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: September 29, 2017:

• Principal’s Message

• News and Announcements

• Parent Education Opportunities

Quick Dates for your Calendar:

• Saturday, October 14: Walk-a-thon

• Wednesday, October 18: District Wide Earthquake Drill

• Thursday, October 19: Minimum Day, Dismissal 12:15

• Thursday, October 26: Photo Make-Up Day

• Friday, October 27: Vision Screening; Grades K, 2 & 5

• Tuesday, October 31: 1:15pm: Halloween Parade

• November 8 & 9:  Parent Training for Ability Awareness

• Friday, November 10: Veterans Day, No School

• Monday & Tuesday November 20 & 21:Parent/Teacher Conferences; No School

• November 22 - 24: Thanksgiving Break; No School

• November 27 - December 1: Ability Awareness Week

• Thursday, December 7, 7:00pm: Kindergarten Information Night

Principal’s Message

Dear Springer Families,

As it is “Safety Awareness Month” -  October here are some reminders for you:

• Keep our kids safe at school in our parking lot!

  • It takes all of us, our drivers, nannies & parents, to keep kids safe.

  • Please do not use cell phones while in the parking lot.

  • Use ONLY the lane closest to the curb for drop off.

  • Do NOT park in the drop off lane. (This includes the “kindergarten curve.”)  If you need to exit your vehicle to assist your child, please do so with extreme caution. Close your door and return to your car and continue out of the line as expeditiously as possible.

• Keep our kids safe at school by:

  • Volunteering for crossing guard duty.

  • Using the crosswalk with your child.   The two areas we need your support are:

•  on Rose at Limetree, near the kinder play yard; and

•  in the parking lot, in front of the STEM lab.

To volunteer for crosswalk duty please click here.  Any questions, contact springercrosswalk@gmail.com.

Have  a Wonderful Weekend,

Lynn Boskie

Buzz… Did you know that my favorite game to play a child on the playground when I was in elementary school was kickball.

Go Camping! The Walk-a-thon is Coming!

It's not too late to volunteer on Walk-a-thon Day. Join your fellow Springer community members for a fun easy, social one hour shift. Sign up online today!

Forgot to turn in your sponsor card? You still can! Drop it in the Walk-a-thon cubby ASAP. Even if your family cannot make it to the Walk-a-thon, your donations count toward class participation.

See you October 14 for 10-3!

Springer Rocks Walk-To-School Day!

It was a great turnout last Wednesday, September 27th for Springer Walk to School Day. Thanks to MVPD for supporting the day by providing bike officers at Fordham and Cuesta and for Student Resources Officer James Guevarra for speaking to our students. Thanks to the SafeMoves team for coming out and providing some entertainment with their Traffic Light Mascot. Congratulations to Third Grader Noah J who won the Bike Raffle sponsored by SafeMoves.

60% of our student population (based on a count of 476) arrived at school either by foot, scooter or bike and 10% by bus or carpool. These numbers are pretty great, but we think we can improve upon them. Kudos to our sixth graders were superstars with the highest participation rate. Check out the detail stats in the link here.

Stay tuned for our next Walk to School event later this month.

LAEF Help Support Our Teachers!

The Los Altos Educational Foundation (LAEF) provides funding for our staff in the areas of Art, Literarcy, STEM, Wellness and Personalized Learning. The Foundation’s biggest fundraiser, the phonathon, is coming up on October 24th and we are asking for every family to participate in two ways:

First: Please make sure you donate or pledge before 10/20 and save volunteers a phone call. Our goal is to increase our participation rate this year by 5% so please participate at whatever level is meaningful to your family.

Second: Join Superintendent Jeff Baier, teachers and staff, LAEF Board Members and other parents at the phonathon for some food, fun and phoning! Click here to volunteer and don’t forget  to bring a friend too!

Save Us a Call!

Make your donation or pledge today at LAEFonline.org so we won’t call you during our phonathon.

Our 2017-18 goal is $3.7M & 100% participation from all LASD Families.

Vision Screening

On Friday, October 27, the LASD nurses will be at Springer to conduct a vision screening for all Kindergarten, Second and Fifth Graders.  If your child wears glasses or contact lenses, please make sure that they wear them to school that day.  If you have questions, please contact the LASD nurses at: lasdnurses@lasdschools.org.

Photo Make-up Day

Photo Make-up Day is Thursday, October 26.  If you would like your child to retake their school photo, please contact the Springer School Office at  650-943-4200, and we will add them to the photo make-up list.

