Charter Chatter

A weekly newsletter written to parents of the TLC

Oct.26, 2018                                                                                                                           Vol  12

The hardest teachers to find are Math Teachers followed by Science Teachers.  Many people who specialize and are good in math and science prefer to work in the industry rather than teach.  Many who are good in math also have a difficult time explaining math to students who are not as good at it.

That being said, the requirements for teaching math are steep.  There are three levels of tests and other requirements for a math credential.  In 7/8 middle school and beyond, teachers must hold a credential in math to teach it.  Finding the right teachers for the age group with the correct credential is a challenge.

If we are not able to find a qualified teacher, we need to hire substitutes who are only permitted to teach for thirty days.  This means that some classes in the state (not just here) have a different teacher every thirty days all year long.  This is so difficult for the substitutes and the students.

Mrs. King has been the teacher for our vacancy in 7/8 but her time is coming to an end.  She is retired and does not want to teach five days a week.  Last week, we hired Mr. Singh to take Mrs. King’s place. I offered him a thirty-day trial.  He has his credential and has successfully taught math in India.  He has never taught in the United States.  I offered him this the job through Thanksgiving break to see how he did and to see how the students accept him. (I have to say that sometimes our students give new teachers a difficult time.  Mrs. King has noted that she is surprised at the amount of off task talking the students have done this year.)  Mrs. King has agreed to come two days a week to help with math planning and to support Mr. Singh in the classroom.  He wants to be successful.  I am hoping that his first job in America will be a successful one.

Important Info

Next School Holiday is Veteran’s Day, Monday, Nov. 12, 2018

Thanksgiving Week Holidays…  Monday – Friday, Nov. 19 – 23

More Driving Complaints….

Please read this email, very important that people drive safe for the welfare of our wonderful students.

Can you please send a memo out to parents asking them not to speed around school grounds?   Twice this week I witnessed a black pickup truck speeding away after drop off. Today they were going so fast that they couldn’t stop in time to allow an unaccompanied child to cross.  I know mornings can get hectic and some parents are rushing off to work but there is no excuse for the lack of civility and courtesy given to pedestrians, especially children on their way to school. It is a real safety concern and I’d feel horrible if a child was hit by a speeding motorist and I didn’t speak up.

We have also received complaints about parents parking partially on the sidewalks during DCS’ carline crowding the side walk for those walking. Please do not park on any part of the sidewalks. It was also reported this driver was driving unsafe and almost hit a student walking on the sidewalk.

 Parents Club Update

Next PEP Mtg Dec. 19, 2018 at 6:30pm in P2

Lunch Menu – Week Oct. 30 – Nov. 2

Mon. –  Pizza

Tues. – Turkey or Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich

Wed- No Meat Spaghetti

Thurs – Cheese or Chili Nachos

Fri – Beef or Vegi Burger

TK

This week in TK, we celebrated Red Ribbon Week by decorating a mini-book related to health, safety, and great choices. We also earned a red bracelet to remind us to be kind, respectful, and to always try our best! Plus, we participated in a Halloween-themed sink or float activity, by making predictions about which tasty Halloween treats would sink and which would float in a tub full of water. It has been an exciting week in TK! 

PCS

PCS Halloween Parade / Performance – Wed. October, 31, 2018

(Parents can watch parade in back of PCS/DCS 2 story building and signs will be posted where best to stand)

8:30 – 9 Grade Kinder (P2)

9 – 9:30 Grades 1-2 (P3, P4, P5)

9:45 – 10:15 Grades 3-4 (P6, P7, P8)

Initial Phase

PCS families are invited to our annual Halloween costume parade and performance. The parade will begin at 8:30. Students will march around the main building.  Please spread out around the building so that there is plenty of room for everyone to see and for the kids to walk. The kids will put on a special performance that they have been working hard at learning in PE. After this we will head inside so that the next group of kids can do their parade. Students will participate in other fun Halloween activities throughout the day. You can help your student get ready for their Halloween dance by going go to YouTube and search “Krumpin Pumpkins” by Christopher Zondaflex Tyler. Students should come to school wearing their costumes WITH REGULAR CLOTHES UNDERNEATH.

