Covington School Howler - Dec. 16, 2014

Dear Covington Families,

Last Saturday, my son and I had the pleasure of experiencing the Covington school musical, “Alice In Wonderland,” and I have to share that my cheek’s muscles were pretty sore afterwards from smiling so much! Our students were, in a word, PHENOMENAL! They were funny, poised, engaging and invested in the work they were performing. What a great opportunity for our young people to be involved in a project where they have spent several months flexing their 21st Century skills of creativity (the nuanced art of acting), collaboration (interacting and negotiating the theater space, dialogue and music with their fellow actors), critical thinking (understanding the motives of each character) and communication (playing off each other and emoting to the audience). When we got back home, my son immediately retrieved his condensed version of Alice in Wonderland to compare the storyline of the musical we had just watched with the one in the book. He wondered out loud why his book didn’t include the songs and musical numbers and found it to be quite lacking (Might I have a budding performer?).

As I thought about the musical over the rest of the weekend, it occurred to me that not only was it a growing experience for students in a variety of ways, but it was also a positive opportunity for students to engage in risk-taking. Those two words “risk taking” can often be considered negative, but they are a fundamental part of growing up and learning to be a well-rounded adult. We want our children to grapple with and negotiate all aspects of winning and losing as they are important social milestones that all humans must go through. The trick is to steer our young people towards activities that lead to positive risk taking (sports, theater, music, student government) instead of negative ones.

So, whether your child is interested in athletics, singing, chess or public speaking, encourage him or her to take positive risks! And in the case of those with a proclivity towards musical theater, there will be another opportunity for our 4-6th graders to participate in a spring production, “The Wiz.” See below for more details on the upcoming Covington musical.

A HUGE thank you to Covington parents for your continued support of all the wonderful programs and activities that our students enjoy!

Have a wonderful week, restful break and happy holidays!

Raquel Matteroli
Interim Principal, Covington School

Important Dates:

Dec. 15-19 - 6th Graders to Walden West
Dec. 22-Jan. 2 - December Recess, school resumes on Jan 5th.
Jan. 19 & 20 - No School For Students, MLK Holiday & Staff Development Day
Feb. 16-20th - No School for Students, Winter Recess

Friendly Reminder: The State of California Education Code only allows 3 unexcused absences per year. The only excused absences are for illness, appointments or family emergencies. If you are planning to travel during scheduled school time, please ask your teacher about Independent Study. Independent study is an optional educational alternative to classroom instruction available to all students in the district. We offer short term independent study which has specific guidelines of a minimum of 5 days, maximum of 15 days.

From Ms. Farley our STEM Teacher:
This year, Covington School will be participating in our first annual STEM Expo, in place of the science fair! This is an exciting opportunity for students to stretch an idea for a typical science fair project into a project with a STEM focus.
Details
When: Monday, March 23 - Wednesday, March 25
March 23 and 24: Class visitation of the Expo
March 25: Student project presentations to reviewers
Schedule for March 25:
9:00 - 2:30 (student presentations)
4:30 - 8:00 (open house for the community)

Who: Any student may participate! Some classes will be required to participate, while others are encouraged.
Where: Covington Multi and STEM Lab (details TBD)

Other details:

Depending on classroom regulations, students may participate individually, in a partnership, in a small group, with parent help, or as a class!
Students will present their projects during the day on March 25 at specified intervals. They will not be missing the entire day of school for presentations.
Please visit the LASD STEM Expo website, as well as the Covington School STEM Expo website for further information.

Please don't hesitate to email me at kfarley@lasdschools.org with any questions, concerns, or desire to get involved!

We are sincerely looking forward to your amazing projects!

PTA News:

LEGO ENGINEERING WORKSHOP Join your friends and Play-Well TEKnologies for a workshop using the LEGO building System. Explore concepts in Physics, mechanical engineering, structural engineering, and architecture while playing with your favorite creations. Thursday, December 18th, 2:30-4:30pm, Covington Multi. $30 per student Please email vjcairns@yahoo.com to sign up

Winter sessions for after-school enrichment programs are now accepting enrollment: http://covingtonschool.org/covingtones/4757-After-School-Programs.html
We have new sessions of Mad Science, Speech/Debate, Yoga, Spanish, Basketball, Technology, Art (CSMA) and Drawing (Young Rembrandts).
Sign up soon so you can reserve your spots!
Contact kathrynhan@gmail.com if any questions.

PTA After-School Spring Musical: Registration is now open for 4th-6th graders for the Spring Musical Theatre performance of THE WIZ!
Registration forms are in the office (in the WIZ box). Registration is $300 per student and includes a T-shirt. Classes will be held on Thursdays and Fridays in the multi usually from 2:40-4:30* (different start times on some dates; please see registration form for full schedule and times) Classes begin January 15th 4-6pm.
Mandatory Tech Week Rehearsals April 13-17th 2:40-6pm.
Performances April 18th and 19th. Must be able to attend both performances to be part of cast. Please contact Arezou for more information

Amazon Shoppers: If you're shopping at Amazon, please use the Amazon link through the Covington home page, instead of the Amazon link through eScrip. Covington will obtain a much higher percentage back to the school from our direct link. Thanks!
Go to www.covingtonschool.org
Click the Amazon logo on the lower right side to go to the Amazon website
Select and purchase your items as you normally would. No sign up required!

Lost & Found: Please pick up your jackets, coats and other items by Friday December 19th. Anything left over the break will be donated to charity.

Covington Stem Teacher Links:
tinyurl.com/covingtonstem
https://sites.google.com/a/lasdk8.org/covington-stem/class-newsletters

School & Community News now found via Peachjar: https://www.peachjar.com/index.php?a=28&b=138&region=54001

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.