SPRING
CONFERENCES - May 9, 10 & 11 - MINIMUM DAY - 1:30 DISMISSAL
Please sign up in the SMASH office or call Wende or Janice at
310-396-2640 x 0
Children taking 3:00pm CREST classes must be supervised until class
begins.
Playground access is available for 1/2 hour for children in grades 1
& 2
(unless with a sibling grade 3 and
higher)
Playground access is available on May 9, 10 & 11 until 3:45 (unless
enrolled in a Crest class ending at 4:00)
*********************
Dear SMASHing Families,
As I overviewed last week, every year we
receive submissions from our SMASH alums now at Samohi seeking a $500 scholarship for college. The alums write
an essay about how they were influenced by their time at SMASH and submit some artistic/creative piece.
This week, I share an excerpt from May
Claire La Plante’s essay that shows the way her personal passion (in her case
it is music) has been nurtured throughout the
years and how her SMASH origins fueled her overall intrinsic motivation.
“…Choir and singing in general, is a vital
component of who I am now. I could hardly imagine what I would do without it, as making music is such a wonderful
and connecting process. My introduction to choir was in Kindergarten, when I
joined the ‘SMASH Holiday Singers.’ We had so much fun together, and I
discovered how much singing meant to me. Now as a future voice major, I cannot
give enough credit to the beginnings I had at SMASH. I have done a lot of
development and fine-tuning along the way, but I will never forget my first
exposure to choral performance that sparked my will to sing.
The philosophies presented at SMASH were
beneficial to my personality and work habits. Without having work be forced on
us, I discovered the values of my efforts and became more intrinsically
motivated as a result. SMASH’s relaxed environment facilitated the relationship
between teacher and student, and I felt that I had a team of mentors who were
there to provide a supportive and community-oriented structure. My time there
opened my eyes to a whole world of possibilities and creative ways of thinking,
and I could not wish for a better start to my education than what I received
at SMASH.”
What might your children say in the future
about how SMASH has shaped their lives?
Truly yours,
Jessica
*********************
SMASH RESTAURANT NIGHT - WEDNESDAY, MAY 9
- 5:00pm - 8:00pm
Flyer was sent home with students today
and in today’s electronic Friday Letter.
Flyer must be presented. Souplantation
will donate 15% of sales to SMASH.
Brentwood Souplantation, 11911 San Vicente
Blvd., 310-476-7080
*********************
DATES TO REMEMBER
Wed, May 9 - Fri, May 11 - MINUMUM DAYS
1:30 DISMISSAL- K-6 grade Spring Conferences
Wed, May 9 - 5:00-8:00pm - SMASH
Restaurant Night - Souplantation at 11911 San Vicente - must bring flyer
Mon, May 21 - 9:00am - SMASH School Tour
Wed, May 23 - 5-6pm - Site Council Mtg
Fri, May 25 - Deadline to turn in “Are you
returning to SMASH?” form
Mon, May 28 - Memorial Day - SCHOOL CLOSED
Wed, May 30 - 8:30am - PTSA Mtg
Thurs, May 31 - Final day for SMASH
applications for grades 1-8
Thurs, May31 - 6:00-9:00pm - Spring Music
Concert
*********************
IS YOUR
CHILD RETURNING TO SMASH NEXT YEAR?
We are in the process of making plans for
next year’s enrollment. It is important for us to know if you are planning on returning to
SMASH so that we can provide other children the opportunity to enroll.
If you are planning to attend another
school in the district, you must complete and submit an Intradistrict Open Enrollment Application
to the district’s Student Permit Office. Applications are available in the SMASH main office.
Please fill in this form and return to the
main office by May 21.
_____ YES, we will be returning
_____ NO, we will not be returning
If no, please let us know the reason and
where your child will be attending so that we can transfer school records. Thanks.
________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
________________________________________
Child’s Name
Current Grade __________
_______________________________________
Parent or Guardian Signature
*********************
GREASE!