Phase One

Today the students all received a special treat for reaching AND passing our Read-a-Thon goal. The school has raised over $15,000! GREAT JOB PCS! If your child raised money and still has “Rat Bucks” they must spend it by Monday. The school will be mailed all prizes and they will be distributed and sent home as soon as possible.

Next Wednesday is Halloween. Students may come to school dressed in a school appropriate costume (no weapons, masks, nothing excessively scary). They must also wear closed toed shoes. Please make sure your child either wears their costumes over their regular clothes or brings their clothes to change into. Our parade and performance will be begin at 9:00. Please check your child’s Green folder today for a flyer with more information regarding Halloween.

Phase Two

Happy Red Ribbon Week!  Our Primary classes created “kindness” bulletin boards in our hallway.  Our Red Ribbon Week theme is “Respect.  Be Kind.  Do you Best.”  We also have kindness wall in our hallway where we are recognizing acts of kindness from both students and teachers!  We also enjoyed a school wide donut party on Friday morning at Unity since we far surpassed our Read-a-Thon goal.  We raised almost $16,000!  This money goes to fund our technology, classroom resources, and our PE/elective programs.  Thank you to everyone who donated and supported our fundraiser!  We truly have the greatest families here at PCS.  

PCS PE

Primary students have been hard at work all week learning and practicing their dance for their Halloween performances following their parade next week. 

To help them be even more confident and prepared, they can find the song on YouTube and practice at home!  Here is the link for the song they will be performing to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBQ1al6C3LE.  The title is  “Krumpin Pumpkins” by Christopher Zondaflex Tyler. 

Come out to TLC and support your student Halloween morning!  Kinders will start parading at 8:30 with a performance to follow, 1st and 2nd graders will parade at 9:00, and 3rd and 4th graders will parade at 9:45. 

DCS

5^th/6^th

Discovery 5/6

DCS Survival Tip:
We will be hosting our student led parent-teacher conferences are the week of November 13^th– 16^th.  Parents who attend their child’s conference will be meeting with homeroom teachers and will receive Trimester 1 report cards and an overall update on progress.
In Discovery, we invite our students to attend their conferences and all students will share their reflections on how Trimester 1 went and will also share their goals that they have created for themselves for Trimester 2.

Science Camp Reminders:
Students coming to school will arrive at normal time between 7:30-7:50 AM.  Teachers will be in DCS lunch area checking students in:
–ALL medication will be checked in and marked off based on the submitted medical forms- DO NOT pack medication in luggage.
-Upon drop off, your child will be given specific luggage tags that our school is to use, to ensure all pieces get to the correct location
-Please do not pack snacks or candy with your child- we do not want animals friends in the cabins
–Monday Lunch– Students will need to pack a disposable sack lunch for Monday, October 29^th.  We make a bathroom and stretch pit stop on our way up to camp and eat lunch.
-Ms. T will call Ms. Kay when we depart on Friday, November 2^nd.  Ms. Sabedra will also be utilizing her Remind app to let parents know our ETA.
-When we arrive to campus on Friday afternoon, parents need to check out students and luggage with teachers.
*If you would like to write letters or cards to your child, please drop sealed envelopes (clearly labeled with your child’s first and last name) to the office with Ms. Kay or you can slip them to Ms. T on the morning of departure. I will hand the out during our stay at camp.

Want to see how camp is going?  Ms. T will post pictures (when she can find reception) to her website:
https://dcsmathwithmst.weebly.com/science-camp

Stay Camp Update:
If your child is not attending Jones Gulch, they will be attending DCS Stay Camp.  Teachers who are staying have planned awesome events for the kids and lots of hands on activities!  There is also an optional sleep-over on campus Thursday night to Friday morning.
Reminder: There is no school on Friday, November 2^nd for 5/6 students- please make advanced arrangements.
Questions?  Please contact Ms. Rodieck (lrodieck@tracylc.net) or Coach P (mpenirian@tracylc.net)

A Glance into Classrooms:
Physical Education
DCS PE is wrapping up it’s First Trimester Units in Lacrosse, “Rookie Rugby” and Soccer! Also, the DCS PE Department has a new long term Sub – Mr./Coach Mark Ruiz. Coach Ruiz is filling in for Coach Easterday for the next six weeks, as he is out on Paternity leave to help out his wife with their brand new Baby Boy…Congratulations, Coach Easterday!! 🙂 Coach Ruiz has been coaching/teaching for 7 years and is excited about this opportunity!!! We in the DCS PE Department are fortunate to have him to help with a smooth transition into the second trimester!

