Gatoraid 012711

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School Phone: 408-252-5414 ~ Absence Line 408-252-5414-6 ~ FAX 408-996-9725

GATORAID

BoardofEducation

Superintendent:PhilQuonBoardMembers:

AnjaliKausar,BenLiao,

JosephineLucey,GaryMcCue,

PhyllisVogel

GARDENGATEELEMENTARY

CUPERTINOUNIONSCHOOLDISTRICT

10500ANNARBORAVENUE

CUPERTINO,CA95014

NancyWood-Principal

MeravTalmor-PTAPresident

SCHOOL CALENDARJANUARY 27, 2011

2/3 6:00 p.m. KENNEDY MIDDLE SCHOOL - INCOMING 6TH GR. PARENT (ONLY) INFORMATION M2/3 7:15 p.m. PTA MEETING2/4 8:00 a.m. HEARING SCREENING FOR STUDENTS IN GRADES 1, 2, & 52/7 CLASS GROUP PICTURES

2/8 8:00 a.m. VISION SCREENING GRADES 1 & 32/8 6:00 p.m. C.U.S.D. BOARD MEETING - D.O.2/8 6:30 p.m. BOOK EXCHANGE - GRADES K-22/8 7:20 p.m. BOOK EXCHANGE - GRADES 3 - 52/9 6:30 p.m. LAWSON MIDDLE SCHOOL - INCOMING 6TH GR. PARENT (ONLY) INFORMATION M2/11-17 2011-2012 OPEN ENROLLMENT & ALTERNATIVE ED. PROGRAMS2/14 VALENTINES DAY PARTIES2/15 6:30 p.m. CYBER SAFETY - PARENT ED. NIGHT - GLC2/15 6:00 p.m. CUPERTINO MIDDLE SCHOOL - INCOMING 6TH GR. PARENT (ONLY) INFORMATION2/16 3:45 p.m. SCHOOL SITE COUNCIL MEETING2/17 12:00 p.m. YEARBOOK COVER CONTEST DEADLINE (STUDENTS IN GRADES 3-5)2/18 SCHOOL SPIRIT DAY - CRAZY HATS2/21-25 MID-YEAR RECESS - NO SCHOOL

EVERY TUESDAY IS EARLY DISMISSAL Students are dismissed at 1:30.PRE-PAY FOR CUSD LUNCHES at PAMS (Parent Account Management System) Lunchroom! You can make payments andview your students account balance online by going to http://www.pamslunchroom.com or by calling 1-888-994-5100.TO EMAIL STAFF:[email protected]: If your child will be absent, please call 252-5414. Ext. 6, by 8:30 a.m. to report the absence.HOMEWORK: Homework may be requested for illness absences of three days or more. Please call the office before 9:00 a.to request the homework for pickup after 3:00 p.m.

Parent Traffic Duty: January 31st - February 4th, Parents from Rm. 3
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]://www.pamslunchroom.com/http://www.pamslunchroom.com/

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Dear Garden Gate Community,

I am overwhelmed by the generosity and many kindnesses you have shown me. I dthink I know where to begin to express my appreciation, but I want to start with the childHow they kept their letters to me quiet and how all of those books filled with letters wcreated without me having a clue is amazing. Over 700 children ages five to eleven wable to keep a secret! Astounding! I have just begun to read them and they touchheart. Thank you for the Mrs. Woods Week! It will be a week I will never forget treasure forever. My office was overrun with gorgeous bouquets of flowers. It never looso lovely. I still am enjoying many of them. And then there were the other surprises:

incredible luncheon, a delicious breakfast, an opportunity to learn Indian dancing (thank you, Megha!), and the lovretirement reception this past Friday.

I am thrilled with my new iPad and am looking forward to a big personal technology jump!There are so many of you I want to thank and I wish I could do it personally. To all who were a part of my special week,heartfelt thanks to you! There is one person in particular who deserves my gratitude and appreciation especially and th

Merav Talmor, our PTA president. Merav, I dont know how you did it with all that you have to do, but I so very mappreciate your friendship and efforts!

Garden Gate School has been such a big part of my life for almost nine years. I cant think of another school where I whave rather worked. Ive had the opportunity to know and work with many families and consider myself very fortunate forexperiences. I have worked with an incredible staff outstanding in every way. And I have had the opportunity to know work with the children all those wonderful Garden Gators! What a great ride Ive had! Garden Gate is truly a fine,

school, with fine, fine teachers and fine, fine children! Thank you, everyone!

Brandi Hucko New Garden Gate Principal!I am very pleased to announce that Garden Gates new principal will be Brandi Hucko.Ms. Hucko has been the assistant principal at Cupertino Middle School (CMS) for over three years. During her tenur

CMS, she has performed a multitude of site administrator duties and has been instrumental in planning and implemen21st century learner initiatives involving assessment and technology. Ms. Hucko has also successfully served the Districa resource teacher for new teacher support and induction, where she developed strong skills as a teacher coach presenter. Previous to her assignment at the District Office, Ms. Hucko taught grades four through six at Eisenhower SchShe began her teaching career in Sacramento as a third grade teacher. I am sure that in the coming days, you will lemore about your new principal. I am also confident that you will welcome and support her as she prepares to leadGators into the 21st century! Go Gators!

