The Springer Buzz

August 21,  2015

In This Issue:

• Principal’s Message

• News and Announcements

• Parent Education Opportunities

Quick Dates for your Calendar:

• Thursday, Sept. 3 Back-to-School Night.  

• September 4, Friday: Minimum Day, dismissal 12:15pm

• September 7, Monday: Labor Day Holiday, no school

• September 8, Tuesday: First day hot lunch is served

• September 14, Monday: First day of extended day for TK and Kinder

• September 24, Thursday: Photo day

Principal’s Message

Here we go!

If I didn’t get a chance to see you the last three days, let me welcome you to the 2015-16 school year.  We had a great start of school.  The start of a new school year is really one of my favorite times of year.  The students came in ready to learn, full of enthusiasm, and genuinely happy to be back in the swing of things.  Our teachers are already rolling along with designing exceptional learning experiences for our students. We are up and running!

Below, you will find the Back-to-School order form.   This useful tool allows you to make donations to our PTA (without PTA, we couldn’t do the great things we do here at Springer).  Please take some time to go through the form and make your important donations.

Again, welcome to the new school year.   

Have a restful weekend.

Wade Spenader- Principal

Back-To-School Order Form

The BTS Order Form is a quick, easy, on-line tool that allows you to make donations, sign up for PTA memberships, specify your child's T-shirt size, and purchase Auction tickets, Spirit Wear and Yearbooks.  This is a convenient way to make a single payment for your donations and orders!  We recommend reviewing the 2015-2016 Spirit Wear selection with your child before opening the form.

For this school year, the Springer PTA has again purchased a complete set of school supplies for every student in every classroom (including Transitional and regular Kindergarten). PTA is providing this service as a time (and money) saver for parents and to ensure that all our students have all the necessary supplies right from the beginning of the school year.  PTA will only be able to continue this program in the future if we receive sufficient reimbursement for our expenses (over $30,000 in total). We are asking each family to please donate $55 per student to reimburse the PTA for your child’s/children's school supplies.

Please consider making your BTS payment via e-check.  We prefer electronic payments because they allow us to more quickly and easily process the BTS orders.  (Last year, a parent volunteer made weekly trips to the bank to deposit over 1400 handwritten checks for the Springer PTA!)  Furthermore, payment by e-check is less expensive for us.  (Intuit charges the PTA a flat fee of $0.50 for every e-check.  PayPal charges the PTA 3-5% of each payment.)  The Los Altos Educational Foundation (LAEF) accepts (and prefers) payments by e-check as well.  If you receive an error while attempting to pay by e-check as a guest user, it could be because you have previously registered your bank account with Intuit.   If you have already registered your bank account, then you must login.

The link to the form is: Springer 2015 BTS Order Form

The password is: "stingers" (all lower case)

Thank you for your support of the Springer PTA!

Classroom Yahoo Groups

Each class at Springer has a Yahoo Group, used for communications from the PTA, the room parents and/or teacher, and for discussions between the parents.   It is very important that at least one parent from each family join the Class Group, as otherwise you will miss communications about activities in your classroom, special events at Springer, etc.

All parents listed in the Springer Directory have been sent an invitation to join your Class Group(s).   If you haven’t already joined your Class Group, please click here for instructions on how to join.

Questions?  Contact: SpringerClassLists[at]gmail[dot]com.

Back-To-School Night

Please join us for Back-to-School Night.  This night is for our parents to learn more about the wonderful teachers who work with our students every day.

Thursday, September 3

6:00 Transitional Kinder presentation in Room KA

6:30 Kindergarten and Primary SDC (Rm 2) presentations

7:05 1st-3rd Grade and Upper grade SDC (Rm 23) presentations

7:40 4th-6th Grade presentations

Classroom presentations last 30 minutes.  Teachers review curriculum and classroom protocols.  There is not time to discuss individual students.

Parking Lot Safety

Just like the students, adults need some reminders about parking lot rules- all of which are designed to create the safest environment possible.

• If dropping off or picking up by car, please move along the yellow curb.  Do not, at any time, leave your vehicle.  When safe to do so, move forward along the curb in order to let traffic on Rose Avenue progress into the parking lot.

