Dear Covington Parents and Community Members:
 
Friday Staff Development-No School for Students
This coming Friday is our first district wide professional development day which will provide our staff with many opportunities to explore strategies and hands on experiences that directly align with our essential question:  How can we develop and use performance based assessment to inform instruction and engage students in creative learning experiences?
 
While your students are home on this day, our teachers will be participating in a learning day filled with learning opportunities aligned with our goal of exploring performance based assessments that inform our instruction.  Thank you for supporting our learning and growth.
 
PTA & LAEF work together!  Both organizations cooperate to fund enrichment programs for our children. The PTAs raise funds for “stuff”—important items and supplies needed to support activities such as art, science, library and PE, as well as technology for the classrooms and so much more! LAEF raises money for “staff” to pay teachers who provide the enrichment programs and who teach additional classes to keep student-to-teacher ratios low. Both PTA and LAEF are critical to our children’s education in the Los Altos School District. So please donate generously to both—every year!
 
LAEF Representatives at Covington are:
 
Matt Abrahams, matt.abrahams@gmail.com
Anjana Nagarajan-Butaney, anjananagarajan@yahoo.com
Jessica Speiser, jessica@speiser.net
Ritu Kapoor (incoming member-at-large), ritu.kapoor@gmail.com
 
Learn More & Make Your Tax Deductible Donation Today!  www.laefonline.org
 
Lunch Bells
 
Beginning next week, we are going to explore a longer eating period and alter our lunch bell from 12:10 to 12:15. Several of our Los Altos Schools have provided students with a slightly longer time to eat lunch and they have seen tremendous results such as:

• Students are eating more of their lunches/ less garbage and waste are being generated.
• Students are not rushed and are able to take their time to eat and enjoy their lunch
• Students are ready to learn when they go back into the classroom after lunch because they have had time to both fuel up and play

We look forward to experimenting with this this and reporting back the results to you all.  We would love any feedback regarding this idea.
 
As always, thank you for your support, and along the same lines, we are still looking for yard assistants at lunchtime. If you would like to join our team, please call our school office. We have two (2) positions available.

Sincerely,
Erin S. Green

Important Dates – Please Note:

9/27 – NO SCHOOL, Staff Development Day
10/1 – Dine Out for Covington @ The Counter, MV
10/2 – Vision Screening for K, 3, 6 & SDC classes
10/4 – Otter Pop Friday, Turn in Walkathon Sponsor Cards 2:20p-3:15pm
10/12 – Walkathon!
10/17 – Picture Make-Up Day

CSTEM for 6th Graders

As some of you may know, your sixth grader started the CSTEM class in early September. This weekly class is taught by me, Sheena Vaidyanathan (known as Mrs V. to the students). During the year long CSTEM program, I will introduce your child to Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) concepts through the 3 Cs of Creativity, Collaboration and Computer Science. CSTEM is funded by parent donations to LAEF.
 
Details of the curriculum, and links to various articles on the importance of STEM education and Computer Science education are available on my web site at
 
http://www.computersforcreativity.com/school-programs/lasdcstem
 
The students will be using Edmodo for classwork and for some work outside of class. Edmodo provides your student a safe place to learn digital citizenship and it extends CSTEM learning to outside the classroom. Some homework  will be assigned each week, and will be done in the online CSTEM notebook.
 
Prior to my teaching CSTEM and Digital Design in the Los Altos School district, I have worked in Silicon Valley as a computer scientist. I look forward to sharing my passion for computer programming, math and art with the sixth graders.I hope your child will enjoy the class. If you have questions, please email me at sheena@lasdschools.org
 
Best wishes
-- Sheena
-------------
Sheena Vaidyanathan
6th grade CSTEM Program
Los Altos School District

Vision Screening:

The District Nurses will be doing vision screening at Covington School for all Kindergarten, 3r & 6th grades on Wednesday October 2.  If your child has glasses or contacts, please make sure that they wear them to school on the day of the screening.  The nurse will mail a referral form to the parents of students who do not pass the vision screening.

Geography Club:

If your child is interested in geography and would like to spend some extra time with peers to prepare for this year’s Geography Bee (January 2014), then the Geography Club is for them!  We will meet every Monday, on Oct. 7, 14, 21, 28, Nov. 4, 18, Dec. 2, and the 9th in room 12 from 2:45-3:45. During our meetings, we will study world geography and review Geography Bee practice questions.  A sign-up sheet will be hung up on a clipboard outside of room 12. Please sign up by Wednesday, Oct. 2nd.  Once sign ups are complete, we will email you more information! Thank you!  -Mrs. Cuzzi and Mrs. Scatena

WALKATHON NEWS

Fill up your sponsor cards!  Students received their Walkathon sponsor      cards last week.  Encourage them to ask family and neighbors for      pledges.  The top earning classroom at each grade level will earn an ice          cream party.  This is the chance for students to directly improve their    school.  Cards are due on Friday, October 4th.
 
Volunteer at the Walkathon! You can be part of the year’s biggest community-building event.  We need adult volunteers on Saturday, October         12 for jobs that include field set-up, clean up, registration/check-in,        incentives tables, Surf ‘n Sand Snack Shack, water and first aid, field         monitors, and giant beach balls. One hour shifts are available. Please sign up   on the Google spreadsheet located at http://tinyurl.com/WAT2013Covington

Request an Alternate T-Shirt Size. Every Covington student will receive a FREE Walking on Sunshine t-shirt.  Grades K-1 will receive a Youth Small; Grades 2-3 will receive a Youth Medium; Grades 4-5 will receive a Youth Large (YL); Grade 6 will receive an Adult Small. If you need an alternate size, please visit http://www.covingtonschool.org/covingtones/4914-  Request-Alternate-T-Shirt-Size.html. We will not be able to change your student’s t-shirt size after that date.

Dine Out for Covington @ The Counter, Oct 1st:

Show your support for Covington and enjoy dinner out at the same time.  Tuesday October 1st, the Counter in Mountain View will donate 15% of net sales to Covington School.  Dine in or take out, lunch or dinner 11am-10pm.  Just be sure to present the attached flyer.

Calling all witches (or those who just like Halloween)!

Come in your most wicked finery for an evening of dinner, drinks and trouble making.  Don’t forget your broom! Ladies, come on over for an evening of good fun with your fellow witches:  Saori, Christine, Gabriella and Sandi.  Dress up as a witch, enjoy a great meal with good friends, drink some fun concoctions that will delight you, and enjoy the company of other mom’s just out for a relaxing evening (that is sure to be unlike any other). Proceeds go to Covington PTA.

Date: Saturday, October 19th, 2013
Time: 6pm until the witching hour
Cost:  $50 per witch
Location: The spooky house, 169 Giffin Road, Los Altos CA 94022
RSVP to Sandi_elefant@yahoo.com

Annual E-Waste Recycling Event on 10/5:

Clear your clutter, help the environment, and raise money for the Egan Science Department by ensuring that toxic electronic waste is responsibly recycled. On Saturday, October 5, from 9 AM – 3 PM, Green Mouse recyclers will be at Egan to collect your e-waste items.  If you're interested in supporting outreach for the event, or volunteering on the day-of, contact Margie Suozzo at egangogreen@gmail.com.
 
District & Community News: http://www.lasdk8.org/PDF_Files/Current_School_News.pdf
 
Post an Announcement in the Howler? If you have an announcement to include in Howler, please send it to sevard@lasdschools.org.  Announcements must be received by 12:00pm on Friday in order to be considered for the Howler scheduled for the following Tuesday.