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Blossom Hill Vision Statement – (Abilities and skills we expect our students to acquire and take-out into the world) All students will have the necessary skills to become enthusiastic, life-long learners and productive, empathetic, respectful members of society.
Blossom Hill Mission Statement – (What we need to do as a school community to ensure this happens) The Blossom Hill School community takes pride in providing an enriched standards-based curriculum in a safe, nurturing environment. We strive to appreciate an awareness of students’ developmental needs to help them progress towards independence.
The Beehive Issue 20
Blossom Hill School’s Weekly Newsletter 16400 Blossom Hill Road Los Gatos, California 95032 ©2016 Blossom Hill School January 13, 2016 Page 1
IMPORTANT DATES January
1/15 - Science Fair Applications Due
1/17 - Honeybee Choir Applications Available
1/18 - Martin Luther King Jr. Day - NO SCHOOL
1/20 - H&SC Member Meeting 8:30 - 9:30 am, Multipurpose Room
1/21 - School Site Council Meeting 2:45 - 3:45 pm, Room D22
1/25 - LGUSD Board Meeting 6:30 - 10:30 pm, District Office
1/29 - 1/31 - Play Performances 1/29 - 7:00 pm (Jolly Roger) 1/30 - 3:00 pm (Neverland) 1/30 - 7:00 pm (London) 1/31 - 2:00 pm (Neverland)
February 2/4 - Project Cornerstone ABC Reader Meeting 8:20 - 9:20 am, Flex Room
2/4 - 2/6 - Play Performances 2/4 - 6:00 pm (Jolly Roger) 2/5 - 7:00 pm (London) 2/6 - 11:00 am (Jolly Roger) 2/6 - 3:00 pm (London) 2/6 - 7:00 pm (Neverland)
2/8 - LGUSD Special Board Meeting 6:30 - 10:30 pm, District Office
2/11 - Mileage Club Begins (weather permitting)
2/15 - 2/19 - February Recess - NO SCHOOL
FROM THE PRINCIPAL’S DESK Dear Blossom Hill Families:
One of our goals as educators and parents is to ensure our children are good thinkers! The ability to imagine different possibilities, solve problems, and use logic are important life skills. Here are some suggestions for building thinking skills.
Ask questions. When you have conversations with your child, try to choose questions that have more than one possible answer. Say you’re talking about favorite colors – you could ask, “How do you think someone picks a favorite color?” If they say, “I don’t know,” give them a minute to think, and they will likely come up with a reply. If not, share an idea to get them going. (“I think colors remind us of happy memories. Light blue makes me think of the sky on a beautiful day.”)
Encourage problem solving. Have children solve everyday problems on their own. When they ask how to build a marble run or why the computer program won’t open, avoid rushing to the rescue. Instead, you might say, “Hmm, I wonder what you could try,” or, “Let’s look for something that could help.” They might draw a diagram of the marble run or make a checklist of computer troubleshooting tips (make sure cables are connected, reboot).
Play thinking games. Your child’s brain will become sharper if they exercise it regularly. Try taking turns saying two words that are related to a third word. For instance, if you say piano and lock, your child could say key (a piano has keys, a key opens a lock). Then, they get to give you a word pair. Other examples: a tree and a car both have trunks, and a ruler and a sock both have a foot.
Working together, we can make problem solving engaging and fun.
Most sincerely,
Lisa Reynolds, Principal
The Beehive is written exclusively to inform the Blossom Hill community of school information. Articles, information, calendars, etc. may not be duplicated or reprinted in any manner without the permission of the Home and School Club and of the BHS administration.
CHECK IT OUT One Check Form LGEF Donation Form Fun Fridays eScrip
BEEHIVE SUBMISSIONS Need an article, event or volunteer request published in The Beehive? Email your school related item on the Friday before the next week’s newsletter. Please submit articles or questions to our Beehive editor at [email protected].
H&SC CALENDAR IS ONLINE! Did you know that our Home & School Club Calendar is online? Click here to see our Google Calendar, which you can also subscribe to: http://hsc.blossomhill.org/hsc-calendar.html
WEEKLY WISDOM Reminders Martin Luther King, Jr. Day - School will not be in session on Monday, January 18 in honor of Dr. King’s birthday.
February Break - School will not be in session February 15-18. We will resume our normal schedule on Monday, February 22.
FAQ of the Week Q. What date does school start on next year? A. School starts on Thursday, August 18, 2016. You can find
the full attendance calendar for 2016/17 on the District Office’s website http://www.lgusd.org/.