Spring 2011 Student CouncilCongratulations to our new student council officers for Spring 2011! They are President DebarshiBasak, Vice-President Neha Vardhinedi, Secretary Ashley Chang, Co-Treasurers Anav Chaudhryand Karthik Guruvayurappan, Sports Coordinators Vanshaj Bawa and Anisha Sinha and Public

Relations Representatives Vasantha Mathena and Ranjani Ravi. Congratulations and thanks goalso to their teacher advisors Joyce Che and Peter Ward, as well as Special Programs CoordinatorPatti Wolf for her special coordination of this election and celebration lunch!

(Continued on Page 3)

Garden Gate Elementary School 10500 Ann Arbor Ave., Cupertino CA 95014

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From Our Principal....Mrs. Wood Continued


Technology Need at Garden Gate & PTA Funding Please read the following Parts 1, 2, and 3. The followin

information is key to understanding our request for laptop computers.

Part 1Thanks to the generosity of our community, our PTA raised approximately $12,000 more than they had originally targeted to mthe current budget costs. We are very grateful to all who supported our efforts to provide an excellent school environment fostudents. Our PTA put out a survey asking parents their thoughts, as to on what the additional dollars should be spent. Twere a number of responses, including a few asking about adding an additional shade structure in the back of the schoostudents having lunch. I know that the PTA will be voting on the expenditures at the next meeting on February 3, and I wamake sure that our parent community knows how critical our request for 10 laptop computers is for Garden Gate, so that youmake an informed decision.

Instruction & Laptop Computers Essential CombinationPart 2Our teachers use laptops for quite a bit of the instruction during the day. Some of our programs such as our Social Stu

program rely heavily on computers and the Internet. Our teachers connect their laptops to the projectors in the classrooorder to teach lessons. They also take their laptops home to work on lesson plans, report cards, and other activities relateschool and your childrens education. They need the flexibility of the laptop to do those tasks. In addition to the above, here afew other ways computers are used in the classroom as shared by our staff:

1. Creating weekly lesson plans using Pages.2. Students record their reading fluency daily on our iPod touches and email their recording to me. Then they fill out

fluency form on the iPod touches and send it to their customized Google doc. The students are able to view theirprogress on the Google doc from the computer.

3. I use my computer to research and purchase educational applications for our iPod touches.4. Communicate with parents, other colleagues and other teachers in the district.5. I use the primary server daily to look at student work.6. My students blog, use word processing applications and presentation applications.7. We update our websites frequently.

8. Our students make PowerPoint and Keynote presentations. They also use the laptops to show visuals duringpresentations.

9. I type notes/grades on my computer while students are giving speeches (instead of writing on paper and inputtinginto the computer later).

Why Are We Asking the PTA & Community for the Computer?Part 3We are asking because many of our current computers are old and some are dying. There is no technology budget from theschool district to replace old or dying equipment. It is up to the school sites to find their funding. Schools frequently ask the PPTO organization for support. In fact, the Garden Gate PTA worked with the Garden Gate School Site Council the last time wmade a computer buy for the staff, and in providing projectors to every classroom. We are asking for your help now to replacof our computers. We will use the older laptops as a portable lab for our students so that they can have more computer timeavailable to them. The teachers and students benefit in multiple ways from this effort. We hope that you will agree that acce

totechnology is essential to Garden Gates learning environment and that you will support our request. Thank you!

Shade Structure Cost UpdateWe were asked how much an additional shade structure might cost and the preliminary figure we are receiving is about $20,That does not include the labor and material cost of laying a pad. A very rough estimate would put us probably in the $25,0$30,000 range. We would need to submit a project request to the district and it may take some time to get everything checkedand approved. In addition, the District requires all funding for a project request be submitted up front before any work is starte

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PTA CornerPARENT TEACHER ASSOCIATION

(PTA) NEWS & RESOURCES

HelloGatorFamilies,As you all know, Mrs. Wood is retiring.Mrs. Wood has been the principal ofGarden Gate School for the past nineyears. During this time, we allwitnessed how Mrs. Wood raised thebar and with the help of her amazingstaff and teachers and created an

award winning academic environment! This by itself isremarkable, but she went even beyond that. Thanks to hercalm guidance, immeassurable patience and her willingnessto help and listen to parents, she helped create a great

community here at Garden Gate. On behalf of all the GardenGate, parents I would like to thank her for all of her hard workand dedication. Mrs. Wood, we wish you all the best andwe will miss you!

PTASurveyResultsWe received 250 PTA survey responses. Thank you to allthose who participated you are making a difference! Wenow have your input available to take into consideration forfuture planning. Even if you do not directly see yoursuggestions put into action, please know that we have giventhem serious consideration. Thank you!

