Soquel Union Elementary School District Santa Cruz Gardens ...

Soquel Union Elementary School District
Santa Cruz Gardens School Newsletter
September, 2011/12
Molly Whiteley, Principal
Volume II - Number I
Principal’s Message
Hello SCG Families!
It was wonderful to see so
many of you at our first Home and
School Club meeting on
September 13, and at Back-to
School-Night on September 22!
We want to welcome our new
families and be sure that you feel
included in our SCG community.
Our first month of school has
gone very smoothly, thanks to our
hardworking students, staff and of
course, supportive families. I really
appreciate everyone’s enthusiasm,
positive attitude and productivity,
even with the budget challenges
we continue to face this year.
Many of our teachers could be
found setting up their classrooms
weeks before their contracted work
days, and of course ready to apply
their expertise and adapt to some
last minute changes in order to
provide the best possible learning
environment for our students.
Not all of our challenges are
bad! For example, as a result of
our increased kindergarten
enrollment, we have about 328
students, up from 293 last year.
Additionally, with the District’s
decision to reinstate Class Size
Reduction for K-2 at an average of
22 students per class, we needed
to hire two additional experienced
teachers for our school just a few
days before school started. Over
the long run, these short-term
“challenges” are better for
students, so we thank everyone for
your patience and flexibility, which
contributed to our smooth
beginning.
Kindergarten Playground: We
also are very fortunate to have a
new play structure being built in
the kindergarten playground area,
thanks to a grant secured by our
Preschool CKC, (Campus Kids
Connection.) While we don’t
usually introduce kindergarten
students to the “big kids
playground” so early in the year, I
must say that everyone has
handled it very well, including the
older students who have shared
their play structure and shown the
younger students “the ropes,”
while modeling appropriate
playground etiquette. The
construction has gone very well
and we expect to be using the new
structure very soon!
I continue to be very
impressed with the engaging and
respectful learning environment I
observe everyday on campus and
when I visit classrooms. Teachers
refer to the District’s Core Values
of Safety, Respect, Caring,
Responsibility and Honesty when
setting and reviewing behavior and
academic expectations. Our
teachers are well versed in
academic standards as well as
effective instructional strategies to
meet students’ academic and
social-emotional needs. With the
wonderful job you do at home
helping your children learn these
values and basics, we can expect
to have another productive,
successful and rewarding year.
You may be aware that our
overall STAR test results for
grades 2-5 continue to be above
average for schools with similar
demographics. We are very
proud of the hard work on the part
of everyone—students, staff, and
families---for another year of
continuing academic growth. You
can read more about the STAR
scores and API for all California
schools at
www.cde.ca.gov/ta/ac/ap/apireport
s.asp website.
Test scores are only one
measure of a successful school.
We strive to go “beyond basics”
and provide a balanced curriculum,
emphasizing many essential
components that can’t be
measured by test scores. These
include critical thinking, creativity
and social-emotional skills, such
as those expressed in our core
values. We also want to
emphasize all aspects of healthy
lifestyles, as well as provide a
range of learning opportunities in
the arts. I personally have the goal
for every child to become an
informed and active World Citizen,
which requires an understanding,
appreciation and ability to
communicate with people of many
cultures, an understanding of the
sciences and environmental
issues, as well as an ability to
apply critical thinking to the “facts”
so that they can make responsible
decisions. This is a tall order, but
goals which I believe we must hold
for our children, if they are to live
on and contribute to a peaceful
and healthy Earth.
Speaking of the Arts, many of
our teachers are highly skilled in
the Arts (some play music, others
are marvelous visual artists and/or
play directors and producers).
Thanks also to your amazing
support and the fundraising
leadership of the Home and
School Club, we offer students a
comprehensive Arts program that
encompasses music, dance,
theater and visual arts. These
programs are not inexpensive;
they cost approximately $70,000 a
year, so when you get asked to
help during our various
fundraisers, we hope you will do
what you can in these tough
economic times to help contribute
to our arts programs.
