games created by sixth graders from all 7 LASD schools!

Learn about computer programming, Arduino microcontrollers, Lego WeDo and more from the LASD sixth graders.

Featured presentations and awards start at 4.15pm.

The Sochi Olympics might be over, but the Los Altos Junior Olympics are just starting their training!

Our 4th through 6th grade kids will represent Springer at the annual Junior Olympics Field Day onSaturday, April 26th, doing fun events such as hurdles, basketball free throws, chin ups and more...

Mr. Heeb spends the next few weeks helping the kids practice and train for these events during PE and he needs several volunteer parents to help time kids and keep them organized at their different practice stations.  We need more volunteer help, especially for the 5th and 6th grade PE times.  Please visit the volunteer schedule and sign up for any open spots where you can spend some time with the kids.  No experience necessary!

4th grade calendar:  http://vols.pt/p9qAbt

5th grade calendar:  http://vols.pt/vNwb9m

6th grade calendar:  http://vols.pt/yin2o8

Questions?  Email or call Katie Cowley (ktcowley[at]yahoo.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 as soon as possible!

Parent Education Opportunities

NO PARENT LEFT BEHIND: Common Core Standards Workshop

Saturday, May 3, 2014

10.30am-12.00pm at Peterson Middle School, 1380 Rosalia Ave., Sunnyvale

FREE: registration required

Understand how you can impact your child’s learning using academic enrichment activities with common core standards in English language arts and mathematics.

Register here or contact brenda_mariano-paz@scoe.org for more details

Student Extracurricular Activities

DezignKidz Summer Camp @ Springer this Summer!

DezignKidz, a fun, locally-run program for aspiring designers (which made its debut at Springer in 2009) is returning to its roots on Rose Avenue with even more options for creative kids.

Choose from our popular Fashion and Accessory Dezign sessions (including Fashion Dezign 3 for middle school fashionistas), add some style to your space with Interior Dezign, create beautiful handprinted fabrics in Textile Dezign, perfect your fashion sketching skills or try our BRAND NEW SESSIONS in Plush Toy Dezign and Cutting -Edge Quiltz.  "Dezigners" will learn turn hand and machine sewing and other textile arts techniques as they turn their ideas from sketches into completed garments, accessories or home decor items. Check out our web gallery for photos of last year’s fun!

Week-long programs run 6/16-6/20, 6/23-6/27, 6/30-7/3, 7/7-7/11 and 7/14-7/18.

Sign up online at www.dezignkidz.com or call 650 346-5896.

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.