Charter Chatter
A weekly newsletter written to parents of the TLC
Nov. 10, 2016 Vol.15
| Virginia Stewart |
Transition time is in the air. The school has a feeling if change as students wrap up the Trimester and we move into the ‘holiday season’. While we all prepare for some well-deserved time off, we encourage all our students to ‘finish strong’. Our staff prooud of all our students and their efforts. Keep it up TLC!! And thank you for being such amazing students.
| Misc. Announcements |
Crab Feed
SAVE THE DATE: February 4, 2017 11TH Annual Tracy Learning Center Crab Feed
What an awesome event for our school! Crab, pasta, salad, bread, dessert, raffles, dancing and so much more.
We are looking for volunteers to assist with our Raffle Committee. If you are creative WE NEED YOU!
Please contact Donna Baker at (209) 321-9157 or email donna@donnabaker.com.
As chairperson of this event it’s always important to recognize ROCK STARS!! Tiffany Alexander who runs our raffle committee has already been working hard since August on our amazing donations. We already, have our donation for Disneyland tickets!
Next School Holiday – Friday, Nov. 11, 2016 Veteran’s Day
Thanksgiving Week Nov. 21-25 are school holidays
| PCS/DCS Lunch Menu Week Nov. 14 – 18
Mon. – Pizza Tues. – No meat spaghetti Wed – Sloppy Joes Thurs – Chicken Taquitos Fri. – Open Faced Hot Turkey Sandwich and mashed potatoes |
T K
This week in TK students learned about the election! They learned about the President, the White House, and Air Force One and also words like vote, election, and ballot. Students got to vote on different things leading up to Election Day and had fun discussing their varying perspectives as we read the story ‘Duck! Rabbit!’. TK students understand that everyone can have their own opinion about something and if others have different opinions from their own, that is still ok! On Election Day we read the story ‘Duck for President’. We had our very own polling station and voting booth for students to cast their vote to see who was the better leader, Duck or Farmer. It was a close race, but Duck won by a nose. We had so much fun exploring democracy in TK!
Primary Charter
PCS conferences are next week. Please be on time and notify your child’s teacher if you are unable to attend.
December 3rd is the first annual TLC Father Daughter Dance! Please remember that RSVPs are due on Friday the 18th.
This week in Initial Phase, we have been busy voting! We voted for our favorite animal, color, food, weather, and if Farmer Brown or Duck should be president. The results are in! Here are our winners:
Animal: Giraffe
Color: Blue
Weather: Snow
Food: Donuts
President: Duck
Students learned the following words as well; ballot, majority, privacy, and what it means to register to vote. We look forward to meeting with all parents to discuss the progress we’ve seen so far.
What a busy week in Phase 1! Assessing and testing is done and we are looking forward to parent/teacher conferences next week. Phase 1 students learned a lot about the elections this year. They got a chance to write about what they would do if they were president. They voted and we tallied the winner in each class. They know the most important thing to remember is to VOTE! The vocabulary challenge was exciting! The students did a great job! Congratulations to the winners! Next week will also be a busy week. The students are looking forward to our feast on Friday. Thank you to all the parents that are helping to make this happen. Have a safe and restful 3 day weekend.
Phase 2 classes are hard at work on their final mission projects. Some groups are making models and drawing layouts, while others are creating slide shows or tri-fold presentations. We are looking forward to seeing their hard work next week!
If your child has books due at the public library, please remember to return them! We have also started new AR goals and reading levels. AR goals will be due on Friday, December 16th. That date will be here before we know it!
MUSIC NOTES
Save the date! Primary Music Winter Program
Thursday, December 15, at 6:30 pm, in the TLC gym
All K-4 students will be performing holiday songs with Mrs. Watson.
The students and I are looking forward to this exciting evening performance!!
More information to follow, as the event nears.
For now, please mark your calendars!
Musically,
Mrs. Watson
Primary Music Director
Discovery Charter
SPELLING BEE: Our Spelling Bee was held on Tuesday, November 8th. Students continued for several rounds, before winners for each grade level were awarded.
Our 4th, 5th, and 6th grade winners are pictured below.
Erika Hawk Grade 4, Sahejroop Sethi 5th, and Komal Khehra 6th. “Sahej” was our first place winner and will represent Tracy Learning Center at the County Spelling Bee on Monday, December 5th; if she wins that round, she will be invited back for the final round on Wednesday, December 7th.
Our 7th and 8th grade winners are pictured below.
