Gatoraid 110509

GATORAID School Phone: 408-252-5414

~ Absence Line 408-252-5414-6

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FAX 408-996-9725

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SCHOOL CALENDAR NOVEMBER 5, 2009 11/5 11/10 11/10

7:15 p.m. 8:00-9:30 a.m. 6:00 p.m.

PTA MEETING PROJECT CORNERSTONE PARENT GROUP - STAFF ROOM C.U.S.D. BOARD MTG. - DISTRICT BOARD ROOM

3:45 p.m.

FIRST TRIMESTER ENDS SECOND TRIMESTER BEGINS SCHOOL SITE COUNCIL MEETING SCHOOL SPIRIT DAY - “TWINS” GENNIFER CHOLDENKO, AWARD WINNING AUTHOR - “ADULTS ONLY”

11/11

VETERANS DAY - NO SCHOOL

11/13 11/16 11/18 11/20 11/20

6:30-7:30 p.m.

11/25-27 12/3 12/4 12/8 12/16 12/16 12/18

6:00 p.m. 3:45 p.m. 6:30 p.m.

12/21-1/1 1/4

7:15 p.m.

THANKSGIVING RECESS - NO SCHOOL PTA MEETING REPORT CARDS GO HOME C.U.S.D. BOARD MTG. - DISTRICT BOARD ROOM SCHOOL SITE COUNCIL MEETING H.E.A.S.T. PERFORMANCE - GLC SCHOOL SPIRIT DAY - “PAJAMA DAY”

WINTER RECESS- NO SCHOOL SCHOOL RESUMES

Parent Traffic Duty: November 9th - 13th - Parents from Rm. #4 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 and view your students account balance online by going to http://www.pamslunchroom.com or by calling 1-888-994-5100. TO EMAIL STAFF:[email protected] ATTENDANCE: 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.m. to request the homework for pickup after 3:00 p.m.

FROM OUR PRINCIPAL....MRS. WOOD!

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2009-2010 Garden Gate PTA Reflections Winners Congratulations to all of our Garden Gate participants and winners. This year, we had a record number of 159 participants! In the past, we’ve averaged between 80-85 participants. We’re delighted that so many children want to share their talents with us. Many thanks to our volunteer judges and many, many thanks to our Reflections chairpersons, Mahalakshmi Rameshbabu and Alicia Shepard! And the winners are:

Primary (Kindergarten - Grade 2) Literature First Place Second Place Third Place Hon. Mention

Jhanvi Girish Atharva Mutsaddi Aarjave Joshi Sriram Nagasuri

Gr. 2 Gr. 1 Gr. 2 Gr. 1

Photography First place Aditi Narasimhan Second Place Varun Ayyappan Third Place Yash Gupta Hon. Mention Neha Washikar

Gr. 2 Gr. 2 Gr. 1 Gr. 1

Visual Arts First place Suzuka Kojima Gr. 1 Second place Michelle Zhu Gr. 2 Third place Nikita Kalahusti Gr. 2 Hon. Mention Manjunath Shettar Gr. 2 Hon. Mention Nandhini Sreedhar Gr.2 Musical Composition First Place Sachita Kashyap (only participant) KDG

Film Production First Place Santosh Ravindrabharathy Gr. 1 Second Place Srivatsa Puranam Gr. 2

Dance Choreography Honorable Mention

Erin Zhu Gr. 1

Intermediate (Grades 3 – 5) Literature First place            Shreya Kashyap  Gr. 3 Second place        Vanshika Desai    Gr. 5 Third place          Trisha Kholiya      Gr. 5 Hon. Mention Valerie Ng            Gr. 5







Visual Arts First Place            Samiksha Patil    Gr. 3 Second Place        Shreya Kashyap  Gr. 3  Third Place            Deepika Sriram    Gr. 5 Hon. Mention Trinity Nguyen      Gr. 3

Photography

First Place       Kyle Shepard    Gr. 5 Second Place Ashley J Zhu     Gr. 4 Third Place      Nikash Nalia     Gr. 3 Hon. Mention Siddhi Shah Gr. 3









