Teach News - January 25

This week closes with a fond goodbye to Mrs. Pudlo as she begins new adventures in retirement. Let's make this a great week for her! Mrs. Diana Jones will start as our new 6th grade teacher February 1. All of us are excited to get to know Mrs. Jones.

Open House

Open House and Prospective Parent Meeting has been changed to Wednesday, March 10. Open enrollment for the district is February 23-March 23.

Dental Health Screening

Thursday, February 11, all students in grades 4-6 will be screened for dental health. If you do not wish for your child to be screened, please send a note to the office before this date.

This month we have several great ways that children can get involved to help others:

Change Drive for Haiti

To all the children and parents of Bishop's Peak and Teach Schools: We are doing a collection for the people/children of Haiti. It is called " Children Helping Children With Change." Encourage your children to bring in pennies, nickels, dimes for our collection boxes in their classroom. This money will go to the American Red Cross so that we can help with the medical necessities that are imperative for the Haitian's survival who are so desperately needing Doctors, Nurses, Medical supplies, water and food. Let us help our children to see that every little bit makes a difference and the World can become a more beautiful place for our children's generation. I will pick the change boxes up each Friday and do a tally each week for the duration of our drive. Thank you, Ronni Johnson

Canned Food Drive

Our local food bank continues to have great need for food to feed local families, so we will be continuing our Food Drive. When you do your grocery shopping this week, please consider buying a few extra items to donate. Collection boxes are located in the library and classrooms. Thanks!

Science Fair is coming up!

February 24 is our bi-annual Science Fair. Prepare to be dazzled by the brilliant work of our budding scientists.  The Bishop's Peak PTA would love it if parents will donate baked goods, healthy snacks or juice.  If you would like to bring a snack for the science fair, please give Ronni Johnson a call (439-0125) and let her know what you'll be bringing.

Battle of the Books

This year's Battle of the Books will be Friday, June 4. Students should keep reading the Battle of the Books titles in order to participate!

Yearbook Sale!

Hang on to those memories--buy your yearbook today!

Click here for the yearbook flyer!

School Board Applicants Sought

The San Luis Coastal Unified School District Board of Trustees seeks interested citizens to apply for appointment to fill the seat of Board Member John Spatafore who has resigned. The appointee will serve until this term expires on December 1, 2010. The appointee and other eligible voters may declare their interest in July 2010 for the November ballot when this seat is up for election for a full four-year term.

Eligible candidates must reside within the San Luis Obispo/Avila Beach communities (Trustee Area #1) and be properly registered to vote in the District.

Applications may be obtained online at www.slcusd.org or from the Superintendent's Office at 1500 Lizzie Street, Suite B-1, San Luis Obispo (phone 549-1202), and must be returned to the Superintendent's Office by 2:00 p.m. on Tuesday, February 16.

Qualified applicants will be invited to a personal interview before the full Board at a public meeting, the date to be determined. The selected candidate will take office after being sworn in.


March-a-Thon Update

The March-a-thon Committee has begun preparing for this year's fun-filled event. The date, originally scheduled for March 26th, has been changed to Friday, March 19th with a rain date of March 26th.

Cheryl Clark (234-2025/reefpt@sbcglobal.net) is the Teach Chair of this event. Please call her if you would like to volunteer your time the day of the event or if you would like to help with planning and preparation. We'd love to have you join us for our meetings, even if it's just to share your input. Meetings will be held at the lunch tables outside the Multi-purpose room at 2:30 p.m. (inside the Multi if raining) on the following Wednesdays: February 17th and March 3rd, 10th and 17th. Hope to see you there!

Esther Pudlo's Retirement

Alas, at the end of January, Teach will wish Mrs. Esther Pudlo the very best as she embarks on a new part of her life. Mrs. Pudlo's husband recently retired, and they have some travel plans in their future. Esther has been a pasionate Teach supporter, advocate, and teacher for the past 15 years. Her expertise and knowledge of the history of the Teach program will certainly be missed. As we prepare for this transition we will be stockpiling as much information as we possibly can. Mrs. Pudlo has also volunteered to be available to answer questions as they arise. We wish Mrs. Pudlo the very best in her retirement.

Starting this week, Mrs. Diana Jones will be coming into the classroom to work on a smooth transition with Mrs. Pudlo. Diana is a San Luis Obispo native who completed her degree and earned her teaching credential in the excellent program at San Diego State University. She began her teaching career there and was the GATE coordinator for her school. She brings with her teaching experiences that will benefit our school. Welcome, Mrs. Jones!

(Taken from Mr. Block's Principal's Corner greeting in the Teach Newsletter, 1/11/10.)

Toiletries Drive

Many thanks to all of you who sent in toiletries to support the homeless and the Student Council.  The Student Council received the following letter of gratitude that they wanted to share with you:

Dear Students and Staff:

     It's hard to imagine exactly how this could happen, but this year's Homeless Christmas Dinner was even better than last year's!  The weather was certainly better, but more than that, the coming together of people, and businesses created a synergy that resulted in a multitude of blessings.  We fed over 300 people this year in just a few short hours!

     This would not have been possible without your help.  Many thanks for providing such a generous donation.  The toiletries you collected were snapped up immediately, and gratefully.  People left with their arms so crammed full of stuff, not to mention full bellies, and a smile on their faces that would have made you smile as well.

     I'm so proud to be a member of this community, where a need is identified and good folks are there to meet it.  Thanks, and may you have a happy and healthy new year!