I would like to salute our
continuing Home and School
Club (HSC) officers: Co-
Presidents Louisa Rowland and

Cheri Trebbien, Vice-president
Amanda Jackson Miller, Co-
Secretaries Stacey Martell and
Vicky Grisham, and Co–
Treasurers Suzanne and Paul
Buse. They are working hard to
continue the successful traditional
events of the Home and School
Club, including fundraising and
providing extra activities for our
students, with your help and
participation. Every year, we lose a
few active fifth grade parents to the
middle school, and fortunately new
parents come aboard and take
their place. This club is very
involved in “making it happen” at
our school.
As you probably know, all
schools in California have had to
cut important programs, due to the
budget crisis. For our school, this
has included cuts to our music and
library programs. The Home and
School Club has voted to fundraise
and pay for a librarian and a music
teacher for two years running.
This has made it possible to
continue our librarians, Michelle
Jesberg and Carol Bryant and to
hire our new K-5 music teacher,
Leah Mendez. The Home and
School Club is also funding dance
programs this year, such as folk
dance with Jerry Falek for grades
4-5 and African dance with Ibou,
for grades K-3. We also have an
arts advisory committee that helps
to keep us in touch with grant
opportunities and channel the
community support for ongoing
arts activities in our school.
Volunteerism: There is no
shortage of opportunity for
volunteers at our school. We have
both “in-class” and “out-ofclass”
opportunities, one-time
and long-time, etc. Teachers
typically ask for volunteers at
Back-to-School Night for all types
of jobs, but if you missed your
opportunity to sign up, please
contact your teacher(s), the office,
or a Home and School Club officer.
In addition to classroom jobs, we
often have office-based tasks as
well as school-wide committees.
Perhaps you are bilingual (in any
languages) and would like to offer
to help translate either verbally or
in writing. We can also use
volunteers on the playground at
recess or with parking lot
supervision during drop-off and
pick-up. If you are interested in
being on a Technology Advisory
Committee to help build a longterm
technology plan for our
school, as well as help secure
funding to update our technology,
please contact the school office
and let us know
A big thank you and welcome
to Summer Carney, a parent
volunteer, who is in her second
year of overseeing our garden
activities. This is almost a fulltime
job, keeping the garden
nourished and growing so it can be
used by our students as a living
science lab. There are many other
types of lessons that can be
learned in a garden, including
responsibility, caring, sharing,
healthy lifestyles, etc. There are
also plenty of opportunities for your
help in the garden, both during and
after school! Summer has
organized Garden Work Days,
which will be one Friday per
month, right after school is out.
Many thanks to those of you who
participated in our first Garden
Work Day on Friday, September
16. Contact Summer if you’d like
to get involved.
The Home and School Club
still has several other committees
that need leaders or participants to
help make our family “funraisers”
and “fundraisers”
successful.
HSC just ended the
Innisbrook fundraiser and they
are now planning for the Fall
Festival, Drive for Schools
fundraiser and Walk-a-thon. To
learn more about how you can
support the Home and School Club
activities, see the last page of
every school newsletter or visit the
website at
www.scghomeandschoolclub.com.
Attendance: The Board of
Trustees, our District
administration, principals, teachers
and support staff urges you to
send your children to school
EVERY DAY unless they are sick.
Many returning parents already
know that the state does not pay
schools for “excused” (illness) or
“unexcused” (vacations, lack of
transportation) absences, but if
you are a kindergarten parent you
might not be aware of this. If at any
time you have a family emergency
or you must go somewhere with
your family, we offer Independent
Study for five days or more. We
do request that you notify us at
least a week in advance, as
teachers need to carve time out of
their busy day to put packets
together. For more information,
contact the school office.
Tardies: We know that an
occasional tardy can’t be helped.
Of course, the habit of being on
time is a life skill and helps us start
instruction on time with minimal
interruptions. When a student
arrives late, it is sometimes
embarrassing to them, as well as
difficult for the class to get started.
Please do everything you can to
help your children arrive on time
on a regular basis. If your child
arrives on campus after the
“second bell” at 8:30 a.m., s/he
needs to go to the office to get a
pink slip. We are required by law
to log tardies, as well as absences.
