sept/oct 2011 pta newsletter

September/October 2011 ~ of 10

The mission of Laguna Road School is to achieve educational excellence, in partnership with parents and community, to prepare all students, through use of knowledge, skills, and behaviors, to meet the challenges of today and tomorrow.

www.lagunaroadpta.com

Please stay tuned for more Present/Past pictures, Teacher/Staff/Parents testimonial and more details on all of the 50th Anniversary events.

Contents: Page 2: Principal’s Message -Traffic/Safety Page 3/4: PTA President’s Message Page 5: Golden PTA Volunteers Page 6: -Mr. John Hun Message Page 7: Turkey Trot Page 8: Book Fair /International Walk to School Day Page 9: API Score Page 10: Birthdays Page 11/12: Calendar

Beep! Beep! Happy 50th Birthday to Laguna Road!

Theme: “We’re Golden Here in our 50th Year”

All year round our School – founded on September 1961- celebrates 50 years. School is located in the northern section of Fullerton, one of 17 Elementary school sites in the Fullerton School District. Approximately 644 students attend Laguna Road Elementary School. Please join us as we commemorate a half-century of achievements, and look forward to the next 50 years, continuing our standard of excellence in education. School during 1961:

Now:


Our API score went up six points to our school all-time high of 965. This is good news for all of us! We looked at our scores in depth at each grade level, grades K-6 to determine where we are doing well and where we need to focus our efforts.

I look forward to working with you this year, as we strive to offer a strong educational program with high standards for student behavior, as well as academic achievement. Working together, we will achieve our goals and hopefully surpass them.

If you have any further questions please do not hesitate to contact me at school. (714) 447-7725. Harold Sullivan

GO ROADRUNNERS! BEEP! BEEP

We are on the way with 644 students enrolled! Welcome to our newest staff member, Mr. John Huh. Mr. Huh is our three days per week Speech and Language Specialist. John is coming to us after years at Commonwealth Elementary School. We have such a fabulous working, dedicated group of staff members. In addition, I can already see that we have committed parents who strongly support their children’s many endeavors. Special thanks to PTA President, Nivie Jhawar and the PTA Hospitality Committee for providing a “Welcome Back Breakfast” for the staff. We are definitely destined for greatness this year and the years ahead! On Friday, August 26th, we held our first Staff Development meeting of the year; we met as a staff to discuss Benchmarks and CST test scores.

Attention All Parents and Guardians ALWAYS use the designated crosswalks when crossing the street and give Brian Burke a smile as you cross safely to school. The white zones are for Drop off & Pick up ONLY. You are NOT allowed to leave your vehicle parked in the white zone. Please do not park at EBell Women’s Club or US Bank Parking lot. OBEY ALL TRAFFIC SIGNS AND MARKINGS. ALL TRAFFIC LAWS WILL BE STRICTLY ENFORCED BY THE FULLERTON POLICE DEPARTMENT.


It has been a very busy year so far and I’m sure you have all been drowning in notices, sign-ups, requests, emails etc. The beginning of the school year brings a lot of “set-ups” and “sign-ups,” so thanks for your patience! As we continue to evolve into a “greener”/”kinder to our environment school,” you might notice some changes – starting with this newsletter. It is available online only. If you know someone who did not receive it, please tell them to notify the office. With an updated email address, we can make sure that everyone stays well informed. We will try to send out more notices via email (instead of flyers) and try to cut down flyer distribution to 1 sibling (probably the youngest) only, but it will take a period of transition for all of this to occur – so please be patient with us. We need everyone’s updated email address for this to work, (and we’re still missing a bunch!) so please make sure we have it! Drop a note in the office and we’ll get you “plugged in!”