Math with Mrs. Zuniga

Varsity:

We are still working through creating equivalent fractions to add fractions with unlike denominators. Students have been given resources to use at home as well as notes in their notebooks of different ways to set up and solve these problems. We will continue adding fractions for the rest of the week and continue after science/stay camp week.

Scholastic: Our class has now begun decimals and many students are relieved to be out of fractions. Decimals are less complicated for many students and they are beginning to shine in class. Our class will continue multiplying decimals when the students return from science/stay camp.

Honors: Our class has ended Units 1 and 2, we are now into Unit 3. Students are excited to be learning about both positive and negative integers. We have had discussions about when and where we would see both types of integers in the real world. Students worked on balancing a checkbook from deposits and purchases on Tuesday and loved that they have much more understanding about the concept of money and a bank account. Our discussions even went in depth about how credit cards are not actually our own money or free money, but similar to loans and must be paid back. Students have begun operations of integers, but are still excited to take a break with science/stay camp.

Social Studies with Ms. Sabedra
This week students are putting the finishing touches on their autobiographies. Many students have already turned their books in early to get the extra credit points, which is great! Once we’ve completed the autobiographies, our focus will shift onto the scrapbook. Look out for a rubric/example scrapbook page that will go home with students on Wednesday (10/24).

Besides working on our autobiographies, we started today with a super fun vocab review game. This game is called ‘Silent Ball’ and was borrowed from our amazing P.E. team and adapted for social studies. Students had a great time playing and impressed me with how well they continue to do with our 1960’s material.

LA/Humanities with Ms. Christensen
This week we worked on a non-fiction book about the Freedom Riders and created a summary of the book as we read it.  We also focused on diagramming this week.  Scholastic and Honors are working on interjections, vocatives, and imperatives.  Varsity worked on subject and predicate in their diagramming.  Scholastic and Honors did more work on persuasive writing techniques and created an ad they presented to the class.  The group voted as most persuasive in their advertisement received a reward.

We took the week off from Humanities to focus in on our diagramming.

LA/Humanities with Ms. Rodieck

All three classes started their Freedom Riders Unit.
This a picture of the two books we will be reading.

This week we talked about the difference between Primary Sources and Secondary Sources.  We will continue to learn about Civil Rights through Primary Sources.

In Ms. Rodieck’s Humanities, we were doing our Elements of Art Stations.

The resources used are available on-line at https://rodieckla.weebly.com/ at the bottom of the Humanities Page.  Check out the videos, activities, and quizlets they were doing.

7^th/8^th

Upcoming Events:

-Parent Teacher Conferences November 13-15th in the DCS hallway, students should be bringing home a conference slip with your appointment time

-DCS Fall themed Dance will take place November 1, 2018 at 4pm-5pm

-Community Service is due November 1, 2018

-First Trimester SWO (Scrapbook) is due November 5, 2018 (late submissions will not be accepted)

-The first Trimester ends November 9, 2018

-7th/8th Sabotage Coin Drive to benefit Serenity House begins next week! Please bring in your pennies for your nest

Enrichment:

Technology:

7/8 Honors: This week the honors class is working on coding a moving and animated Google logo using the website Scratch.  These logos will then be submitted to Google for a chance to win a $100 gift card for the class!

7/8 Scholastic: This week the scholastic group is working on the second half of a partner project where they came up with an invention, researched if there were already patents that exist for it, and then switched inventions with a different group and came up with three innovations to add on to the invention.

Choir:

The trimester choir concert is Wednesday November 7, 2018. Concert starts at 6:30. pm. Call time for students in the concert is 6pm. This year the concert will be taking place at the Beverly campus on the PCS playground. Be sure to bring a jacket or a sweater since this is an outdoor event. Admission is free, so come out and support the DCS trimester 1 choir and the MHS choir.

Language Arts:

Ernst:

This week in Mrs. Ernst’s class we are reading Act I of Hamlet.  Please make sure students are studying what we have read in class at home. There are sites such as No Fear Shakespeare which will help students with comprehension.

Reminder- SWOs are due November 5th.

