The Springer Buzz!

Our Mission

At Springer Elementary School, we will provide a safe and supportive environment that engages, inspires, and nurtures all students’ emotional and academic needs in order to become empathetic, productive global citizens and lifelong learners.

In This Issue: March 23, 2018:

• Principal’s Message
• News and Announcements
• Parent Education Opportunities

Quick Dates for your Calendar:

• Friday, March 30: Spirit Day
• Wednesday, April 4; 6:30-7:30pm: Blach Elective Fair For Parents and 6th Grade Students
• Thursday, April 5: Open House; Click herefor flyer
• Friday, April 6: Minimum Day, Dismissal 12:15pm
• April 9 - 13: Spring Break, No School
• April 23-27: Read-A-Thon
• Friday, April 27, 9:30-11:00am: 6th Graders Walk to Blach Campus tour
• Friday, April 27, 2:00pm: Jr. Olympics Pep Rally Grades 4-6
• Saturday, April 28, 8:00am - 4:00pm: Jr. Olympics, Grades 4-6
• Wednesday, May 23, 7:30am: Volunteer Breakfast
• Monday, May 28: Memorial Day: No School
• Wednesday, May 30; 7:00pm: Springer Singers Spring Concert
• Friday, June 1; 8:30-12:00: Student Field Day
• Friday, June 1: Minimum Day; Dismissal 12:15
• Thursday, June 7: Last Day of School, Dismissal 11:15am
• LASD 2018-2019 Calendar

Principal’s Message

Happy Spring Springer Families,

This week we are celebrating all of the students and families who participated in the STEM Expo.  It was a wonderful community event, orchestrated by our STEM teacher Joanie Craddock with the support of LAEF.  Please be sure to read Joanie’s STEM Expo section below.  Congrats to all who participated and came to celebrate the spectacular world of STEM.  

Have a wonderful weekend,

Lynn Boskie

Reading Corner

Reading Corner: Fluency

            Reading with fluency refers to reading accurately, at a natural pace, and with expression. In other words, reading fluently is reading like you speak. Readers who are fluent in a text are able to focus their attention on comprehending what they read, rather than working to decode every word. They recognize (many) words automatically, and they are able to group words into phrases to help them understand. Less fluent readers tend to read more slowly, focusing on one word at a time. If it takes a long time to read through a sentence or page, it can be difficult to keep track of what those words mean. Less fluent reading may sound more choppy or monotone, showing that these readers are not yet making sense of the text in a way that translates into reading aloud with expression.

Students’ fluency often improves together with their other reading skills, and it needs ongoing development as texts get more challenging. Our earliest readers begin by looking at one word at a time, and fluency is not a priority when students need to point at each word. However, as students begin to recognize more words by sight, and/or they recognize patterns in books, their fluency will begin to grow. Fluency can take a step backward when a student reads more challenging texts that have more unknown words or complex sentence structures. At the same time, fluency does not guarantee comprehension; if children are focusing all their attention on reading aloud with fluency and expression, there’s a risk that they’re not focused on what is actually happening in the text. So as always, reading requires a combination of processing skills, and fluency is just one.

Repeated rereading is a powerful strategy for helping students improve their fluency. If your child(ren) are working on fluency, you might encourage them to read texts more than once, and eventually to read them aloud to you. You can also offer the following suggestions:

• When you have to pause to figure out a word, make sure you go back to the beginning of the sentence and read from there, reading that new word like it’s a word you’ve always known.
• Say Goodbye to “Robot Reading.” Instead of reading one word at a time, try to scoop up a few words at a time, and read all those words together in one breath, without pausing. Then scoop up the next few words. This might be hard the first time through a text, but it’s something to practice during rereading.
• Practice using a teaching voice when reading nonfiction. Try to show that the information you’re learning is interesting. Look at the punctuation to figure out if you’re telling or asking a question.
• Read like a storyteller. When there is a character talking, make sure you’re thinking about what’s being said, how the character might say it, and what the character is feeling. When the character stops talking, change your voice to sound like a narrator.

STEM Expo

Thank you Springer Community for a spectacular STEM Expo! We had over 250 students participating with such amazing projects. From stair climbing robots, to guitar typing, to a Lego card shuffler, to face recognition coding, the ideas were endless. While looking at Adam’s Infinity Mirrors, I overheard a classmate tell him, “You’re a genius!” I totally agree. We had wonderful reviewers to talk to the students one one one. Some of our volunteers were Springer alumni from the Mountain View High School Science Olympiad team. Mrs. Gentile did a fabulous job supporting 90+ sixth graders with their projects. I even had parents stop in to see if I needed any help when they had a few extra minutes. So many people helped to make this event a success. It is beautiful to see the students light up as they describe their experience. Thank you all for showing up! Springer is truly a great place to be!

Spirit Day-- Friday, March 30!

Who is your favorite character of all time?  Is the character from a book, a movie, a play?  Dress up like your favorite character on Springer’s next spirit day, Friday, March 30.  Spirit Bees will be awarded to the classes with the most participation.

Springer Auction

Congratulations Springer!

