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: November 10, 2017:

• Principal’s Message

• News and Announcements

• Parent Education Opportunities

Quick Dates for your Calendar:

• Friday, November 10: Veterans Day, No School

• November 13 - 17:  Book Fair

• Tuesday, November 14th, 3:15pm: AMC 8  

• Wednesday, November 15, 8:45-9:45am Ability Awareness Parent Volunteer Training in Staff room.

• Wednesday, November 15, 5:00 - 7:00pm:  Book Fair Family Night

• Friday & Saturday, November 17 & 18th; 6:00pm Loyola School: Peter Pan Play

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

• November 22 - 24: Thanksgiving Break; No School

• November 27 - December 1: Ability Awareness Week

• Monday, December 4, 1:00pm: LASD Winter Concert Grades 4-6

• December 4-8: Hour of Code

• Wednesday, December 6, 7:00pm: Springer Singers Winter Concert; Multi

• Thursday, December 7: Springer Gives Back

• Thursday, December 7, 7:00pm: PTA Mtg., Staff Room

• Thursday, December 7, 7:00pm: Kindergarten & New Family Information Night; Multi

• December 18 - January 1: Holiday Recess

Principal’s Message

Dear Springer Families,

Volunteering Opportunities…

• Ability Awareness Week November 27th-December 1th

For the first time in many years we will be learning and celebrating our differences.  These differences are what makes us the unique individuals we are.  To understand and to embrace our differences is what makes the world a better place. Be part of this learning opportunity for your children and the children of Springer. We need all the volunteers we can get.  

On Tuesday, November 14th at 8:45am-9:45am there will be a training for parents to prepare for volunteering on November 27th and/or November 28th and/or November 29th. Sign up here. For detailed descriptions of the activity read below.

• Junior Olympics

Every year in April our students participate in the LASD Junior Olympics.  It is a spectacular event involving all the students across the district.   This year we looking for volunteers who are interested in learning the ropes from Sharon Tan and Jen Miley. 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 you are interested please contact Sharon Tan sharontantan@yahoo.com or Jen Mileyjenmiley@me.com .

Lost and Found is beginning to bust!

Please stop by the Lost and Found near the multi if you are on campus or remind your children to stop by and take a look. You may find a long lost treasure.   

Solar Panel

Next week work will resume.  Due to delays with paperwork at the state architect’s office, the next phase of construction (drilling and pouring concrete) is postponed until the week of November 13.  We still expect to complete construction by the December 31 deadline.

Peter Pan Play Coming Up Next Weekend

Mark your calendars for November 17 & 18.  The play will be presented at Loyola School’s Multi at 6:00pm both nights.  Break a leg Springer!

Sincerely,

Lynn Boskie

Buzz… Did you know that Mrs. Boskie’s father, brother in-laws and nephew are veterans.

Ability Awareness Week Nov. 27th- Dec. 1st  

What is Ability Awareness?  It is a program from  the SELPA 1 CAC ‘s Ability Awareness program designed to build empathy, inclusion, acceptance for students with challenges.

Our thoughtful discussions and simulations allow students to walk in another person’s shoes and understand what daily life might be like for others with visible and invisible challenges.  The activities we have planned for Springer students include the following.

PT- We allow children to experience  wheelchairs, walkers, quad canes, crutches and grabbers to create an awareness of what it may be like to struggle with physical challenges on a daily basis.

Mirror Box activity-  this activity allows students to experience what it might be like to have dyslexia or other visual motor processing issues.

Dot to Dot- an activity designed to simulate what it might feel like if you weren’t able to block out background noise and attention issues.

Fine Motor- Kids try on button down shirts with socks on their hands to simulate fine motor struggles.

Social Sense- We discuss social rules in school and how we feel when they are broken.  This simulation and discussion simulates what it might feel like to have social skills challenges, like Autism, Intellectual Disabilities,  Speech and Language, and many others.

English Language Learner-  This DOES NOT fall under special education, however, students new to English often experience similar experiences with friendships, exclusion and acceptance among their peers due to language barriers. We have a discussion of how to include , find common ground, and develop friendships with students new to English.

Math Corner

The AMC 8 is a 25-question, 40-minute, multiple choice competition exam for middle school math students, done without calculators.  The competition is run by the Mathematical Association of America who score the test.  The MAA AMC office will begin emailing official scores and reports in early to mid-December following the AMC 8 in late November. The email reports go out roughly in the order in which they receive them from schools. Processing and reporting from start to finish takes about 3 to 4 weeks.Here’s  a link to a sample question.  Website:  AMC 8 Sign Up

We will be offering to proctor the assessment above on Tuesday, November 14 at 3:15pm. If you and your child would like to sign up, please click here.

Wild West Book Fair

November 13-17, 2017

8:00am - 3:30pm on Mon, Tues, Wed & Fri

8:00am -2:15pm on Thursday

Grand Opening Monday, November 13th, 8:30 - 10:00am

Bring your friends and come in for coffee, pastries and books!