A reminder to all of you…..PTA meetings are held the second Tuesday of each month, at 8:45am in the School Library (next meeting is Oct 11th.) Everyone is welcome to come! We had a record attendance at our first meeting in September - let’s continue that trend! Mr. Sullivan is always there along with a “teacher rep” – what better way to stay in tune with the “happenings” and issues of Laguna Road School?!? And for those of you who would rather hear the information in Korean, we offer a “Korean Outreach Group.” These meetings are the second Wednesday of each month (the day after PTA meetings) at 11am in the “Pit” (next meeting is Oct 12th.) I look forward to seeing you all at one of the above meetings! And bring a friend! We also welcome your young kids, so don’t let that be a reason to keep you away! (And we serve coffee & goodies! ☺ )

Also, for those of you who have not yet done so, JOIN PTA! Our goal this year is 500 members – we are getting close, but we are not there yet. Remember, any ADULT can join (no students). Sign up yourself, your spouse, grandparents, aunts, uncles. We welcome everyone! Membership is $8 / person. Membership flyers / envelopes are available in the school office. The money that we get from membership is divided between a portion that goes to the district and national PTA organizations (who rally for our kids on the government level) AND a portion that is turned around and given back to the classrooms and our kids (in the form of “enrichment funds.”) This $ is used by the teachers for field trips, supplies and activities that help our children learn. What better reason to join PTA?!?!

If you are interested in helping out with PTA or a PTA committee….please let me know! We can use ANY amount of help that you are willing to offer…from 1 hour to 100 hours….we have something for everyone! A lot of committees just need extra hands, so if this sounds like something you would like to do...email me and we’ll find a place for you!

Did you know that we are “Golden here in our 50th year?!?!”

Hello Roadrunners! I am Nivie Jhawar and I have the honor of serving as your PTA President for the 2011-2012 “golden” school year! Why is it golden, you ask? Because Laguna Road School is turning 50!! Woo hoo! So we are planning a lot of special, celebratory activities this year and as you can see, our theme this year (above) certainly reflects our excitement and pride. We, in the PTA, are certainly looking forward to celebrating with all of you and your wonderful children!!


For those of you who have already been generously volunteering your time either on campus, in the classroom, or in your home (i.e. cutting/pasting various class projects), a great big THANK YOU is in order! Keep up the great work! Just remember to sign in when you arrive on campus AND log in your hours in the office volunteer notebook. We do count the hours up and turn them in to the District PTA. Can you believe that last year our school alone had over 25,000 volunteer hours?!?!? That is PHENOMENAL! And remember, new this year – the “Volunteer Forms” that were passed out at “Back to School Night.” If you are in the classroom less than 3 hours / week – please just fill out the form and turn it into the office. For those of you volunteering more than 3 hours a week (or attending the overnight Pilgrim/OSS trips) – you will need to fill out the form, obtain a TB test and do the “Live Scan” fingerprinting. We do realize that this is a big inconvenience to you, but please remember that the ultimate goal is to monitor who is in/out of the classroom and ensure that our children are safe. More information and forms are available in the school office.

Also, you should already have received information about the Reflections Contest in your Tuesday folder. This year’s theme is “Diversity Means...” Please encourage your child to participate! It is such a neat program for kids to express themselves artistically!

In the month of October, you will be receiving information about updating our “Emergency Shed” supplies. At the back of the school, we have a “shed” full of water, food and emergency supplies that are available to use in the event of an earthquake or natural disaster. Each year, certain supplies expire and need to be replaced, so we ask for specific donations of supply items/food/water. Notices will be going home in the Tuesday folder about specific requests – so look out for it!

And finally, stay tuned for more information about other upcoming events – father-daughter dance, mother-son event, parent-education opportunities and possibly another really fun “Roadrunner Night Out” event – details to follow.

We’re off to an exciting start to our 50th year and we’ve got lots to celebrate (our awesome kids and our fabulous school) so let’s work together to make it a … (you guessed it)…. GOLDEN year for everyone!!!

Go Roadrunners! ☺☺☺☺ BEEP BEEP!!

Nivie Jhawar

Laguna Road PTA President

[email protected]


Our “Golden” Volunteers

Let me take this opportunity to introduce you to our 2011-12 PTA Executive Board:

President: Nivie Jhawar

1st Vice President (Membership): Melissa Tabello

2nd Vice President (Ways & Means): Vacant

3rd Vice President (Outreach): Helen Kang & Angel Park

Recording Secretary: Cathy Geringer

Treasurer: Nicole Yi

Financial Secretary: Vincent Alvarado

Auditor: Purvi Patel

Historian: Kai Lau

Parliamentarian: Shirley Ramirez

A big thank you to our Executive Board who keeps PTA running smoothly!!