Hannah Reyes Grade 8 and Kyle Carlos Grade 7. Kyle was our first place winner (7 – 8) and will represent Tracy Learning Center at the County Spelling Bee on Wednesday, December 7th.
DADDY DAUGHTER DANCE (brought to you by Millennium Athletics):
- Saturday, December 3rd
- 6:00 – 8:00
- Pre-K through 12
Get Pretty for the Daddy Daughter Dance…..HAIR AND MAKE-UP BY ELIZABETH SOLOMON, a Millennium graduate and current cosmetology student. $20.00 for hair and make-up (50% donated to Tracy Learning Center). Your child has a flyer, sign up soon!!! If you have questions please contact Susan Hawkins shawkins@tracylc.net OR Tiffany Takeuchi ttakeuchi@tracylc.net.
Our weeks are amazing……
Students work together to learn mean, median, and mode. They created and flew paper airplanes, measured the
distance their plane flew, discussed why they flew (farther or less), and then found the mean, median, and mode of the class planes.
Our “Student Lunch Community” enjoy food, talk, laugh, and spend time with one another…..
Every-other-Friday, community members share their occupations with our 5/6 students. We have had a variety of presentations to include community service officers, a veterinarian, the Mayor of Tracy, and business associates. The presentations teach our students what type of jobs are out there, and what it takes to get into various occupations. If you are interested in presenting, please contact Ms. Pelaez at lpelaez@tracylc.nert or Mrs. Hawkins at shawkins@tracylc.net.
UNITY WAS FANTASTIC ON MONDAY. It was filled with energy, information, and a community of students ready to start their week.
Malayan’s took FIRST PLACE….for the first time this year…..they were VERY EXCITED!!!
Malayan Tigers took 1st Sumatran Tigers took 4th Siberian Tigers took 2nd Bengal Tigers took 3rd
EXPLORATION TIME: Exploration is held 3 days per week for one hour each day. Students are able to join one class, every 6 weeks. Academic Pentathlon and Band are year-round classes. Ask your child which Exploration class they attend – ask them what they do, how they like the class, and why they enjoy their class.
Academic Pentathlon (year round): students have been meeting every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday to learn about World War II. They study words, history, art, the science behind the war, and much more. Please ask your child what they are working on (if they are in that class).
Band (year round): students meet 4 days per week to learn the appreciation of music, and the foundations of what they will need for their future as band students at Discovery High School Prep, Millennium, and beyond. 5/6 will play in the winter concert and play at Great America.
Leadership: Students in leadership are responsible for decorating the gym for academic events, school events (such as the 6th grade breakfast, Pre-K graduation, Spelling Bee, etc). They are given jobs to include photography for our year book, tutoring for grades K – 4, teacher aides for grades K – 8, the green committee (recycle and other programs), and daily unity. Students learn to work together, to work with adults, to take responsibility for their positions, and to communicate effectively with staff, peers, and our community.
Spanish: This year, students are learning the basics of Spanish. They work with their teacher, Mr. Gomar, to learn to count, ask questions, and state information. Walking into Mr. Gomar’s class is enchanting. Students have pictures and materials to show the information while saying the information in Spanish.
Dance: Students are learning the importance of stretching and hydrating. They are listening to a variety of music and learning about rhythm and genre. Students work together with Coach C to create new dances or to learn current dances. Dances include swing dancing (WWII) through slides, and current dances. At the end of exploration, students will perform their dance at unity.
Movement: Students are watching videos about exercise, yoga, dance, and more. They are learning that movement is positive and necessary for good health. In class, students help one another and find laughter through their learning. Many students ask to stay in movement for the entire year…..but, they need to move on to embrace the full exploration experience.
Genius Hour: In genius hour, students are able to take something they know about or want to learn about, research the information, and create a presentation to show others how to do it OR to teach others about their topic. This exploration allow students to use technology, interview peers/staff, learn something new OR master something known, create presentation boards, and present to a group of peers/adults.
Newspaper: Students have press passes, computers, and writing tablets. They act as writers, editors, photographers, and graphic artists to create a newspaper. Students interview teachers, staff members, and peers. They then collaborate to put their work together in a newspaper format. The latest edition can be found on: http://discoverytigers2016.weebly.com/
PLEASE REVIEW YOUR CHILD’S AGENDA. THEIR AGENDA HOLDS DATES, HOMEWORK, PROJECTS, and other valuable information.
