Resources
Important: If your child is absent, call or email the attendance clerk with the "reason" for the absent. Failure to inform the attendance clerk within 72 hours will result in the absence considered "unexcused."
Email Attendance Clerk at: cpattendance@scusd.net or call 408-423-4411.
See Board Policy for details regarding excused and unexcused absences.
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Reminders
Monday, September 23rd- Friday, September 27th- Parent Teacher Conferences
Monday, October 7th- No School for Students
Wednesday, October 16th- Rylan and Ms. Barlow take their classes to Natural Bridges
Friday, October 25th- Miss Emily and Ms. Schultz take their classes to Natural Bridges
Reader's Workshop: In Reader's Workshop, our students have finished up our first bend in Reading. We completed our study of forming good habits with students thinking about the habits they used to have as readers and reflecting on the habits they have learned. This week, we start our next study of good habits, but now with solving tricky words. Students will learn strategies to solve tricky words so that when they are independently reading they have strategies to try!
Writer's Workshop: In Writer's Workshop, students are re-reading their writing and adding more details. We will be conferring with them about their writing and having them look over it for punctuation and capitalization. As students are writing, we are also spending time teaching letter formation. First grade is a time to work on how we form letters properly.
Math Workshop: In Math Workshop, students continue to count forwards and backwards. Students are thinking about numbers and how they can form them. We have been discussing numbers through dot talks, number talks, calendar, and math journals. Students are increasing their math awareness and number sense through these discussions.
Social Studies: Our first PBL is underway! We will be exploring maps, continents, and cultures. During this unit, students will be making and using maps and thinking about where their families came from. Also, we will send home some home-school- connections. These are little assignments that we encourage families to do with their children! It’s going to be so much fun!
Happenings
Info & Update Notices
Dear Parents and Guardians,
Mark Your Calendars!
9/23-9/27: Parent/Teacher Conferences, Early Dismissal: 1:37pm each day
10/1: Picture Day (parent volunteers who are on campus regularly are encouraged to have a photo taken)
10/1: School Site Council, 6:00-7:00pm, Room F-7
10/1: PTA Meeting, 7:00-8:00pm, Room F-7
10/2: Hearing Screening: grades Kinder/2nd and 5th.
10/4: Star Gazing Party (More info. To come), 6:30pm
10/7: NO SCHOOL for students (Professional Development Day for Staff)
10/11: Fall Festival, 5:00-7:00pm
10/31: PTA / Principal Coffee and Halloween Parade (coffee at 8:30am, parade at 8:45am). Kids (and adults) can wear costumes. We ask that students DO NOT bring costume weapons).
We’ve had a very busy first month of school.
Over the past 24 school days so much has happened! Some of the major events and programs include:
Staff Luncheons provided by parents:
Our staff would like to thank the parents that provided us with special staff luncheons (one a delicious Mexican lunch and the other in honor of the celebration of Eid al-Adha. Thank you for making us feel so cared for!
Ice Cream Social:
It was wonderful seeing so many children, parents/guardians and staff members. Thank you to our PTA for organizing this and to all of the volunteers who set up/scooped ice cream and stayed later to clean up. Thank you to our D.J., Beno, (one of our parents) for providing entertainment to keep us grooving!
Book Fair:
Thank you to Katie Curtis for coordinating the Book Fair, and to all of the parents that assisted. We were proud of our 4th/5th grade students who helped out guiding the younger kids. Our school earns “Scholastic Dollars” that are used to purchase books for classrooms. Thank you to families that purchased books for teachers from their Wish Lists.
Art & Wine Fundraiser
Huge gratitude to our PTA Leadership and to all of our school community that came out to volunteer for the Art & Wine Fundraiser. This event takes a lot of coordination in order to provide a safe, efficient parking service for folks. The donations help to fund our programs and we are so appreciative.
Zun Zun Performance
The students experienced a wonderful assembly from the award winning environmental / musical group ZunZun. This was a free assembly sponsored by Watershed Watch. Zun Zun educates children through music on topics of water and nature conservation.
