TLC Newsletter - Week of September 2nd 2013

Charter Chatter

A weekly newsletter written to parents of the Tracy Learning Center

                 

Sept. 6, 2013                                                                                           Vol. 13 No. 5

Virginia Stewart

I never realized how many people read the Police Blotter in the Tracy Press until this week when several people brought to my attention a call made by a parent regarding Millennium High School. 

1:16 pm: a man reported that a student at Millennium High School, 51 E. Beverly Place, inappropriately touched the man’s 11-year-old son.  He said it occurred twice during school last year, and the school district has failed to take action.

The paragraph had several things wrong.  

The two students mentioned were both in Discovery fifth and sixth grade.  No high school student was involved.  The charter is independent of the district.  The district is not responsible for decisions made at our school.  I am, as the CEO of the three schools.  I am supervised by the Tracy Learning Center Board of Directors.  Despite, the comment, the issue was handled and dealt with at my level.  I did what I thought was right.  Sometimes parents are not satisfied with what was done, but that does not mean it was not handled.

The police were in fact called, and a police officer did come to the office to ask about the situation and was satisfied with the way it was handled.   Too bad the blotter does not state the outcome of calls made.

Misc. Announcements

Visitors

All visitors coming on the school grounds must be signed in and signed out at the office and must wear a school lanyard (new) during his/her visit.

Dismissal Time Change for Homecoming Friday, Sept. 27^th only

Please note students will be dismissed early for our Homecoming Parade on Friday, Sept. 27, 2013

PCS – 2:30pm (Snack Club will be open but Study Club is canceled)

DCS, PHSA and MHS – 3:00pm

(MHS Students who are on the list for participating at all Float Building events will be dismissed at 12noon)

Pick up and Drop Off

Unfortunately, we have had numerous complaints from our neighbors about our parents parking in their driveways. These neighbors are very frustrated and are ready to call the police. Remember you would not want someone blocking your driveway so please be considerate and park legally and responsively.

ELAC

We are doing our second annual ELAC committee on Friday, September 6^th.  We will meet in the front office. Any parent who would like to share an opinion regarding English language learners is invited.  We will meet five times a year.  We will focus on discussing what resources are available and how to further support EL students.  Your input is greatly appreciated.  If you have further questions, please contact Rosario De La Torre at rdelatorre@tracylc.net.

El Segundo comité anual se llevará acabo el viernes, 6 de septiembre.  La junta tomará lugar en la oficina principal de la escuela.  Cualquier padre que esté interesado en compartir su opinión sobre los alumnos aprendices del inglés (English learners) es bienvenido.   El comité consiste de cinco juntas por año en donde se discutirán los recursos disponibles de la escuela y cómo ayudar mejor a cada uno de nuestros alumnos aprendices del inglés (English learners).  Si tienen preguntas, por favor de contactar a Rosario De La Torre al correo electrónico rdelatorre@tracylc.net.

Next Parent Council Meeting

Thursday, Sept. 19 4:15 in P5

                                                                           

PCS/DCS Lunch Menu Week  Sept. 9-13 Mon. –   Pizza Tues. – Chicken Corn Dog Wed  – Spaghetti Thurs. – Grilled Cheese Fri. –  Hamburger

Primary Charter

Gold PCS

Sapphire PCS

We have had a wonderful but short week in the SAPPHIRE SCHOOL.

The Sapphire School picked their first Sapphire Students of the month on Tuesday; these students were John Mendez, Komal Khehra, and Cassie Lovell.  These students were picked by their teachers for their outstanding accomplishments in all areas of our school wide objectives (SWO’s) and they received certificates and gift cards.  Look for their picture to be displayed at the school site. Great Job!!!  

Room 1 had an amazing week! The students earned their first Sapphire Award of the year for PE! That means that they showed Respect and Responsibility as they learned and played. They received a plaque to hang in the classroom.  Great Job!   Cassie Lovell was chosen to be the first Student of the Month in Room 1! That means that she has demonstrated what it means to be a Polite Citizen, a Productive Worker, a Positive Cooperator, and a Proud Individual, as well as doing an awesome job in class.  Congratulations Cassie!!  Enjoy your Certificate and Gift Card! During science the students have been sharing their Season Dolls. They are very cute and creative! They also learned about what a meteorologist is and what they do. What a fun and exciting week!

