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The 2005-06 calendar is now posted on our website
and is also available on the credenza in the front office.
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Welcome to ISM's weekly newsletter for the week of
November 28 - December 2, 2005! Please note that the ISM news brief is now available
to ISM families during regular school weeks via our website no later than 7:30 p.m. each Monday (Tuesday, if Monday is a holiday), unless otherwise noted. To request hardcopy notification, please contact Business Administrator / news brief editor Lisa Griffin Burns
at lburns@ismonterey.org
or call at 583-2165.
Please note: Past newsletters can be found
here.
: Welcome back! We hope that each of you enjoyed a leisurely and restful Thanksgiving break catching up with family and friends! We are happy to be back, but also keenly aware that we have only three more weeks in this quarter until the start of the Winter holiday
break, beginning on Monday, December 19th.
: For the convenience of parents / guardians who have to be at work by 8:00 a.m., ISM opportunely offers an early morning drop off service beginning at 7:35 a.m. This service is free of charge. Just a reminder that staff will not be available earlier than 7:35 a.m. and that students should not be dropped off prior to this time! Doing so, is not in the best interest of our students as there is no staff member responsible for their care prior to 7:35 a.m.! We can only reiterate this statement as is necessary; however, we need your consistent support to ensure that unattended students are not dropped off and left to wonder the campus before the arrival of staff.
In addition, once early drop off does begin at 7:35 a.m., we respectfully request that parents and students make their way to the driveway leading to the lower blacktop to sign in for the program. This is the only place that staff will be signing in youngsters so that they can easily and safely proceed onward to the lower blacktop. We appreciate your support and cooperation!
: For those families that
ordered student photo packages, they will be distributed this week per
photographer Richard Herbert. He has, unfortunately, been dealing with some
personal family matters over the past several weeks, which has delayed the
distribution date. Packages will be distributed to the classroom instructors
for further distribution to students. If you ordered a packet and have not
received it by late this week, please contact the office to inquire as to
the status.
: The student directories are here! If you ordered a directory (or two or three), they were distributed last week on November 22nd via the oldest child's teacher. Please note that any directories that have not yet been paid for have NOT been sent home, but will be held in the office pending payment and distributed once payment is received. A separate individual email was sent to each family last week indicating the amount due.
If you did not pre-purchase a directory, we have a limited number of them available for purchase in the front office. Please see Administrative Assistant Karen Kushel if you would like to purchase a directory; they are available for $5.00 each.
-- An addition / correction update sheet will be printed in approximately one month. So, for those who did not submit a form for inclusion in the directory, or find an error in your listing, please email or submit this information directly to coordinator Tara Clark at calbeartara@yahoo.com by this coming Friday, December 9th. We heartily thank Tara for her amazing efforts in making this year's directory a reality. We encourage thank yous be directed her way at the email listed above!
Articles, get your articles! As curriculum coordinator, I am always happy to disseminate my collection of education-related articles, especially those that have helped us to form ISM's identity. I have some juicy articles on inquiry-based instruction, teaching for understanding, the Core Commonalities of our middle school, student-led portfolio conferences, international schools, the International Baccalaureate, and much more. I simply wanted to remind parents this week that they are more than welcome to stop by and procure any and all of them at any time!.
ASI,
ISM's own Afterschool program is one of many afterschool care options
available to families. It is now in it's second year of operation and due
to the student growth this year, the program is well attended daily. As we
have received the question recently as to "Who are the ASI
staff members?", we wanted to take the opportunity to introduce you to each of the caregivers. First off, the program is led by Program Coordinator, Lisa Wichael-Loomis, who is a fulltime staff member also responsible for managing and operating
the ISM Fresh Lunch program as well as several annual community activities
like the recent canned food drive benefiting the Monterey County Food Bank.
Other staffers involved in the program include ISM's Drama teacher, Miss
Sarah Benbow, and Instructional Aides (IA) "Mr. Robby" Fabry and
Miss Barbara Peters. Robby serves as the IA for Grades 7 and 8, while Miss
Barbara assists in Grades 5 and 6, and both provide Early Morning Drop-off
and school day playground oversight.
We also employ two additional ASI staff members who are not employed with us
during the 8:20 a.m. - 3:20 p.m. school day. Adding further youth and vigor
to the team is Richard Wagner, serving for a second year, who is a 12th
grade exchange student from Prague, capital city of the Czech Republic,
currently studying at Monterey High School and being hosted by Executive
Director Chrissie Jahn. Kristen Carlyle, our newest staff member, joined
ASI in August. A resident of Morgan Hill, Kristen is currently a student at
Cal State University Monterey Bay (CSUMB) and plans to become a teacher.