If you have questions, concerns, or if you want to discuss your child, please contact their teacher:
Mrs. Beckner: sbeckner@tracylc.net (math and academic pentathlon)
Mrs. Hawkins: shawkins@tracylc.net (language arts (dance and movement with Coach C))
Coach Lopez: blopez@tracylc.net (PE)
Coach P: mpenirian@tracylc.net (PE)
Ms. Pelaez: lpelaez@tracylc.net (science, science Olympiad, (Spanish with Mr. Gomar))
Ms. Rodieck: lrodieck@tracylc.net (language arts, genius hour)
Ms. T: ttakeuchi@tracylc.net (math, leadership)
Coach Williams: dwilliams@tracylc.net (PE)
Ms. Zaca: szaca@tracylc.net (social studies, newspaper)
UPCOMING DATES TO REMEMBER:
PARENT TEACHER CONFERENCES will be held the week of November 14th…..
- T and Mrs. Hawkins will be conferencing on Monday
- Pelaez and Ms. Zaca will be conferencing on Tuesday
- Beckner and Ms. Rodieck will be conferencing on Wednesday
- Students should have shared their conference letter with date/time/place
BREAK:
- We have the week of November 21st off – be safe, and enjoy your time J
- We return on November 28th
SCIENCE OLYMPIAD:
- Practice EVERY Tuesday and Thursday
DHSP
Parent teacher conferences will be the week of November 14th.
7th grade conferences will be on Wednesday, November 16th in D8 and D10
8th grade conferences will be on Thursday, November 17th in D8 and D10
A note went home on last week.
Looking forward to seeing you at conferences!
Just in time for Thanksgiving, the members of DHSP’s California Junior Scholarship Federation (CJSF) pulled off yet another very successful charity mission. This time the students came together to raise money for the McHenry House Tracy Family Shelter. Utilizing a creative coin drive idea and a bit of friendly den competition, the students collected a little more than $680, in just one week!!! This surpassed everyone’s expectations and we couldn’t be more proud of all the 7th and 8th grade students who contributed. A well deserved thank you also goes out to the teachers and coaches who encouraged and cheered them on. This money will be used to provide Thanksgiving dinners to those served by Tracy’s McHenry House, with any potential extra going toward their December holiday dinners. We can’t wait to see what they do for our community next!
This week, students have been focusing more intently on improving their writing through vocabulary, sentence diagramming activities, and grammar lessons. Two classes were able to come together to teach each other (and a math teacher!) a little bit about sentence diagramming and had a lot of fun expanding their knowledge on the subject.
Leadership:
Leadership is wrapping up a busy trimester with one last treat. Next week will be hanging “Thankful for You Leaves” for each DHSP Student. Students will have to find their leaf for a +50 and a reminder that they are appreciated. See photo for an example of this sweet gesture from our DHSP Leadership class.
Spelling Bee
Congratulations to our Spelling Bee winners:
Hannah Reyes 8th grade and Kyle Carlos 7th grade were winners for their grade level. Kyle Carlos was the first place winner from the two grades who will represent Discovery High School Prep in the County Spelling Bee in December.
Science: We’ve had an exciting and busy week in science. A few students were selected to attend an evening over dinner and dessert, speaking with STEM (science, engineering, technology and math) professionals about their ‘real world’ careers.
In class we discovered that when we add sugar to plain water it’s density increases. Needless to say students were thrilled that their lab consisted of playing with sugar to create different levels if density.
Social Studies: Lots of political discussions in the Social Studies classes this week.
Washington D.C. 2017!!!
It’s not too late to sign up for the DC trip. Students will visit the Washington Monument, Arlington National Cemetery and the Holocaust Museum. What an opportunity to see our nations capital with classmates. It’s exciting to see how many students have already signed up for this great opportunity. Please contact Mrs. Wallace at dwallace@tracylc.net for assistance.
If you do not want your student to have his/her photo published please notify Mrs. Wallace at dwallace@tracylc.net
Please feel free to contact any of your student’s teachers if you have any questions or concerns.
Math: Mrs. Dominguez ddominguez@tracylc.net
Math: Mrs. Ulricksen rulricksen@tracylc.net
Language Arts: Ms. Langston alangston@tracylc.net
Language Arts: Mrs. Cerezo acerezo@tracylc.net
Science: Mrs. Ramirez aramirez@tracylc.net
Social Studies, DHSP Learning Director: Mrs. Wallace dwallace@tracylc.net
Enjoy your weekend.
| MHS |