Kindness Campaign
Each week I address the student body via our Chameleoncast (daily school newscast) and present them a challenge in regards to practicing Kindness. So far the challenges have included: smiling and saying hi to someone (especially to students new to our school), giving compliments and asking how someone is doing.
Safety Patrol
Our Safety Patrol is up and running. Last year we began this important program in order to assure a smooth, safe, morning arrival for our students and families. Students in 5th grade volunteer to attend Safety Patrol trainings and to arrive early in the morning in order to perform this important duty. The primary job of Safety Patrol is to help students cross streets safely; to be safe pedestrians, and to assist students as they are dropped off in the parking lot. Our teacher, Mrs. Tang Coordinates the Safety Patrol, and Officer Taylor works with her to train students. Mrs. Goulette assists each morning at the crosswalk. Thank you, Safety Patrol! If you’d like to learn more about the history of this program, go to: Safety Patrol History
Starting Arts
Thanks to a combination of PTA and site funding, we are able to offer a 12 week series of Theater classes to all students. We contract with the Starting Arts organization which provides professional artists from the field to teach the classes.
School-Wide Morning Meetings
Several times a month, all students gather in the Multipurpose (MP) Room to participate in a Morning Meeting. This meeting mimics the structure of classroom meetings, but on a “whole school” scale. The purpose of these meetings is to build school-wide community. Thank you to Ms. Berger for leading these meetings and to Mrs. Goulette and Mrs. Stauter for leading the music/singing!
Music, grades 3-5
Our district provides formal music for all 3rd graders and to students in grades 4th and 5th that choose to learn an instrument). Music classes have begun! We have a new teacher this year, Ms. Starnes. Third graders are learning they bells. 4th and 5th graders received their instruments last week.
Garden Days
All students participate in lessons in the garden. Thank you to our lead garden teacher, Mrs. Zeitler and Garden Coordinator, Mrs. Gwerder, who lead this effort. Last week it was a joy watching 5th graders take younger students through learning stations (using their five senses) in the garden. My favorite station was the cucumber tasting station!
Lunchtime Sports
On Monday, Wednesday and Friday we provide “coaches” from the One-on-One Basketball organization during recess. The coaches work with students that want to participate. They organize soccer, basketball, games, etc. They work with students on both skills, sportsmanship and teamwork. Thank you to our School Site Council for approving funding for this program.
For our third week at the Central Park STEAM Robotics Team, we had three FIRST LEGO League Global Innovation Ambassadors with one from Cabrillo Middle School and two from Central Park Elementary 5th grade.
Our Cabrillo mentor helped our FLL team Supernovas with planning their time until tournament date. Our two Central Park ambassadors floated between assisting FIRST LEGO League Junior teams, Wonder League teams and VexIQ teams.
In the VexIQ track, we have two builds of the VexIQ robot coming together with both teams completing the base and now constructing the motorized arm mechanisms.
In FLL Jr. the Circuit Breakers finished motorizing their Boomtown Build tower. They also completed building two two-story buildings representing their cities of the future.
In FLL Jr., we had two teams complete building a LEGO Education WeDo2 race car and program it. Then both teams raced each other across the makerspace floor.
In FLL our Red Rangers 9-person team had great support from the Endgame FTC team from Santa Clara High School. The mentors worked with 3 different subteams to tackle missions. Our 6 rookies on this team started building the educator base robot while our veteran Red Rangers worked on modifications to the wheel mechanism.
In Wonder League, we had three teams tackle the newly released missions. Team Toenail built a hat for Dash our of LEGO Duplo with toes on it while our JavaScript team fashioned one out of paper.
Next Monday, September 23rd, we will have Officer Taylor Carpenter of the Santa Clara Police Department to talk to the Central Park STEAM Robotics Team at 1:45-2:15PM in the makerspace. In line with the FIRST City Shaper and Boomtown Build robotics theme, students will have an opportunity to ask questions about problems in cities so they can then create innovative solutions to real world problems.
Posted 9/18/19
Team Chameleon
We nurture the development of the whole child who is then inspired to continually expand all aspects of his/her being (mind, body, heart) and is empowered to improve the world for others. We build habits of mind and ways of being that are caring, curious, reflective and visionary.
Curious
Creative
and Inspired!!!
