Pacifica Wednesday Weekly

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May 3, 2006

Important Calendar Dates

If you have items to add to the calendar, please e-mail the date and time along with a description to calendar@pacificaschool.org

FREE THANK YOU BBQ THIS SATURDAY - YOU'RE INVITED

Beautiful El Marino Park in Culver City, located near Jefferson and Sawtelle, is the location for the free lunch Thank You BBQ offered to Pacifica parents and families, teachers and supporters, this coming Saturday, May 6th.

A delicious hot BBQ lunch will be offered at this special event, hosted by the Parent Participation and Fundraising Committees, as a way of saying THANKS for all you've done for Pacifica this past 05-06 season. Bring a blanket, chairs and a ball if you want, and come get your just rewards (of course the real reward is the steady progress and continued success of the community we're building TOGETHER). Noon to 2:00pm.

Directions will be provided by week's end - SEE YOU SATURDAY AT EL MARINO PARK!

Call Kellie for Details 310/313-4985

SPRING FESTIVAL RIGHT AROUND THE CORNER

SATURDAY MAY 20, 11 am - 3 pm!
Have you signed up to sell raffle tickets, help set up, operate a booth, perform with your band, or clean up? This is a really fun event, folks, so please sign up soon!

CLASSES ORGANIZE BASKETS FOR SPRING FESTIVAL RAFFLE
Each class is picking a theme and we are requesting each student to bring in one theme item from home, to create a series of baskets that will be raffled off at the Spring Festival.  Please check with your teacher or the fundraising team if you have any questions.

SILENT AUCTION ITEMS REQUESTED!
Please bring in your silent auction items, in the form of products or services that businesses you know are willing to donate. Donors will be acknowledged in writing, and in the program, to over three hundred people - it's a great way to advertise, so don't hesitate to ask the vendors you deal with every day (cleaners, vet, grocery store, hair dresser, masseuse, piano teacher, record store, restaurant ...  who else?)!

SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITIES AVAILABLE FOR SPRING FESTIVAL
The annual Spring Festival, "Taste of Pacifica," will be held at school on Saturday, May 20, 2006 from 11:00am to 3:00pm.  The Festival Committee wants you to know we have a limited number of valuable sponsorship opportunities available for community groups, families and businesses.

How does sponsorship work?  A business, community or family group agrees to donate an fixed sum (between $100 and $250) and in return, will be promoted at the Spring Fair with prominent signage, program listing, and announcements from stage. 

The Festival is expected to draw between two and three hundred people from around the community - so this is a great chance for area businesses, community groups and families to show support for Pacifica!

SEEKING SPONSORS TO UNDERWRITE:

• PACIFICA PREMIUM STAGE … $250.00
• FUN TIME 3 IN 1 BOUNCIE … $250.00
• ADVENTURE CLIMBER BOUNCIE ... $250.00
• OLD FASHIONED DUNK TANK … $250.00
• FESTIVAL FOOD BOOTH … $200.00 (10 AVAILABLE)
• POPCORN OR SNOWCONE MACHINE … $150.00
• CARNIVAL GAME BOOTH … $100.00

Forms are available, please contact Fundraising@pacificaschool.org or pick up a form in the front hall way.  Thanks for your support!

Policy Development

The following has been adopted by the Organization Council as the method of creating new policies or modifying existing policies.

Who?

• Any Pacifica Community Charter School community member
• Council members or Administrators, at the request of the Organization Council

What?

• Create new or modify existing policies

When?

• Can begin anytime, allowing for adequate processing and discussion time

Where?

• Information will be communicated via the Pacifica e-mail loop, the Wednesday Weekly and appropriate committees and councils

How?

• Idea

  • Upon identifying a potential issue, any individual Pacifica community member may explore the possibility of developing a policy to address a perceived need.

  • Upon identifying a potential issue, the Organization Council may request a committee/council or administrator to explore the possibility of developing a policy to address a perceived need.

• Input

  • The first level of input is with the Organization Council Chair and the Director

    • to ensure developer understands the process

    • to ensure that the developer understands the parameters around the issue at hand (current policy, legal/charter implications, etc.)

  • The Developer presents the topic/question/concern as a topic of conversation, not a policy.

  • The topic is distributed to the following groups for discussion (each group will facilitate the conversation at it’s next meeting, within 2 weeks)

    • classrooms

    • student council

    • teacher council

    • parent council

    • any related committee

    • in writing via the Wednesday Weekly and the Pacifica email Loop

  • The above groups will give feedback to the developer, representative of the discussions held

• Consensus

  • The developer will schedule and moderate an open community discussion with the goal of incorporating the input from the discussion groups into a recommended policy (through consensus-building)

• Council

  • The developer will present the policy recommendation to the Organization Council

  • The developer will distribute the policy recommendation to the Pacifica community via signs, email, and written notification at least 72 hours prior to the Organization Council meeting

  • The Organization Council chair will include the text of the policy recommendation in the Meeting Agenda posting.

Why?

• Maximize the democratic style input into the running of the school.
• We want everyone to have a voice.
• Consensus builds buy-in.

NEW Policies:

Movie Policy

We support the use of movies and video sources as curriculum. They are a valuable part of a rich education diet, particularly valuable to visual learners. They may be used to provide content knowledge, stimulate discussion, generate ideas/theories, etc.