Important School Contact Information Office: 408-335-2100 Attendance: 408-335-2145 Fax: 408-358-6438 Office Hours: 7:30 am - 3:30 pm [email protected]
What’s the Buzz?
Together we help our children blossom!
Page 2
The Honeybee Choir Presents
ON THE GOOD SHIP LOLLIPOP Ahoy, all 1st and 2nd graders! Registration for the Honeybee Choir opens this Sunday, January 17 at 2:00 pm. The Honeybee Choir fills up very quickly with only a limited number of spaces available. The Honeybee Choir is a wonderful opportunity to make new friends, enjoy some great music, and, of course, have fun. Be sure to check out the Home and School Club website for more information http://hsc.blossomhill.org.
Anchors Away!
H&SC MEMBER MEETING AND NOTICE OF VOTE
Wednesday, January 20 at 8:30 am, Flex Room
Please join us for our first meeting of 2016! Lisa Reynolds will be presenting Blossom Hill’s goals from the 2015-2016 Single Site Plan for Student Achievement. She will also be presenting the Smarter Balance test baseline results from the tests taken in May 2015. In addition, we will have a special vote to approve a portion of the provisional budget for the 2016-2017 school year. This vote will cover H&SC grants for our School Health Clerk and School Safety Officer, as well as our Read Naturally, Noon Time Sports and K-3 PE programs only, as these grants must be submitted to the district by February 15. We will need a quorum for this vote, so proxies will be available in the front office. If you are unable to attend and vote in person, please fill out a proxy and turn it in to Kelly Duvall prior to the start of the meeting. We invite you to come share your vote, thoughts, ideas and opinions. As always, coffee will be served!
DON’T FORGET TO REGISTER YOUR SCIENCE FAIR
PROJECT!
This year’s science fair project registrations are due this Friday, January 15.
Students can register their project either by going directly to: http://bit.ly/BHSFApp, or by navigating to the science fair website at:
http://sciencefair.blossomhill.org, hovering their cursors over “Getting Started,” and then
clicking on “Registration.”
The science fair website lists key dates and deadlines, and provides answers to several frequently
asked questions. If you or your children still have questions for the science fair committee, please feel free to send those to: [email protected].
If your child is in search of inspiration, the “Resources” section of the science fair website provides a list of links to other sites that can help them to generate an idea for a project.
Parents might also want to check out the new picture book “Mesmerized: How Ben Franklin Solved a Mystery that Baffled all of France,” by Mara Rockliff and illustrated by Iacopo Bruno.
The book tells the true tale of how Benjamin Franklin used the scientific method to debunk the fraudulent “cures” of Franz Friedrich Anton Mesmer. Mesmer was an Austrian who had taken Paris by storm in 1778 with his method of curing individuals of their ills with the swipe of a wand as he stared into their eyes.
It’s a fun, witty, and beautifully-illustrated story that weaves a bit of American history in as it explains what the scientific method is. Both parents and kids will enjoy it (the book even comes with a bibliography and its own optical illusions!)
CORNERSTONE CORNER Mr. Peabody’s Apples
by Madonna
This month’s Project Cornerstone ABC Reader Book was inspired by a 300-year-old story about the power of words. It shows how quickly a person’s good reputation can be damaged and how hard it is to repair. The January theme is “Rumors Stop with Me”.
Over the month, every class will explore this book in detail. We encourage all Blossom Hill Families to continue the discussion about this book at home.
Ask your kids about Mr. Peabody’s Apples.
What’s the Buzz?
Together we help our children blossom!
Page 3
MRS. MARTIN’S ART LESSONS Please visit Mrs. Martin’s Art blog at: http://www.mrsmartinartclass.blogspot.com/ for updates on what is happening in your student’s art classroom, student artwork from across the district, and parent child activities that connect to each lesson!
LGUSD Elementary Art Program is funded by LGEF
Blossom Hill and Daves Avenue Schools Proudly Present
A Musical Comedy that reminds us to follow our dreams is here!! Peter Panic is a fun, whimsical musical presented by our very own Blossom Hill and Daves Avenue students. This refreshingly clever and fun homage to the original classic is full of heart and will remind both the young and the young-at-heart to always follow their dreams!
Tickets Now on Sale! Purchase tickets online at: www.seatyourself.biz/blossomhill.
