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Dear SMASHing Families,
Some of you have contacted me asking about the 2012-13 budget workshop and reduction of teachers listed on the agenda for the special SMMUSD School Board of Education meeting that will take place this Saturday, February 18 at 9:00am. I have participated in a Principals’ version of the budget workshop, and it will help you understand the potential $10 million loss of funding SMMUSD will face if the state budget proceeds as proposed and if a CA tax measure does not pass in November. Throughout the next few months of the SMMUSD budgeting process, the Board will discuss various budget balancing ideas (cutting programs and personnel and increasing class size).
One discussion item this meeting is the elimination of 4 elementary music positions. The music program currently serves all 2,500 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade students, and if the 4 positions are eliminated, it would become a 4th/5th grade program. During Public Comment, you can speak about the value of the current music program and the positive effect it has had on children that you know. If you are unable to attend the meeting, you can write to your Board of Education: brd@smmusd.org
The meeting will be held at SMMUSD District Administrative Offices, 1651 16th St., 2nd floor Board Room (between Olympic and Colorado). If you are interested in reading the full meeting agenda, it is posted on the district website: http://www.smmusd.org/board/meetings.html
As I have historically, I will continue to share the overview of the budget process and potential impacts to SMASH as they emerge.
Jessica
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DATES TO REMEMBER
Mon, Feb 20 - Presidents’ Day - SMASH Closed
Mon, Feb 27 - 9:00-10:30am - SMASH School Tour
Wed, Feb 29 - 6:00pm - SuperSMASH meeting - in library
Fri, Mar 9 - SMASH Jog-a-Thon. Sign up now to volunteer
Tue, Mar 13 - 6:00pm - SMASH Talent Show
Fri, Mar 16 - 9:15am - Astrocamp assembly
Fri, Mar 30 - Last day to apply for SMASH for September (ALL siblings MUST have their applications in)
Sat, May 19 - SuperSMASH. Sign up now to volunteer
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Only 3 more weeks until Jog-a-thon 2012
Friday, March 9
GO GET THOSE PLEDGES!
· Ask your neighbors
· Call family and friends
· Pledge your whole Core (penny a lap anyone?)
· Email those far away relatives (sample wording sent with
pledge packet and Friday Letter)
· Is your teacher or parent running? They can get pledges
too! We have extra pledge packets in the office.
Contact Lillie Schlessinger at 310 -392-9446 or
lillie.schlessinger@tr ansamerica.com to volunteer.
You can volunteer or just come and cheer!
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Date ________
Dear ____________________________
It’s that time of year again! My SMASHing Jog-a-thon ’12 will take place on March 9. I will be participating by running laps for 20 minutes to help raise money for my school, Santa Monica Alternative School House (SMASH). Thanks to the support of family and friends like you, we raised over $18,000 last year that went directly to enriching our curriculum and experience at SMASH. I would be very happy to list you as one of my sponsors at this year’s event.
You can pledge one of two ways: Pledge a flat donation regardless of the number of laps I complete, or pledge a specified amount per lap (for example, 20 laps x $2.00 = $40.00 pledge total). SMASH does not have an official track so a “lap” tends to be about 1/8 of a mile (give or take).
Please make the check payable to SMASH PTSA and mail it to my house as soon as you can. You can also pay by credit card at http://ptsasmash.blogspot.com/ (where it says “donate”). When reviewing your donation there will be a hyperlink that says “add special instructions to seller” and you can type in my name and the word “Jog-a-thon.” If you are making a per lap pledge I will contact you immediately following the event to inform you of the total.
Thanks in advance for being a part of this year’s Jog-a-thon, and for supporting my efforts in this fun-filled fundraiser!
Best Wishes,
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SAMOHI Theatre Presents
Rodgers & Hammerstein’s SOUTH PACIFIC
Barnum Hall at Santa Monica High School
Thursdays, Fridays & Saturdays at 7:00pm - March 1-10
Saturday Matinee, March 3 at 2:00pm
Tickets available at samohitheatre.org or 310-395-3204 x 71239
Adults $15 - Students $10
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FREE Paper Shredding & Electronics Recycling
Saturday, February 18 - 9am-2:pm
City Yards - 2500 Michigan Avenue www.smgov.net/r3 - 310-458-2223
Santa Monica residents only - limited to 25 boxes (12x17x9 inches each)
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Summer Adventure for Elementary School
June 25 - July 20; 8:30-12:30 daily
Roosevelt Elementary School - 801 Montana Avenue
$420 for full morning program; childcare available for additional fee - scholarships available
Brochures & Registration Forms available on March 26 and online at www.smmpta.org or www.smmef.org
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The UCLA Family Commons is excited to announce new programming for Summer 2012.
