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.

Covington School Howler - Sept. 2, 2014

From the Principal

Dear Covington Families & Community Members,

It was fantastic to see everyone at Back-to-School Night last Tuesday.  There are great things happening on our campus and your involvement is always welcome! Thank you to the many parents who have already volunteered in numerous capacities already this year and especially to the parents who took on parking lot duty the first two weeks of school. You are appreciated more than you know!

On the topic of our parking lot, I wanted to share the protocol for parking, pick-up and drop-off.

When driving through the pick up lane, pull as far forward as possible and please stay in your car (please do not leave your car unattended to go and pick up your child).

• You are welcome to park your car in a space and walk over to meet your children.
• Please drop your children off at the curb; the middle of the parking lot is not a safe place to drop children.
• Once you drop off your children, please proceed out of the parking lot. Traffic needs to continue to flow to avoid back-ups on neighboring streets.
• Thank you for not using your cell phone while driving in the school parking lot.
• If the Covington parking lot is full, you may use the back portion of the St. William’s parking lot.*  The church is generously sharing their parking lot and we respect their wish to keep the front lot available for their functions.  Thank you so much for helping to keep all of our students be safe!

* Just a special request to avoid the St. Williams parking lot this Friday 9/5, due to their annual rummage sale.  Covington parents are invited to shop at the pre-sale on Thursday as a thank you!

Staying Connected at Covington

Communication at Covington  is pushed-out and available to you in a variety of ways.  From the Covington Website, the Tuesday Howler and Twitter, to Emails, Classroom Google Groups and Thursday Folders, information is always available to you.  If at any time you have questions about any of the above or upcoming events, please do not hesitate to call our school office at 947.1100.

With so many different types of communication I wanted to make sure you were aware of other ways to keep up to date at Covington.

Come to Monday and Friday Morning Flag Assemblies, attend PTA meetings and Principal Coffees (the 2nd Friday of each month), and especially look out for communications directly from your child’s teacher. The teachers spend a lot of time crafting the messages that go out to you and they try to provide regular talking points to inform your conversations at home.  Here’s to open, frequent and great communication this year!

Best Regards,
Erin S. Green

Important Dates to Note:

September 11 - 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.  For the best possible photo, please be sure to schedule all haircuts 10-14 days before Picture Day.

September 19 - No School - Staff Development Day

PTA NEWS:

Outdoor Family Movie Night at Covington.  The whole family is invited to set out chairs, sleeping bags and blankets under the stars on Covington’s lawn!  It’s your own private viewing and all your school chums are invited.  This special event is not to be missed!  Pizza, popcorn and refreshments will be provided! Movie will start at 7:30pm.

Hosts: Yasmin Braun, Ula Ghosheh, Jenny Bennett, Nadiah Mshasha,
Sarah Anderson and Suzette Anderson
Date:  September 12, 2014. Time:  6:30-10:00pm .Venue:  Covington
Price: $60-  (you can leave a check in the PTA box in the office)

Alice in Wonderland 5th and 6th Grade After-School Play by Starting Arts.
This year the 5th and 6th graders will have the exciting opportunity to be in a PTA after-school play production of Alice in Wonderland. Starting Arts will be directing a fabulous show, starting in September through December, with two performances on Friday and Saturday December 12th and 13th. Must be available to participate in both performances to sign up.

Practices will be held in the multi after school on Wednesdays and Fridays.
Cost: $285 per student* Deadline to register is this Friday, September 5th!
*partial scholarships may be possible- please call for info

To Register: go online www.startingarts.com/enrollment or complete registration form (sent home or in office) make checks payable to "Covington PTA"   ((NO CASH PLEASE)) drop off registration and checks to school office. All 5th and 6th graders are encouraged to register!