On 10/22, conference slips were sent home. Please look out  for those in your student’s backpack, sign them and return to school as soon as possible.

Cerezo:

All classes are reading the first Act of Hamlet this week! The students are incredibly intrigued with this Shakespearean play and are enjoying getting to act out the various roles.

Also, each class spent some time working on their SWO projects. Pictured below are some students from the Varsity class collaborating on their projects.

Don’t forget to ask sign and send back your parent teacher conference slips (due Friday 10/26)!

Math:

King:

Welcome Mr. Singh. He will take over full time on Monday, October 29th.  Mrs. King will be in two days a week to keep curriculum and norms moving in the right direction.

Geometry will have their Unit Test on Wednesday…TRICK OR TREAT!

Algebra 1A took their Unit test this week and is starting a unit on Decimals in Equations

Algebra 1P continues their unit on Solving Equations.

As always, Kleenex, band aides and hand sanitizer are needed.

Mr. Liew
– Varsity:  Rounding of decimals and numbers. Calculate the Mean of a number set.
– Honors: Revision on solving Linear System with 3 Variables and its applications.
– Scholastics: Solving equations with proportions. Single step and multi step solutions.

Science:

Ms.Dominguez

This week we are kicking off our last unit of academic pentathlon focusing on Lasers. To introduce the concept of lasers, we are watching Star Wars Episode 4, to show just how far the innovations of the 60’s impacted American Culture – even motion pictures were forever changed by the laser. Just as a heads up, students will be reviewing some basic atomic structure as we dive into the basic principles of lasers, so if content for this first section looks repetitive, it’s just a quick review.

Science Olympiad: applications will be going home with students on Friday, October 26. There are 30 spots available this year. Applications will be considered on a first come first serve basis (those received on the deadline will have priority)

Physical Education:

DCS PE is wrapping up it’s First Trimester Units in Lacrosse, “Rookie Rugby” and Soccer! Also, the DCS PE Department has a new long term Sub – Mr./Coach Mark Ruiz. Coach Ruiz is filling in for Coach Easterday for the next six weeks, as he is out on Paternity leave to help out his wife with their brand new Baby Boy…Congratulations Coach Easterday!!!! 🙂 Coach Ruiz has been coaching/teaching for 7 years and is excited about this opportunity!!! We in the DCS PE Department are fortunate to have him to help with a smooth transition into the second trimester!

Also, as a friendly reminder, please remind students that they should be applying
“Deodorants/Antiperspirants/Baby Powder or Sanitary Wipes” in the morning before they are coming to school and showering daily; as their bodies have already begun puberty even though there may be no signs of it showing physically!

Thank You!!!! 🙂

MHS

Millennium High School 11^th Annual Community Service Fair

Millennium High School hosted its 11^th annual community service fair. Students had an opportunity to network with non-profit organizations in order to establish community service opportunities. For the community service program and list of attendees and approved non-profit organizations, please see the following link: http://www.tracylearningcenter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/2018-Community-Service-Fair-Program-3.pdf

7^th & 8^th Grade High School Presentations

Millennium High School Students grades 9^th – 12^th visited 7^th and 8^th grade students to explain the inner workings of being a Future Falcon. Our presenters discussed how high school is different than middle school, graduation requirements, and how Millennium High School is different than other schools.

Did you miss this morning’s announcements?

If your student missed the morning announcements at Unity, please check the Millennium High School homepage located on our Tracy Learning Center Website at http://www.tracylearningcenter.com/school/millennium/  go to Quick Links and click on Unity Announcements, please see example below.

Delta College Early Start Program – Spring Semester 2019

The process has begun for students interested in taking a class at Delta College this spring, and there are many steps to complete in the next week!  Step One is to apply online at www.deltacollege.edu.  Several days after applying, students must log in to retrieve their Delta ID #.  Once they have their Delta ID #, they may sign up in the Counseling Office to take the Assessment – it will be Saturday, October 20^th at 9:00am at the Delta Mountain House campus.  After taking the Assessment, students should bring their scores to the MHS Counseling Office and we will assist students in selecting which class to take.  College Early Start forms are due to the MHS Counseling Office for approval on November 5th.  For further details, please see the following College Early Start Webpage link: http://www.tracylearningcenter.com/counseling/college-and-carrer-planning/ .  Please contact the Counseling Office at (209)627-8299 or MHSCounseling@tracylc.net with questions!