Cast list and other play information available at: Peter Panic (http://hsc.blossomhill.org/uploads/2/2/8/4/22848744/peterpaniccastlist.docx.pdf)
Jolly Roger Neverland London Friday 1/29, 7 pm Saturday 1/30, 3 pm Saturday 1/30, 7 pm Thursday 2/4, 6 pm Sunday 1/31, 2 pm Friday 2/5, 7 pm Saturday 2/6, 11 am Saturday 2/6, 7 pm Saturday 2/6, 3 pm
Questions? Please contact Jen Saban or Wendi Redo, Blossom Hill Producers at [email protected].
BEE Informed
Together we help our children blossom!
Page 4
Newsletter for Parents ! The Canvas ! January/February 2016
K KINDERGARTEN: In January our youngest students will explore images of animals in art. A discussion of pattern and texture is highlighted by showing various pictures from Ancient Babylon up to Klee’s camouflaged camel. February’s images enchant them with scenes of children doing things together – both months’ lessons are great conversation generators.
1 st FIRST GRADERS: Land, Sea, and City-Scapes highlight space, rhythm, and movement. Van Gogh’s windy “Field at Arles,” Hokusai’s “Great Wave,” and Thiebaud’s dizzy street perspective are among some of the pictures that get the students talking in January. February brings the emphasis back to pattern and texture with portraits of the famous (King Tut) and not-so famous (Johnson’s “Mom & Dad”) among some of paintings shown.
2 nd SECOND GRADERS: January finds feeling, mood, and texture being explored with pictures of various cats – big & small, fierce & sweet. February introduces the concept of the illusion of depth by the use of overlapping, relative size, placement, detail, and perspective. Escher, Shoson, Klee, Johnson, and Cox are the featured artists.
3 rd THIRD GRADERS: Continuing with our sequential Western Art History, this grade-level learns about Cubism movement. Cezanne gets it started, Picasso takes center-stage with Braque, & Delaunay caps it off with his multi-faceted Eiffel Tower. February sees the students learning to experience increasingly abstract images. Marc, Duchamp, Pollock, and Rothko are just some of the artists whose works are shown & discussed. Workshop: afterward students will create their own Abstract art.
4 th FOURTH GRADERS: California is still the main-focus while the emphasis shifts to our architecture. Students study the European influences on our Missions, examine our iconic Golden Gate Bridge, the modern Disney Concert Hall, and the De Young Museum. February brings the students back to artists’ painted depictions of images of California. Hockney, Diebenkorn, Bischoff, and Thiebaud paint the familiar in new and modern ways.
5 th FIFTH GRADERS: American Art – from the 1700’s to the present era – is the focus in the final year of elementary school. Students compare and contrast as they look at some of the great art and cultural icons of the United States and learn how art reflects the time and place in which it was created. Some featured artists: Bellows, Benton, Hopper, Stuart, Whistler, and Warhol. Workshop: students will be taking photographs with the emphasis on composition and digital manipulation to transform their images.
Join the Art Docents of Los Gatos. No art experience required; training is offered in the fall of every year and membership is as varied and diverse as our community. We invite you to observe one of our monthly in-class presentations or workshops, attend a general meeting and meet your friends and neighbors. Browse our monthly newsletter “The Palette” at www.artdocents.com The Art Docents of Los Gatos is generously supported by LGUSD, LGEF, Home & School Clubs, Local governments, Silicon Valley Creates, Los Gatos Rotary, Los Gatos Community Foundation and community groups through grants and donations.
BEE Informed
Together we help our children blossom!
Page 5
SCIENCE!MUSIC!
ART!COUNSELING!
Visit%lgef.org%or%find%us%on%Facebook%and%Twitter.%For%general%questions,%e9mail%us%at%[email protected].%
LGEF:&Serving&Blossom&Hill,&Daves&Avenue,&Lexington,&Van&Meter,&and&RJ&Fisher&schools&since&1982.&
Happy%%New$%Year!%
Let’s"Be"Great!"!Together,)!
We#Educate.#!%
Dec. 16, 2015
It’s a new year. What are your priorities for 2016? Let’s resolve to give our kids an A+ in Education this year!
How do we do that? We give our kids the gift of education by providing funds for Science, Art, Music, Resources and Counseling to make sure our kids are ready to learn, engaged and passionate about school. Let’s Be Great – Together We Educate -- by pooling our investment in education together, this top-notch education is possible. We are at 69% of our goal for the 2016-2017 school year. We need your support to fully fund these programs for your child. Don’t delay – give now at www.lgef.org.