These camps are unique — full of fun for children, yet grounded in the most up-to-date scientific insights about social and emotional growth at each stage of development.
Girls Get Real (ages 8-12) http://www.uclacommons.com/courses/girls-get-real-ages-8-12
Boys Only (ages 8-12) http://www.uclacommons.com/courses/boys-only-ages-8-12
Commons Kids (Coed, ages 5-7) http://www.uclacommons.com/courses/commons-kids-coed-ages-5-7
The UCLA Family Commons’ approach to summer camp programming is truly one of a kind. Based on the latest research, camps are carefully designed to meet the developmental needs of each group. By enriching social and emotional intelligence, camps provide the foundation for later academic achievement and personal satisfaction.
Yet for children, the camps are entirely about summer fun. Learning is seamlessly integrated into activities like art projects at our Santa Monica center, play at the beach, martial arts in our on-site dojo and yoga in Palisades Park, to name just a few.
Please JOIN US on Wednesday, February 29, from 4 – 6 pm, when we’ll be celebrating our 2nd Anniversary in Santa Monica.
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Youth & Family Chess
Ocean Park Branch Library - 2601 Main St., Wednesdays - 3 p.m.-6 p.m.
Children and adults are welcome at Youth and Family Chess, a weekly instructional class meant to help you not just learn, but appreciate the ancient game of chess.
Cost: free. For more information, call (310) 458-8683.
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Cirque du Soleil’s “OVO” Santa Monica Pier under the big top by the sea.
In this show, Cirque delves into the secret lives of bugs to tell their unlikely stories.
The show runs through Feb. 26. For more information, call (800) 450-1480.
Free admission to the Santa Monica Aquarium each Sunday in February.
Courtesy of Cirque du Soleil
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TSM Junior Guard Prep - Team Santa Monica
High performance swim club with a training program to prepare to be a Junior Lifeguard.
3 classes per week beginning March 1. register at teamsantamonica.org
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ptsa news
president’s message
Dear SMASHing Parents,
The Jog-a-Thon is right around the corner. If you have not attended the annual Jog-a-thon, please don’t forget to calendar the morning of Friday, March 9th. Our kids are in training during PE to get in shape. It is always a very spirited and festive morning and a lot of fun for all. If you haven’t volunteered or donated for the the Jog-a-thon please contact events chairs Darlene Flanders [dflanders@quixo.com] and Lillie Schlessinger (lillie.Schlessinger @transamerica.com] and let them know if you can volunteer for the morning on Friday, March 9th,, to help assure this event runs smoothly.
The next meeting of the SuperSMASH committee will be on Wednesday February 29th at SMASH, at 6:00 p.m. in the library. While preparations for this event are well underway, we still need key volunteers to make sure this event is successful. In particular, we need help with marketing the event to the community, and we need a couple of people to help assist with organizing activities and setting up and running the music program at SuperSMASH.
If you can help please contact me at 310-993-0707 (dmcgeee@mcgeelere.com) or Helga Schier at ( helgaschier@verizon.net). If you would like to find out what you can do to help please attend the meeting on February 29.
Though we have parents who have volunteered to take over most of the positions on the SMASH PTSA Executive Board for the 2012-2013 school year, we still need a volunteer to be our Historian, which has gone unfilled for several years. If you are interested, please let us know. As always this is a great opportunity to ease into PTSA leadership and get more involved in our community. - Dan McGee
ptsa annual family investment drive
The SMASH Annual Family Investment Drive continues throughout the year. Have you made a commitment? Proceeds from this fundraising drive will be used to continue providing vital and enriching educational experiences to the SMASH community. PTSA has a great responsibility to meet its budget in order to fund numerous school essentials. From teacher assistant salaries to underwriting the office copy machine to field trips, PTSA literally keeps the school moving. Your generosity is appreciated and makes a difference. This year we are aiming for 100% parent participation and your donation brings us closer to our goal. If you have any questions, contact Marni Ayers Brady (marniayers@gmail.com).
SMASH bash
If you have not been able to enjoy a SMASH bash event, there are still openings. Please contact Marni Ayers Brady (marniayers@gmail.com) at your earliest convenience and find out what upcoming events are still available.