And register early before space fills up!! Cannot register after class starts on sept 17th. No refunds after Sept 17th. For more information contact Arezou Bahman arezoua@yahoo.com

eScrip is one of our most important shopping fundraisers. Register your Safeway card to earn extra money for Covington every time you shop at Safeway -- at no extra cost to yourself. Safeway is no longer contributing for groceries paid by credit card, so please use debit, cash, check, or gift card whenever possible. Contact kathrynhan@gmail.com with any questions.  http://www.escrip.com/signup

After School Programs: Classes start in September. Register early to ensure a spot. Monday classes include MiT-Mathletes In-Training (gr 3), Mathletes (gr 4-6), Young Rembrandts Drawing (gr 1-6), Coach Ken Soccer (gr K-2). Tuesday classes include Codebreakers Chess (gr 1-6), Mad Science (gr. 3-6), Yoga (gr 1-5). Wednesday classes include Lego Pre-engineering (gr K-2), CSMA Art (gr K-3) and Skyhawks multi-sport (gr K-2). Thursday classes include Programming/Technology (gr 2-6) and Public Speaking/Debate (gr 3-6). Friday classes include Spanish (gr K-6) and 1:1 Basketball (gr K-6). Contact kathrynhan@gmail.com with any questions. Check the Covington website for flyers and registration information: http://covingtonschool.org/covingtones/4757-After-School-Programs.html

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 classes now through June 2015.  LAEF’s grant is already at work in our school, funding STEM, PE, Art, Music & Library, while also improving the student to teacher ratio. That is 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

https://sites.google.com/a/lasdk8.org/covington-stem/class-newsletters

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.

Covington School Howler - August 26, 2014

From the Principal

Happy New Year!   Everyone knows principals and teachers take the summer "off" and by doing so we are able to recharge, rest, travel, and  spend time with our families. One of the things I most appreciate about being in the education field is that each fall presents a brand new opportunity -a fresh start, a new year in which everyone gets to restart, redo and reset. We take the best of what worked in previous years, leave behind what didn't work and set new goals, learn new routines, build new relationships, and engage in new learning experiences. Each fall, anything is possible! Here's hoping your new year is full of possibilities and excitement.

Back to School Night is tonight!*  For those new to Covington, here is how it works:

5:30         Only Miss Kephart's and Miss Schwartzman's parents come at this time
6:00-6:45pm   If you have a child in 4th, 5th or 6th grade, you attend a presentation in your child's classroom at this time.  
6:50-7:10pm   All teachers and parents convene in the Multipurpose Room for staff introductions and a short welcome message
7:15-8:00pm    If you have a child in K, 1st, 2nd or 3rd grade, you attend a presentation in your child's classroom at this time.

Parents with children in Ms. Green's  4-6 SDC Class also attend at this time.

*Back to School Night is a Parents/Adults only Event.

Kindergarten Aide Substitutes Needed!

This year our kindergarten classes run two hours longer and are dismissed at 2:15.  We currently have a 4-hour kindergarten aide in each of our kindergarten classrooms. Because this position is critical to the education and supervision of our students, we are looking for about 10 parents who are interested in signing up to be a substitute for the kindergarten classes.  If you would be interested in substituting when our aides cannot be here, please email Erin Green at egreen@lasdschools.org for more information. Mrs. Chan, Ms. Foster and Miss Gibo, would welcome you as guests in their classrooms. Thank you for your support!

I am looking forward to seeing everyone tonight at Back to School Night.  Thank you for your ongoing support.

Best Regards,

Erin S. Green

Room Parent Communication: This year the PTA has chosen to utilize the covington-pta.org domain and Google Groups to streamline the management of the Room Parents’ email lists.  This will be the primary method used by Room Parents for communicating important information to the other parents in the class.  Please let Susan Evard know if you choose to opt-out of your child’s class email distribution list sevard@lasdschools.org

Important Dates:

August 26 - Back to School Night, for Parents Only (see schedule above)
August 29th - Minimum Day. Kinders dismiss at 12noon, 1-6th dismiss at 12:15pm.