Presented
by the Santa Monica-Malibu Ed Foundation & JAMS Theatre Company
John Adams
Auditorium at 2452 16th Street
Friday,
May 4 at 7pm
Saturday,
May 5 at 2:00pm and 7:00pm
Tickets:
$7 Adults and $5 Students
SMASH
performers
(Kate
Zemke, Zoe Camporaso, Hannah Nicholson, Nathan Meadows and Maya Reimer)
Are in
Friday night and Saturday 2pm performances
*********************
Wednesday, May 9
3rd SMASH/Muir
Bike/Walk It Day
Leave your car in the garage, in your driveway or on
the street,
and hop on your bike, the bus or your feet!
Bike it, bus it or walk it to school,
and everyone will know you’re cool.
Bring a lock!
Leave home early!
And dude, wear a helmet!
Questions? Contact Gabriel Schier
(Core 4) at gbsicebat@gmail.com or 310-779-3165
*********************
SMASH SITE COUNCIL BALLOT - MAY 2012
Vote
for One
Candidates:
_____
Molly Lague
One
vote per student.
Ballots
to be returned to the office no later than Thursday, May 10 at 4:00pm
*********************
ptsa
news
president’s message
Dear SMASHing Parents,
The clock is running on the countdown to SuperSMASH,
on May 19, 2012. We have 15 ays to pull it all together. SuperSMASH cannot
be successful without the volunteer efforts of the ntire SMASH community. Now
is the time for our SMASH family to step up and commit to make ure that this
most important fundraising event is a success. The Google Doc volunteer sign-up
heets are up and we need every parent to sign-up. SuperSMASH cannot
function without the articipation of our whole community pitching in with at
least two hours of work at one of the booths, ctivities, or helping with
set-up, clean-up and auctions or other areas that needs volunteers to
successfully run SuperSMASH.
If you haven’t already, start spreading the word. Games,
crafts, food and entertainment. And, please don’t forget to grab a lawn sign. Lawn signs
will be distributed next week to put up on Sunday May 13, 2012.
This year there will be an on-line auction along with the
silent and live auctions. But, we still need more auction donations because so
far we are running behind and have fewer donations for the silent auction than
last year. Please don’t let up on efforts to procure more auction donations.
Time is running short.
Please remember that SuperSMASH is our biggest fundraising
event of the year. The money raised from this event is very important to
sustain the programs, staff and other things, that we are fortunate to enjoy at
SMASH. Even though there will be changes to the fundraising by SMASH PTSA,
nothing will change for this and the 2012-2013 school year. Our SMASH community
must still keep up our effort and volunteer spirit to make sure that our SMASH
kids have a great education.
Dan McGee
GREEN TIP FOR THE WEEK
Could your sunscreen be more harmful than
helpful? Believe it or not,
some sunscreens formulated for babies/children are ranked highly unhealthful.
Visit ewg.org to explore databases on the safest sunscreens
and cosmetics, a shopper's guide to pesticides in produce, and a wealth of
environmental research information. Environmental Working Group
studies data and conducts their own laboratory tests to discover threats to
your health and the environment and to find solutions.
*********************
S_perSMASH needs U!
May 19…May
19…May 19…May 19…May 19…May 19… May 19…May 19…May 19…May 19…May 19…May 19…
We need…
…more volunteers
Contact
Helga at helgaschier@verizon.net
or sign up online
(check
your e-mail in-box for the links)
…more donations for our Silent Auction.
Google
Santa Monica Alternative Schoolhouse Auction and start bidding!
(or check
your e-mail inbox for the link)
…people to distribute our posters.
Go pick up
a few from the office and post them around town.
…people to bake a cake for our cakewalk.
E-mail
Yvonne at paradisekid@verizon.net
…canopies and coolers and a grill or two.
E-mail
Jessica at jrishe@smmusd.org
Help!
We can’t do it without you!
May 19…May
19…May 19…May 19…May 19…May 19… May 19…May 19…May 19…May 19…May 19…May 19…
SuperSMASH is only 2 weeks away
SPREAD THE WORD!
Send postcards to family, friends, neighbors and
co-workers!
Pass them out at baseball,
softball, soccer, basketball, ballet and music class!
Take posters to your favorite grocery stores,
boutiques, restaurants, coffee shops and ask
them to display one in the
window.
Pick up a lawn sign
and put it in your front lawn to
alert your neighbors.
Postcards and posters are
available in the office.
Lawn signs are available in the
office and at drop-off starting 5/14.
Lawn signs must be returned to
Dan McGee after use.