Together we raised $100K for Springer School. Thank you to all who came out and showed their Springer Spirit!

If you couldn't make it, it's not too late! Many community parties, exclusively for Springer students and parents, are still open. Please check out our OPEN PARTY LIST and contact the host listed to join the party.

Questions?

springerauction@gmail.com

Requesting Volunteers For Art Show

Hello Springer Parents!

I'm looking forward to our Open House art show again this year on April 5th. We have several new projects to feature this year. I can't wait to showcase what your

students have done!

I need parent volunteers who can help in one or both of the following ways:

One parent per class-- Mounting and labeling artwork:

One volunteer from each class who can take artwork home (sometime between March 19th - 23rd) to mount and label before the show. I will include directions and samples.

One or more parents per class-- Hanging the art show:

One or more Volunteers from each class who can help me staple the artwork to our black display boards. Volunteers can drop in and help for any amount of time between 8:30 am - 4:00 pm on Wednesday, April 4th and possibly again at 8:30 am on Thursday, April 5th until we finish.

Please email me directly if available.

lmartinez@arts4all.org

Thanks for your help!

Lisa Martinez

Next School Year Plans

Today in your child’s Friday Folder you will find a survey titled “Next School Year Plans”.  Please complete and return it before April 4.  This will assist the LASD in planning for next year.  Thank you.

Yearbook

Hello Springer,

This year, every student will receive a yearbook.  

You do not have to order or pay for one. Please read that again -- Every child will get a yearbook at the end of the year.  

Help us make this year's yearbook picture filled and send in pictures. We are using a new yearbook vendor (memory book) and their uploader tool is quick and stable. Instructions on how to upload are below. 

Pictures that are needed:

*Classroom parties/field trips

*Walk-a-Thon

*Springer Gives Back

*First Day of School

*Around campus

Here is how you can submit photos online:

   • Go to:https://images.memoryebooks.com/login

   • If it does not automatically log you into the site, enter username: 410253677

   • Browse to select the photo(s) you wish to upload.

   • Enter information about the photo and provide contact information in case the staff needs additional information.

   • Click "Save Details".

It's that easy! Submit your photos today! The last day to submit photos is 04/13/2018.

If you have any questions about the yearbook, please email me at: ybspringer@gmail.com

Thanks and please send your pictures!

Rachel

SELPA News

Wed. Apr. 18, 2018, 7-9PM, Santa Rita Elementary School, 700 Los Altos Rd, Los Altos

Taking Care of You: Mindfulness and Parenting with Challenges With Dr. Linda Lotspeich, Child Psychiatrist and Clinical Professor. Parenting a child with disabilities can lead to difficult emotions and stress. The practice of mindfulness, including meditation, can reduce stress, improve self-esteem and allow you to better manage these emotions.  Learn to move from coping to living a more meaningful life in the present moment, while still planning for the future.  Click here for English flyer. Click here for Spanish flyer.

Parent Chat

Are you concerned about the emotional well being of your child? Come to Parent Chat, peer to peer support for parents of teens. Click herefor English flyer.  Click here for Spanish flyer.

Let's Talk

 A chance to ask questions and share ideas, resources, and support with other parents of students with IEPs, 504s, learning differences, mental health challenges, etc.

All are welcome, participants must respect confidentiality.  

Mon. Apr. 16, 2018, 7PM-9PM, Los Altos Library Click here for English flyer.  Click herefor the Spanish flyer.

 A Note From The District Nurse

Pertussis Booster for Students in 6th grade:

Students currently in 6th grade 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 7th grade in August of 2018. Please provide a copy of your child’s immunization record to your school office as soon as possible!

Please refer any questions regarding this requirement to our District Health Assistants:  Suzy Gough 302-1448 and Sandy Anderson 302-1449.

Thank you for your cooperation!

Health Services Staff

LAEF

We’ve raised $3.3 Million - the next big milestone on our way to $3.7 Million!  Thanks to everyone who has generously donated to LAEF this school year!  You are making a difference in the education of every TK-8 grade student in LASD. 

We still need to raise $400,000 to finish funding the current school year. If you have yet to give, donatenow and help us fully fund STEM, art, literacy, wellness and personalized learning.

#MarchMatching

If you've made a donation to LAEF this school year, thank you! Be sure to take the next step and request a company match, if you have not done so already. Request your match now and, if  your company is in our #MarchMatching tournament, your match might help them win!

 We appreciate matches from all companies, whether they are in the tournament or not! All contributions to LAEF will help us reach our goal of $3.7M.

Become A Living Classroom Docent

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

It's time to plant tomatoes, dissect flowers, and make yummy pretzels from the wheat the students planted last Fall!  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 Spring Docent Training will take place at theLASD iLearn Studio (201 Covington Road, Los Altos) from 9-Noon on Monday morning, March 3/26.  Please click HERE to view ourSpring Training Flyer.  Apprentice-style training also available to those who can’t make our Monday morning trainings.

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

Parent Education Opportunities

Through an enriching presentations from local and national experts on topics of interests 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 Submit an Article to the Springer Buzz

If you have an article to submit to the Springer Buzz, please send it to the editor atspringer.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.