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Valley View Newsletter: Spring Fling Date Set, Family Readers Day and More
The school newsletter of Valley View Elementary School.
way Council, District 31 PTSA
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Mr. G, rm6 5th/6th grade teacher, will be running the L.A. Marathon on March 18th, 2012. He will be raising money to fund Valley View Family Field Day, an all-school field trip in June that promotes teamwork, self-esteem, and healthy living. Please help support Valley View and Mr. G by making any type of donation that you can. Your support is appreciated. Please turn in any money to the office or to your child's teacher.
PTA News Family Reader Day
Our final family reader day of the year is coming up on this Wednesday 3/7. If you haven't already participated this year, take a half-hour on Wednesday morning and go to your child's classroom from 8am to 8:30am. You can bring your own books or borrow from the library, and Mrs. Caine will be happy to offer grade appropriate suggestions.
Find out what's happening in Studio Cityfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Right on the heels of Read Across America on Dr. Seuss's birthday, the timing is perfect to demonstrate to your children and their classmates that reading is important in your family and in our school.
Afterward, we will have breakfast served by our fantastic Hospitality committee in the Auditorium.
Don't miss this final opportunity to participate in Family Reader Day!
Thank you so much to everyone who came to the PTA Parent meeting and the PTA Teacher meeting! Some amazing ideas have come out of both meetings, and we hope everyone will continue to be enthusiastic and open minded as we try new things and revisit old favorites this year.
Save the date! Spring Fling school fair will be held on Sunday April 29th 12pm to 4pm at North Weddington Park.
EVERYONE will be expected to volunteer for at least a 1 hour block, so that NO ONE has to cover missed shifts. Child care will be provided while you are working your shift if you need it, and more details about this new service will be coming soon.
Some of the exciting things we're considering so far are Bounce-house, Dunk tank, Climbing wall, Cake walk, Face-painting, Hair-braiding, Fortune teller, Chess demo, Lego race cars... We'll have kid-friendly food, and maybe even a few grown-up choices... We'll sell t-shirts and have other vendor sales... We'll have terrific entertainment, some of which will feature your kids... And we'll give you weekly updates on planning progress.
To get involved, please see the Committees List, or email to info@valleyviewelementary.org, and we'll get you to the right person.
PLEASE BRING HOLLOWED EGGS TO THE PTA ROOM
This is the first project we need to start on...
We will have confetti eggs at the festival, and we need to get started making them right away!
How to empty an egg (link to:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=stu9_Y1W3NQ)
YEARBOOKS Place Your Messages and Order Now!
Yearbook spaces are still available for personal messages and advertising! The deadline is THIS FRIDAY, so get them in right away. These messages underwrite the cost of the yearbooks and make them more affordable for all. So please consider a personal message to your child, or placement of your business advertisement.
WE NEED MORE MESSAGES!
Spaces available are:
A: business card size 3.5" wide x 2" tall at $10
B: quarter-page size 3.5" wide x 5" tall at $25
C: half-page size 7.25" wide x 5" tall at $50.
If you create your own message, please make sure it fits the dimension you've chosen and paid for. Or you can write your message, and we'll prepare it for you (25 words or less for size A).
Deadline is THIS FRIDAY March 9th for messages!
AND it's time to place your Yearbook orders! Basic price is $20. And for front cover personalization of your child's name, add just $2.
Deadline for personalization orders is Friday March 23rd.
Turn your check and forms in to the office (more forms available in the office). If you have questions, please email Vicki Nishimura at vicandtosh@yahoo.com.
OUR CHILDREN OUR FUTURE PTA Supported Initiative Needs Petition Signatures There's a fascinating Education Initiative, Our Children, Our Future that some parents are helping to get on the ballot this year. It requires signatures from legal California voters over the next month to get on the ballot.Personal income tax will increase minimally on all BUT NOT THE LOWER INCOME BRACKET, and for Valley View itself, this could mean a per-year addition of:$220,484 2013-2014$383,543 2017-2018$518,872 2023-2024
Parents and faculty will be responsible for figuring out what to do with this money, not LAUSD! Can you even imagine what we could do with that?
Click here to read more about the petition and how to get involved.
We are not allowed to seek signatures during PTA meetings, but ask Bonnie before or after the meetings to sign the petition. Thanks! CICA ANNOUNCEMENT $50,000 per year for Valley View
A grant from the California Institute of Contemporary Arts is allowing Valley View to enhance its arts programs every year. This money will be IN ADDITION to the great programs that PTA puts on, and not substitute any LAUSD programs.
Here's how it works. The ARTS COUNCIL is made up of Ms. Kim (rep of the school), Noel Ampel (parent of 2 former students, and the community rep) and Mike Szymanski (parent and rep of the CICA). All of their decisions must be unanimous and you will be hearing about many of the exciting programs coming up.