Free and Reduced Lunch: The
District is encouraging every family
to consider applying for the free
and reduced lunch program, just to
be sure you know whether you
qualify or not. If you have not
already done so, please review the
packet. Not only can this save you
money, but also, a portion of our
school funding is based on the
number of eligible students for this
program.
Parking Lot Safety:
I want to thank you for
following the parking lot safety
rules and for doing everything you
can to support our parking lot
attendants to help keep all children
and adults safe. We have limited
parking lot staff posted in strategic
locations. Their eyes and ears are
always scanning the situation while
dealing with individual student
needs. You can help them by
being aware of the supervisors’

need to focus on the task at hand
and teaching your children to be
safe at all times.
When you drop off or pick up
the children, you probably have
observed that we need to keep the
pickup area of the school clear of
cars. You’ve also probably noticed
that when you stop there, we wave
you forward so the traffic flows
(when a car stops where the buses
park, the flow stops and cars backup).
Parking in the neighborhood
and walking to meet your students
is often the quickest and safest
way to meet them. If you are
picking up children via the drive
through and they are not in front
ready to go, please park in our lot
or outside the gate (if the lot is full)
or drive around the parking lot. It is
not safe, courteous or efficient to
stop traffic flow. And please
NEVER let your children walk
across the parking lot
unaccompanied by an adult or
wave for them to come to your
parked car.
Walkers and bikers are doing a
superb job of using the walk/bike
path. Adults and children are
walking their bikes through the
path. We also appreciate how
everyone respects the reserved
Auction Donors parking space we
have. These families donated “big
bucks” at last year’s Silent Auction
for the privilege of having their very
own reserved parking space,
which rotates on a monthly basis.
Speaking of parking lots,
driving and safety: SCG will be
participating in the Bike and Walk
to Work Day on Thursday,
October 6! It will be the third time
we will have participated in this fun
event and we are hoping for lots of
participants and maybe an emptier
parking lot! Many thanks to
Wendy Bussiere for coordinating
this.
Finally, a word about dismissal
and instruction times. If you have
a child in K-3, you may not realize
that our 4 th -5 th graders are in
school until 3:15 p.m. on Monday
through Thursday and until 12: 10
p.m. on Friday. Because classes
are still in session, the playground
is closed to visitors until the end of
the 4 th -5 th grade instructional day.
If you are picking up a younger
sibling and waiting for an older
child to be dismissed, please help
keep the campus conducive to
instruction. As a general rule, even
after the school day, children on
campus must be monitored at all
times—in bathrooms, outside
classrooms, in corridors, and on
the playground. We appreciate
your understanding and assistance
with this.
Once again, thanks to
everyone for such a great
beginning! It’s going to be a terrific
year!
Sincerely,
Molly Whiteley
New Faces at SCG
We welcome new teachers
Millicent Frost (Grade 1), Paula
Codiga (SDC preschool teacher)
Sarah Legard (Grade 3), and
Leah Mendez, (K-5 Music
teacher). Also returning to SCG
from Soquel Elementary is Jen
Field (Grade 2/3). We also
welcome new special education
aides Deidre Birtchet, Natalee
Hay, Diana Lopez, Madison
Powers, Monica Rigor, and
Alyssa Sullivan. Coming from
Main St. is instructional aide Kay
Johnson who is working in the Jr.
Kindergarten program. Shelley
Gaboury is our new Administrative
Specialist for CELDT and STAR
support. Welcome all new staff!
Fall Fundraiser
Thank you for participating in the
Innisbrook Fall Fundraiser. The
proceeds of this drive will go to
support our terrific teachers’
classroom budgets. This includes
classroom supplies and copy
charges for the entire school year.
School Site Council
The first meeting will be held
Tuesday, October 4 at 3:15 p.m.
The Council will discuss the role of
School Site Council, opening day
enrollment, the categorical budget
and STAR results. The Council
reviews the implementation of the
Single Plan for Student
Achievement and periodically
assesses the effectiveness of Title
I and other School Improvement
Programs specifically addressed in
the Single Plan. This year’s
members are Socorro Gutierrez,
Marina Chicurel, Steven Parker,
Jolene McFeely, Jackie Jack,
Jen Field, Abby Weisel, Bridget
Maloney, Sue Shankland and
Molly Whiteley.