Arbor Day & Tracy United To Make A Difference Day – October 27, 2018– Volunteers Needed

Volunteers are needed to plant 150 trees within the Tracy Community, this is a great opportunity to help beautify the community and gain community service hours, if interested please contact the MHS Counseling Office at (209) 627-8299 or email: mhscounseling@tracylc.net. You may also contact the Tracy Parks and Recreation Department directly (contact information below).

      Charter Chatter

         A weekly newsletter written to parents of the TLC

Oct.19, 2018                                                                                                                              Vol 11

The theme for the Red Ribbon Week and for the entire school year is:

RESPECT, BE KIND, DO YOUR BEST

Every school leader always wishes they are guiding a school filled with respectful, kind and ambitious students.  It is usually the case, that while that is what we strive to achieve, we are not always successful.

In today’s world, we are faced with a strong lack of tolerance for differences.  People shy away from controversial issues because they do not want to be attacked or treated badly because of their beliefs, so many adults keep their ideas and views to themselves.  Unfortunately, our children  are growing up in a world where attacks on differences is the usual event in the news.  It is not a good training ground for our children.

So, it is important that schools help students realize it is important to respect each other.  We do not have to agree, but we do need to get along and appreciate other points of view.  We work on this in our schools with projects related to SWOs and other projects in social studies and through the discussions in literature or English classes.  The students in the high school have a course called Life Skills that helps Freshmen set goals and establish direction for their future.

It is also important to be kind.  I usually tell the students and my staff that it is important to give compliments.  Compliments help us realize that there are things that people do that we really do appreciate and it allows us a chance to let the other person know.  Too often we just take what acts of kindness come our way as expected.

Finally, it is important for our students to do their best.  It is not always the grade that matters, it is how hard the student is willing to try to improve.  The question should be, “is this your best work?” and if the answer is yes, we need to appreciate the effort and encourage trying to do even more.

It is my hope that the students at the Tracy Learning Center not only excel in the work that they do academically but that they learn the value of social interaction and the acceptance of  others.  It is a life long skill that will make a difference in their future lives.

Important Dates

Next School Holiday is Veteran’s Day, Monday, Nov. 12, 2018

Thanksgiving Week Holidays…  Monday – Friday, Nov. 19 – 23

Planning to purchase a Christmas Tree this year?

If so purchase one through our music department’s Christmas tree presale fundraiser. If you do not plan to purchase a tree for your own home you can still help us and support the troops through our Trees for Troops program. It provides a tree for families in need and helps our program. Aside from Christmas trees we are preselling wreaths, garland, and other door decorations. This fundraiser will help to provide funds for uniforms, instruments, and travel expenses. Please be on the lookout for a flyer that will be sent home with your child next week with further details, or you can visit our website and order online at www.tlc.accelraising.com  All orders and payments are due by November 9th. Contact Mr. Zepeda at rzepeda@tracylc.net or at (909) 528-4922 with any questions.

 Parents Club Update

Thank you to all the parents that came to our October meeting.  We had a lot to discuss since Parents -4- TLC had a busy couple of months!!

As you all know in September we had our first Wacky Wallet Wednesday, we just wanted to report that Barista’s very generously DOUBLED what their donation of what the school earned with flyers, bringing our new total to $620.03!  Our next Wacky Wallet Wednesday will be February 20, 2019, locations to be announced.

Family Movie Night – what can we say other than THANK YOU!!!  Between the donation of raffle basket items and everyone coming out and having fun, we can’t thank you enough!  Between the raffle baskets, 50/50 raffle and the concessions we raised over $1,000! Our 50/50 winner, Gina, went home with $100 cash!

If you missed Family Movie Night this time around, don’t worry!  We will be having another one in June, date and location to be announced.  And after such a positive response we will definitely have the raffles again!

Parents -4- TLC will be donating funds to Millennium’s Science Department so that may construct a model explaining and demonstrating gravity.

One small correction to note regarding Box Tops: our previous update on Box Tops reported 3,740 valid Box Tops submitted.  There were actually 3,074 valid Box Tops submitted.  We apologize for the mistake.