The Afterschool International program runs from 2:50 p.m.(for Kinders)
until 6:00 p.m. each day in the ISM library. Fees and schedules vary
depending on individual families' needs. Drop-in care is also available for
all ISM students with a full day's notice for $10 per student per hour. As
mentioned in previous news briefs, those students not yet collected by 3:45
p.m. each day - following the pick-up process in the front of the building
- will be automatically forwarded to the ASI program to ensure their safety
until a parent or authorized adult arrives. This care is also assessed at a
cost of $10 per student per hour. Please note that the admin office is
not equipped to handle the daily numbers of students who are not collected
on time each week and on Tuesday
afternoons, all staff members participate in a weekly staff meeting
beginning at 3:45 p.m. and are not present in the admin office at all.
While in the care of the ASI program and staff, students will receive a
snack, homework help, arts and craft opportunities, as well as lots of free
time to burn off energy on the playground. For more information on this
program, please email ASI / Fresh Lunch Program Coordinator Lisa Wichael
Loomis at lwloomis@ismonterey.org
with any questions or comments.
:
A. FAMILY ASSOCIATION MEETING - THURSDAY, DECEMBER 1ST, 6:30 p.m.: For those interested in assisting organizers with ongoing volunteer needs at ISM as well as on upcoming special events, please join chairperson Ellen Gaucher and fellow parents at this organizational meeting. This group has already provided parent mixers to kick-off the school year, Coffee Club refreshments last month during morning drop off, and identified active and enthusiastic event co-chairs for next month's holiday concert. Stop by to see how you can become more involved!
B. FAMILY ASSOCIATION AFTERNOON REFRESHMENTS - MONDAY, DECEMBER 5TH, 2:30 - 3:50 p.m.:To further encourage "mixing and mingling", the Family Association invites you to stop by their refreshment table the first Monday in December during afternoon pick-up. Enjoy the tasty morsels, meet new friends, and sign up for an ongoing or upcoming volunteer need.
C. DECEMBER SATURDAY WORK DAY - SATURDAY, DECEMBER 10TH, 9:30 a.m. -
1:00 p.m.: Take a break from holiday shopping and stress by stopping by ISM the second Saturday in December to "lend a hand" on needed school-wide projects, to include possible repainting of playground lines on the lower blacktop. The holiday season is made richer and more fulfilling by generously giving of one's time and effort as well as thoughtful gifts. We look forward to seeing many of you there! The event co-chair for this month will be parent volunteer Marco Poehner, parent of Caterina, Grade 5, Natalia, Grade 3, and Andreas, Grade 1.
D. KIDS YARD SALE SPONSORED BY GRADE 5 - SATURDAY, DECEMBER 10TH, 10:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.: The enthusiastic students of Mrs. Sally Burns' 5th grade class are organizing a Yard sale on December 10th for ISM students of all ages to sell unwanted toys, clothing, furniture, books, etc. Fifty percent of the event proceeds will go to benefit U.N.I.C.E.F. and the American Red Cross, student entrepreneurs will retain fifty percent of their sales revenue. In advance of the holiday season, this is a great opportunity for youngsters to go through their closets and recycle / resell items they no longer use, benefiting the environment and another happy buyer. Flyers will be distributed later this week and interested participants are required to pre-register as table space is limited. Doors will open at 8:00 a.m. for sellers to set up their wares and the event will begin promptly at 10:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m. Participants are asked to contribute to the post-event clean up after 2:00 p.m. Refer to the upcoming flyer for more information or email Sally Burns at sburns@ismonterey.org.
E. KIDS OVERNIGHT SLEEPOVER CAMP - CONFIRMED TIMES: SATURDAY, DECEMBER 10TH AT 5:00 P.M. - SUNDAY, DECEMBER 11TH AT 9:30 A.M.: Need a date out with your hubby, wife, or significant other? Need some time to start - or complete - holiday shopping without the distraction of loved ones? If the answer to either or both of these questions is an emphatic "yes!", than plan on registering your child(ren) for this overnight sleepover under the direction of Grade 5 instructor, Mrs. Sally Burns, and ASI/Fresh Lunch Coordinator, Lisa Wichael-Loomis. They will be teaming up to provide an evening of food (hotdog barbecue and a do-it-yourself ice cream bar), and fun to keep your little ones well entertained while you take a needed night off from parenting. Sleepover flyers are available in the admin office on the informational credenza or email either Mrs. Burns at sburns@ismonterey.org or Miss Wichael-Loomis at lwloomis@ismonterey.org.