Back to School Purchases: Families can now order BTS purchases (PTA membership, Class fund, Class Field Trips, Birthday Book Club, directories, Covington Wear, Walkathon Family Sponsorship).  BTS items can be ordered through link on Covington website (http://www.covingtonschool.org —>  Covington Purchases —> Back to School Purchases) OR using the paper order form (pdf on website).  Payments can be made through electronic checks, paper check or cash (to be put in PTA box in office).  Questions:  Please email Trish Carballar (ntrishwish@yahoo.com).

Celebrate your child's birthday by helping build the Covington School Library Collection!

Included in the “Back to School” page on the Covington School website is an invitation to families to join the Birthday Book Club program with a $20 donation for each of your children. When entering the data, please remember to list each child’s name as used at school, enter his/her birthdate (mm/dd), and select the grade & teacher on the drop down menu.    Participating students will have a personalized bookplate placed in the book they choose from a selection of grade level books and will be invited to be the first to check it out. All birthdays are celebrated during the last library class of each month.  August birthdays will be recognized at the end of September, June birthdays in December, and July birthdays in January. This program significantly contributes to our library’s pleasure reading collection enjoyed by all of our students.  Your donation is greatly appreciated. -Maureen Drobot, Covington Library

Yard Supervisors Needed Monday-Friday 12:00-12:40pm every day:  If you are able to help one day a week or all five days each week, we need you!  We have openings for parents, grandparents, or college students.  If you are interested (this is a paid position) yourself or know of someone else who may be interested, please give me a call at 650.947.1100.  This is a fun and great opportunity to get to know our awesome students and see some of the great things that go on at school during the year!

PTA NEWS:

PTA Events for Kids: The August Minimum day is on 29th and we have a few parties that still have availability. The parties are held at Covington from 12:30-2:30 on Friday the 29th, after school dismissal at 12:15. These parties are PTA sponsored, and checks are payable to Covington PTA. If interested please contact - kavithaherle@gmail.com or nadiah@dishdash.net Here is what is available: Tie Dye Party    $35 / Basketball    $30  

eScrip is one of our most important shopping fundraisers. Register your Safeway card to earn extra money for Covington every time you shop at Safeway -- at no extra cost to yourself. Safeway is no longer contributing for groceries paid by credit card, so please use debit, cash, check, or gift card whenever possible. Contact kathrynhan@gmail.com with any questions.  http://www.escrip.com/signup

After School Programs: Classes start in September. Register early to ensure a spot. Monday classes include MiT-Mathletes In-Training (gr 3), Mathletes (gr 4-6), Young Rembrandts Drawing (gr 1-6), Coach Ken Soccer (gr K-2). Tuesday classes include Codebreakers Chess (gr 1-6), Mad Science (gr. 3-6), Yoga (gr 1-5). Wednesday classes include Lego Pre-engineering (gr K-2), CSMA Art (gr K-3) and Skyhawks multi-sport (gr K-2). Thursday classes include Programming/Technology (gr 2-6) and Public Speaking/Debate (gr 3-6). Friday classes include Spanish (gr K-6) and 1:1 Basketball (gr K-6). Contact kathrynhan@gmail.com with any questions. Check the Covington website for flyers and registration information: http://covingtonschool.org/covingtones/4757-After-School-Programs.html

Covington Elementary School PTA Presents: Alice in Wonderland

5th and 6th Grade Play by Starting Arts. This year the 5th and 6th graders will have the exciting opportunity to be in a after-school play production of Alice in Wonderland. Starting Arts will be directing a fabulous show, starting in September through December, with two performances on Friday and Saturday December 12th and 13th. Must be available to participate in both performances. Practices will be held in the multi after school on Wednesdays and Fridays. Cost: $285 per student* *partial scholarships may be possible- please call for info. To Register online: www.startingarts.com/enrollment

Or complete registration form (sent home or in office) make checks payable to "Covington PTA"   ((NO CASH PLEASE)) drop off registration and checks to box in school office. All 5th and 6th graders are encouraged to register!