• Use of movies and videos will follow these guidelines:

• Parents will be notified of the planned viewing a week in advance

o        Title

o        Content

o        Rating

o        Purpose

• Parents will return a form indicating that their child may/may not view the film at least one day before the viewing.

• Students who do not have permission to view the film will have an alternate, equivalent assignment and go to another room during the film.

• No R-rated movies will be shown at any time.

• Age guidelines (ratings) will be followed when choosing films for use in the classroom.

• All films shown will be viewed in advance by the teacher showing them.

• Attention will be paid to supporting our philosophy, including but not limited to, non-violence, anti-commercialism and social justice.

Pacifica Natural Spaces Policy

All natural spaces shall serve the educational needs of the teachers and students (for students to experience and interact with plants and insects, and learn about the process of growing and the interconnections of nature and other curriculum areas).  The plan for the natural spaces will be developed by the teachers and students, with the support of the site committee.  All parents who have ideas for the natural spaces or wish to make any changes in them (including than watering, weeding and trimming), including adding plants, will get those changes cleared with the site committee coordinator. 

STAFF APPRECIATION DAY, TUESDAY, MAY 9th
Please take this opportunity to express your gratitude and appreciation for Pacifica staff members. Remember to bring food (salad, main or side dish, fruit, dessert), drinks (fruit juice or water), flowers, your children's craft, picture, poem, or thank you card, and leave them in the staff lounge by noon on May 9th.

If you have any question or would like to help with this program, please contact Milena Seyed at peysar@sbcglobal.net or call (310) 216-9347 

CST and CAT/6 Testing

All students in grades 2 through 8 will be participating in the CST and CAT/6 testing. Our testing window is May 8 – May 19. The chart below shows which tests will be administered for each grade:

Regular testing sessions will begin at 10am each day. Make up testing (due to absence) may happen at any time. Friday, May 19 will be the last day of make up testing. The testing calendar is attached at the end of the Wednesday Weekly. 

It is important that students arrive well-rested and well-nourished every day, but it is especially true during the testing period.

Each class is preparing for testing, both logistically and emotionally. Please support your child if they feel a need to discuss/process their testing experience and remain in touch with your child’s teacher about anything that comes up. Many students are looking forward to the testing, however, some may experience anxiety, confusion, or other types of upset. If you have any questions or concerns about your child’s testing experience, please speak with his/her teacher or Janette. 

Parents/guardians may exempt students from participating in the exam by sending a letter to the office that contains the student’ s full name, grade, teacher, statement of exemption, and parent/guardian full name and signature. The letter is effective when received in the office. Please know that if we don’t have 95% of each grade level testing, we will run into difficulties maintaining our charter, as testing is the primary means used by the district to assess our performance as a school.

Classroom Updates

FIRE BREATHING PHOENIXES’ K/1 CLASS NEWS

Our most recent fieldtrip to the Science Center to see the special exhibit on superheroes was a great experience. The hour we spent in the room housing the exhibit was dedicated to our Pacifica group. We could explore freely with the 2/3 and 5/6 groups. The children of all ages enjoyed the hands on approach to learning. One of the favorites allowed children to lift a lever that lifted a car. A dedicated room for screaming was especially practical for showing children how their sound is registered and built upon with increased duration. All this screaming was not without purpose because it seems for this exhibit screaming is enough to explode an evil foe. What a thrill for a child to use the power in their voice for a Herculean task. We even saw an elephant’s heart and watched a short film of Stan Lee talking about his work. = Of course the IMAX Into the Deep movie was a treat too!  Beautiful images of jellyfish and coral interspersed with the more perverse behaviors of eels and squids made each moment of the movie an experience. Special note was made of how cleaning stations are set up in the ocean. The children liked watching the smaller fish helping the larger ones. An extra special thanks to all field trip drivers and chaperones! You helped to make the day a success!!!

The children have been learning a new poem for Spring! Help your child with their literacy skills and start them off on this lovely verse. Ask them questions about it, how can they add to it, change it or illustrate it?

Fly sweet butterfly

close to me 

Your beautiful wings

I like to see

You fly like a bird

and you sip like a bee

but you’re really

a flower the wind swept free

Our other caterpillar verse has the children taking turns in emerging out of their own chrysalis’ (they are wrapped in a rainbow silk). While the transformation takes place the rest of us create sound effects with our musical instruments to match the feeling in the poem.

We see much emerging at this time of year; butterflies, flowers and readers! Yes, there are many readers trying on their new wings and it is very exciting for everyone. The children began new reading skills work books. Many children are able to work independently while still offering help to each other from time to time. There is a lot of independent work and child led activities happening right now and so there is a nice flow and busy hum in our class. 

The discussions about the festival, “A Taste of Pacifica”, have begun in class. Our class is in the process of picking out a theme for the basket. Since the festival date is quickly approaching speedy participation in bringing in your contributions will be critical to having the class basket ready and beautiful. These baskets are made from each family’s contribution around a theme and are sold at the event to raise money for Pacifica. As we choose a theme as a class the children are learning a lot about grouping ideas and concepts and other important language arts skills. Stay tuned for the final decision… The children also have an opportunity to sell things at their own booth. Contact Kelly Briley for more info.

There are lots of opportunities to become involved in your child’s school. Please continue to look for announcements outside the classroom.

Any questions please call me at 323-309-8420.

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