Musical Composition First Place       Ranjani Ravindrabharathy    Gr. 3 Second Place Shreya Kashyap                   Gr. 3  Third Place      Anjana Manjunath                Gr. 4 Hon. Mention Amey A Kapare             Gr. 3



Dance Choreography No participants

Film Production



First Place       Rithvik Agastya   Gr. 3

Second Place Ranjani Ravindrabharathy   Gr. 3 Third Place       Divya Satish                      Gr. 3 

STAR Test Preparation Materials It has come to my attention from several sources that some parents are approaching teachers requesting the teachers order STAR test preparation materials. Whether they’re for home or classroom use is unclear. However, our policy is not to use those materials. We are confident that in teaching the California State Standards, we are preparing our students well for any assessment they might need to take. We feel that purchasing STAR practice materials is an unnecessary expense. We also feel that focusing too much on the STAR will have the negative impact of raising students' anxiety levels. Doing so might have an unintended negative effect on their STAR performance. So, if you’re feeling somewhat anxious about your student’s performance on the STAR, please relax. You’re sending us really bright and inquisitive children who love to learn. You match those children with our teaching practices and state standards and we are the unstoppable Gators! Garden Gate Elementary School 10500 Ann Arbor Ave., Cupertino CA 95014

PTA CORNER

PARENT TEACHER ASSOCIATION (PTA) NEWS & RESOURCES

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Hello Gator Families,

Join the PTA Now And Be Able To Vote On Where We Spend $11,000! We budgeted for $50,000 and your generous donations reached $61,000! So we will be asking PTA members where we should put our focus: More technology? More math education grants for teachers? More music? More library hours? More books for the library? More assemblies? Will you allow 250 people to vote on what is important to 1,400 people? We currently have about 250 PTA members. We have almost 700 students, which means that approximately 1,400 parents, guardians, and others who are interested in the PTA and Garden Gate School can join! It is my wish to act on the wishes of all the parents and PTA members. However, you must be a member of the PTA to vote – so please join today! Membership forms will be in the green folder this week and are available in the school office! Everyone can join – parents, teachers, students, neighbors – there are no restrictions. We will spend the money on what the majority of the PTA members want. . Please Attend The PTA Meeting This Thursday In The GLC At 7:15 p.m. •Come and learn more about how we will be polling our PTA membership on its wishes for putting $11,000 to work at Garden Gate. •Special guest, Scott Stauffer, from the Cupertino Education Endowment Fund, well known as “CEEF” will attend. He is coming with information about CEEF and also to present Garden Gate School with a check to be used towards our needs in technology. •Mrs. Wood, our Principal, will be sharing what is currently happening at Garden Gate.

National PTA Reflections Art Contest Congratulations to all of our artists who entered this year’s Reflections Art Contest and to all of our awesome winners! I was prividedged to be a judge for one portion of the contest and I saw some very impressive work. Thank you to all who participated!

Kathleen McCulloch Garden Gate PTA President

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

GATORAID

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REMINDERS:

•For the protection of the students, please remember that students are not to be on the Garden Gate campus before 7:45 a.m. There is no adult supervision until 7:45 a.m. •Please do not congregate outside of the classrooms while school is still in session. This is very disruptive to both the teacher and the students and could be a distraction from valuable learning time. •Every Tuesday is early dismissal day. Please remember that all a.m. Kindergarten students are dismissed at 11:10 a.m. and all p.m. Kindergarten students along with students in grades 1-5 are dismissed at 1:30. Please remember to pick up your children promptly.

ahead of your departure date to arrange for a special Independent Study Contract. The following guidelines must be followed: •A student must be enrolled for three consecutive weeks before an Independent Contract can be initiated. •The contract and homework must be returned the first day back to school with all the work completed, so days missed do not count as unexcused absences. •Students who are absent for more than ten consecutive days will be dropped from the roster of their school. When the student returns, if space is available, at his or her school, the student will be reinstated. If no space is available, the student will be assigned to another school in the district where space is available.

