Covington School Howler - Sept. 9, 2014

From the Principal

Dear Covington Families & Community Members,

Student Voice

I read an interesting article over the weekend about a school leader who turned over his  Twitter account to a different student each week.  This school leader got the idea when he learned that in Sweden the country Twitter account is turned over to a different citizen each week.  Can you imagine???  I began to think about our community.   I have often wondered how students perceive their day-to-day experience at Covington. How would they describe the highlights of their day?  What learning experiences would make student headlines or tweets?  Would students be inspired by the same types of learning experiences our adults strive to create for them?  How would students design their own learning experiences?

Students have so much to say and share.  By listening to and empowering students, we will be able to create the kinds of school experiences that inspire them.  Students have a voice and it is our responsibility to help them understand that their voice has an impact. I think I would like to try a similar experiment where our students can be guest tweeters on our @CovingtonCoyote Twitter account.  By listening to students, we can help to create richer opportunities for children each day.

Here’s to empowering students!

PTA Meeting Friday, September 12th  8:45am!
Don’t miss our first PTA gathering of the year.  This Friday we will meet in our staff room immediately following our flag assembly.  For new parents, PTA Meetings are a a great place to connect with other parents, hear what is happening in our school community. and learn about student opportunities and educational experiences. I hope to see everyone this coming Friday at our PTA Meeting!

Best Regards,
Erin S. Green

Important Dates:

September 11 - Picture Day
September 12 - PTA Meeting/Parent Coffee 8:30am
September 19 - No School - Staff Development Day
Oct 11 - Covington Walk-A-Thon

Covington’s 2014 Picture Day is scheduled for this Thursday, September 11th!

On Picture Day

On Picture Day all your child needs to bring is a smile! Shooting Stars will take multiple photos of every student, and all orders are placed after Picture Day, so you don’t need to worry about taking out your checkbook.

Best Photo Tips

Clothing:

• Select clothing that compliments your child’s hair and eyes
• Avoid bright colors and busy shirt patterns

Ordering

DEADLINE: October 14^th, 2014

After Picture Day, you will be provided with a custom proof sheet for your student, as well as an access code to view the full selection of photos. Orders can be placed either online or by turning in your proof sheet to the school before the Photo Selection Deadline. Please note that proof sheet order forms will not be accepted after the Deadline has passed.

Shipping

All orders placed before the deadline will ship to the school for distribution. All orders placed after will ship home and include shipping fees.

Have any additional questions? Contact Shooting Stars directly at info@shootingstarsphoto.com, or (800) 311-7784 x11. Thank you for calling Shooting Stars directly!

PTA Meeting This Friday in the Covington Staff Room!  Covington’s first general meeting of this year is Friday, September 12th at 8:30 am (after drop off) in the Covington Staff Room.  This Friday, among a couple of other things we will either have Jeff Baier or a LASD School Board Member come to enlighten us about Measure N (the school bond) and will vote on whether to endorse the bond. The other things we will be discussing are some additions to our budget and we will be getting an update on the preparations for this year’s Walkathon (Walk on the Wild Side).

Walkathon News:

Save the date for the Walkathon on Saturday, October 11! This year’s safari-themed Walkathon, Walk on the Wild Side, takes place at Covington from 9:30 am – 3:00 pm.  With about 90 percent of Covington students participating, this is the largest (and most fun!) community event for the school.  Come out to the green field, walk laps with your children, and meet their classmates. You can picnic on the lawn with food from the booths, listen to music, and take part in fun and athletic entertainment. This event is also a fundraiser allowing students to directly improve their technology, music, art, and library programs.  Each and every student at Covington benefits from this event.  Details and student sponsor cards will be sent home Sept 11 in the Thursday Folders.

Become a family t-shirt sponsor.  Put your family name on the Walkathon t-shirt. Just email Ingrid Choong (ichoong2@gmail.com) with your family name as you would like it to appear on the t-shirt and put a check for $35 in the Walkathon cubby in the office.  

Become a corporate sponsor.  The logos of corporate sponsors are prominently featured on the back of the Walkathon t-shirt worn by every Covington student.  If your company would like to sponsor the event, contact Katherine Lyon (lyon.katherinek@gmail.com) or Carolyn LeBaron (calolsen@yahoo.com) ASAP.

Soccer! Please join us for a soccer game with San Jose Earthquakes. Each ticket you buy gives $5 back to our PTA. The game is on  Saturday, October 18, at 7:30PM, at the Buck Shaw stadium @  Santa Clara University: 500 El Camino Real, Santa Clara 95050.

To buy tickets please follow the link: https://covingtonquakes2014.eventbrite.com

Hope to see you there!

Covington Voices: Want to keep abreast of what is going on at Covington and the greater LASD community?  Want to join a venue that allows you to ask other Covington parents for recommendations from everything from babysitters and tutors to electricians and vacation spots?  Please ask to join the Covington Voices Facebook group here: www.facebook.com/groups/CovingtonVoices/

CLASSROOM VISITS TO THE LIBRARY BEGIN THIS WEEK

Attention parents!  All classes are scheduled to visit the library this week.  Take the initiative to note the date your child’s class visits the library and express interest in the book(s) selected.  Discuss the importance of the care of book(s) borrowed from the library.  Set aside time for your child to read for pleasure each day and establish a system to return books when due.  (Due dates: K through 3^rd weekly;  4^th through 6^th every other week or as scheduled by classroom teacher.)

Our school library offers over 16,000 books for our students to enjoy: picture books, easy readers, series books for emerging readers, chapter books for older readers, informational books for pleasure reading and for research projects.  What a pleasure it is to see our students take advantage of this wonderful resource available at the Covington School Library!

Maureen Drobot
Covington Library

LAEF : Did you know that every child in every grade in all nine LASD schools benefits from LAEF’s 2014-15 grant? Your donation today supports enrichment program staff and smaller class sizes now through June 2015. LAEF’s grant is already at work in our school, funding STEM, PE, Art, Music, and library while also improving the student to teacher ratio.  That’s why we are striving for 100% participation from our LASD families. Giving to LAEF is our way of investing in what we value: our children’s education. Please give today at LAEFonline.org.

Covington Stem Teacher Links:

tinyurl.com/covingtonstem

class newsletters | covington stem

School & 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.