Hello Walnut
Acres Parents,
It’s the
season of caring and I thank you for all the ways that you practice compassion
and kindness. I particularly want to
thank all parents for breaking our record of Jaguar Fund contributions by
soaring to a 72% rate of participation! That community spirit is much
appreciated and sends an important message to our children whatever your
donation level. I wonder if we can increase that rate to 75%? No donation is
too small.
Conference time is a great way for
teachers and parents to collaborate in caring for students and I encourage
every parent to actively participate in your upcoming teacher conference. Here
are some tips for a successful conference from the National PTA:
1. Ask your child to share any concerns
before you go to the conference.
2. Bring written notes and questions.
3. See your child’s teacher as your
partner. Avoid antagonism.
4. Share any home challenges that might
be impacting your child’s learning.
5. Ask teachers to explain any
educational jargon you do not understand.
6. Ask for specifics about your child’s
work, including data (eg. CA results) and samples of classroom activities (eg.
writing notebooks).
7. Keep the conversation focused on your
child.
8. Discuss strategies to support your
student.
9. Take notes on plans or common goals
you develop together.
10. Ask for follow-up conversations or
e-mails as needed.
A few staff members
have developed new plans to support further collaborative caring for children as
we enter 2013. Consider participating in one or all of these options:
- Our
industrious reading specialist, Lindsay McCormick, is offering 2 evening workshops
for parents and their children on the topic of reading support at home. On
1/22/13 from 6:45-7:30 p.m., Mrs. McCormick will present strategies to promote
early literacy skills at home. Children are invited so that parents can immediately
practice the strategies presented. On 1/29/13, during the same timeframe, Mrs.
McCormick will present techniques to expand and deepen comprehension. Again,
parents are encouraged to bring their children to the workshop.
- Our
creative site technology II, Patty Galindo, would like to form a Walnut Acres
programming club to include both students and adults in our community. She is
hoping that some parents employed as programmers will provide some expertise
for the group. Mrs. Galindo hopes to create a group interested in experimenting. Dates, times and formats (skyping or
videotaped lessons) for meetings will be decided by the group once she has a
sense of interest. To join this adventure, contact Mrs. Galindo at galindop@mdusd.org with programming club as your subject.
- Our
compassionate counselor, Alma Spring, is developing a list of strategies for
parent playground volunteers to use in response to parents who have expressed the
need for more direction when supervising children on the playground. Mrs.
Spring will provide specific guidelines and contexts for using those strategies
during an hour-long workshop offered on 1/17/13 at 1:30 p.m. in A-1. The problem solving ideas that Mrs. Spring
shares with you will also be valuable for resolving sibling conflicts and peer
relations.
Our caring for our students leads us
to 2 new activities that require parent volunteers…
- MDUSD
has received a grant that will allow our students to have a salad bar on
Tuesday and Thursdays. This is a welcome addition to our lunch fare. We will
need parents to help supervise little hands at the salad bar, so if you are
signed on to be part of the volunteer lunch patrol, you will have another duty
to perform on salad bar days. Hopefully,
current numbers of lunch volunteers will be adequate to cover this Tuesday/Thursday
duty. More details on this plan will come in 1/13.
- We
would like to have the library open at lunch for interested students. We are
piloting a program in which parent volunteers supervise the library on
Thursdays and Fridays from 12:15-12:55 p.m. so our 4th and 5th
graders can browse the library as a recess option. (The library is being used
for classes during the lower grade lunch times.) If you are willing to provide
supervision on Thursdays or Fridays during upper grade lunch, please contact Heather
LeBlanc at famhusswc@yahoo.com or Giselle Stein at gstein@astound.net. If this pilot is successful, we will try to expand the lunch library
plan.
I thank you
for the many ways that you practice caring for students and our Walnut Acres
community! It is your diligent work borne of the caring you share for our
children and our school, that creates our vibrant Walnut Acres community. As
Vera Nazarian submits in The Perpetual Calendar of Inspiration, “The
master of the garden is the one who waters it, trims the branches, plants the
seeds, and pulls the weeds. If you merely stroll through the garden, you are
but an acolyte.”Here’s to a
memorable holiday season for all master gardeners and the uniquely exquisite
flowers we are cultivating!
Colleen Dowd, Principal