*********************
CORE
1 NEWS
SPRING CONFERENCES
If you have not had a
chance to do so, we invite all Core 1 Parents to
sign up for a conference
with their child’s Workshop Teacher
(Candis-Partners, Chrysta-Bigs,
Graciela-Mentors).
The conference sign-ups are
in the office with Janice. The conferences will be for parents and teachers
only.
Each conference will last
20 minutes, so we as that you help us prepare for each conference by completing
the
Spring Conference
Questionnaire and returning it to your child’s Workshop Teacher as soon as
possible.
Spring Conferences will be
Wednesday, May 9th through Friday, May 11th starting at 1:30.
Jackie
will be supervising the small yard until 4pm for Core 1 students during their
conference time.
Keep in mind that your
child will be dismissed early all three days and that you will need to make childcare
arrangements for those three days.
TRIP TO THE FARMER’S
MARKET
Partners will be going to
the Farmers Market on May 16th.
Please let Candis know if you
are available to chaperone. Please make sure you have in your trip slip.
UPCOMING FIELD TRIPS
Please check your Friday
Letter, this week and next, for upcoming field trip slips.
We will be attending Ocean
View Farms Community Garden
The Bigs will go on the 18th, The
Mentors will go on the 21st and the Partners will go on the 22nd.
We will be taking the Big
Blue Bus for both trips.
http://www.oceanviewfarms.net/
and Morgan Wixson Theater
for How I Became a Pirate on May 24
http://morgan-wixson.org/
The Morgan Wixson field
trip slip will go out NEXT week
MAGNET STUDY
A group of children have
become invested in a magnet study, which has been offered as a “Choice
Project.”
The children have been
interested in having MORE magnets to explore with.
We would love magnets of
any size and shape to continue our study.
************************************************************************
Wishlist: Magnets of all shapes and sizes, Method anti-bacterial
spray and wipes.
Have a GREAT weekend!
Candis, Chrysta, Graciela,
Jackie, and Nadja
Candis: cberens@smmusd.org
Chrysta: cwyse@smmusd.org
Graciela: gbarba-castro@smmusd.org
*********************
CORE
2 NEWS
Spring Family Conferences start next week.
*Please note: Wednesday, 5/9 and Thursday, 5/10 are 1:30 dismissal days* Laura will be doing conferences before and after school
Wednesday, May 9 – Friday, May 11. Tamara is available for conferences before
and after school (and even during lunch!) from Wednesday, May 9 – Tuesday, May
15. Please sign up in the front office. As you know, your child is an integral
part of our student-led conferences, so be sure to set aside this time to give
your Core 2 student your undivided attention (turn off cell phones, come rested
and snacked-up, and make arrangements for siblings, if possible)
Laura, Tamara, and the Core 2 students
have decided to share aspects of their SMASH education that are not on the written narrative report cards for
this round of conferences. At
SMASH, we strive to give the students choice and voice in their education,
whether it’s choosing their own Just Right books to read, authoring
free-writing pieces with friends, or voting for the group name. We also hope to
develop curiosity, intrinsic motivation, and the habits of life-long learners.
We do a lot of this important work outside of Reading, Writing, and Math
Workshops.
For this round of conferences, we will be
sharing Theme and Projects. This will give the students an opportunity to show you how they
use non-narrative/nonfiction reading, writing, and vocabulary skills to explore
science ideas, develop questions about history and current
events, gather resources and take notes for independent research projects, and organize
information to share it with others. We will also discuss how they use CARES
during all parts of their day in Core 2.
Reading, Writing, and Math are the
building blocks of elementary education, which is why our written reports focus
on those three areas. You
will be receiving the second written narrative evaluation of your child’s
strengths, challenges, and improvements (yes, “one to glow on, one to
grow on, and on to go on”) in reading, writing, and mathematics in June.
Highlights
of Research on Student-Led Conferences
Student-led conferences are emerging as a
way to actively engage students in their learning process, wrote Donald G. Hackmann, assistant professor of
educational leadership and policy studies at Iowa State University in an ERIC
Digest, “Student-Led Conferences at the Middle
Level.” Following are some of the benefits of student-led conferences listed in Hackmann’s article:
* Students assume greater control of their
academic progress.
* Students accept personal responsibility
for their academic performance.
* Parents, teachers, and students engage
in open and honest dialogue.