And register early before space fills up!! Cannot register after class starts on sept 17th. For more information contact Arezou Bahman arezoua@yahoo.com

Mathletes-in-Training (“MiT”) Program for 3rd graders. Good news! The MiT Program is coming to Covington. Practices will be held on Mondays from 2:45-3:15pm in the computer lab. Our first practice will be on Monday 9/8. The program is designed so that students can hit the ground running when they become 4th grade Mathletes tackling the Math Olympiads. If you like puzzles, patterns, and problem solving, you should come on out and try! Target class size: 12 students (max 16). Please note: many families have inquired about this program. Enrollment will be done on a first-come,  first-served basis. To register, please go to Covingtonʼs after-school website.  For more information about Coach K’ s program at Covington, please email: sandy@kandel.ca

Mathletes Wanted! Math Olympiad team is being formed for 4th-6th graders. Covington is building a team of students that will participate in the Math Olympiad (Division E: Grades 4-6). Practices will be held on Mondays from 3:15-4:30 in the computer lab. Our first practice will be on Monday 9/8. This is a great opportunity to work on creative problem solving skills. The team will be coached by Sandy Kandel (aka Coach K), whose teams at Loyola, Gardner Bullis, Oak, Santa Rita, and Almond have won multiple individual and team awards over the years. The problems are hard but within reach. Come on out and try! To register, please go to Covingtonʼs after-school website. For more information about Math Olympiad, please visit their website: http://www.moems.org/  For more information about Coach K’ s program at Covington, please email: sandy@kandel.ca

Soccer! Please join us for a soccer game with San Jose Earthquakes. Each tickets 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!

AMAZON SHOPPERS – Make Your Back-to-School Shopping Count for Covington!

Earn referral fees for Covington on purchases of books, electronics, toys, and more. It’s EASY and DOESN’T COST YOU ANYTHING! Go to www.covingtonschool.org, click the Amazon logo on the lower right side to go to the Amazon website, then select and purchase your items as you normally would. Covington will automatically receive a referral fee of at least 6.5%!  No sign-up required. Questions? Contact Jennie Ebbitt at jtebbitt@gmail.com.

Covington Stem Teacher Links:

tinyurl.com/covingtonstem

https://sites.google.com/a/lasdk8.org/covington-stem/class-newsletters

JOIN CUB SCOUTS

Cub Scouts is for 1st - 5th grade boys. Pack 76 serves the neighborhoods for the Covington school district, as well as a number of local elementary schools.

Our 1st Pack Round Up Meeting will be held on Thursday, August 28, 2014 from 7-8pm in the Covington Multi Room. This is for both parents and boys to attend, to hear about our upcoming year, ask questions, as well as purchase scout uniforms from our Mobile Scouting shop.For more information please contact Lauren Hasenhuttl –  Pack 76 Committee Chair – 408-218-7287  lhasenhu@gmail.com (Covington parent of 4th grader (Webelos 1 Scout) and 1st grader (Tiger Cub scout).

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.

Covington School
205 Covington Road Los Altos, CA 94024
(650) 947-1100  (650) 941-8175 (fax)
Erin S. Green, Principal

August 13, 2014

Dear Covington Parents and Guardians:

On behalf of our fantastic Covington staff, welcome back to the 2014-15 school year! I look forward to seeing and welcoming our students and families, and continuing Covington’s traditions and commitment to providing an excellent, engaging education for all children.  LASD is revolutionizing learning by empowering teachers to challenge students to actively discover curriculum.   We ignite a passion for learning as we prepare our children to become creative problem-solvers and collaborative learners.   Last school year culminated with Covington being honored with a California Distinguished School Award.  We are excited to keep that momentum going as we look forward to another amazing year.   We cannot wait to see you all on the first day of school, Wednesday, August 20^th!