Book Fair Family Night

Wednesday, November 15th, 5:00 - 7:30pm

Join us for food trucks, fun and shopping!

For more in more informations on shopping online and donating books to kids in need, please click here.

Holiday Food Drive

The Springer Student Ambassadors will be collection food beginning November 1 - 17 before and after school in front of the Mural Wall.  There is also a collection barrel in the school office.  They are collecting non-perishable food items. Click here for examples of non-perishable foods.

When To Keep Your Child Home From School

Sometimes it is difficult, especially early in the morning, to know whether or not to send your child to school.  The following guidelines are indications that you should keep him/her home.  In this way, you are helping to control the spread of colds, flu, and other contagious illnesses.

Keep your child at home when he/she has any of the following symptoms:

You need to keep your child home until he/she has been symptom free without medication for 24 hours.

Also, NOTIFY THE OFFICE IMMEDIATELY if your child is exposed to or contracts chicken pox, mumps or measles or whooping cough (pertussis).  These conditions can be life threatening to students who are undergoing therapies that suppress their immune systems.

The following information is only a guide to common childhood health concerns. Call our District Nurses (650-444-9702 or 650-537-8119) or personal health care provider for more information. Always bring a copy of a physician’s note to school and/or notify the school if your child will have an extended absence due to a health condition for 10 days or longer.

If you would like more information on how to spot flu symptoms, you may go to the LASD Health website by clicking here.

It’s A Springer Thing

Christopher, Ananya, and Addison were recognized at Wednesday’s morning assembly for being responsible and caring to their fellow Springer students.  

Congratulations Aspen!

Congratulations to Aspen who won the raffle for the bike from the Walk, Wheel or Roll Day!

Cornerstone Corner

This month’s ABC book: “Big” by Coleen Paratore encourages students to become BIG people. The author defines BIG as being bright, imaginative, healthy, helpful, and valuable members of society.

Goals of lesson:

· Encourage students to take small steps to achieve BIG outcomes at home, school and community.

· Internalize intrinsic rewards of doing things for the right reasons - Being an UPstander.

· Perform intentional acts of caring for others.

· Understand that everyone can be BIG in their own way.

To reinforce this lesson at home:

· Discuss ways your family contributes individually and together to making a difference in the world.

· Ask your child:

How can I be BIG in my family?

What do we do to be BIG toward our planet?

How can we be kind to each other in a BIG way?

How can we be BIG in our community?

Name people who are BIG (famous, friends, family, in the news) and explain why.

Parents can consider reading the book: The World Needs Your Kid: Raising Children Who Care and Contribute by Craig & Marc Kielburger. This book focuses on simple everyday actions that can have a lasting influence on your child's life and the lives of those around us.

When you “catch” kids modeling positive behaviors... Notice, Name it, and Celebrate it!

Thanks For Attending Camp Springer!

Thank you to all our walkers, volunteers and sponsors for making this year's Walk-a-thon a success! It's time to share your walking results and collect pledges from your sponsors. Sponsor cards were returned in last week’s Friday Folders.  Friends and family who made pledges on PledgeStar should have received an email with payment instructions. For those students who were not able to get any pledges, a donation of $25 per student helps cover Walk-a-thon expenses, but any donation amount would be most appreciated. For those students who were not able to attend, any donation amount would be appreciated.

Please attach payment to the sponsor card(s) and place it in the Walk-a-thon cubby in the office. Checks should be made out to Springer PTA. Please combine payments for multiple students into one check per family, per donor. Payments should be submitted by Tuesday, Nov. 14.

The PTA’s Tax ID is 94-6174514.  For payments under $250, the canceled check may be used as a donation receipt.  For payments over $250, the PTA will send a formal tax donation letter to the donor.

Back To School Tax Receipts

Tax donation receipts were sent out via email for all Back To School Drive orders that included a tax deductible donation.  Contact bts@springerpta.net with any questions regarding your BTS order or donation amount.

If you didn’t get a chance to fill out the online BTS form, hard copy forms are available in the PTA Membership cubby in the office.

Thank you for your support of the Springer PTA!

Selpa Events

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

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

Click here for Spanish Parent Chat flyer.

LAEF

Your gift can still be doubled!

Donate to LAEF for your first time OR increase your donation over last year and it will be matched by our Board of Directors!

The $50K Challenge Match ends on November 17th, so give today.

New or annual gifts of any amount are appreciated, and help make a difference for all our TK-8 students by funding STEM, arts, literacy, wellness, and personalized learning. To learn more, pledge or donate at LAEFonline.org.

Looking for Noon Duty Volunteers

Noon lunch duty is currently short one staff member in the younger grades (1st-3rd) area on Tues/Thurs.  We are looking for parent volunteers to help fill this spot, especially on Thursday.  If you could spare even one Thursday per month, we would really appreciate it.  The hours are 11:45 - 12:45, but if you are also volunteering for hot lunch, we could still use your help after hot lunch, as that is when the kids are spread out the most throughout the campus.  Please contact Clover Huang at: cloverh[at]yahoo.com to sign up.

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.