* Parents attend conferences at increased
rates.
* Students learn the process of
self-evaluation.
* Students develop organizational and oral
communication skills.
For more on student-led conferences, see
the article with this week’s Friday papers. We look forward to making the most of our student-led conferences by
sharing our questions, “ahas,” and personal passions with you next week!
Laura: lsherman@smmusd.org
Jayme: j.wold@smmusd.org
Tamara: tmugalian@smmusd.org
*********************
CORE
3 NEWS
~Please fill in the overnight field trip
slip by Friday, May 11th!
~SPRING
FAMILY CONFERENCES THIS WEEK! With SuperSMASH and the end-of-the-year packed schedule, it will be challenging to fit in a conference
in the following weeks. Please honor the scheduled time for conferences if you are planning on having one. Sign up in the office with ONE teacher.
~Thanks to our chaperones for allowing us
to take the field trip to the Broad! The Broad Theater's show of the National Geographic Photographer was
interesting and enlightening and visually amazing!
~Comedy & Improv DVD is now available
in class for a $15 donation!
6th gr
Math w/ Carrie: We
finally got to get back into our fraction/decimal/percent work and we found
that...we forgot how to do a lot of it! So… we spent some
time this week working in groups to remember the skills we learned prior to State testing. Next week we will delve
further into more complicated decimal work.
6th gr
Math w/ Erin: This week
we had fewer math periods due to the field trip. We continued our study of area
and perimeter while designing our floor plans.
5th gr
Math w/ Genie: We took
our final Growth Patterns Assessment and began our 2nd multiplication/ division unit. We will be exploring different strategies
like doubling/halving, tripling/thirding, along with the US multiplication and division algorithms. Ask your child about
the old Russian Peasant Algorithm.
Science w/ Carrie: Our investigation of sources of energy
continued this week. We are looking at different sources to find out as much as we can. A few tips for
doing online research are: use the key words "energy sources kids" in
a search engine and you will get age appropriate material, go to smilenet.smmusd.org and go to SIRS research (the username is
SMMUSDE and the password is LIBRARY). There are great articles at age
appropriate reading levels. We also did a hands-on investigation to find
conductors and insulators. Ask your child what they found out during their testing.
SS w/ Erin: On Monday we reflected on the 20 year
anniversary of the L.A. riots/civil unrest. Students watched a short video clip from the LA Times website and
we discussed the saying, "It was the straw that broke the camel's
back." What conditions were people living in that
caused them to finally snap? What was life like for Angelenos in different
areas that day. On Wednesday students began research on their Ancient Egypt
group projects. Next week we will continue in the research stage and then
perhaps move on to working on our poster boards or dioramas. I will be
providing the poster board and markers. Students should bring to school any
other materials they need for their project by next Friday, 5/11.
RW/WW w/ Genie: Our Poetry Publishing Celebration will be
on Monday, 5/7, 11:30-12:25 for Blue and 2:00-3:00 for Orange. Please join us
to see the amazing visual art and poetry your child has been working on! If you
can't make it to the celebration, your child will share their work during the
Family Conference next week.
Homework:
6G
Math: Decimal preview due
Tuesday. This is a start to what we will be going into greater depth with. If
students do not know how to do everything, that's
okay, we will be learning it. This just gives me an idea of where they are.
5G
Math: Packet #29 due
Friday, 5/11.
SS: Please bring all materials that you need
for you Ancient Egypt project by Friday, May 11th.
Writing: Finish Poetry project and think about
what you want your independent writing project to be.
Reading: read every day for 30-40 minutes!
Kaiden is collecting the rings that you
pop off of your milk and juice cartons when you first open them for a project
she is working on. Please save them and bring
them to Core 3! A great reusing of a trash item!
Genie: ghwang@smmusd.org
Carrie: cferguson@smmusd.org
Erin: ehaendel@smmusd.org
THE
WHOLE CHILD INITIATIVE
Come, listen, and talk with your school principals and counselors at a
lively forum about the middle school.
Principals:
Jessica Rishe, Dr. Mark Kelly, Eva Mayoral, Suzanne Webb
Counselors:
Laura Check, Liz Cowgill, Katie Dehope, Stacy LaDuke, Aimee Stauffer
Saturday,
May 19 - 9:00am-11:30am Lincoln Middle School Cafeteria (1501 California Ave)
Why your
middle school child is supposed to make you crazy. What’s the one thing you would change about
our middle school?
