Charter Chatter
A weekly newsletter written to parents of the Tracy Learning Center
August 29, 2014 Vol. 4 No.4
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Virginia Stewart |
Virginia’s Voice
This week I would like to thank every parent who has made donations of binders, office supplies, and even white boards to the Tracy Learning Center. We are very grateful for the supplies we receive. The law recently changed that requires schools to supply all materials students need. This is a great stress to the supply budget for our schools. All of these wonderful donations really help.
Please know that we are very receptive to supplies, monetary donations, and other items you may feel could benefit the schools.
We are so grateful for the parents we have and the children we all have the delight to teach.
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Misc. Announcements |
Next Holiday
Monday, Sept. 1, 2014 Labor Day is a school holiday
Lunch Drop Offs
Just a reminder we do not allow “Fast Food” to be dropped off
Safety Issues
This is a very good time to sit down with your children and go over some very basic yet important safety issues.
- Only allow your students to cross the street with crossing guards when guards are present
- Look both ways and pay attention while crossing streets or walking past entrances to car line
- Do not speak to or approach strangers
- Report any suspicious characters to a familiar adult immediately
Public Library
This week we received two calls in the office regarding very poor behavior from some of our students who refused to give her their names. She was familiar with the students from last year and said they were close to losing their library privileges. Please remind your students to behave respectfully so they do not lose these privileges.
We are having an ELAC committee meeting on Friday, September 5th at 4:10 pm. We will meet in room D-2. Any parent who would like to share an opinion regarding English language learners is invited. We will focus on discussing what resources are available and how to further support EL students. Your input is greatly appreciated. If you have further questions, please contact Rosario De La Torre at rdelatorre@tracylc.net.
La siguiente junta del comité de ELAC se llevará a cabo el 5 de septiembre a las 4:10 pm. La junta tomará lugar en el salón D-2. Cualquier padre que esté interesado en compartir su opinión sobre los alumnos aprendices del inglés (English learners) es bienvenido. Estaremos discutiendo el cómo mejorar los programas actuales que la escuela ofrece para beneficio de estos estudiantes. Si tiene preguntas, por favor de contactar a Rosario De La Torre al correo electrónico rdelatorre@tracylc.net.
THE 2014 ATTENDANCE CHALLENGE
School is your first and most important job. Attend every day so that you can learn what you need to achieve your goals.
This September, University of the Pacific and our community partners are celebrating Attendance Awareness Month with the Every Day Counts Attendance Challenge. Here’s how it works:
We challenge you to build a habit of good attendance by coming to school on time every day, starting with the month of September. Students who have perfect attendance for the whole month will be entered into a drawing for prizes including Kindle E-readers, gift cards, tickets to Pacific athletic events and more. If you win, your school will be notified by October 10.
We hope you’ll participate by coming to school every day because Every Day Counts! Our counseling department will keep record of all students who have perfect attendance and submit them for this exciting and rewarding challenge.
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PCS/DCS Lunch Menu Week Sept. 1-5 Mon. – Holiday Tues. – Pizza Wed – Nachos Thurs. – Meatless Spaghetti Fri. – Beef Hot Dog |
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Primary Charter |
In Initial Phase, we are so excited to have completed our first month of school. Student have said goodbye to August and excited to say hello to September and the first day of Autumn! Students have been working very hard and have made their teachers very proud. Classroom policies, procedures, and expectations are in full swing and the students are happy, engaged, and ready to do their best everyday!
Phase 1 students had an awesome first month of school! They have really settled in to routines and procedures and are focused on learning. In Language Arts we are reviewing the mechanics of sentences so they can become better and more creative writers. In Math groups some are learning about 10 frames, others about fact families, and some about place value to the thousands place! In Science P1 learned all about magnets and even got to experiment with different objects. P8 had a great time learning all about simple machines and seeing some in action! What a great learning week we had! Have a great 3 day weekend!
Phase 2 students are looking and sounding more mature every day! Our third and fourth grade students are showing a great grasp of the SWOs and we know we will be giving out SWO bracelets soon! This week each class picked two individuals who exemplified the SWO of Polite Citizen. P6 awarded Tanaja Fleming and Christopher Rodriguez and P3 awarded Ryan Alger and Mia Escobar. Great job!
This week phase 2 learned more about the United States and California. We’ve also started tracking AR points so make sure you are reading every night so that you meet your goal next month!
DCS 5th/6th
Star Student:
Congratulations to Jose Ortega for receiving the Star Student award this week! We appreciate Jose for his ability to get along with peers. Jose is kind, compassionate, and respectful. Jose makes every maximize his learning in every class by asking, questions, listening attentively, and staying on task. Jose is a model learner.
Homework Training:
Students who neglect to submit an assignment on time are provided with lunch hour homework completion training from Mrs. Beckner. Students use this time to stay on top of assignments for a week. Mrs. Beckner is pleased to announce that the number of students requiring training is shrinking dramatically as they learn how wonderful it feels when they are prepared for the day.
SWO:
Many students have been using workroom time at school to complete the cover page of the scrapbook. Watching students work on these pages during independently has left us very impressed by what they produce with virtually no help from adults. This page is due to Ms. Pelaez by September 19th. Questions? Contact Ms. Pelaez (lpelaez@tracylc.net)
Science Camp:
Students received a flyer on Monday announcing our next Science Camp meeting on September 10th. This meeting serves the purpose of clarifying requirements for registration, distributing forms, and discussing the option to stay at school. Registration forms will be available the following day at school for any families who are unable to attend the meeting.