During this summer, the Covington campus has been anything but quiet.  We...

• Hosted a camp for students
• Replaced carpet in several rooms
• Removed mounted tv’s and vcr’s from every classroom
• Set up our extended day kindergarten classrooms
• Painted one wall in each classroom Los Altos “Ilearn blue”
• Painted the Multipurpose Room (it looks absolutely beautiful!)
• Added three new portable buildings at the back of campus for our 6th grades

PTA Social, Class Lists, 1^st Day of School

In order to convey some important information, we are sending this letter to provide you with dates and events for the beginning of school.  As mentioned above, the first day of school is August 20th.  Class lists will be posted on campus on Monday, August 18th at 5 pm.  Our PTA Back-to-School Family Social will also take place on that day from 5-7pm on our blacktop and grass areas.  The past few years this event received wonderful reviews, so we are continuing with the “Third Annual”.  You will not be receiving a hard copy mailer this year.   Please join our PTA for dinner and socializing. We will have food trucks with food available for purchase or you can pack your own dinner.  Bring your blankets, chairs and family to meet up with our Covington friends.

School Hours

Our school hours are 8:30 a.m. to 2:20 p.m. for grades 1-2 and 8:30 a.m. to 2:40 p.m. for grades 3-6. Our Kindergarten hours are 8:30a.m. to 12:00pm until September 22nd when the schedule moves to an extended day and will run from 8:30-2:15pm. Our school office hours will be 7:30am-4:00pm.

Emergency Information

As you have been informed via email, student emergency information is collected through Info Snap online. Thank you to all of you who have already logged in and completed your updates. Our school goal is to have all emergency information updated prior to the start of the year; we greatly appreciate all you are doing to help!  We will also continue with our “Going Green” initiative and continue to conserve paper by communicating through email and our website.  Please visit our school website at www.covingtonschool.org.

Back To School Night

You will have the opportunity to learn more about your child’s school year and new teacher at our annual Back to School Night, which is scheduled for Tuesday, August 26th.  Please note that Friday, August 29th will be a Minimum Day for students in grades K-6.  On this minimum day, kindergarten students will be dismissed at 12:00 and 1-6^th grade students will be dismissed at 12:15 p.m.

Yard Supervisors Needed Monday-Friday 12:00-12:40pm every day:  If you are able to help one day a week or all five days each week, we need you!  We have openings for parents, grandparents, or college students.  If you are interested (this is a paid position) yourself or know of someone else who may be interested, please give me a call at 650.947.1100.  This is a fun and great opportunity to get to know our awesome students and see some of the great things that go on at school during the year!

Our PTA president, Jessica Speiser, and the entire PTA board and committee chairs are excited about the activities planned for the coming school year.  They play an important role in your child’s education.  Please mark your calendars for the first few functions; all are welcome:

• Wednesday, August 20th, 8:30-9:30a.m             Coffee Bar Social  (In front of Multi)
• Come and talk with old friends, other parents and have a latte (Courtesy of our PTA

• Friday, August 22nd 8:30-9:30 am                      Parent Coffee and Volunteer Sign-ups
• Join us for coffee and find out how you can be involved in your child’s classroom & sign up for PTA jobs

• Friday, August 22^nd 2:40-3:15                             Back-to-School Stay & Play / 6th Grade Ice Cream Social Fundraiser

Finally, I have some exciting news to share on the personal front!  My husband and I are expecting a baby in November.  We are thrilled to be able to announce our future addition.  I plan to work as long as I can, which should be around our due date in early November.   When a substitute principal has been decided upon, I will let you know.  Until that time, my priorities continue to be the education of your children and supporting our wonderful educational community.  I am looking forward to an amazing school year.

Thank you for your on-going support and participation! I look forward to a fantastic 2014-2015 school year!