Safe,
Healthy, Engaged, Supported, Challenged
***************
CORE
4 NEWS
THE
WHOLE CHILD INITIATIVE
COME,
LISTEN, AND TALK WITH YOUR SCHOOL PRINCIPALS AND COUNSELORS AT A LIVELY FORUM
ABOUT THE MIDDLE SCHOOL EXPERIENCE
Principals:
Jessica Rishe, Dr. Mark Kelly, Eva Mayoral, Suzanne Webb
Counselors:
Laura Check, Liz Cowgill, Katie Dehope, Stacy LaDuke, Aimee Stauffer
Saturday,
May 19 - 9:00am-11:30am - Lincoln Middle School Cafeteria (1501 California Ave)
Why your middle
school child is supposed to make you crazy.
What’s the
one thing you would change about our middle school?
Safe,
Healthy, Engaged, Supported, Challenged
ALL
INCOMING 9TH GRADE SOCCER PLAYERS
Tryouts
for Samohi soccer program will be held the last week of June
Boys
Soccer tryouts will be June 26, 27 & 28 from 3:00-5:00pm at Samohi athletic
field
Girls
Soccer tryouts will be June 26, 27 & 28 from 1:30-3:30pm at Samohi athletic
field
In order
to be allowed to tryout, students must complete a medical release form and have
it signed by a physician clearing
them to participate and complete an emergency information card. These forms are
in the SMASH office. For
information go to www.samohisoccer.com.
Questions should be directed to the
varsity coaches:
Boys: Serafin Rodriguez at
griswlds4@roadrunner.com; Girls: Jimmy Chapman at chapmanjmc@yahoo.com
Dear
7th Grade Parents,
Please
note: 7th graders have two field trips next week related to exploring human
impacts in estuaries.
One is on May
9 from 08:30 to Mother's Beach in Marina Del Rey.
The second
is on Friday May 11 from 08:30-13:30 to Ballona Wetlands.
The
permission slip went home so if you missed the 5/4 return date, please sign and return it on Monday.
Thank
you.—Kurt
Dear Core 4 Families,
I want to give a shout out to Lisa,
Mariam, Kathleen and Helga for coming with Core 4 to the Museum of
Tolerance. The field trips this winter and
spring have centered on weighty content. The issues of human rights violations, historically and currently, are so difficult
to stomach. Yet, the hope we feel when we learn of real acts of compassion, rescue, resistance and heroes
inspires us to be our best selves.
Today at The Museum of Tolerance kids were
exposed to the Civil Rights Movement, LA Riots in its 20 year
anniversary, the Rwandan Genocide briefly,
and The Holocaust. This coupled with the exhibit "Women Hold up Half the Sky", at the Skirball Center in
February, give us ample material to launch into a year end Global Summit.
I encourage all of you to discuss the
experiences your kids have had on these trips and ask them questions.
Today’s trip was particularly intense, and
I have no doubt that talking with them and helping them unpack the day will be rich and rewarding. Also please look in
news for current events that highlight courageous and compassionate acts as well as the serious, more inhumane issues
going on in our community and around the globe. Kurt coined the unit "The Geography of Hope." This applies to
environmental action and human rights/social justice work and is oriented
around the positive and the never ending
indications of our humanity as opposed to the atrocities ignited by fear and
hatred.
In our Global Summit, students have
selected a country to be a delegate of, and they will work in small groups
to focus on a global issue. I want this
end-of-year focus to motivate us to be world citizens, not paralyzed by the
scope
of problems. Your involvement is key in
helping the younger minds and hearts grapple with the material.
Please feel free to contact me with ideas
for speakers, resources and questions. Your teens are truly amazing
kids. The staff at the museum complimented
them on their hearts and minds. Thank you for letting us tackle such real issues in school.
Warmly,
Bailey
P.S. A SHORT Holocaust reading/viewing list if kids are
interested: Number the Stars, Lois Lowrey
The Diary of Ann Frank; Schindler’s List
8th grade art project reminder: If you
would like to suggest a music lyric or quote for the art project, be sure to bring it to school by this Monday, May
7.