GREEN TIPS FOR THE WEEK
Crocs Cares: Crocs, Inc. and Soles4Souls take old, but wearable Crocs, wash them, and then donate them to people who need shoes in impoverished nations around the world. Crocs has donated over 2.6 million pairs of shoes to people in over 40 countries. You can take your lightly worn Crocs to a Crocs retail store or go to Crocscares.com for a complete listing of dropoff locations.
Please DO NOT FLUSH moist towelettes, baby wipes, facial tissues or paper towels They cause
sanitary sewer overflow to our city’s streets and contaminate the Santa Monica Bay. They also damage the City’s sewage pumps. Baby wipes are not completely biodegradable (even though it is sold as biodegradable and flushable). The only thing that is safe to flush is toilet paper (which is specifically designed to break down easily.
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CORE 1 NEWS
PRESIDENTS’ DAY - MONDAY, FEBRUARY 20 - SCHOOL CLOSED
MATH MORNING
Are you curious to see the many ways our children show their number sense, represent their thinking in multiple ways, and demonstrate problem-solving strategies? Join us this coming Wednesday morning, Feb. 22 from 8:40-10:00 for our 2nd Annual Core 1 Math Morning. We will meet in workshop groups for a math-themed morning meeting, followed by a math workshop with the children, and ending in a parents-and-teacher debrief.
GUIDING TRANSITIONAL WRITERS
Bigs’ and Mentors’ parents are invited to attend a dialogue on supporting young writers in the Transitional Stage on Wednesday, February 29 from 3:15-4:00 p.m. in the Golden Galaxy. We will discuss ways to continue encouraging independence while supporting a young writer’s interest in conventional or “book” writing.
LIGHT & SHADOWS STUDY
What is a shadow? Will you see your shadow on a rainy day? What do you need to create a shadow? Do all things have shadows? What kinds of objects make shadows? What is different about an object and its shadow? Which object will have a larger shadow? Do larger objects always have larger shadows than smaller objects? How do you make a shadow bigger? Why are some shadows blurry? What happens to a shadow if you move the light closer to the surface?
These are only some of the questions that have prompted our experiments with light and shadows in the Golden Galaxy with Graciela. Using lamps, whiteboards, and other objects found in our space, the children have noticed details, made comparisons, determined cause and effect relationships, tested generalizations, and drawn conclusion about light and shadows. Their knowledge of light and shadows has been integrated with their shadow plays directed by Kristy.
SAVE THE DATE FOR DRAMA
Mark your calendars! Our performing arts share is scheduled for Wed, March 28 between 8:40 & 11:00a.m. in Core 1. The children are engaged in planning, producing and performing shadow plays that they wish to perform for you.
WOODWORKING WISH
If your child hasn’t already brought home a woodworking masterpiece, prepare a space that will exhibit your child’s creativity and industry. Jackie’s woodworking patio is where it all happens. The small space houses a shed with saws, drills, hammers, clamps and other material that children use to create their masterpieces. The materials could be better protected and the space could be improved with a tent. Please contact Chrysta, Candis, or Graciela if you are interested
in donating a tent.
VOLUNTEERS NEEDED
The Partners and Mentors will have their vision and hearing screened on Thurs, February 23 at 10:45-11:30 (Partners) and 11:30-12:15 (Mentors). Bigs are not screened this year. Nurse Sandy has requested volunteers. Graciela and Chrysta will be at a district-wide reading training that day, so your extra help in Core 1 will be appreciated. Please let us know if you are available that day.
Thanks for making us feel so loved. We LOVED our valentines!
Candis, Chrysta, Graciela, Nadja, and Jackie
Candis: cberens@smmusd.org
Chrysta: cwyse@smmusd.org
Graciela: gbarba-castro@smmusd.org
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CORE 2 NEWS
PRESIDENTS’ DAY - MONDAY, FEBRUARY 20 - SCHOOL CLOSED
The Homework Half-sheet is back! Look for it in your Friday Folder today!
And don’t forget your pledge to RW and WW HW!
Advisory News: The Coolios (Laura’s Advisory) and the Mysterious Chubby Gummy Monkey Bears (Tamara’s Advisory) have been busy, busy, busy…We’ve gone on field trips to UCLA’s Royce Hall to see the Jubilee Singers, the Heal the Bay Aquarium to observe the sea life from our bay, and the STAR Ecostation to learn about illegal pets and animal products. We enjoyed a performance by a quintet from the Santa Monica Symphony. We also shared our wonderful trip to Camp Josepho with the community and celebrated the 100th Day of School and Valentine’s Day! Whether it’s winter blahs or spring fever, we’ve noticed that Core 2 is restless, talkative, and energetic. We’ve been discussing our roles as community members—how every individual is part of the group and how important it is to work together to balance our individual needs with the interests and goals of the classroom community.