DISTRICT NUTRITION STANDARDS FOR YOUR INFORMATION

The following nutrition standards are set by the state and outlined in the California Education Code. These are the standards that our district follows. (Nutritional Standards for Food Commencing on or before July 1, 2007, the superintendent or designee shall ensure that schools comply with the following nutritional standards: California Education Code 49431) Elementary Schools: The only foods that may be sold to a pupil during the school day are full meals and individually sold portions of nuts, nut butters, seeds, eggs, cheese - packaged for individual sale, fruit, vegetables - that have not been deep fried, and legumes. In addition, an individually sold dairy or whole grain food item may be sold to a pupil at an elementary school, if it meets all of the following standards: 1. Not more than 35% of its total calories shall be from fat. 2. Not more than 10% of its total calories shall be from saturated fat. 3. Not more than 35% of its total weight shall be composed of sugar, including naturally occurring and added sugar. 4. Not more than 175 calories per individual food item.

Nutrition Standards for Beverages: (The following nutritional standards shall apply to all beverages provided in the district food service program: California Education Code 49431.5) Elementary Schools: Regardless of the time of day, the only allowable beverages that may be sold in elementary schools are: INDEPENDENT STUDY 1. Fruit-based drinks that are composed of no less than CONTRACTS 50% fruit juice and have no added sweetener. If you plan to be away from school for a 2. Vegetable-based drinks that are composed of no less minimum of five school days and a than 50% vegetable juice and have no added sweetener. maximum of ten school days, please 3. Drinking water with no added sweetener. contact the school office and your 4. Two-percent-fat milk, one-percent-fat milk, nonfat milk, child’s teacher at least three weeks soy milk, rice milk, and other similar nondairy milk. Garden Gate Elementary School 10500 Ann Arbor Ave., Cupertino CA 95014

GATORAID!

DISTRICT NEWS SECTION

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CEEF’S 2010 GALA: "DREAMS ARE MADE OF…" Saturday, January 30, 2010

5:30 p.m.

Fairmont Hotel, San Jose

Save the date and plan now to join friends in celebrating our children’s dreams for the future at the Cupertino Educational Endowment Foundation’s (CEEF) annual Gala on Saturday, January 30, 2010 at the Fairmont Hotel in San Jose. Proceeds from our 2010 “Dreams are made of…” themed Gala will benefit arts and innovative technology programs at each of our district schools. For more information or to add your name to the invitation list, please email CEEF at [email protected].

MCAULIFFE MIDDLE SCHOOL INFORMATION NIGHT Christa McAuliffe School is one of the district’s four alternative programs. McAuliffe, a K-8 parent-participation school in the Cupertino Union School District with a whole-child, developmental philosophy, offers a program which advocates for children to take ownership of their learning, to work collaboratively, to express their opinions, and to explore their interests. All interested parents are invited to the following events:

Middle School Parent Forum - Thursday, Nov. 19, 7-9 p.m., in Room 19 Panel of middle school parents will address questions in a casual environment.

Middle School Tours - Nov. 6, Jan. 15 & Jan. 28, 8:45 - 11 a.m. These tours are in conjunction with McAuliffe School tours, join a specialized tour of middle school classrooms led by a parent guide. Call 253-4696 or sign-up online at www.mcauliffek8.com. CUSD students only.

H1N1 GUIDELINES The Santa Clara County Public Health Department guidance recommends that, based on current flu conditions, students and staff with flu-like illness stay home until at least 24 hours after they no longer have a fever or signs of a fever without the use of fever-reducing medications (any medicine that contains ibuprofen or acetaminophen). You can help keep our schools healthy by adhering to the following guidelines: •

Continue to enforce proper hand hygiene and respiratory etiquette. The recommendations continue to emphasize the importance of the basic foundations of disease prevention: Stay home when sick, wash hands frequently with soap and water when possible or alcohol based hand sanitizer, and cover noses and mouths with a tissue when coughing or sneezing (or a shirt sleeve or elbow if no tissue is available).

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Leave accurate information as requested on the school’s absence line if your child is sick. This will help the school identify any potential issues as soon as possible.

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Promptly pick up your child from school if they are sent home for being ill. The school will keep ill students separated from others until they can be sent home. Please make sure that the school office has your updated contact information.

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Any returning students after an illness with a fever will need to have their temperature taken in the school office before returning to class. Teachers will be sending returning students back to the office to have their temperatures taken if they arrive directly to the classroom without being cleared.

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