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: February 16, 2018:

• Principal’s Message

• News and Announcements

• Parent Education Opportunities

Quick Dates for your Calendar:

• February 19-23: Winter Break, No School

• Wednesday, February 28; 7:00-8:00pm: Blach Transition Parent Information Night; Blach Multi; Parents Only

• March 5-9: Spring Book Fair

• Wednesday, March 7, 5:00-7:30pm: Book Fair Family Night

• Thursday, March 8; 8:45am: PTA Meeting, Staff Room

• Thursday, March 15: Minimum Day; 12:15 Dismissal

• Saturday, March 17, 6:30-10:30pm: Springer Auction

• Thursday, March 22: STEM Expo

• Wednesday, April 4; 6:30-7:30pm: Blach Elective Fair For Parents and 6th Grade Students

• Thursday, April 5: Open House

• 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

• 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

Principal’s Message

Dear Springer Community,

• This week has been filled with lots of fun memories. To kick off the week students celebrated famous Americans.  It was  wonderful seeing the kids share their knowledge of who they were.  In Fourth Grade the idioms were creative.  My favorite was get your head out of the clouds… Student had white pillow filler as the the clouds.  

• SAFETY

  • With the warm weather these past few weeks we have had an increase in biking and scootering to school.  Please remind your children to walk their bikes/scooters in front of the school.  

• • School Safety is what we practice every month.  This month we will be having an emergency lockdown drill in lieu of our fire drill.  

On Friday afternoon, March 2nd, we will have a lockdown drill for all students.  The classroom teachers will explain to students before the drill the process and procedure for this drill.  During the drill, classes will lock and barricade the doors, draw the blinds, gather the students into a corner of the classroom.  Ms. Craddock and I  will check all doors to see if they are securely locked.  We will then debrief as a staff on how we can improve the process.  

The goals of the drill include:

1. Putting in practice some of the strategies we learned from our training.

2. Provide training to the students to practice expectations during this drill

3. Gather feedback of how we can improve this process

4. Communicate to our parent community

Have a wonderful winter break with family and friends.   Be safe.

Lynn Boskie

Reading Corner

Reading Corner: Happy Winter Recess!

Breaks such as the upcoming winter recess sometimes offer extra time for children to read. Whether they’re at home or away, children can enjoy books of their choice and continue to improve their reading. Below are some different ideas for chatting with your child about reading.

• Is your child working to build fluency and read with expression? Rereading text is a great way to practice, so this could be useful if your child has a limited number of books available, as they might while traveling. Children can reread quietly or aloud, working to “scoop” larger sections of text in order to read in smooth phrases. A student might try to read to the end of the line, or to a comma, or to the end of the sentence. They might also practice their best storyteller voices and add expression to make their reading clear and interesting.

• If your child is reading nonfiction, can he or she teach you about the topic? What are the most important things you should know? What did the author include in the book to help you learn that information? Are there detailed descriptions, examples, stories, photos, maps, or charts? What are some central ideas that run through the text, and how does the author support them? Is the text told from a particular perspective, and is the author trying to persuade you of anything?

• If a child is reading fiction, is he or she keeping track of the story throughout the book? Who are the characters and what are they like? What problems are happening, and how do the characters react? What does the reader think might happen next? Did that prediction come true? Are you imagining what’s happening in the story almost like a movie in your mind? What lesson did the character learn, or what message can the story teach?

• If your child enjoys graphic novels, many of the questions above can apply. What are the characters like? What events and problems take place in the story? Does this remind you of any other stories or characters you know? Can you fill in additional description or details that are not actually written?

• If your child is a very beginning reader, it’s also great practice to retell stories and explain pictures and graphics in nonfiction books. If your child has heard a book multiple times, can he or she retell the story in a way that sounds like a book? Does the retelling include words such as “first” and “then?” You might also search for particular words throughout a book.

Have a great week, and we’ll see you after the break. Happy reading!

Springer Auction

TICKETS ON SALE NOW

March 17, 2018, 6:30-10:30pm

Crowne Plaza Cabana, Palo Alto

Theme: Disco Fever!

$65/person, buy your ticket online or by check

Reserve babysitting at Abra

The auction team is still looking for tech

gear donations and sports tickets. Let us know if you can help!!!

springerauction@gmail.com

Spring Book Fair

March 5 - 9, 2018

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

8:00am - 2:15pm on Thursday

Grand Opening Monday, March 5th, 8:30 - 10:00am

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

Book Fair Family Night

Wednesday, March 7th, 5:00 - 7:30pm

Join us for food trucks, fun and shopping!