Theme: In Theme we focus on nonfiction reading and writing in science, social studies, and geography. Laura has been working with the students on environmental resources and changes. The students will continue to “write to learn” by finding information in nonfiction texts, citing the resources, taking notes, and reporting the information in their own words. With Tamara, the students are starting Projects Groups about animals. Our trip to the STAR Ecostation sparked
our interests in wild, endangered, and extinct animals; domesticated animals; illegal and legal pets;poaching/smuggling/farming/pet “mills”; pet care/needs; animal rescue/adoption—just to name a few ideas!! The students will be choosing a topic to study, while learning how to use writing to communicate, persuade, educate, and entertain.
Literacy: In Readers Workshop, we are back reading our Just Right books, which could be a fiction or nonfiction book from home, from the media center, from the classroom library, from a bookstore or borrowed from a friend—as long as it is a book of high interest that your child can read and understand with minimal bumps (a few tricky words are always okay). It is our opinion that the Hunger Game series is not a JR Book for Core 2—the vocabulary, structure, and content are too complex for 3G & 4G. For RW HW, students may also read comics, blogs, magazines, and other reading materials. As readers, we are always thinking while we are reading—making connections, predicting, coming up with and adjusting our theories about characters, and noticing writer’s craft. Lately, we’ve been paying attention to how our authors show us what the characters are thinking/feeling through the things they say and do.
In Writing Workshop, we are wrapping up a realistic fiction unit. The students are finishing up their drafts, using peer-editors to help them add details, make sure their stories make sense, and show, not tell what their characters are thinking and feeling. Next week they will be editing their pieces and writing/publishing their final drafts. We look forward to sharing our stories with you sometime before Spring Break. Coming up, we will shift our focus to nonnarrative/ nonfiction essay writing. The students will build upon the non-narrative work they did earlier this year to learn how to create an outline, with a thesis idea and supporting sentences, to write a standard 5-paragraph essay.
Math: Laura’s 3rd graders are finishing up Collections and Travel Stories, the second addition and subtraction unit. Next is 2-D geometry and measurement. Tamara’s 4th Graders just finished Multiple Towers and Division Stories, our second multiplication and division unit, with an emphasis on division with remainders—we spent several weeks on this unit, and the kids learned a lot. Next up, 3-D geometry.
Wednesday Visual Arts with Julianna and Tamara is going well. The students continued their clay exploration with Julianna. Tamara’s students learned about positive and negative space during an observational drawing lesson.
CORRECT DATE--we will be sharing this work with you on Wed, March 28.
Have a happy 3-day weekend—enjoy a little extra family time!
Tamara, Laura, Jayme & Karin
Laura: lsherman@smmusd.org
Tamara: tmugalian@smmusd.org
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CORE 3 NEWS
PRESIDENTS’ DAY - MONDAY, FEBRUARY 20 - SCHOOL CLOSED
Please look for the DARE parent survey in your child's backpack and fill it out and return it on Tuesday! Surveys are an extra step to help organizations better their practice—so please take 2 minutes to answer the 6 short questions.
Field Trip to Santa Monica Daily Press! Blue-Advisory Tues Feb. 21!
Thanks, Lisa (Mika's mom) and Steve (Duncan's dad) for coming!
Thanks, Yvonne (Aurora's mom) for helping to herd Orange to 5th and Colorado! It was a great trip!
This is the collective letter Orange Advisory wrote:
Dear Ross, Ashley, and Daniel,
Thank you for showing us how things work around The Santa Monica Daily Press.
We appreciate how you helped us get ideas for our own newspaper stories. Ashley's advice was very helpful. We can consider walking around and observing people, getting phone calls, and going to meetings. We learned that you don't need a lot of people to create a really good paper. One specific thing that was interesting and helpful was when you told us about the four Estates (People, Government, Media, Business) and how they interact and are responsible to make sure everyone does a good job. We found the journalistic jargon like nut-graph very intriguing.
Some of us are planning to pursue careers in journalism and we love to hear more another time.
