Covington Howler

April 5, 2016

In This Issue:

• Principal’s Message

• Nurses’ Message

• School Reminders

• PTA News & Community Announcements

Quick Dates for your Calendar:

• April 4-8: Covington Teacher Appreciation Week

• April 7 - Open House 6pm-7pm

• April 8 - Minimum Day, dismissal 12:15pm

• April 8 - PTA Meeting/Principal Coffee 8:30am

• April 11th-15th: Spring Break: No School

• April 23rd & April 24th: PTA After School Play Performances: Aladdin

• April 25-May 13 - Smarter Balanced Testing Window (Grades 3-6)

• April 30th: LASD Jr. Olympics.

Principal’s Message

Dear Covington Families & Community Members,

We have two celebrations this week!

We are first celebrating our teachers as this week is Teacher Appreciation Week. This year has offered more than a few challenges as we’ve worked to implement new classroom strategies, new ideas, and new tools in our shift to Standards Based Teaching and Learning. Most of you know this has not been a smooth transition. I have been dipping in and out of the book, The Risk Factor: Why Every Organization Needs Big Bets, Bold Characters, and the Occasional Spectacular Failure, by Deborah Perry Pescione. We could have entered the water slowly, which may have been more comfortable and given us more time to clearly communicate the change, but we took a huge risk and jumped into the deep end. It was a big bet and many would term it our “spectacular failure.” I would argue that while some of the tools failed, the more important efforts and learning that have occurred during this frantic swim have been invaluable. Our conversations around student learning and our definitions of feedback and mastery have been rich, thought provoking, and have had positive impacts on creating student agency in our classrooms.  While there is still much work ahead in moving us forward, this is a great time to celebrate our teachers who have taken this leap into the deep end. It’s one thing to talk about change, it’s another thing to do it. Education is in need of some big bets and bold characters and I am proud to say that here in Los Altos, our teachers are willing to embrace the risk and the occasional spectacular failure as we work to create value and a rewarding educational experience for every student.

Our second celebration this week is our students. We invite you to Open House this Thursday night from 6:00-7:00 pm. This is an opportunity for you to visit your child’s classroom and let them share with you all of the amazing learning that is happening each day. You will see not only finished work, but work in progress as well. Ask your student about the process. How did they get to that end product? What discoveries did they make along the way? How might they do something differently next time? What are they most proud of and what goals might they still accomplish between now and June? Open House offers great moments for students to reflect with parents around their work. Enjoy the conversation and look at learning through their eyes.

Happy Spring Break!

Warm Regards,

Kami Thordarson

Covington Principal

Message from the School Nurse

Pertussis Booster for Students in grade 6: Students currently in 6th grade 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 7th grade in August of 2016. Please provide a copy of your child’s immunization record to your school office as soon as possible.

LASD Junior Olympics

The 56th LASD Junior Olympics is coming!

Saturday, April 30, 2016 /  8am-4pm  /  Mountain View High School

General Information

JUNIOR OLYMPICS: The Junior Olympics are coming up! The Junior Olympics is a district-wide event bringing our Los Altos community together through friendly competition between our district elementary schools. Like the Walkathon, but bigger, it is a day of fun competition, community bonding, and lots of fun activities. The Junior Olympics is for everyone in the district! Although students must be in Grades 4-6 to be eligible to compete, all students and families of LASD are welcomed and encouraged to attend the Junior Olympics to cheer on their school. Visit our Junior Olympics website for more information and make sure to mark your calendars for Saturday April 30.  The 1320 yard run kicks off at 8am and Opening Ceremonies will commence at 9am.  All local sports events are canceled specifically for Junior Olympics so you can come cheer on our Covington athletes.  More information is available at lasdjo.com.

PTA Announcements

Covington PTA Presents: Aladdin Jr.

Paperless Tickets are now available for purchase.

Performances are at the Covington multi:

Saturday April 23rd 7pm

Sunday April 24th 3pm

Tickets are $10 each - general admission.

Ticket forms can be found here:

http://www.covingtonschool.org/download.cfm?id=1929

Please print, complete and drop off with payment to the Aladdin box in the office. Additional forms are also available in the box.

Doors open half hour before the shows.

Concessions will be available for purchase.

Please contact Arezou arezoua@yahoo.com with any questions.

________________________________________________________________

Kindness is cool!  With this in mind, we're working with DUDE. Be Nice to help promote this positive message within our school. Not only will our kids have an awesome t-shirt customized for Covington, but this is a way for Covington PTA to raise funds to keep our school strong.

Each t-shirt is priced at $22.

To place an order, please add your order information here.  Payments will be collected once the order is placed.

Thanks for helping spread this awesome message!

Hillary Frank, Kathleen Chang, Kathi Donnelly and Tracey Leong

6TH GRADE BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT, SAVE THE DATES

6TH GRADE BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT, SAVE THE DATES

The 20th annual 6th grade Bob Celeste "Everyone plays" basketball tournament will be played on the following dates.

• 6th grade girl's tournament, Friday May 13th

• 6th grade boy's tournament, Friday May 20th.  

Both tournaments will begin at 3:30, and will be played at Blach Jr. High.  More information about the tournament will be coming soon.

LAEF

Three things to know about LASD STEM

Launched three years ago with funding from LAEF, the LASD STEM program is now recognized nationally for its exciting, well-integrated student-centered projects.

• Every elementary school has a STEM teacher and a STEM lab where students in all grades actively engage in solving problems through hands-on experiences.  

• New this year, every elementary school now has a MakerSpace, equipped with tools and supplies for students to create, invent and learn with their friends during lunchtime.

• STEM improvements also include updated robotics and engineering, new equipment such as a 3D printer at every elementary school, and integration of science and computer science into grade level curriculum.

Your donations to LAEF have helped to fund our outstanding team of STEM teachers and district STEM coach this school year. To learn more or to support this program by making a donation, please go to LAEFonline.org.

LASD & Community Announcements

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

How to Submit an Article to the Covington Howler

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.