Thank all the families and teachers for their ongoing support in making Parents -4- TLC so successful, we certainly couldn’t do it without you all!

Lunch Menu – Week Oct. 22-26

Mon. –  Pizza

Tues. – Chicken Taquitos

Wed- Beef or Cheese Enchiladas

Thurs – Chicken Corn Dog

Fri – Beef or Vegi Burger

PCS

 Intial Phase

 WOW!!! PCS not only met, but exceeded our goal of raising $10,000! We are so lucky to have such generous families at our school. AND we are so lucky to have such amazingly smart students that read and read and read their little hearts out! Stay tuned for a very special award ceremony where we will announce top readers AND top fundraisers! 

Additionally, PCS will hold our annual Halloween parade on the morning of Halloween day. Students will be able to come to school in their costumes (with regular clothes underneath). Check in folder for more detailed information about all Halloween festivities.

Phase One

Today was the last day for the Read-a-Thon and we did amazing!!! The school met their goal of raising $10,000. The students will receive a treat soon for reaching that goal.

This week in Social Studies the classes started their new unit on multi-cultural America. We discussed our family cultures and traditions. Keep a look out in Red folders on Monday for our Trimester 1 project. Everything you need to know about the project will be in there. These are due November 5^th.

PHASE TWO

This week our phase 2 students are learning about The First Californians.  There were native tribes all throughout the state, even right here in the Central Valley.  We will be working on a tribe research project next week.  Our 4th grade leadership students have been hard at work, making candy grams to deliver on Halloween!  Candy grams are 50 cents or $1 and will be sold next week.

The PCS READ-A-THON was a HUGE success!  As of Thursday, we had already passed our goal of $10,000!  If you would still like to donate online, or with cash or check, we will accept donations through Monday.  This was an amazing fundraiser and the best part is, our students got so excited to read every day!  Thank you!

DCS

Discovery 5/6

Upcoming Dates:
-Reminder:  If you have not paid for Science Camp, please do so by Monday, October 22
-Nest Challenge: Friday, October 26^th– Wear your nest colors!
-Science Camp Dates: Monday, October 29 to Friday, November 2^nd

If you would like to send letters to your child while they are away at camp to let them know you are thinking of them, please feel free to send sealed envelopes that are clearly marked with your child’s first and last name to Ms T.
You may also drop off sealed letters to the front office and Ms. Kay will get them to me.
Although it is tempting, please remember- do not send snacks or food with your child to science camp, as we do not want animals getting into the cabins!

A Glance into Classrooms

Physical Education
Students are having a blast in “Week 2” of their “Final Rotation” of the playing different types of “Lead Up Games & Overall Skills” to Rookie Rugby in Coach Williams Class, Lacrosse in Coach P.’s Class and Soccer in Coach Easterday’s Class!  Here are some pictures from this week for you Parents/Guardians to Enjoy!!!! 🙂

Also, as a friendly reminder, please remind students that they should be applying

“Deodorants/Antiperspirants/Baby Powder or Sanitary Wipes” in the morning before they are coming to school and showering daily; as their bodies have already begun puberty even though there may be no signs of it showing physically!!!!

Thank You!!!

Your Dedicated DCS Falcon PE Staff

LA/Humanities with Ms. Christensen
This week in L.A. students worked on a final essay for our completed classroom novel.  They also worked on creating a graphic map showing key events throughout the book.  In Humanities, they worked in art stations practicing different types of drawing and watching videos on different art elements.  The students really seemed to enjoy trying out the different art techniques.  They ended the week with a final on their book.  Next week we will begin a non-fiction book on Freedom Riders and move right into the fiction novel for Freedom Riders.

Geography with Ms. T & Zuniga
This week we explored one of the smallest states, Delaware and made a pit-stop at Delaware State University!

Social Studies with Ms. Sabedra
Classes are still working hard on completing their autobiographies. Most students have finished writing and are now working on typing their chapters and decorating their covers. Just a reminder: Autobiographies AND scrapbook pages are due by 11/5, but students who turn either in early get up to 5 points extra credit!

Announcements:

-First Trimester Ends 11/9/18

-Community Service hours are due 11/1/2018 (students need 10 hours each trimester)

-Parent Teacher Conferences will be held November 13th-15th. Your student will bring home a flier with a scheduled time and date to meet with their homeroom teachers. Please look out for this flier and be sure that it makes it back to the teacher

CJSF:

CJSF will be hosting a “Sabotage Coin Drive” October 29th-November 2nd. Proceeds will benefit Serenity House.