Sincerely,

Erin S. Green
Principal

**This Thursday is the Last Day of School.  Early Start: Flag Salute at 8:15am.  K-5th grade students all dismissed at 11:15am.

Yearbooks will be sold today at dismissal for $20.  Or you can still order from TreeRing, see below for instructions.

Covington School Howler – June 10, 2014

Dear Covington Parents & Community Members,

I cannot believe we are here at the end of school already. We say this each year, but this truly has been an incredible year at Covington.  We have accomplished a great deal together and one of our greatest highlights was our California Distinguished School Award!  We have a great deal to celebrate and much to look forward to next year.

Farewell to our 6th Graders

Each year our departing 6th grade class gives a gift to our school community.  This year our students have chosen to create stepping-stones that will be installed on our campus.  Thank you, 6th graders, for a gift that will both beautify our campus and leave a lasting memento of your days at Covington.

Schedule for the Last Day of School-Flag Assembly 8:15 am!

Thursday is our last day of school.  Please remember that on the last day school starts at 8:15am for everyone! Immediately after the 8:15 flag assembly, our 6th graders will have their promotion ceremony in the Multi purpose room.  Dismissal for K-5 is at 11:15.

Attention Second Grade Parents

Next year third grade students at all LASD elementary schools will be following the bell schedule of the fourth, fifth and sixth grade students.  This means their school day will last a bit longer each day, with dismissal at 2:40pm.  In addition, third grade students will also be participating in a second session of physical education each week with the PE specialist at the elementary schools.

Back to School Social/Save the Date Monday, August 18th 5pm.

In the interest of going green, we will be sending a welcome back email and post our class lists live on Monday, August 18th. Our PTA will be continuing the tradition of a fun evening to kick-off the 2014-2015 school year.  Please join our PTA and families from 5:00-7:00pm on Monday, August 18th for a Back-To-School Family Social.  More details will be emailed to you in early August.

Summer dates to note:

August 6th - Office re-opens
August 18th - Classes posted/ Back-To-School Picnic 5-7pm
August 20th  - First day of School/ Coffee Social
August 22nd - Volunteer Sign Ups / Parent Coffee

I certainly cannot let the year go by without expressing my sincere thanks to our Covington PTA and to LAEF for all of the tremendous support we receive. We are able to offer a rich program for our kids because of your financial and volunteer support! Covington is a terrific school, and I am so thankful to be your principal.

Wishing you all a wonderful last two days of school.  Happy Summer!

Kind regards,
Erin Green

Upcoming Important Dates:

It is Not Too Late to Order a Yearbook:  Parents, If you didn't get the chance to buy a yearbook and missed buying one during the last week of school - you can still order one directly through TreeRing (you will just have to pay for shipping costs). The website is:

http://www.treering.com/validate use the passcode: 1013595707721745

Should you have any questions, please contact, Christine Wedner, cwedner@mac.com. Thank you. The Yearbook Staff.

Let Summer Reading Begin! In the flurry of end-of-the-year activities, please look for information from your child’s classroom teacher about summer reading.  Via email will be a link to “Let Summer Reading Begin” with information about summer reading programs at our local public libraries and links to lists of awarding-winning books for readers of all ages.  An additional hard-copy handout “LASD Digital Library” will include important login information.  All students enrolled in the district will have access to these eBooks throughout the summer at no charge but must enter their library number and password to do so.  Keep your students reading all summer long!  If you set a goal for your child, why not set a goal for yourself?  Memories of seeing you reading may turn out to be among the most lasting gifts you can give your child. -Happy Reading!

Maureen Drobot, Covington Library mdrobot@lasdschools.org

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.

**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.

Dear Covington Parents & Community Members,

I hope you all had a wonderful Memorial Day weekend and enjoyed the warm weather. We have just 12 more days of school left this year, yet a great deal of celebratory events you won't want to miss!