Room 6 students earned their first “movie party” on Wednesday.  We were happy that they earned their first party so early in the year…they have been working really hard!!! Please continue to inquire about your child’s AR goal progress and how they are doing towards meeting their goal.  This week we are learning all about birds in Science and the students really love sharing what they know about birds.  The students are continuing to learn about writing interesting topic sentences during writing and they are busy adding, subtracting, and multiplying in Math.  We also WON Spirit(our school mascot) to keep in our room this month; having Spirit shows just how much sapphire spirit we had and how many students participated in wearing Sapphire blue on Fridays.

Room 5 has been reviewing rounding and estimating products. We have been rounding numbers from word problems and creating estimated expressions. We are learning that sometimes we are not asked for an answer to a math problem, but asked to show the next step.  We have learned that the word ‘about’ in a word problem means we are being asked to estimate or round. Your student may say that they know how to round. That’s great, but have them practice in real life. There are many situations when we need to round numbers. If you find yourself in a store with your child, ask them to round numbers for you to the nearest whole number.    

Did you know that Study club is every day of the week, except Wednesday; this is a great place for your child to come and get homework completed with a teachers help.

Parent Help Needed:

Construction workers, float decorators and shoppers….

Homecoming is getting closer and the parade is happening on Friday September 27.  Teachers on the Sapphire side are busy planning our float for the parade and we are in need of both supplies and parent help in completing the float.  We need the following supplies:  sapphire blue feather boas, cotton batting, chicken wire, rope and spray paint.  We need the following colors of paint….   silver, white, sapphire blue and black.  We are also in need of glitter to make our float shimmer.  We would truly appreciate getting any supplies that you can help us with by September 11.  If you are able to help us in putting the float together we would also be most appreciative and will be doing that on Wednesday September 18 and September 25 right after school.  If you have any questions about needed supplies or helping us out please ask your child’s teachers.  

Please look for information on student leadership club coming home this week in your child’s folder.

PCS ART

This week in Art, the K/1’s completed their “City at Night” artworks.  They look amazing!  The 2/3’s began a unit on another Element of Art – Shape.  They learned about geometric and organic shapes and then began an organic leaf design. The 4^thgrade Multicultural art classes continued on their travels around the world to Panama, where they learned about the Kuna Indians and their Mola Art.

Parents of K/1 – we will be painting next week.  If you haven’t sent in a painting shirt for your child yet, please do so by Monday.

PCS PE

For the month of August P7 earned the "GOLDEN SHOE AWARD" and P1 earned the "SPARKLING SAPPHIRE AWARD" for going above and beyond in PE demonstrating Respect and Responsibility. 

The following students earned shoe tokens this week for going above and beyond demonstrating Respect and Responsibility during PE: Connor Ardenyi, Ryan Maita, and Mina Shookor,

DCS 5^th/6^th

5^th/6^th

What a wonderful feeling to be entering the second month of school seeing kids adjusting so well to new routines! DCS students have learned a Unity cheer that may prove to be a new tradition for our school.

Science Olympiad:

Science Olympiad applications were distributed to students who showed an interest in competing. Science Olympiad is an exciting challenge that allows kids to demonstrate their enthusiasm for learning about science and exploring engineering principles.

Student Store Reminder:

Our student store could use some pizazz. If you would like to donate merchandise for students to exchange for Discovery Dollars please contact Mrs. Beckner. Leadership students will handle the rest!

Message from Ms. Rodieck:

Ms. Rodieck will be on campus but out of the classroom next week, so there will be no Language Arts homework on the Gold Side. It is good time to work on the book report that is due Monday, September 16th.  Reading Logs will still be checked for Reading Comp.