F. SCHOLASTIC BOOK FAIRE - WEEK OF MONDAY, DECEMBER 12TH: Attention, Fair Ladies, Lords, Young Maidens and Knights! Ye Scholastic Book Faire commences a fortnight hence, on Monday, December 12th, in our very own ISM library. Prepare thy reading wishes. If great books of wisdom, craft, adventure and entertainment are what you seek, come tarry at the Faire! For volunteers and staff to prepare for the upcoming Book Fair, this will be the last week that the library will be available for students to check out books. Beginning December 5th, the library will be closed and students should plan to have all reading materials returned no later than Friday, December 9th. Teachers will be announcing this to all students; however, please remind your child to return outstanding library books next week.
G. WINTER HOLIDAY SHOWCASE / SCHOLASTIC BOOK SALE - THURSDAY, DECEMBER 15TH, 6:00 p.m.: Please note revised start time of 6:00 p.m. from originally listed time of 6:30 p.m. Staff coordinators Miss Anna and Mr. D are already in hot pursuit of "class acts" for the December holiday program. As we are now a school in excess of 300 students, the design of the concert will be unique, incorporating multiple indoor and outdoor performance venues -- a Main Stage, Garden Stage, and classrooms -- highlighting multiple performances. All classes Grades K - 4 will have two performances, held 15 minutes apart, in different locations. Grades 5 - 8 will perform back-to-back on the main stage at the end of the evening, to allow for more drama and other types of performances. This schedule also allow concertgoers to easily access the Book Fair while traveling from venue to venue as well as provide an opportunity for older students to participate in a volunteer, "open mike" activity in the pod. More exciting details to follow.
 :
A. GRADE 6 FIELDTRIPS RELATED TO NATURAL HISTORY OF MONTEREY COUNTY
UNIT: POINT LOBOS 2 - MONDAY, NOVEMBER 28th - 11:10 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
During this trip, the 6th graders will return to Pt. Lobos and guided by former US Geological Survey geologist Ed Clifton, they will learn about and practice geologic mapping. All trips will include lunch out on the trail!
B. GRADE 3: MR. DVORAK FIELDTRIP TO DESALINATION PLANT - TUESDAY, NOVEMBER
29TH - 1:30 to 3:00 p.m.: Continuing their Water unit of study, 3rd graders will also travel by parent carpool to the Desalination plant located next to Marina State Beach to learn first-hand how ocean water is transformed into drinking water. Using the process of reverse osmosis, the plant then makes the water suitable for drinking and other household uses for the residents of Marina.
C. GRADE 2: MISS SWEENEY FIELDTRIP TO SEACLIFF STATE BEACH VISITOR CENTER - THURSDAY, DECEMBER 1ST - 8:20 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.: Seacliff State Beach has a visitor center where the students will look at different fossils and rocks. They will also be able to dig their own fossils and learn how they are formed as well as see different rock layers visible in the cliffs.
D. GRADE 6 FIELDTRIPS RELATED TO NATURAL HISTORY OF MONTEREY COUNTY
UNIT: PINNACLES / HOLLISTER - MONDAY, DECEMBER 5th - 8:20 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. The aim of this trip will be to introduce students to the geology of the Pinnacles National Monument and the San Andreas Fault, guided by a Park ranger. They will also visit Hollister, a South County town, to observe the effect of faulting on construction codes.
: Greetings all! Due to our expansion in enrollment this year, and the increase in size of some of our students (they get so tall so fast!), the P.E. department is in need of additional equipment. Specifically, we are looking for people to recycle / donate their older, yet safe, sporting goods equipment, such as:
1. Tennis racquets (all sizes);
2. Golf putters (any size) and golf balls:
3. Two mini basketball nets and stands - the ones that stand about 4-5 feet tall; and
4. A foosball or air hockey table!
If you have other oddities just laying around, please email Miss Julie Livingston at jlivingston@ismonterey.org.
JUST A REMINDER! Field day is scheduled for the last school day of the year on Wednesday, June 7th. We are going to need LOTS of
parent / community volunteers, so we would like to put the request out early for support! I am not yet accepting particular positions, but start thinking about how you might be interested to help!
: Listed below are a few things desired by community members:
1) Printer Cartridges: ISM is now participating in an inkjet cartridge recycling program with the help of a company called Empties4Cash. The empty cartridges that we - as a community - typically throw away can be recycled and remanufactured. We ask that you bring your empty cartridges to school and put them in the collection box in the front office. ISM benefits by getting paid up to $4.00 for each empty inkjet cartridge that has a print head. Acceptable brands include HP, Lexmark, Xerox, Compaq, Brother, Dell, Canon, and Apple; however, Epson print cartridges cannot be accepted as they are produced without a print head. If possible, please submit cartridges either in their original packaging or a Ziploc bag to keep it safe from damages and spills. Thank you! If anyone is interested in heading this project as the volunteer coordinator, please contact Lisa Griffin Burns.
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