     Sincerely,

     Naomi Blakely, Co-Chair

     Homeless Christmas Dinner Feed

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year, Teach families!

Look for dates coming up for:

6th Grade Play

Chili Cookoff & Family Game Night

Scrip Orders

Booster Meeting Minutes, January 8, 2010

Members present:  Helen Sipsas, Susmita Pal, Cheryl Clark, Sunshine Cowgill, Laura Finz, Taffy Gonzalez, Bonnie Achugbue, Paige Wright, Jen Flachman, Dan Block, Kathryn Rogers, and Jocelyn Leonard

 

Meeting was called to order at 8:38 a.m. 

 

First up was Paige Wright, who is handling the Scrip fundraiser for our school.  Paige talked a little about scrip, and how it can make money, effortlessly, for our school.  You can buy the gift cards though her, and the businesses that provide the cards give our school a percentage.  There are many different businesses that participate:  stores, restaurants, supermarkets, gas stations, etc.  The website is: http://www.glscrip.com/.  The company is Great Lakes Scrip.  It is a non-profit organization.  You can order right from the website; the cards go to Paige and then she will make sure to get them to you.  The only thing you need to remember is to put our school's code in so that we can get the credit.  Paige is going to find out our code and let us know, so that people can go online and check it out. 

 

The meeting minutes from the last four meetings were read and approved.  They were approved by Laura Finz, with Sue Pal seconding the approval.  All were in favor. 

 

Financial Report--to be discussed at the next meeting, as Ahmad Amir, Treasurer, was unable to attend this meeing. 

 

Principal's Report--There was a break-in at the school before Winter break.  The master keys were stolen from Terri's office.  Using the keys, several rooms were broken into.  Equipment was stolen.  The school has an insurance policy to cover most of the items.  However, some of the items stolen were the personal property of some of the teachers, and therefore are not covered under the insurance policy.  Now 75 locks on campus have had to be re-keyed.  Mr. Block talked about possibly installing a motion detector in the Dig Me room, as that is where many valuable items are stored.  There was some discussion about possible ways to raise some money to help replace what the teachers lost, which is not covered by insurance.  Mr. Crabb lost a camera that is not covered.  More on a possible fundraiser to follow in future meetings. 

 

Mrs. Pudlo, 6th grade teacher, will be retiring at the end of January.  A replacement teacher has been hired to take over for her.  The teacher's name is Diana Jones.  She is a San Luis native and was laid off from her position in San Diego with all of the recent budget cuts.  Her most recent position was teaching 5th grade.  She had been the GATE coordinator at her previous school.  The 6th grade class will meet her on Monday 1/11/10, and she will be in the classroom a few days with Mrs. Pudlo, before she takes over at the end of the month.  Mr. Block let us know that the posting was open for 5 days, and they received 120 applications.  This was one of only 3 teaching jobs in the state.  The Catalina trip will continue each fall.  Mrs. Pudlo is very eager to help make this a smooth transition.  Many people are very sad to see Mrs. Pudlo retire.  She is a wonderful teacher, and the kids have learned so much from her.  We wish her the best of luck in her retirement!

 

We need to change the date of the Open House, due to the fact that the Open Enrollment period is going to be earlier this year than was originally thought.  The new date will either be the 9th or 10th of March. 

 

Thanks to the parent volunteers for coming after school to help the kids with their science fair projects.  There will be a few more dates coming up for kids to get help with their projects.  Check with the office, or in the newsletter. 

 

Other Business--The yearbook committee meets on late start Mondays, before school.  Beth Meyer is leading this.  She is an excellent resource as she has taught yearbook before.  Thank you Beth!

 

Helen Sipsas suggested that we have foreign language instruction for the kids, perhaps after school.  Sue Pal suggested that maybe high school Spanish students could help with that, for their Community Project hours.  Kathryn suggested a lunch club.  Helen will conduct a poll to see how many parents would be interested in having this for their child.  

 

Student Council - Laura Finz wanted to let us know that she received a letter from Beth David thanking the students for collecting the toiletries for the Homeless shelter before break.  There was also a Letter to the Editor of the Tribune written thanking everyone involved.  The letter will be read to all the students at a later date.  

 

Candy grams will be for sale Feb. 8, 9, and 10.  They cost 50 cents each.  They can only be sent to 4th, 5th, and 6th graders, and teachers of all grades.  The notes can not be anonymous, must be signed and must be appropriate.  Laura needs some parent volunteers to help with this event.  The candy grams are sold at lunch time on the above dates.  Please contact her if you can help out.

 

The 6th grade play is coming up soon.  Kathryn Rogers will be working on this.  Starting in February, on late start Mondays and some after school dates, the kids will start rehearsing.  More information will be available as Kathryn is able to speak with the director.  

 

New Business - We are wanting to plan for next year's Board of Directors.  We will need all of the positions filled as most of the postitions are currently held by 6th grade parents.  If we can get the Board together early, the new Board could shadow the current one, so that next year, they could hit the ground running.  If you are interested in taking on one of the positions, please contact Jen Flachman.  Sunshine suggested letting people know what the time committment/job descriptions are for the various jobs, so that people would be more comfortable giving it a try.  Jen agreed, and will work on that. 

 

Future dates to save:

 

Science Fair: Feb. 24

Open House: March 9 or 10

March-a-thon:  March 26?

6th grade Play:  ???

Star Testing:  May 3-14

International Day: May 21

 

Meeting adjourned at 9:55 a.m.