This Friday, May 30th we have a busy day of celebrations:

8:00am Volunteer Breakfast
8:40am PTA Awards
4-7pm Multicultural Festival

- At 8:00 am all parents are invited into our Multi for a delicious breakfast prepared and organized by our staff.

- At 8:40, immediately after the flag assembly, our PTA will be presenting awards to our amazing volunteers.

- From 4-7pm our school blacktop will be transformed into an international celebration. Our families have been hard at work organizing over 18 different booths representing many different countries with food, activities, performances, an international parade and a photo booth where kids can take pictures for free.

All are guaranteed a great time this Friday and our staff and PTA hopes to see you at any or all of the events this Friday.

Next week the K-3 Concert takes place on Wednesday, June 4th, at 10:30am.

Friday, June 6th, is our traditional Field Day and minimum day.

Thank you for your ongoing support and I look forward to seeing you this week!

Kind Regards,
Erin S. Green

Upcoming Important Dates:

May 30 – PTA Volunteer Breakfast
May 30 – Spirit Day: International Day
May 30 – Covington Multicultural Fair, 4pm-7pm
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!

­­­­­­­­­Multicultural Festival, this Friday, May 30th, 4-7p. Covington playground!!! Don't miss the fun! Food, activities, entertainment, photo booth, and other booths representing 18 countries! Come dressed in a cultural outfit or wear a soccer jersey representing your family's country :-) this is a free PTA sponsored event.

Hot Lunch Survey: Covington is considering switching Hot Lunch vendors next year. It's not a decision taken lightly and we need your input. Please take a moment to fill out the brief survey here: http://tinyurl.com/mrg5sb5. Thank you!

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)

Hello ladies: The little black dress is almost sold out! Join us on Saturday May 31st. 7-11pm at Jenny's house (318 S. Gordon Way). Email me (ughosheh@gmail.com) if interested. Ladies Only Night! Dust off your stilettos and deck yourself out in your favorite little black dress to party with 50 other fabu- lous ladies for an end of year party. Enjoy yummy cocktails and tantalizing Dish Dash food. We even have a great DJ to get us all dancing (after a few cocktails-of course!) Relax and let your hair down with the ladies with a much-earned night off. Be prepared because we are going to celebrate!
Restrictions: Limit 50.

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!

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! Any questions: please email us. Thank you kindly,

Monica Sidher RN, BSN, BA District Nurse

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 – Claim your items before the last day of school. Everything left here will be donate on June 13th!

First Annual Great Grizzly Fun Run on Saturday, May 31!! This will be the first school sponsored fun run in all of Los Altos and it will be a terrific community-building event. We are welcoming all of our local elementary schools to participate with us, as well as neighbors and friends and family. This 5k (3.1 mile) run/walk will take place in the beautiful hills around our school and will end at our upper field with refreshments, prizes, smaller runs for the younger kids and a visit from our local fire department. Strollers, dogs, wagons are all welcome! All proceeds from this run will go directly to the LAEF - benefiting all of our district's wonderful schools.

Hope to see you there. You can register and find more details here:

http://www.active.com/los-altos-hills-ca/running/distance-running-races/gardner-grizzly-fun-run-2014

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!

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.

Dear Covington Parents & Community Members,

Jr. Olympic Slideshow & Last Indoor Assembly: Thursday afternoon will be our Jr. Olympic Slideshow and Friday morning is our last indoor assembly for the year. Please join us if you can. Both events will take place in the multi. Let's celebrate our fabulous students!

Each spring brings staffing news and changes, and in the “good news/bad news” department I have a message to share with you from our School Psychologist:

Message from Ms. Prothro (School Psychologist):
Dear Families,
I am very excited--and equally sad--to share that I will be moving with my fiancé when he returns to his company's office in Santa Barbara this June. We were fortunate that he was able to work remotely from the Bay Area this year as I took my dream job at Covington, but at this point he is needed back in Santa Barbara to continue moving toward partnership in his company. My time at Covington has been amazing—I could not have wished for a better group of students, families, teachers, and administrators to work with. Thank you all for making my first year as a school psychologist truly special. I will miss Covington dearly!!
-Erin Prothro

Erin has been a great addition to our staff this year and we wish her all the best as she begins her new adventure in Southern California.

