**This Friday June 6 – Field Day/Minimum Day – all kinders attend 8:15am-11:35am. 1st-6th graders dismissed at 12:15pm. No hot lunch; grab & go lunches as ordered only.

Dear Covington Parents & Community Members,

Multicultural Event a Great Success : It was so nice seeing all of you at the Multicultural Festival on Friday. I definitely "ate" my way around the world. The food along with the rich culture at each booth was simply amazing. Thank you so much to Ingrid Choong and Nadia Mshasha for spearheading the event. Thank you also to all the families who hosted a country booth. The entire community enjoyed sharing and celebrating the cultural diversity of Covington.

Staffing Update 2014-2015

One of the most important parts of my job is to recruit, hire, support and retain great staff to work to with your children each day. I am grateful to work with such a talented staff at Covington.

We are bidding farewell to several staff members this June.

Doug Core, 6th grade, will be teaching physical education at multiple sites for the 2014-2015 school year.
Eileen Cuzzi, 2nd grade, has decided to begin a new chapter in her life this June: Retirement!
Angela Ping, Kindergarten, will be leaving Covington to pursue other interests.
Jennifer Portillo, 5th grade, will be relocating out of the area.
Erin Prothro, school psychologist, will be relocating to Santa Barbara.
Sheena V, 6th grade advanced math, will continue to teach CSTEM at 7 schools throughout the district for the 2014-2015 school year.

I am so grateful I had the chance to work with each of these staff members this year. I wish them the very best in their new pursuits.

Several teachers will be changing grade levels for the coming school year. Grade level changes are positive for many reasons, including helping to build a strong team with knowledge of multiple grade levels, encouraging cross-grade collaboration, strengthening collaborative teams, and supporting teachers' desires to expand their own skills and professional development.

We are also welcoming several new staff members on board this coming year. They were all very impressive during the recruiting and interview process. I know they will make great additions to our staff. You can read their bios here.

Kindergarten
Melissa Chan
Frances Foster
Michelle Gibo

1st Grade
Danielle Garcia (Danielle Cashen in 14-15)
Kim Nero
Megan Scatena
Lani Yort, New to Covington*

2nd Grade
Laura Santos, new to Covington*
Genie Sitler
TBD

3rd Grade
Katie Campodonico
Dorothy Cowell
Michele Kibble
Theresa Pomposo

4th Grade
Linda Figone
Kate Goines
Amy Wyosnick

5th Grade
Jill Croft
Cortney Mase
Jolene Welch

6th Grade
Kate Kingman
Sarah NeSmith, new to Covington*
Tasha Radford, new to Covington*

Special Education
Debbie Schwartman -TK and Kinder
Samantha Kephart - K-3
Ashley Green - 4-6
Amber Stockstill - Resource
Dominique Neely - Psychologist, new to Covington*

Friday is a minimum day and we look forward to seeing many of you at Field Day!

Kind regards,
Erin

Upcoming Important Dates:

June 4 – Primary (K-3) Music Concert 10:30am-11:30am
June 6 – Field Day/Minimum Day
June 12 – Last Day of School
Early start at 8:15am
6th Grade Promotion
Minimum Day – 11:15am Dismissal For All!
August 20 – First day of School!

Update on Covington Hot Lunch for 2014/2015: We have decided to pursue a contract with Pasta Market for the upcoming school year. After a yearlong process of vetting many Bay Area hot lunch providers, Pasta Market has been approved by the school district (with participation by some Covington parents) as being able to meet strict federal and state health and nutritional guidelines. Survey results showed that a majority of kids and adults who have tasted Kid Chow do not like it and their major reasons were "taste" and "quality." For those who do not currently order Kid Chow anymore, the major reason for not doing so was their "kids did not like it." We expect the change to Pasta Market should bring with it better "taste" and "quality" as it has already been getting rave reviews at Egan with children actually lurking around for seconds. Furthermore, the district contract would guarantee that they are meeting healthy federal and state nutritional guidelines. If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact Suzanne Kasso (crazee_kasso@yahoo.com), Jessica Speiser (jessica@speiser.net), Suzanne Jensen (heysuz68@hotmail.com) and/or Jenny Bennett (jenniferbennett650@gmail.com).