PHSA 7th and 8th
There has been a change in PHSA. Through mutual agreement, Mrs. Jackie Hawkins will no longer be a member of the team. We have a substitute while we are searching for the best replacement. It may take a while, but we feel the substitute under the guidance of Mrs. King will provide a solid math curriculum. We appreciate your understanding regarding this change.
PHSA is doing well. I attended Unity today and enjoyed seeing the students appreciate and celebrate the birthdays of the day and the PHSA cheer at the end was full of spirit.
We are working on the PHSA website When we have website linked and information updated we will send you a link. Meanwhile, don’t forget to check agendas for greens and oranges. Congratulations to all of the students who had a whole green month.
Mr. Warmerdam is starting up the PHSA student leadership team. He has had a great interest in being part of leadership. Student will be selected and he will begin a very involved and comprehensive leadership program for our students.
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MHS |
The first month of school is now in our rear view mirror and it has been a wonderful start. We have rarely seen such spirit and enthusiasm in a freshman class as has been displayed by the class of 2018 over the first month of school! We had a rally this week to get excited about the beginning of all of our fall sports programs and the students were great. We also have begun the process of preparing for the homecoming parade as our nests have begun meeting and planning their floats with Hollywood Musicals as their theme. Each year MHS really shows the city of Tracy what great students we have as they produce a terrific parade through downtown Tracy. We had an information night for Parents on Thursday for the upcoming school trip to New York that takes place over Spring Break. There is still space available for the trip so if you are interested please contact our Activities Director Ms Powers for information. We have had an unusual number of students that have earned Saturday School for losing nest points over the past two weeks. The main cause of the rise seems to be Tardies and chewing Gum on campus. Both of these offenses carry a loss of negative 10 nest points and Saturday School is earned at negative 30 over a two week period. Please remind your student to move quickly between classes, to enter the main gate at 7:55 am as unity begins and please no Gum! We are hoping for winning seasons in athletics and don’t forget there is a yearly pass available on sale until Sept 12 for $20 that will get you into any home event all year! After Sept 12 it goes up to $30 so get in on sale and save ten bucks. Lets continue the great start we have had to the year and keep working toward solid grades as we approach the conclusion of quarter one. Falcon Pride!
Mr Saldate
This was the first week of speakers for the Junior Career Education class. Millennium High School would like to thank both of our wonderful visitors we had Kenneth Faulkner- Arable Technologies and Margaret Kealy- Air Force ROTC Program at San Jose State. If you or anyone you know has an interesting job and would be willing to be a speaker for the class please contact Ms. A in the counseling office at 209-627-8299 or at sarganbright@tracylc.net.
Community Service Block M Program
The Tracy Breakfast Lions Club has agreed to sponsor the community service Block M program and it is making its debut on the MHS campus this year. This program is a great opportunity for those students who go above and beyond in the community and who would like another opportunity to earn a Block Letter. To qualify for the program the graduation requirement of 200 hours must be completed. This program is in addition to not in conjunction with our graduation requirement. Anyone interested in the program can visit the counseling office or clink the link below for more information. http://tracylc.net/community-service.html
Snack Club Community Service Opportunity
There is currently a great opportunity after school to earn some community service hours. Volunteers are needed from 4pm to 6pm daily. Anyone interested in volunteering for the After School Snack Club will need to stop by the counseling office for a On Campus Volunteer Application.
College Info
Save the Date!!! September 10th and 11th – 3:00pm – 5:30pm
SAT/PSAT Prep classes through the ZAPS Learning Company will be back by popular demand. Signups are now available at www.zaps.com – Cost is $99 for the two day preparation workshop which includes test prep materials. This workshop is ideal for the senior student to help prepare one last time before the upcoming October 11th SAT test date.
Senior Info
Senior information packets with important information regarding graduation, senior portraits, dates and deadlines were mailed out this week. Information is also available on our website at www.tracylc.net in the Senior Scoop section of the Counseling/Guidance webpage.
***Please note that the Graduation Ceremony will be held on Saturday, May 23rd, 2015 at 10:00am at the St. Bernard’s Holy Family Center***
Other News
Build A Computer and Keep It…. For Free
Classes starting soon, sign up today at www.uneed2.org. One computer per house hold and class completion required. Classes and application are available at Eden housing, Community Partnership for Families of San Joaquin, Mountain’s Hope CWC, Emeritus at Heritage Place, and HAS of San Joaquin Larch clover Community Center.
Firefighter Career Expos
In keeping with their mission to recruit, retain and promote more women to the Fire Service, the California Fire Fighter Joint apprenticeship Committee and its Commission to Recruit Women for the Fire Service encourage interested middle school and high school students to attend an expo in September. Dates and locations are as followed:
Saturday, September 6th from 10am-1pm at 2560 River Plaza Drive Sacramento, CA 95833
Saturday, September 20th from 10am-1pm at 526 Commerce Way Livermore, CA 94551
For more information please visit the counseling office.
MHS Sports
Falcon Fan Passes are available to all MHS and PHSA students for $20 until September 12th. Prices will go back up to $30 after that date!
You asked, you got it!! Falcon Flight Passes for adults now available for $50!! Prices go up to $55 after September 19th!
Both Falcon Passes grant the holder admission into all Home Athletic Events for the 2014-2015 Season!
Purchase forms can be found at www.MHSFalcons.com under “Links/Forms”.
Falcon Fan Bus
Our Falcon Fun Bus will be leaving Sept. 5 at 5:15. The cost is $30 which will get students transportation to and from the game, entrance to the game and a Falcon Fun Back “goodie bag”. Those interested need to see our MHS Leadership teacher Ms. Powers to purchase tickets.