Our teachers will be reading with the certified reading dogs.

Shop Online from Springer’s website

If you can’t find it in the Multi, you’ll likely find it on the online fair, with 65% more books than we can fit in the Multi. All orders are shipped to

Springer free of charge.

http://www.scholastic.com/bf/springerelementaryschool

Donate books to kids in need

As in previous years, we will be collecting money to purchase books. You may also purchase new books to donate. The books will be distributed throughout our community.

Please discuss your family’s purchasing guidelines before the event to help children make good choices.

As this is a fundraiser, all sales are final.

Springer STEM  Expo Is On March 22, 2018

Please register by March 2

If you’re interested in becoming a Guest Reviewer, contact Ms. Craddock (jcraddock@lasdschools.org) or simply fill out this form: Springer Expo Reviewer 2018

 For all details and information on the STEM Expo go to tinyurl.com/lasdstemexpo.

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 the LASD iLearn Studio (201 Covington Road, Los Altos) from 9-Noon on Monday mornings in March (3/5, 3/12, 3/19 and 3/26).  Please click HERE to view our Spring Training Flyer.  Apprentice-style training also available to those who can’t make our Monday morning trainings.

Please join us on February 26, from 10:00 - 11:30am for a Native Plant Talk, in the iLearn Studio at 201 Covington Road, Los Altos. Click here for the flyer and more information.

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

The MVLA Parent Education Speaker Series

Please join us for an evening with Dr. Leonard Sax

Boys Adrift:  Raising Authentic Boys Engaged in School and Life

Tuesday, Mar. 6, 2018 - 7:00 - 9:00pm | LAHS Eagle Theater |201 Almond Avenue, Los Altos, CA

Topics include:

• How much time spent playing video games is too much time, and how do we know?

• Which video games are OK, and which are not, and how do we know?

• What has caused the dramatic drop in the testosterone levels of young men over the past 60 years? Why does it matter?

• What research has been conducted regarding the effect of medications for ADHD on the developing brain?.

Dr. Sax is internationally recognized for his four parenting books, Why Gender Matters (2nd Ed., 2017), Boys Adrift (2nd Ed., 2016), Girls on the Edge (2010), and The Collapse of Parenting (2015) – a New York Times best-seller and has appeared on the TODAY show, PBS, NPR, CNN, Fox News, and the BBC, and many other national and international media.

To register for this free event, go to https://mvla2017-2018-leonardsax.eventbrite.com

Sponsored by Los Altos Educational Foundation (LAEF), MVLA High School Foundation, Mountain View Educational Foundation (MVEF), and Los Altos-Mountain View PTA Council.

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

Raising Digital Citizens

Interested in learning more about how to raise Digital Citizens?  Take a look at  is what happening in your neighborhood.

Parenting in the Age of Social Media  @ Blach Middle School on 2/27  7pm-8:30pm

Connecting Families  online information- “Connecting Families is designed to support and empower families in raising kids who think critically, participate responsibly, and behave ethically in their online lives.”

STEM Career Day

STEM Career Day Events at Egan and Blach

LASD & LAEF are excited to kick off the 2nd STEM Career Day Events at Egan and Blach Jr. High Schools this spring. STEM pervades every part of our life and STEM education creates critical thinkers, increases science literacy, and enables the next generation of innovators. We believe that exposing our students to different aspects and careers in the STEM fields inspire and spark a passion for learning.

We are looking for parents, grandparents or anyone in our community who would like to share their knowledge. If you are interested in presenting at Egan on March 19 and/or Blach on March 20, please contact Karen Wilson, STEM Coordinator at kwilson@lasdschools.org or Anjana Nagarajan-Butaney, LAEF Board member at anjana.nagarajan1@gmail.com

LAEF

We Need Your Input by March 9th!

Look for an LAEF Survey invitation in your email the week of February 26th and take this opportunity to share your feedback about LAEF-funded programs this school year. LAEF funds teachers and program staff supporting STEM, arts, literacy, wellness, and personalized learning. Your input will help our board of 16 volunteers, and LASD leadership determine the foundation's funding priorities for the 2018-19 school year. Thank you for your participation.

Donate to LAEF today and help us raise an additional $700K to reach our goal of $3.7M by April 27th. Gifts of any amount are appreciated. Learn more & make your tax-deductible donation today at www.laefonline.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 at springer.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.