LASD Jr. Olympics 2018

Mark your calendars now for April 28, 2018.  The Los Altos School District Junior Olympics is an annual, fun-filled, all inclusive, inter-school track meet.  Fourth, fifth, and sixth graders from all seven district elementary schools compete in both traditional and nontraditional track and field events.  Each elementary school needs many many volunteers to help make this event a fun and successful day for hundreds of students.

Springer is looking for volunteers to help organize and run the monthly district meetings.  This is a perfect way to get more involved, understand all the details that go into planning and running the event, and have a direct impact on hundreds of students.  If interested, please contact Sharon Tan sharontantan@yahoo.com or Jen Miley jenmiley@me.com .

Springer Singers

Does your child love to sing? Then Springer Singers is where you want them to be.

Springer Singers is a fantastic way to get your kids singing and dancing with their Springer friends.

The Springer Singers are open to all Springer students.

New to Springer Singers in Grades 1 & 2: Mondays 2:45-3:30

Returning Singers in Grades 2 - 6: Tuesdays 3:00-3:45

Springer Multi

Applications available in the office, or by clicking here.  Please complete form and return with payment (scholarships available) to participate.

Questions? Contact Heidi Rockett at rockettland@comcast.net

LASD Looking for Kindergarten Aides

The LASD is looking for Instructional Kindergarten Aides.  If you are interested in becoming a classroom assistant for kindergarten, look no further.  There is a wonderful opportunity for you to apply.  Work schedule is perfect for a parent  who may be interested in working part time  9:15 am -1:15 pm- five days a week.  Rate $13.84 - $19.47 per hour.  Please contact Marlene Revelo at 650-947-1153.

Looking for Noon Duty Volunteers

Noon yard duty is now open to parent volunteers on a rotating basis. Parents can volunteer anywhere from once a week to once a month.  The hours are 11:45 - 12:45  on Tuesdays and Thursdays.  Please contact Clover Huang at: cloverh[at]yahoo.com if interested.

Flag Football Game on Monday

Come and cheer for the Springer Flag Football team this Monday at 4:00pm at the Springer field.  They will be playing against Almond School.  Go Springer Stingers!

Selpa Events

Selpa, an all-volunteer group of parents of children with special needs, are sponsoring several upcoming events:

Let’s Talk: How to advocate for your child--support for parents of students with IEP’s and 504’s.  Monday, October 9, 7:00-9:00pm; click here for flyer.  Click here for Spanish flyer.

Special Ed Director Panel:  Wednesday, October 18, 7:00-9:00pm.  Ask IEP, 504 questions and more.  Click here for flyer.  Click here for Spanish flyer.

Parent Chat: The Second Tuesday of every month.  Click here for flyer.

Click here for Spanish Parent Chat flyer.

Art Docent Training

Los Altos Art Docents are looking for new volunteers to join us!

Our training sessions run from September through mid-April. You may still join our group of trainees this year, and are welcome to come to our September 13 training session to see what it's all about!

Location: iLearn Studio, located at 201 Covington Road, Los Altos.

Time: Wednesday mornings, 8:45am-11:30am

If you would like more information, please contact the Art Docent

office at (650) 947-1195 or kdickerson@lasdschools.org, or see our website athttp://www.losaltosartdocents.org

Living Classroom

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 on Monday mornings from 9am-Noon from Sep. 11th – Oct. 16th  (please see our Fall training flyer for locations).

Click here for flyer and more info.

Want to learn more about our program?  Please consider attending one of our upcoming Informational Meetings from 10-11am on Monday 8/21 or Monday 8/28 at the Los Altos School District iLearn Studio, 201 Covington Road, Los Altos and/or visit our website at www.living-classroom.org.

Questions? Email us at livingclassroom@lasdschools.org or call (650) 947-1103.  

Caroline Chan

Program Coordinator, Los Altos School District

Living Classroom

(650) 947-1103 (office)

(650) 303-9764 (cell)

livingclassroom@lasdschools.org

www.living-classroom.org

OhmConnect Fundraising Platform

The Springer community started using a novel fundraising platform last year, called OhmConnect. We raised $930 last year, and $1500 this year by having a handful of parents of the school turn down their electricity usage just one hour per week.

We're aiming to raise $5,000 this year and all you need to do is signup using this link and connect your utility account.

ohm.co/springer

OhmConnect donates between $50 - $150 per team member per year, depending on how much you reduce. They'll be donating an instant $75 per new team member. If you haven't signed up yet, now's the time to do it!

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.