Thanks also to all of our “golden” volunteers who graciously helped with readying the students’ Tuesday folders before school started and for those of you who helped with our “Welcome back Staff Breakfast.” Also, a BIG thanks to Victoria Muffie & Becky Kenrick for organizing the volunteer sign-ups for all classrooms and PTA committees (and they are heading up the “Walk to School Day” coming up next week) and for doing a phenomenal job putting together the “Volunteer Tea” event (along with Lizette Kizziar – hospitality) and the unbelievable folders and packets for our volunteers and room moms. An IMMENSE thank you to Angel Park and Helen Kang for Co-Chairing the Outreach group and facilitating communication to our Korean-speaking parents. A HUGE thanks to Phuong Meza who has been working tirelessly on our Spirit Wear sales. A GIGANTIC thanks to Sahar Kouloumbis who is heading up our “Fall Book Fair” (coming next week!!) and to Helen Kharrat who volunteered to head our “Reflections” program. An ENORMOUS thanks goes out to Melissa Tabello who has been spearheading our membership drive (have you joined PTA yet???) and a GOBBLE-SIZED thank you to Bridget Olson who has hit the ground running with our biggest PTA fundraiser – the Turkey Trot (coming in Nov.) A MONUMENTAL thank you to Angel Park & Vincent Alvarado who have been working hard on the upcoming “emergency shed” supply list & updating each teacher’s emergency backpack. Of course, I can’t forget a GIANT thank you to Devanshi Gandhi for putting together this fantastic newsletter. And GREAT BIG thank you to Terry Petersen for working on improving our PTA website and also heading up our yearbook committee this year! To all of you 5th & 6th grade parents …. Don’t forget to say a WHOPPING thank you to Jeannie Mitsch who graciously took on the Pilgrim Chair position and to Cathy Geringer who is tirelessly working on the OSS trip!

Remember to log in ALL of your hours in the office “volunteer sign-in” notebook!! and remember to fill out your “Volunteer Form” and turn it in to the office!

Laguna Road is full of GOLDEN volunteers!!!! Are you one of them?


Dear Laguna Road PTA,

I would like to thank you for welcoming me to Laguna Road. As a form of self-introduction, I created a short list of frequently asked questions (FAQ) about Speech-Language Pathologists. I hope this will help you to understand a little more about what I do. Question 1: What is your official title? Answer: The official title is Speech-Language Pathologist (SLP). I am also referred to as the speech therapist, speech teacher and speech & language specialist. I do not have a preference; please feel free to use any of the listed titles. Cont... Page 3 Question 2: What did you say your name was? Answer: John Huh. I will be going by “Mr. H,” since my last name is… well, unique. It is pronounced as “huh? Without the rising intonation. Question 3: So, what is it that you do? Answer: In the school setting, an SLP works with students with a variety speech and language deficits, such as articulation, language disorder, social/pragmatics deficits, fluency (stuttering), voice disorders, hearing loss, Autism Spectrum Disorders, etc. I cover preschool students up to eighth grade, and work with students from the general education classroom to moderate-severe special day classes. Aside from speech & language duties, I also fix my colleagues’ laptops and refill water coolers. Question 4: Are you at Laguna Road full-time? Answer: Unfortunately, I am only here on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. If you need to get in touch with me, please contact the school and ask for Mr. H. Since I am almost constantly with students I may not be able to take your call. Please feel free to leave a message for me, and I will do my best to call you back within one to two days. Question 5: Are you bilingual? Answer: I guess so. As a Korean-American I can speak Korean conversationally, but I couldn’t say that I am 100% fluent. I consider it my privilege to serve your students, and I look forward to a great year. Thank you. John Huh Speech-Language Pathologist


With more than one million members, California State PTA is the largest volunteer organization in the state dedicated to improving the well-being of all children and youth. Joining PTA supports local, state and national efforts to improve the education of children and the lives of families. Membership provides the opportunity for individuals to raise their voices with others throughout the state and nation to protect children’s rights. Membership ensures that PTA’s voice is heard on issues affecting young people as well as providing opportunities for parent education, communication and leadership development. Getting involved in PTA builds skills in leadership, communication and advocacy. Active members are a valuable community resource for starting and maintaining projects to benefit children. PTA gives money to support or help support the following at Laguna Road: 6th Grade Play, All the Arts Program, Blue & Gold Day, Day of the Reader, First-Aid Kits, School-wide Emergency Preparedness Supplies, Media Center Subscriptions, Math Olympiad, PE equipment, Student Programs & Assemblies, Reflections, Speech Center, Tech Lab, Tuesday Folders, Library Books, and much more! As a PTA Member you will also receive discounts at the following locations: Legoland-California, Sea life Aquarium, T-Mobile, MedicAlert, MetLife, “Parenting School Years” Magazine, Sharp Electronics, Southwest Airlines Vacations, HP Academy Stores, Barnes & Noble and Jamba Juice. REMEMBER……the more members in Laguna Road PTA, the stronger the voice! JOIN TODAY!! Each Member is only $8.00 and envelopes are in the office...

