From Erin Green, Principal

Dear Covington Parents and Community Members,

What a great return back toschool after our February break. Our kids have had a fantastic week, especially due to our outstanding weather. Tomorrow is Read Across America Day and the Cat in the Hat will be visiting our 1st graders!  Our 4th, 5th and 6th graders are excited to kick off the Junior Olympics tomorrow at the afternoon assembly!

Covington Students Making a Difference:  1st Grader named Honorary Board Member. 

Covington student Zach Brunner was featured in our Town Crier this week for his fundraising efforts on behalf of Lassen Volcanic National Park.  We applaud and celebrate one of our own students taking the initiative to make a difference. Read more about Zach in the Town Crier: http://www.losaltosonline.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=45601&Itemid=47

Safety Planning at Covington

The past few weeks, we have worked closely with the Los Altos and Mountain View Police Departments to evaluate and revise our safety guidelines and procedures. To ensure alignment with State and District safety guidelines, our staff at Covington has updated our Safety Plan to include specific procedures for fire, earthquake and Code Red drills. We regularly practice fire and earthquake drills, and will now add Code Red drills to our yearly schedule.  

Yesterday, Officer Krauss from the Los Altos Police Department visited at our staff meeting. We had a veryproductive meeting talking through emergency lock-down procedures and we put together plans to conduct a Code Red practice drill (lockdown) in April.  Our teachers will be working with their classes in the next few weeks practicing safety procedures, if there were ever a dangerous situation on campus (CodeRed).   As stated in previous newsletters, we will not be talkingabout the Sandy Hook events in Connecticut, but we will teach kids that in the event of an immediate danger on campus (i.e.:  dangerous dog on campus, reckless vehicle or stranger with a weapon—weapon being anything such as a stick, hammer, etc.) that we will need to lock down. 

Your children may begin telling you that their teachers are teaching them some important techniques to be used during a Code Red drill, such as barricading the classroom door and turning out the lights.  The purpose of practicing is to lower the anxiety during the actual drill and to ensure that staff and students know what to do in case of a real event. I encourage you to discuss the importance of all emergency procedures with your children.

Through out the process of practicing for our Code Red drill, we will reassure all students of their safety at Covington School.   A copy of our School Safety Plan is available for viewing in the school office.  If you have any questions regarding the upcoming drill, or our safety procedures, feel free to contact me. 

What can parents do to support our safety practices?

·      Stop by the office when entering the school to sign in and receive a visitor sticker/badge.  Even if you plan on only staying for a short time, or are a familiar face to all, you need to sign in at the front office. 

·      If you are bringing your child’s lunch to school, do not take it to their classroom or put it in their backpack.  Leave it on the clearly marked table outside the multi.  We will make sure your child picks up their lunch. 

·      Make sure your emergency information is up to date!

·      Pick up your children immediately after school, unless they attend an after school program.  There is nosupervision on the school grounds after school. 

Thanks for your understanding and for supporting our safety procedures.

Have a wonderful weekend and thank you for your ongoing support!

Sincerely,

Erin S. Green

Principal

LAEF

Each year, the parent volunteers on the Los Altos Educational Foundation (LAEF) Board partner with the Los Altos School District (LASD) administration to budget forenrichment programs for the coming school year. The annual LAEF survey is your way to provide input as we enter into the 2013-14 budgeting cycle.  

Your feedback is critical and will be used to make funding decisions for programs  at your child’s school like Art, Music, Library, PE, Junior High Electives and Class Size Reduction.  Please provide your opinion about LAEF funded programs so that we candecide how best to invest our funds to improve the education of our children.  

Please contact laef@att.net if you have not received an email with a link to our annual survey.  Thank you for your participation!

School Nurse

Hearing Screening

The District Nurses will be doing Hearing screening at Covington School for allKindergarten, 2^nd, & 5^th graders on March 13, 2013.  If your child has a known hearing loss, please notify the Health Services Staff before the day of the screening.  The nurse will mail a referral form and call the parents of students who do not pass the Hearing screening.

Pertussis Booster for Students in grade 6

Students currently in grade 6 must have proof of a Tdap or Dtap (Pertussis or Whooping Cough) booster given after their 7th birthday (after 10th birthday is recommended) in order to begin seventh grade in August of 2013. Please provide a copy ofyour child’s immunization record to your school office by March 15, 2013.

Student Council

Student Council News!