6th gr Math w/ Carrie: On Tuesday we took our assessment for Prime Time. On Thursday, we spent some time going over the problems we missed and thinking through how to solve them. We also played some math games to sharpen our skills. Next week we will start Prime Time 2! There is no homework this week.
5th gr Math w/ Genie: We've moved on to decimals and learning that zeros are important and place value is too! Please take time to look at values of change (all under $1.00) and determine which is more. We're getting confused by .6 and .06 and definitely .625. Who knew a penny can have a half value! Have you looked and signed your child's fractions assessment and reflection sheet? Ask them for it!
Science w/ Carrie: The Biome/Ecosystem projects have started! Everyone has a biome or ecosystem to investigate. The final project will have 4 major parts: a research paper, a Power Point, a visual (either a biome in a box, a biome scrapbook, or an ecology experiment), and a presentation on Thursday, March 29. All of the information for the project is on our Core 3 website - please check it to get more details. At this point, students should be conducting research and taking notes.
SS w/ Amanda: Core 3 has continued exploring Ancient Greece.
Art with Kristy: Save the Date! Our Improv Performance will be at Wits End on Lincoln Blvd. (a real comedy club) on Wednesday, March 28 at 1:00-2:00. (Thanks, Marni, for being so well connected!) It will be a busy week right before spring break so please mark your calendars so you can be a part of our audience!
SuperSMASH Core 3 Art Auction Piece: If you have any SMASH t-shirts you would like to donate for our Art Auction project, please start bringing them to Genie.
Homework:
6G Math: study for the unit assessment!
5G Math: No math homework!
Writing: Collect 3 entries in their notebook (3 full pages)—notebooks should be getting filled.
Reading: read every day for 30-40 minutes!
Enjoy the Three-Day Weekend!
Genie, Carrie, Amanda & Malaika
Genie: ghwang@smmusd.org
Carrie: cferguson@smmusd.org
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CORE 4 NEWS
PRESIDENTS’ DAY - MONDAY, FEBRUARY 20 - SCHOOL CLOSED
Dear Core 4 Families
Next Thursday Core 4 students will be taking a trip to the Skirball Center to experience an exhibit, "Women Hold up Half the Sky." We will then have an experience with Jewish World Watch having students participate in activities like carrying water, trying to cook with alternative fuel stoves and other daily activities of women in refugee camps.
We chose to engage in this program because it deals with our learning about human rights issues around the world. Students learn about others' lives, their circumstances of oppression and of opportunities, connect to their experience, and then feel like they can advocate for human rights at home and abroad. Some of the subject matter in this exhibit is quite intense. The program introduces students to the plight of women in poverty and rural areas. Three main areas of focus are women's health, especially maternity and infant mortality, about micro business creation to lift women out of poverty, and about human trafficking (modern day slavery) which includes brothels.
Ultimately it ties into our "Geography of Hope" unit and focuses on the inspiration that advocacy for increased opportunities brings communities by improving the lives of women. If you have concerns about the content of the exhibit please contact Bailey or Jessica.
Please explore these three websites for more information
www.skirball.org
www.halftheskymovement.org
www.girleffect.org
PLEASE contribute $5 by each student to cover the cost of the bus.
I look forward to holding rich discussions with your students about such topics as human rights, comparative world belief systems and working towards a more just world.
Bailey Field at baileyfield@mac.com
Seventh Grade News
This week in science we are doing the geography of hope. For this project we need to pick an animal, place, or habitat that we love and then make a presentation board about it. We are also learning how to organize the elements on the periodic table. We are preparing for a huge science test. From what all the seventh graders know, the test is going to be on the periodic table of elements and all the things we’ve learned from the past three weeks. In math we are working on finishing chapter 5. It is about ratios, proportions, similar figures, and scale models.
Written by Anthony Gutierrez
Eighth Grade News
This week in science, the eighth graders are studying the brain. Gabriel Schier is leading a dissection of a sheep brain. On Monday we had a practice dissection using oranges. We wore protective gear such as gloves and safety goggles. We used tools such as scissors, scalpels, and pokers. We are also learning the different parts of the brain, as well as their functions. We had a test last Wednesday.
In Algebra the eighth graders are studying exponents and polynomials. Exponents is a number to a certain power. For example 4 to the 3rd power is 64. It is not 4X3 but 4X4X4. We are also learning how to add, subtract, and multiply monomials and polynomials.
Written by Dylan Archer
Darwin Mendinueto dmendinueto@smmusd.org
Kurt Holland kholland@smmusd.org