Coming soon! Our 3rd annual Turkey Trot is on the horizon. This is our PTA’s biggest fundraiser to be held the first week of November. Last year we raised over $16,000 to help support our fantastic school! This year our goal is raise $20000.

This year we are really pushing for corporate sponsors, so please ask any businesses you can think of to sponsor your child / Laguna Road. For only $50, the business will get advertisement on a banner and a flyer that will be sent home to all of our Laguna Road Families.

The event is like a Jog-a-thon where students get family or friends to sponsor them to run for a set period of time. It is great exercise and lots of fun for our young Roadrunners. There will be super cool prizes for the top fundraisers! Watch your Tuesday folders for reminders and fundraising packets. If you are interested in helping please contact Bridget Doyle-Olson at [email protected].


October is Walk to School Month, a time period for students, parents, families, and school staff to walk to school. Laguna Road School is participating with Walk to School Week (October 3 - 7, 2011) and a special Walk to School Day celebration on Wednesday, October 5, 2011.

It’s Cool to Walk to School! Every student who walks to school during the week of October 3 - 7, 2011, will be entered into a prize raffle. Special guests from our local government and our police & fire departments will be joining our Walk to School Day celebration on Wednesday, October 5, 2011. Students who participate in Walk to School Day can win fabulous reward prizes with their classrooms.

Why Walk to School?

• To teach safe walking skills to our children. • To reduce traffic congestion and air pollution near our school. • To promote regular physical activity for our children. • To enjoy being out and about in our community. • Let’s work together to make our community a safe and friendly place to

walk.

The Fall Book Fair is here!

We always get excited when Mrs. Nelson's Book Fair comes to Laguna Road.Mrs. Nelson's has a wide variety of books, and there is something for every student.

Location: The Book Fair will be held in the “Pit” (Room next to the library)

Book Fair Dates: October 3rd to October 7th

Hours of Operation:

Before School: 8:15am – 8:30 am At Lunch: 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm Special hours on Wednesday: 1:00 pm – 2:30 pm After school on Friday: 3:00 pm – 4:00 pm

*****A Chance to Give Back to the School: Students can purchase books from the Teacher’s wish list and donate them to their class.

*****A Chance to Win: With each purchase, you will get an entry coupon for a chance to win a gift certificate to be used during the Book Fair. Extra entries are available for $1 / entry (at the bookfair). Names will be drawn Thursday, October 6th.


Roadrunners! Send us your news

and let us know what’s happening at Laguna Road

School so we can include it in the newsletter.

Send them to:

[email protected] [email protected]

A Copy of the Newsletter? Current and Past issues of the Laguna Road PTA newsletters are available on the PTA website for your reading. Don’t miss reading Valuable information from your Parent Teacher Association and School. Hardcopy available by request please email. Email: [email protected] http://www.lagunaroadpta.com/Laguna_PTA/Newsletters.html

The CA Academic Performance Index (API) rating system is based on year-over-year test score performance. Its purpose is to measure the academic performance and growth of schools. The API is calculated by converting a student’s performance on statewide assessments across multiple content areas into points on the API scale. Laguna Road School stood 2nd in the Fullerton District and #6 in Orange County.

Acacia Elementary 924.00

Beechwood Elementary 961.00

Commonwealth Elementary 788.00

1st Place

Fern Drive Elementary 897.00

2nd Place

Golden Hill Elementary 882.00

3rd Place

Hermosa Drive Elementary 857.00

Laguna Road Elementary 965.00

Maple Elementary 771.00

Orangethorpe Elementary 758.00

Pacific Drive Elementary 753.00

Raymond Elementary 856.00

Richman Elementary 820.00

Robert C. Fisler Elementary 971.00

Rolling Hills Elementary 851.00

Sunset Lane Elementary 927.00

Valencia Park Elementary 811.00

Woodcrest Elementary 785.00

School: Laguna Road LEA: Fullerton School District California: State

2011 API Statewide Rank for Laguna Road

The API Statewide Rank ranges from 1 to 10. A rank of 10, for example, means that the school's API fell into the top 10% of all schools in the state with a comparable grade range.