• Remember: traffic on Rose Avenue is now 15 miles per hour near Springer.  SLOW DOWN.

• Do not drop off or pick up students in the parking lot lanes.  It is not safe for students to cross through the parking lot.

• Do not park in the Auction Winner parking spots.  Those are reserved for those families that won them at the auction.

• Please review these rules for any caregivers who might be dropping off or picking up students.

Safety in the parking lot is ALL of our responsibility.  Slow down, be vigilant, and remember that you are setting the example for our students.

Drive as if your kids go to school here-- because they do!

Become a LIVING CLASSROOM docent... share your love of nature with kids!

It's time to harvest seeds from heirloom tomatoes, plant our winter wheat and veggies, search the schoolyard for animal homes, and learning about Native California Indian uses of plants!  If you like all those things and more, please consider becoming a Living Classroom docent!  Living Classroom is looking for docents to help deliver hands-on garden-based lessons to the students of the Los Altos School District.  No experience necessary as we provide all the training needed!  Our Fall Docent Training will take place Monday mornings from 9 - Noon on Aug. 31st – Oct. 12th (no training on Labor Day 9/7).  Apprentice-style training also available for those who can’t make it to trainings on Monday mornings.  Want to learn more about our program?  Please consider attending one of our upcoming Informational Meetings from 10-11am on Monday 8/24 or Thursday 8/27 at Los Altos School District Conference Room #2, 201 Covington Road, Los Altos.  Please click HERE to view our Fall training flyer.

Questions? Email us at livingclassroom@lasdschools.org or call (650) 947-1103.  For more information about Living Classroom, please visit our website at www.living-classroom.org.

Thanks!

Caroline Chan

Program Coordinator

Living Classroom Program

Los Altos School District

(650) 947-1103

LAEF

LAEF welcomes you to the 2015-16 School Year!

LAEF is a non-profit organization led by parent volunteers that raises funds to provide enrichment programs and smaller class sizes for LASD students. This year's staff for STEM; PE; libraries; art; music; computer science; Junior High electives and smaller class sizes in grades K-3 and 7-8 are all supported by your tax-deductible LAEF donation.  

LAEF strives for 100% participation and every gift in any amount is appreciated. Learn More & Make Your Tax-Deductible Donation Today at www.laefonline.net

Shop at Whole Foods Los Altos on 8/26 = LAEF gets 5%!

LAEF is proud to have been chosen by Whole Foods in Los Altos to receive 5% of its sales on Wednesday, August 26th.  Get ready to shop and spread the word today!

Inviting All Kindergarten Boys For Tiger Cub & Cub Scout Meeting

Wednesday, August 26, 6:30pm - 7:30pm
Springer Multipurpose Room

For more information, click here!

Lost & Found

Welcome back to School!

Please take sometime this weekend to label all the items your child(ren) will be bringing to school. You can write your last name with a permanent marker or you can purchase iron-on or adhesive labels with your name printed on them. Please label lunch boxes and thermoses. Please label hoodies, jackets, sweatshirts and sweaters. Please label umbrellas ( we hope!), hats and musical instruments. The Lost and Found Cabinet is in the hallway between the Multi Purpose Room and the Work Room. It is open during school hours.  Last year Springer School donated approximately 500 items to local homeless shelters from our lost and found. The generosity is appreciated, but I'm sure most of you would rather your child finished using their items first. Please label your stuff!

Thank you , Kathleen the Lost and Found Organizer.

Student Extracurricular Activities:

Springer will have many after school activities!  Please click here to link to the Springer website to see the selection and register for a class.

The Juggling Club will begin meeting on Wednesday mornings at 7:30 on August 26.  The Juggling Club is free and offered to student in Grades 4 - 6.  Click here for more information.

Parent Education Opportunities

Through enriching presentations from local and national experts on topics of interest to parents, faculty and staff, the MVLA Parent Education Speaker Series seeks to contribute to the academic, physical, and emotional health of our students. All events are free of charge and are for parents, faculty and staff in Los Altos and Mountain View public schools. For a schedule of upcoming presentations, please click here.

How to Submit an Article to the Springer Buzz

If you have an article to submit to the 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.