We are currently building classes and solidifying staffing for the 14-15 school year. Our tentative staffing plan will be shared in the upcoming weeks.

Regards,
Erin S. Green
Principal

Upcoming Important Dates:
May 21 – 6th grade Get It and Go Bake Sale
May 22 – Jr. Olympic Slide Show 1:45pm
May 23 – Last Indoor Assembly
May 23 – Library Books Due
May 26 – Memorial Day Holday– No School
May 30 – PTA Volunteer Breakfast
May 30 – Spirit Day: International Day
May 30 – Covington Multicultural Fair, 4pm-7pm
June 4 – Primary (K-3) Music Concert 10:30am-11:30am
June 6 – Field Day/Minimum Day
June 12 – Last Day of School
6th Grade Promotion
Minimum Day
August 20 – First day of School!

Cornerstone Club Celebration 5/22

The Cornerstone Club will be celebrating all the great accomplishments they've made this year at their End of the Year Party this Thursday, 5/22/14, at lunch in Room 10. Members are encouraged to bring a side dish, dessert, or drink to share with the group as we spend our last lunch of the year together. We are proud of the initiative, creativity, and dedication the students have shown all year long and look forward to celebrating on Thursday!

Get it and Go Bake Sale! The 6th graders are holding a Bake Sale Wednesday 5/21 after school in front of the Multi. All items will be $1 each and the proceeds will go towards the 6th grade end of year school gift. This is not a Stay and Play. Proper parental supervision is required.

Library Books Due: All books are due during library classes this week. Any books overdue must be returned on Friday, May 23.

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.

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!

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! Any questions, please email us. Thank you kindly,
Monica Sidher RN, BSN, BA District Nurse

Thank you for helping Girl Scout Troop 61164 Save the Polar Bears!
Over the six school days from April 30th and May 7th, we collected 759 walk, bike, or carpool tickets! Traffic duty guards noticed that drop off was lighter and many others noticed the full bike cage. We hope that you enjoyed walking, biking, or carpooling that week and that you will continue to so in the future. A big thank you to AREA 151 in Downtown Los Altos for providing the gift certificates for the winning class at a discounted price. The results of the Polar Bear contest: Pomposo 92, Sitler 85,Nero 62, Welch 61, Cowell 55, Figone 52. Thanks Again from Girl Scout Troop 61164

AMAZON SHOPPERS – Make Your Summer Shopping Count for Covington! Earn referral fees for Covington year-round when you buy just about anything at Amazon. It’s EASY and DOESN’T COST YOU ANYTHING! Go to www.covingtonschool.org, click the Amazon logo on the lower right side to go to the Amazon website, then select and purchase your items as you normally would. Covington will automatically receive a referral fee of at least 6.5%! No sign-up required. Questions? Contact Dale Tritschler at  aletritschler@gmail.com

Los Altos Art Docents: The Los Altos Art Docents are 80 dedicated volunteers who have taught more than 790 art lessons to the elementary school children in the Los Altos School District.

This year at Covington, the docents taught 119 art lessons. Thank you to Covington parents Jessica Clarke and Cynthia Lee who contributed to the success of our program this year. Congratulations to our newest docents, Sunayna Almal, Sarah Andersen, Yasmin Braun and Sowmya Thvar for completing our training, look for them in the class next year!

New docents are taught the LASD lessons by experienced docents on Wednesday mornings from September through April. The Los Altos Art Docents welcome new members to join the next docent-in-training class in September. To learn more, you are welcome to come to our informational coffee on August, 27th at 10:00 in the board room of the district office. For more information, check us out at www.losaltosartdocents.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.