Science:

This week we are wrapping up our second academic pentathlon unit on Optics. Honors students will be having their end of unit quiz on Monday. All other classes will have their test on Friday. They will receive a study guide for this exam.

Science Olympiad: registration for Science Olympiad teams are due at the end of the month. Students have been notified and submitted their intent to join. Applications will be handed out by the end of the month and due the first week of November. PLEASE KNOW, not all student will be able to join the team as there are limited spots.

Language Arts-Cerezo

This week students in all three classes began reading Hamlet! This is our first foray into Shakespeare this year and the students are already enjoying the intrigue and suspense that the play has to offer. All classes are also finishing up their Evelyn Serrano Projects (due Friday 10/19).

Don’t forget, SWO Number 1 is due November 5th. Students will need scrapbooks to complete this first trimester project. We will have time in class next Tuesday 10/23 to work on completing this project.

PE:

Students are having a blast in “Week 2” of their “Final Rotation” of the playing different types of “Lead Up Games & Overall Skills” to Rookie Rugby in Coach Williams Class, Lacrosse in Coach P.’s Class and Soccer in Coach Easterday’s Class!  Here are some pictures from this week for you Parents/Guardians to Enjoy!!!! 🙂

Also, as a friendly reminder, please remind students that they should be applying

“Deodorants/Antiperspirants/Baby Powder or Sanitary Wipes” in the morning before they are coming to school and showering daily; as their bodies have already begun puberty even though there may be no signs of it showing physically!!!!

Thank You!!!

Your Dedicated DCS Falcon PE Staff

Pictured below: Students participating in Lacrosse and Rookie Rugby

Math-King:

Varsity is getting ready for their Unit 2 test.  It will be Tuesday, October 23rd. We will review as a class on Monday the 22nd.

Honors continues with their studies of parallel and perpendicular lines and the angle relationships associated with it.

Scholastic took their test last Friday.  There were several superb scores and several disappointing scores.  We started a new unit on Solving Equations.

While my 30 day “subbing” tenure is up, I will be remaining as a consultant to insure the continuity of the math program. I will be on campus two days a week assisting the teacher of record in the three math classes, as well as assisting other new teachers.  I am doing conferences with the Varsity class. Be on the lookout for your conference slips.  Thank you.

Choir-Dougherty

Mr. Dougherty’s music students are gearing up for their end of trimester concert. We are excited to perform the songs that we have learned throughout the trimester. The concert will feature current pop songs and pop and  rock songs from the 60″s. Also, we will be joined by our brand new MHS choir. The concert is on Wednesday November 7. This trimester the concert will an outdoor concert held at the Beverly campus. It will take place in the PCS playground. Concert starts at 6:30 pm, students are to arrive at 6pm

Social Studies:
Last week the students spent time writing down the definition of all the vocabulary words they will come across Unit 2. Students also created a memory flashcard game that they were finally able to play this week as a warm up for class! Students created cards that included the vocab word, the definition, questions from Part 1 and the answers, and with their tablemates competed against each other. Following their warm up, students participated in a group activity where they analyzed different handouts and documents to investigate how various Great Society programs impacted American society.

Description of picture taken at Unity:
Ms. Zaca’s and Ms. Dominguez’s homeroom classes showing off their Nest certificates while waiting to head up the stairs for their first period.

Verbal Expression:-Dane

Verbal Expressions with Ms. Dane is also, Visual Expression – classes are writing original scripts for their sock puppet and marionette shows and for the stop motion animation projects that we are working on this week and next.  Students are also producing a super slide presentation featuring them and their favorite things that we will be looping and projecting for everyone to see.

Pictured below: A student-made marionette, the Honors class working on their marionettes, and a series of masks all made by students

MHS

First quarter grades are available on Aeries. These are a progress grade, as only semester grades appear on official transcripts. Students should continue to work on completing all assignments and developing strong study skills for assessments. This is a good opportunity to meet with teachers and establish plans for student success by the end of the semester.

Did you miss this morning’s announcements?