PHSA 7^th and 8^th

School Wide Outcomes have always been an important part of our curriculum but we now use the SWO projects to reinforce and expand on the most important skills students need to learn today.  As PHSA continues work work through the first component of the SWO project.  We have the guidelines posted on the calendar but we understand there may still be questions.  Next week will be getting more information out to students and parents as well as providing a forum for which you can discuss the project.  The SWO project are a great learning tool and we want students to have fun.

1) Please make sure students have all of the needed supplies for class.  Being prepared is the first step to a successful, productive day.

2) Preparation for the homecoming parade continue; we are always looking for any ideas or materials parents might be able to help with.  Please contact Mr. Mitri and smitri@tracylc.net if you are able to help out.

3) The school website has been updated and is up and running! You can access all kinds of valuable information from teacher contacts, student grades, homework assignments, and calendar events! Go to www.tracylc.net and follow the link on the left hand column to PHSA gold or garnet.  GO TIGERS!

4) It is Science Olympiad time again!  Wednesday evening was an informational meeting for 5/6 and 7/8.  Applications for anyone who is interested in joining our team are due to Ms. Pelaez or Ms. Powers by Friday September 20th, 2013.  If you have any questions please email our Science Fair Team Leaders at: karenlynn79@gmail.com orwsnell@tracylc.net  

The team will be run an after school/at home with parents and Science Olympiad teachers assisting.  There will be some time during school but we want anyone interested to come to the meeting - you will not be excluded if you are already in band or academic pentathlon.

		MHS

Thank you to the wonderful visitors we had this week in our Career Education classes: Sergeant  Arturo G Alcantar- National Guard, and Michael Oliveri- City of Tracy Fire Department.

Community Service

The Tracy Bean Festival is this Saturday and Sunday, September 7 & 8^th. The Bean Festival consists of many opportunities from working booths, directing traffic, bean run, and dressing up as a mascot. If you are interested please go to the City of Tracy Chambers booth at 10^th & central and ask Alyssa for opportunities. This will be a great opportunity for freshmen and sophomores to earn 10 hours before September 30^th.   

College Info

Still accepting registrations!!!  September 11^th and 12^th – 3:00pm – 5:30pm

SAT/PSAT Prep classes through the ZAPS Learning Company is back by popular demand.

Signups are now available at www.zaps.com  - Cost is $99 for the two day preparation workshop which includes test prep materials. 

Upcoming Events

The 11^th Annual UC Davis Pre-Medical and Pre-Health Profession Conference will be held Saturday and Sunday October 12 &13. The event will take place in the Pavilion at UC Davis from 8-6pm. This is a great way for students who have an interest in the medical field to learn more about their choice of profession. It features dean and admissions from over 225 health-professions schools. The UC Davis Conference has been sold out the last 10 years, so please register early. 

For registration and more information, please visit us online at: ucdprehealth.org.

 

September has quickly approached and we’re in full swing at MHS! Remember that we are here to help. If any parent or student needs assistance, please do not hesitate to contact our teaching staff. Our goal is to ensure that every student succeeds. After all, we are “Inspiring” success.

Upcoming Events

Football Game: Saturday at 1pm, Johnson High School (Sacramento, CA)

Soccer: Saturday Tournament (Manteca, CA)

Volleyball: Monday, September 9^th at 7pm, Turlock Christian (Turlock, CA)

Ping Pong Nest Competition: Tuesday, September 10th-Thursday, September 12^th (lunch)

Homecoming Events

·         Powder Puff Practice and Game: Monday, September 16^th-Tuesday, September, 20^th

·         Powder Puff Game: Wednesday, September 25th. 6pm-7pm. (MHS Soccer Field) $5 adults, $3 children and students with ID card

·         Rally: Thursday, September 26^th

·         Homecoming Parade: 4pm (Downtown Tracy)

·         Homecoming Dance: September 27th @ 7:00pm- 10pm ($25 single, $40 guest)

Saturday School Information

Many of you have asked about how Saturday School works. Please click on our Unity link to get more information.

http://youtu.be/LG9jV0GLlow

Nest Points (positive and negative) will be available to view online on www.tracylc.net within the next week.  It is important that you are familiar with the student ID number, because that is how nest points will be posted.