The money cannot go to any parent or faculty member, and cannot cost the students any extra outside money. So, the keyboard, guitar and songwriting classes for 4-5-6 this past year had all books and instruments paid for by the grant $$. The after-school classes are also FREE and will be open to K-6 next year.
Many of the ARTS COUNCIL programs will be in conjunction with school and PTA projects. (It helped fund purchase of moveable dry erase boards for the schools, because the music teachers needed them, too!)
The QUILTING PROJECT that your kids will be talking about and bringing home in the next few weeks is funded by the ARTS COUNCIL and every student will be involved in expanding Valley View's mural coming this Spring.
Just to be clear, this money is not from LAUSD, nor tax money, nor PTA, nor contributions to the school, it is all from this private non-profit grant foundation.
And, although the commitment from CICA was only 5 years, the board was so impressed with what we've done so far, the $50,000 per year will go long beyond that as we keep doing great things. FIELD TRIP HIGHLIGHT Your PTA Dollars at Work
Next Wednesday 3/14, the third grade classes will be going on a whale watching field trip.
This 2 1/2 hour whale watching tour takes place on a safe vessel, complete with licensed captains and a viewing deck to observe warm-blooded marine mammals like dolphins, whales, seals, and sea lions in their natural habitat, the Pacific Ocean on the Southern Californian coast. The tour focuses on other organisms that have adapted to live in their environment such as whales, sharks, pelicans, and fish. The students will learn about the complex ecosystem and food webs that attracts the animals and California ocean currents.
Check out the photo gallery of the 100-Days of school that Valley View came up with this year, and add some of your own, too (see:StudioCity.Patch.com) There are pictures of the Ice Cream Party for Calendar Sales, too.
Also, some Valley View students have joined in sharing their LEGO (and other) Models in this Photo Gallery. Donovan Sylla, 4th Grade, is overseeing the entries, so add yours: Share Your LEGO Creation or Other Models Here Every Saturday FIVE QUESTIONS The Wit & Wisdom of GG
GRETCHEN GARRETT
This is my fourteenth year at Valley View. I started out with a 3/4 combo class in 1998 and have settled into 5th grade in Room 5 since around 2000. I like children who get my humor and who do their homework! In that order.
Q1: Where were you born? GG: I was born and raised in New York City. I went to school across town on public buses and had the run of the city from 4th grade on. It was a different world for me growing up. I shopped with friends, was independent, learned how to handle myself on my own very early on. I raised my own children here in the San Fernando Valley. I drove them everywhere (see below.) They didn't have the freedoms that I had as a city-child. They're both grown now and have been to New York since then on their own and love it - the best of both worlds. Q2: What is your favorite color?GG: My favorite color is purple - any and all shades. In college, my art professor said that purple was the color of crazy people. I prefer to think of it as the color of Royalty.Q3: What is your least favorite word?GG: My least favorite word isn't a word at all! And yet, so many people use it so often. The "word" is HEIGHTH. I have no idea why people continue to coin this word. Is there a form anyone has ever been asked to fill out which asks for your Heighth and Weighth? Where does that final "H" come from? Perhaps Eliza Dolittle and Professor 'enry 'iggins had to dump all those dropped Hs somewhere...
Q4: What are your hidden talents?GG: When I was about 11 years old, I went on the Sonny Fox TV show, Just for Fun and won the Tongue Twister contest. I had to say "Lemon Linament" five times fast. There's not much call for this skill, so a "hidden talent" it has remained.Q5: What was your first car?GG: My first car was a VW Beetle that was made up of parts from about 75 other VW Beetles. No two fenders, tires, anything, were the same. As a native New Yawker, I didn't learn to drive until I moved out here to Los Angeles and this car was a stick shift. To this day, I cannot get into third gear. I drove everywhere in second, much to the delight of the drivers behind me. I now have an automatic shift car. Better for the human environment. CALENDAR HIGHLIGHTS
Upcoming important dates:
Tues Mar 6th CHESS CLUB Tuesdays 2:30 to 3:30
Wed Mar 7th Family Reader Day 8am in your child's classroom (no PTA Meeting)
JR DETECTIVES: SPY KIDS! Wednesdays 2:30 to 3:30
Thurs Mar 8th GLEE! DANCE CREW Thursdays 2:30 to 3:30pm
Fri Mar 9th Yearbook Messages Deadline!
Wed Mar 14th Spring Fling Committees Meeting 8am in Library
Storybook Theater walking field trip (Kinders)
Harbor Breeze whale watching bus field trip (3rd grade)
Mar 19th to 22nd Parent-Teacher Conferences scheduled, Minimum Days 12:24pm
Wed Mar 21st PTA Voting Meeting 8am in Library
Leonis Adobe bus field trip (4th grade)
Wed March 28th Discovery Center of Santa Ana workshop (4th, 5th & 6th grades)
Fri Mar 30 SCHOOL CLOSED for Cesar Chavez Day
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