Principal's Letter 2/16/11

February 16, 2011

Dear Roosevelt Families,

I would like to thank all of the students for the incredible job they have done devouring books and lots of rich literature during our, ‘Gotta Keep Reading' Read-a-Thon this past month! I have loved hearing all about their favorite literary characters, their frequent trips to the library and surprising Roosevelt students in their homes to catch them reading on T.V. Turn-Off Tuesdays. They have also enjoyed being in touch with family members and friends near and far away, who have generously supported their many reading adventures along the way. We hope that everyone loved watching our first flash mob in action and on youtube! We heard that your children got your whole family moving and rehearsing at home as well. It was an incredible success and we had so much fun learning all the dance moves and having all 786 students on the big yard dancing and singing in unison to celebrate our love of reading. It was truly remarkable and we owe a big thank you to our many Read-a-Thon parent leaders, student dance captains, PE coaches, and teachers, who made this event such a great event for all.

Now that we have younger siblings doing the Read-a-Thon flash mob, they are probably more than ready to come to Roosevelt next year. So, we are creating a dedicated time for Roosevelt families only to register their incoming Kindergarten children for next year before Kindergarten Round Up. Please come NEXT WEEK on February 22^nd, 23^rd, or 24^th from 9:00 am - 12:00 pm or 2:00 – 4:00 pm to the front office and bring proof of residency, two current utility bills (gas, water and electric) and a driver's license that matches the address. You must come to register during these days and times next week in order to guarantee that your child has a spot at Roosevelt. We always look forward to getting to know the many new Roosevelt siblings!

Talking about the next 2011-2012 school year… SMMUSD recently approved the school calendar. The school will begin a week earlier than it has been in the past. Please mark your calendars that the first day of school will be Tuesday, August 30, 2011. For those of you who like to plan your summer travels way in advance, the start of school for the following school year (2012-2013) will be another week earlier, August 23, 2012. Both of these school year calendars (2011-2012 and 2012-2013) have been approved by the Board of education and are posted on myroosevelt.net and the SMMUSD website. The posted calendars include the scheduled winter breaks, spring breaks, and last days of school for each year. I suggest that you take a look at the posted 2011-2012 calendar, since all of the breaks and end of year dates are very different than they have been in the past. We greatly appreciate any adjustments you may need to make to your travel and vacation plans to ensure that your child is at Roosevelt when school is in session. Thank you very much for your cooperation!

This Friday, February 18^th the report cards for the first semester will go home with all SMMUSD students. A parent letter from the district will accompany the report card to explain exactly how student progress is measured. The standards-based report cards are a valuable communication tool used to share with parents the grade level standards and your child's progress towards reaching those standards. We hope that you will use this as a guide to recognize your child's efforts and areas of accomplishment and support your child in the targeted areas for growth and improvement. Thank you again for your continued support of your child's education in so many ways. We place tremendous value on the fact that educating your child is a true partnership!

Speaking about the importance of our Roosevelt home-school connection, we want to thank our PTA for bringing in a fabulous resource for all of us last week; Dr. Mary Jane Rotheram-Borus. She is a professor of clinical psychology at UCLA and the Director of the Global Center for Children and Families at the Semel Institute. She gave a wonderful presentation on; Bullying and Healthy Friendships: Navigating the Terrain. An excerpt includes;

"Friends matter a lot to children, but they are not born knowing how to be friends.

They have to learn – which they do, but through trial and error, even the most compassionate children engage in bullying at one time or another (perhaps with a sibling). Even the strongest children may sometimes be teased in a way that makes them feel bad.”

She gave us tools and information to foster children's developing social skills and help them build healthy connections, such as; how to tell when someone is a good friend, how to be a good friend to others, what to do when someone makes a mistake in a friendship. Thank you PTA!

To build upon this topic of supporting the social and emotional growth of our students, we have invited

a very experienced elementary school counselor and children's author, Karen Gedig Burnett (a.k.a Grandma Rose) to present her interactive assemblies to each grade level next Friday, February 25^th. Grandma Rose's presentation is based on her children's story Simon's Hook, A Story about Teases and Put-Downs. It is designed for all ages to learn resiliency and personal empowerment. Her program offers an intriguing, entertaining, and proven technique that kids can employ when feeling hurt or confused as a result of teasing. Through her assembly and message, children develop a life-long strategy for dealing with teasing and put-downs, and help them become real-life problem-solvers. We invite all parents to attend her parent presentation on the same day, February 25^th from 10:00 – 11:00 am in our auditorium on; Raising Empowered Children…Teaching your Child how to Handle Bullies. For more information, feel free to visit her website at; http://www.grandmarose.com/.

Please remember that in celebration of Presidents Day, there is no school next Monday, February 21^st. SMMUSD also has an upcoming furlough day next month and there will be no school on Monday, March 14^th.

What a great time to go to the library with your child and check out our February Character Book of the Month; The Rag Coat, which focuses on kindness. Have a wonderful three-day weekend with your family!

Sincerely,

Natalie R. Burton

Principal

Roosevelt Elementary School