We will discuss the results and vote on the budget in the nextPTA meeting on Thursday, Feb 3rd, 2011. Please plan toattend this meeting if you would like to be heard.

ParentEdNight-OnlineSafety:RealTipsforRealParentsIn todays green folder we included a flyer with details of aparent education night. This is an important assembly toattend as a parent. Understanding how we can protect ourchildren as they navigate the online world is essential.Please join us on Tuesday, Feb 15th, at 6:30 p.m. in the GLC.

Sincerely,Merav TalmorGarden Gate PTA President

MIDDLE SCHOOL INFORMATIONMEETINGS. . .

LAWSON MIDDLE SCHOOLLawson Middle School will be having their incoming 6thGrade Parent Information Meeting on Wednesday eveninFebruary 9th at 6:30 p.m. in the Lawson Middle SchoolEvent Center. They will be explaining to all parents the 6thgrade Middle School program and what to expect during ychilds first year in middle school! This presentation is forparents only.

KENNEDY MIDDLE SCHOOLOnce again it is time for us to be thinking about our nextyears sixth graders their questions and your questionsabout Kennedy Middle School. Parents of fifth graders are

cordially invited to attend the Sixth Grade Information Nigin the Multi-Use room on February 3, 2011, at 6:00 p.m.

It is important that sixth graders feel part of the school butnot be overwhelmed by it. We will discuss what our progrlooks like from 6th through 8th grade: from required subjecto school activities. Because of space limitations this evenprogram is forparents only. We strongly recommend thayou attend this important meeting and we look forward toseeing you on February 3rd.

CUPERTINO MIDDLE SCHOOL PARENTINFORMATION NIGHTThe Cupertino Middle School Parent Information Night fornext years 6th graders will be held Tuesday, February 15 6:00 p.m. in the gym. The presentation will cover courseselection, homework, expectations, extracurricular activitieand other topics.

Additionally, at 7:00 pm in the multi-use, our PTA will host informal gathering so that incoming 6th grade parents cantalk with CMS parents who have already experienced theistudents transition from elementary to middle school. Ourcounselors will also be available.

Due to facility limitations, this presentation is for parents o

An electronic copy of the presentation and any handouts wbe made available upon request after the February 15meeting.

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CUSD BOARD OF EDUCATION BUDGET INFORMATIONThe governor released his 2011-2012 budget proposal on January 10, 2011. In response to this new budget, the Cupertino USchool District Board of Education will host two informational budget discussion items. The first meeting was held on January

011. The presentation and other budget information is available at www.cupertino.k12.ca.usn addition, there will be a second budget meeting with updated information at:

6:00 p.m. Tuesday, February 8, 2011, in the Sedgwick Elementary School Guided Learning Center (19200 Lane in Cupertino)

Any individual may appear before the Board of Education to comment or ask questions regarding the District's current budituation. These discussion items are for information only at this time and the Board of Education will not be taking any forction regarding this topic at these meeting.

2011-2012 SCHOOL YEAR CALENDAROn January 11, 2011, the Cupertino Union School District Board of Education approved the 2011-2012 school y

calendar. The start date for date for next year is as follows:

District (all schools except Murdock-Portal) August 18, 2011 Murdock Portal Elementary School August 11, 2011

The full 2011-2012 calendar is available at www.cupertino.k12.ca.us.

STAR WRITING TESTStudents in grades 4 and 7 will take the STAR Writing Test on March 1, 2011. The STAR Writing Test addreswriting application standards for grades 4 and 7. At grade 4, these standards require students to produce one of ypes of writing: narrative, summary, information report, or response to literature. The grade 7 standards reqtudents to produce one of five types of writing: narrative, persuasive essay, summary, response to literatureesearch report. Students at both grade levels read a task and write a first draft of their essay. First drafts ubmitted to the state for scoring. The two-week multiple choice STAR Test window begins April 25, 2011.

DISTRICT CALENDAR 2011-2012 (NEXT SCHOOL YEAR)August 15, 16 and 17, 2011 Teacher Work DaysAugust 18, 2011 Students ReturnSeptember 5, 2011 Labor DaySeptember 23, 2011 Staff Learning DayOctober 31, 2011 Staff Learning DayNovember 11, 2011 Veterans DayNovember 21-25 2011 Thanksgiving Recess

December 19-30,2011 Winter RecessJanuary 3, 2012 Students ReturnJanuary 16, 2012 Martin Luther King DayFebruary 20-24, 2012 Mid-Year RecessMarch 19, 2012 Staff Learning DayApril 16-20, 2012 Spring RecessMay 25, 2012 Staff Learning DayMay 28, 2012 Memorial DayJune 12, 2012 Last Day of School
http://www.cupertino.k12.ca.us/http://www.cupertino.k12.ca.us/http://www.cupertino.k12.ca.us/http://www.cupertino.k12.ca.us/http://www.cupertino.k12.ca.us/http://www.cupertino.k12.ca.us/

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