Hello, Coyotes! We will behaving a Green Day Stay and Play on Friday, March 15 from 2:45 to 3:10. We will be selling green goodies for $1.00.  Also, please wear green on March 15 to celebrate St. Patrick's Day. Thank you.

Junior Olympics

ATTENTION 4TH, 5TH, & 6TH GRADERS!!

The 2013 LASD Junior Olympics is coming!!

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Saturday, April 27th

8:15am to 4:00pm

Mountain View High School

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Get ready for the kick-off tomorrow (FRIDAY MARCH 1st) afternoon in the multi. 5th and 6th graders,wear your orange JO t-shirts!

TRAINING

Training for Junior Olympics begins on Tuesday, March 12, in PE periods.

**Students need to wear appropriate clothing and shoes for running**

Not wearing appropriate attire will greatly impact a student's enjoyment of Junior Olympic training. It isvery hard to run your fastest in sandles, boots and/or skinny jeans:)

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED for training! Please visit the sign ups online http://tinyurl.com/b9hao2z  to help during one or the PE training sessions. Anyone welcome - no specialskills are required!

Junior Olympic T-SHIRTS

All 4th grade students and new 5th and 6th grade students will receive a complimentary Junior Olympics t-shirt.  The default size is ADULT SMALL. If you would like an alternate size, please fill in and submit the following online form: http://tinyurl.com/azv45wn If your student is NOT new to Junior Olympics and needs a replacement shirt, please visit the JO page on the Covington Website: http://tinyurl.com/bgj6v35

Covington Junior Olympics Committee

Julie Altinger – jaltinger@yahoo.com

Laura Torres - laura_a_torres@yahoo.com

Kathleen Vitakis – vitakis@pacbell.net

GO COYOTES!!!

PTA Update

Author Visits Return to Covington on March 6^th

An assembly for all 3^rd through 6^th grade students on March 6^th will feature Peter Lerangis promoting “The Colossus Rises”, the first book in his new adventure series Seven Wonders.  Author of 160 books including several in the 39 Clues series, Mr. Lerangis is the ideal author to kick-off this year’s Author Visit Program in cooperation with Kepler’s Books.  Order forms to purchase hardcover copies of “The Colossus Rises” personalized and signed by the author are available from the Covington website http://www.covingtonschool.org/. Completed forms withpayment must be returned to your student’s classroom teacher or directly to the school office by Friday, March 1.  For more information about Peter Lerangis and “The Colossus Rises”, visit his website at www.peterlerangis.com. - Maureen Drobot, Covington Librarian, Lori Parsons, PTA Author Visit chair

Auction Related Promotion by Apricot Lane

During March 20% of your purchases will be donated to Covington!  Shop at Apricot Lane Boutique in downtown Los Altos during the month of March and have 20% of your purchase (including sale items) go to back to Covington. Apricot Lane specializes in contemporary women's clothing, accessories and jewelry with brands such as Siwy Denim, Kensie, Veronica M, Bella Dahl and so many more!  Make sure to mention you are part of Covington.  Also email Sangeeth Peruri at sangeethperuri@gmail.com if you buy anything and he can keep track of it as well.  

Fourth Grade Junior Scouts Food Drive

Today is the last day of the Food Drive. So far we have received hundreds of donations! We will announce the winning classroom at tomorrow's morning assembly. The Fourth Grade Junior Scouts Troop will deliver your donations to the Food Closet tomorrow. Thank you Covington for your generous donations!

San Jose Earthquakes and Covington PTA

Do you love Soccer?  Do you love Covington?  Have you been itching to go to an Earthquakes game and just needed a good excuse?  Well, I have one for you!  Come watch the San Jose Earthquakes play Seattle Sounders FC on March 23rd and 25% of your ticket price will go to the Covington PTA!  See details on how and when to purchase the tickets in your child's Thursday folder or email Jessica Speiser (jessica@speiser.net).  

Athena Camp Minimum Day Event

Date: 3/21/2013, Time: 12:30-2pm, Location: Covington Black Top, Price: $30

Athena Camps develop courage, wisdom, and confidence in girls by combining successful sports experiences, creative art projects andstrong female role models. Small camp size and daily discussions encourage girls to develop lasting relationships with peers, new friends and coaches. At Athena Camps a powerful positive energy is created and magic happens. For more information go to www.AthenaCamps.com.

From Los Altos School District

SCHOOL AND COMMUNITY NEWS:  http://www.lasdk8.org/PDF_Files/Current_School_News.pdf

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For Howler submissions, please email sevard@covingtonschool.org by Monday for that week’s Howler.