Laguna Road School Elementary School 300 Laguna Road Fullerton, Ca. 92835 Office Number 714-447-7725 Fax Number 714-447-7432


September:

McKay, Jeannette – Special Ed

Ray, Kelly - Resource

Maseinbach, Jeanne – OFFICE!!

Jeffries, Malinda – Grade 2

October:

Kim, Lee Ann – Grade 4

Penner, Pam – Grade 4

Sigillito,, Freda - Resource

November:

Winthrop Bonnie – Grade 3

Hegazi, Tracy – Special Ed

Yousling, Enoch – Grade 6

Kim-Lee, Jen – Grade 1

Cullinan, Penny – OFFICE

Laguna Road PTA Newsletter is published every other month. If you have any questions/concerns about newsletter, or any ideas/suggestions for articles, please contact Devanshi Gandhi, at [email protected] or PTA at [email protected]

OCTOBER 2011

Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday

Sep 25 26

27 28 Spirit Day

29

30

1

2

3 Mrs. Nelson’s Book Fair

Picture Day Grades 4-6


Turkey Trot

Jog-a-thon

Funraiser Begins

5 Spirit Day Mrs. Nelson’s Book Fair

7:45 Staff Picture International Walk to School Day



8

9

10 No School

Conference Day (No Students)

11 8:45 PTA Mtg In the Library

Disaster Prepareness/ Health Safety Drive

12 Spirit Day 11am Outreach

Meeting Pilgrims Trip- Islands

Fundraiser Disaster

Prepareness/ Health Safety Drive

13

Disaster Prepareness/

Health Safety Drive

14 CELD Testing

Disaster

Prepareness/ Health Safety

Drive

15

Fall Conference Week (Restructure Day Schedule) Mid-trimester Progress Reports

16 17 Disaster


18 Disaster


19 Spirit Day

Disaster


20 Disaster


21 Reflections

Entries Due in Office by 3:00 pm

Disaster Prepareness/ Health Safety

Drive

22

23 24 Emergency Shed

Supply Drop-Off

Red Ribbon Week

Boo-Gram Sales

25 SOS Mtg 12:30 In Principal’s

Office

Red Ribbon Week

Boo-Gram Sales

26 Spirit Day

Red Ribbon Week

Boo-Gram Sales

27

Red Ribbon Week

Boo-Gram Sales

28

Red Ribbon

Week

Boo-Gram Sales

29

30 31 Halloween (Costumes Optional)

Boo-Gram Sales

Please note: Calendar subject to change. Visit www.lagunaroadpta.com for event details [09-27-11]

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NOVEMBER 2011

Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday

1 2 Spirit Day

Turkey Trot Kindergarten

3 Turkey Trot Gr. 1-6

Sponsor $ Due Picture Makeup

Day

4 5

6 At 2:00 am Set clocks back 1 Hour To Standard Time

7

8 8:45 PTA Mtg In the Library Group Photo

9 Spirit Day 11am Outreach

Meeting

10

11 No School

Veteran’s Day

12

13

14 Nov 15-Dec 3 FIES Collection Toy & Food Donations

http://www.fies.us/

15 FIES Collection

16 Spirit Day FIES Collection Toy & Food Donations

17 FIES Collection Toy & Food Donations

PTA Reflections Awards in MPR

18 FIES Collection Toy & Food Donations

19

20

21 NO SCHOOL

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22 NO SCHOOL

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23 NO SCHOOL

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24 NO SCHOOL

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25 NO SCHOOL --- --------

26

November 21 - 26 No School Thanksgiving Week

27 28 FIES Collection Toy & Food Donations

29 12:30 SOS Mtg FIES Collection Toy & Food Donations

30 SSC Meeting FIES Collection Toy & Food Donations

Please note: Calendar subject to change. Visit www.lagunaroadpta.com for event details [09-27-11]

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sept/oct 2011 pta newsletter

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