Field Day 2014 is quickly approaching. On Friday, June 6th from 10:00 - 12:00 all students will be participating in Field Day. If you haven't had much of a chance to volunteer this year, this is the event for you! Field Day is a fun filled two-hour event where the children participate in tons of games, face painting and a blow-up obstacle course. We need your help to make Field Day a success. Please sign up on the Google doc found here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1VUa_Xxjl6rEQIwJYJ4m-eV3Jw-UnicPCfKDtkwddc8c/edit?usp=sharing

We need at least two parents from each class to help!! Let me know if you have any questions. Thank you! Louanne Gonzalez (louannegonzalez@gmail.com)

Dodge Ball Derby with Mr. Heeb. Kids, join our wonderful Mr. Heeb for an action-packed game of dodge ball! This Covington fundraiser is being held on Thursday, June 5th right after school in the green field. The game for 1st - 3rd graders happens from 2:30 - 3:30; the game for 4th - 6th graders runs from 2:45 - 3:45. Cost is $30 per student. Please email sonia_brunner@yahoo.com if your child is interested in joining. Spots are limited.

The School Toolbox Store is Open! To enhance the educational experience of all of our students, we are requesting sufficient donations of supplies and materials to provide for each child at Covington. We do this through your online orders to School Toolbox. Our online School Tool Box store is now open for the 2014-2015 school year! The store will remain open until June 6, 2014. Orders are online only. School toolboxes are $60 for First Grade, $75 for Fifth Grade, and $70 for all other grades. Toolboxes include all the supplies your teachers have requested. Toolboxes are offered as a convenience to families wishing to donate school supplies to their child's classroom and supplies are purchased in bulk, which saves costs. School Toolbox also donates a meal through "Feed My Starving Children" for each toolbox sold. So please go online to www.schooltoolbox.com and order today!! Just register at the website and follow the easy instructions. Thank you from Covington PTA!

PTA Minimum Day Activities: June 6th is the last Minimum Day Party of the year and we still have some spots available in Soccer , Hip Hop and also in Game Truck!! The parties begin at 12:30 and go on till 2:15/2:30!

Contact kavithaherle@gmail.for more details. Sign-ins take place at 2nd grade lunch tables after school dismissal at 12:15.

Thank You!

MEDICATIONS AT SCHOOL – Please pick up your child's medications from the office on June 12- the last day of school.

Medications cannot be stored over the summer. If your child is attending summer school, please pick up their medications and paperwork and take them to summer school on the first day. Thank you!

Last day of school celebration! Parents, just like last year, let's host an end of the year celebration for the kids as they walk up the hallways for dismissal. At the end of the two hallways there will be a "Welcome Summer" sign that the kids can walk through/under. We, parents, will line the corridors wearing our craziest hats, glasses, mardi-gras beads, boas, hawaiian shirts, blowing bubbles, noise makers, musical instruments, spray bottles, whatever you want to do/bring to be crazy. You get the picture? While the kids walk up the hall we'll cheer, blow bubbles, use spray bottles, basically make lots of noise and fools of ourselves. In 2013, this proved to be a fun, memorable last day of school send-off, not only for our wonderful kids but a great time for the parents. Once through the "corridor of crazy" the kids can grab a free Otter Pop before they head off to summer.

So if you're planning to be at 11:15am pick-up, arrive a few minutes early (with all your party-garb) and get ready to make some fun memories for our students.

If your child attends CCLC, you might tell your child (& his/her teacher) they can walk up, through the corridor on the last day and then head to CCLC from there. Miss Lori is aware of the celebration, so she knows their arrival might be delayed.

Hope you're in! Questions... Jen Roy McGuigan 650.248.9532

Lost & Found is Overflowing – Claim your items before the last day of school. The items will be placed on tables in front of the office, starting tomorrow. Everything left here will be donated on June 13th!

Thank you LAEF donors! This year LAEF made its largest grant in the history of the foundation: $3.2 million. Your donations supported programs that parents in our district value highly: art, PE, libraries, Living Classroom, music, reduced class sizes, literacy aides, junior high elective choices, and innovative new programs such as the STEM labs and instructional/curriculum coaches for teachers. For 32 years the parents of Los Altos School District have remained committed to excellent education and a strong community through support of the Los Altos Educational Foundation. From the 4,600+ students enrolled in our nine schools this year, THANK YOU!

Girl Scout Cadette Troop 60785: welcomes this year's 5th and 6th grade girls to join our troop for the upcoming school year. We welcome girls new to scouting or seasoned scouts and their families who are interested in participating in scout-led badges and activities that are facilitated by a troop leader or parent volunteer. Our troop participates in many outings sponsored by the Northern California Council and the Los Altos Service Unit as well as our own activities that range from technical to crafty to community service oriented. We are a small troop and will cap out at 20-25 girls. We meet twice a month on Sundays at 4-6pm at the LAUMC. For more information about Troop 60785, contact Cheryl Quinn (cmiq@stanfordalumni.org) or Erica Lundmark (erica@lundmarks.org).

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.