School Board News
Good news! The entire Board
packet is now available online.
The link to the agenda and the
packet is:
http://www.soqueldo.santacruz.k1
2.ca.us/Trustees/Trustees.html
The Board agenda and packet will
be posted late afternoon on the
Friday before each regularly
scheduled Board meeting.
Rem em ber ! N o d ogs
are allow ed on
c am pus!
Come to the Fall
Festival!
Friday, October 28
3:00 – 7:00 p.m.

SMOKE-FREE ZONE
Santa Cruz Gardens School, along with all of the
Soquel District Schools, is a Smoke-Free
Environment. Parents, please respect this policy.
No smoking on school grounds or parking lots,
school buildings or if you are accompanying
students on a field trip.
When your child is not going to be at school,
please call our 24 - hour ATTENDANCE
HOTLINE!
464-5645
Campus Kids Connection Offers Before/After
School Care
CKC operates on a sliding fee scale based on gross
monthly income and the number of family members
sharing the income. This is an excellent alternative for
families who must drop off their children before 8:00 a.m.
The school does not have yard supervision until
8:00 a.m.
County Supervisor, John Leopold
holds monthly constituent meetings
in Santa Cruz Gardens!
The 4 th Wednesday of each month–5:30 – 6:30 pm
Next meeting: October 26, 2011
Santa Cruz Gardens School Library
Come hear what’s going on in County
government and share your concerns & ideas.
For more info – call 454-2200
Calendar
October 4 - School Site Council – 3:15 p.m. – SCG Library
October 5 – Room Parent Tea – 3:30 - Library
October 6 –Bike to School Day
October 10 – Staff Development Day – No School for students
October 11 – Home and School Club Meeting – 1:30 p.m. – SCG Library
October 11 – English Learners Advisory Council (ELAC) – 3:30 – 4:30 p.m. - Library
October 13 - School Picture Day
October 19 - Board of Trustees Meeting – 6:30 p.m. - District Office Board Room – 620 Monterey Avenue, Capitola
October 28 – Walkathon – 9:00 – 10:30 a.m.
October 28 – Home and School Club’s Fall Festival – 3:00 – 7:00 p.m. – at school
October 31 - Halloween Parade - 1:00 p.m.
School Schedule
8:25 a.m. – First warning bell rings-students go to class
8:30 a.m. – Second bell rings – students are in class
2:15 p.m. – Kindergarten dismissal
2:40 p.m. – Grades 1 – 3 dismissal
3:15 p.m. – Grades 4 and 5 dismissal
Friday dismissal
11:45 a.m. – Kindergarten
12:00 p.m. – Grades 1 – 3
12:10 p.m. – Grades 4 and 5

Home and School Club News
By Amanda Jackson Miller
Welcome back! (Has it been a whole month of school
already?) We extend a special welcome to our new
students and their families. We enjoyed meeting so
many of you at our September Home & School Club
meeting. Our school year is jam-packed with lots of
activities, as you will soon find out, and coming to our
meetings is a great way to be involved and share your
own unique talents and ideas.
Thank you to all who participated in the Innisbrook
fundraiser. The Home & School Club earmarks all
proceeds from Innisbrook to our teachers’ budgets. We
thank Denise Wolfinger for running this fundraiser &
Vicky Grisham for helping her.
Could you use a brand new car? Tickets are on sale
now to win a new Toyota Prius hybrid or Subaru
Outback in a fundraiser called “Drive for Schools.”
Schools around the county sell tickets ($5 each), and the
drawing will be held at the Capitola Auto Mall on
Sunday, October 23. The winner can choose the car or
$25,000 in cash… and who couldn’t use that! Tickets
are on sale September 22 nd thru October 14 th . We will
be sending tickets and sales information home with your
students soon. Our school keeps 100% of the ticket
price, so please consider taking extra tickets home to
sell to friends, family, co-workers, etc! Thanks to
Brenda Piazza & Amanda Miller for sitting in the
driver’s seat on this one.
The Monte Fireworks Show is October 7. You can
buy tickets in the school office for $10.00. All proceeds
go to benefit county schools.
Speaking of driving, if you plan on driving your vehicle
on any class field trip, the school office will need to have
a current copy of your DMV record, proof of insurance, a
copy of your driver’s license and a Personal Vehicle Use
form (available in the school office).
Want to show your school spirit? Our school logo tee
shirts and hooded sweatshirts are always in style! Order
forms are available in the office. Tees are $10 each and
hoodies are $25 each. All kid and adult sizes are
available.
There are several other ways to help our school that do
not require a monetary contribution. Please sign up for
eScrip at www.escrip.com. The eScrip program is a
fundraising program that allows participating merchants
to contribute a percentage of your grocery loyalty cards,
credit card, and debit/ATM card purchases to our school.
Safeway is our biggest local contributor, so please
encourage friends & family (even out-of-state!) to
register their Safeway club cards at escrip.com.
Safeway also helps our school through the “10% back to
schools” program. From now until October 12 th , we are
collecting Safeway receipts that have a “10% back to
schools” code on the bottom. Please bring your receipts
with codes to the office as soon as possible – those
codes turn into cash for our school! You can collect
receipts with the code from family, friends, neighbors,
etc. You can even collect the coded receipts from
strangers – and a big thanks to all of the parent
volunteers who sat outside of Safeway recently doing
just that! Thanks to Whitney Phillips for organizing this
one. If you shop at Nob Hill/Raley’s, please pick up one
of their customer loyalty cards in the school office. Each
time you use it, they contribute a percentage of your
grocery bill to our school. In addition, please go to our
school’s link if you shop at Amazon.com,
(www.scghomeandschoolclub.com); as we get a
contribution back to our school. Remember to also cut
out those little pink Box Tops for Education on products
like Cheerios and Ziploc bags and return to your child’s
teacher when requested.
Our first garden work party on September 16 was a
success! If you would like to work in the garden or
donate materials, please contact Summer Carney at
831-479-4421 or summerdawn@baymoon.com.
Our Fall Festival organizers are gathering volunteers as
we speak for a fantastic event scheduled for October
28 th . There will be games, food, drinks, pumpkin
decorating, and much, much more. This is a great event
to get to know your teachers, principal, students and
other parents while having a lot of fun and wonderful
food!!! October 28 th is also the date for our annual
school Walk-a-thon – please remember to turn in your t-
shirt order forms ASAP! The order form is in the office if
you need another copy.
All parents should have already received a volunteer
information packet from the Home and School Club
giving details about our volunteer opportunities and
upcoming events. Please return the form to your
teacher(s) if you haven’t already. Our school is very
successful in providing programs and activities for the
kids, above and beyond what the state of California
gives us… and we do this with the help of some very
dedicated volunteers.
Connect With Us! Email us at:
contact@scghomeandschoolclub.com with any
questions or comments, join our Facebook group
(search groups for “Santa Cruz Gardens Elementary
Home and School Club”), or even leave us a note in the
office! We’d love to hear from you.
The next Home and School Club meeting will be on
October 11 th at 1:30 p.m. in the library. We hope to
see you. Your participation helps make a difference
for our school and your child’s future.

SCG Core Values
Be Safe
Be Caring
Be Respectful
Be Honest
Be Responsible
Help your Child Win a Prize!
Great news! You can help your child participate in our monthly student book drawing. To participate in the drawing, all
you have to do is read our monthly newsletter, sign the student book drawing ticket included in the newsletter, cut it out
and ask your child to return it to his/her teacher. Each month, a student's name will be drawn from each grade level. In
the spirit of promoting readership, the prize will be a beautiful children's book from an assortment of student-selected
titles.
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Santa Cruz Gardens School Newsletter Book Drawing Ticket
I have read the Santa Cruz Gardens School Newsletter ___________________________________
Parent's Signature
Student’s Name __________________________
Teacher _______________________________
This ticket must be returned to your child's teacher no later than October 14 to be eligible for the book drawing.