If your student missed the morning announcements at Unity, please check the Millennium High School homepage located on our Tracy Learning Center Website at http://www.tracylearningcenter.com/school/millennium/  go to Quick Links and click on Unity Announcements, please see example below.

Millennium High School 11^th Annual Community Service Fair – Friday October 26, 2018

Don’t miss our Community Service Fair on Friday October 26, 2018! Millennium High School will be hosting its 11^th Annual Community Service Fair. MHS students will have the opportunity to meet with local non-profit organizations, network, and learn about volunteer needs. For questions and information please contact the Millennium High School Counseling office at (209) 627-8299 or email: mhscounseling@tracylc.net.

Financial Aid Night

Financial Aid Night took place on October 17, 2018 at Millennium High School. Millennium High School students and parents gained valuable information about how to pay for college tuition and the benefits of financial aid.

Delta College Early Start Program – Spring Semester 2019

The process has begun for students interested in taking a class at Delta College this spring, and there are many steps to complete in the next week!  Step One is to apply online at www.deltacollege.edu.  Several days after applying, students must log in to retrieve their Delta ID #.  Once they have their Delta ID #, they may sign up in the Counseling Office to take the Assessment – it will be Saturday, October 20^th at 9:00am at the Delta Mountain House campus.  After taking the Assessment, students should bring their scores to the MHS Counseling Office and we will assist students in selecting which class to take.  College Early Start forms are due to the MHS Counseling Office for approval on November 5th.  For further details, please see the following College Early Start Webpage link: http://www.tracylearningcenter.com/counseling/college-and-carrer-planning/ .  Please contact the Counseling Office at (209)627-8299 or MHSCounseling@tracylc.net with questions!

Arbor Day & Tracy United To Make A Difference Day – October 27, 2018– Volunteers Needed

Volunteers are needed to plant 150 trees within the Tracy Community, this is a great opportunity to help beautify the community and gain community service hours, if interested please contact the MHS Counseling Office at (209) 627-8299 or email: mhscounseling@tracylc.net. You may also contact the Tracy Parks and Recreation Department directly (contact information below).

      Charter Chatter

 A weekly newsletter written to parents of the TLC

Oct.12, 2018                                                                                                                                Vol 10

What is Restorative Justice?

Over the years we have evolved to a system of discipline that places a great emphasis on responsible behavior on the part of the student.  Restorative Justice looks at what has happened and the consequence it had on others and then looks for a way for the student to return justice to the classroom or to the person offended.

We began this process last school year and we are seeing good results with it.  Students are made more aware of what they have done.  Students have been asked to apologize, repair damage, do something to fix a situation in the classroom etc.  This focuses on what was done, not on a punishment.

Of course, there are major offenses that have punishments attached to them that will not be eliminated, but for the most part, the most important thing is for students to see their own behavior and how it affects others.

Consider talking when the teacher is teaching.  The student may say, “Well it does not bother me.  I have a good grade in that class.” The response is, “Yes, but those around you may not have the same grade or understanding and you are hurting their chances of success.”

Each week, in 5^th through 8^th grade, the SOAR panel meets with students who have 20 or more negative points.  The reasons for the negatives are discussed and ideas are shared for how to remedy the problem.  The panels then make a video of the salient behavior issues to share with the entire student body so that they can talk about ways to prevent those problems.  The panel sets goals as challenges such as, “Let’s have only 6 students with negative 20 next week.”

I am pleased with the shift to Restorative Justice because I believe we have raised the consciousness of our student body at all levels.

Important News

New Board Member Position Opening

If you are interested in interviewing for a position as a member of the TLC Board of directors, please submit a resume and a letter of interest to the front office at the Beverly site.   The Board is seeking one member for its nine-member board.  The terms for this position are unlimited.  The Board meets once a month on the second Monday of the month.

____________________________________________________________________________________________

Next School Holiday is Veteran’s Day, Monday, Nov. 12, 2018

Thanksgiving Week Holidays…  Monday – Friday, Nov. 19 – 23

Car-line Issues

Very Risky Driving at morning drop off and afternoon pick up

We continue to have some very unsafe drop offs of students with parents stopping illegally, holding up traffic and letting children run across the street with the risk of oncoming traffic. Please, we beg you – Slow down and protect your child from injury or worse by safely pulling over and encouraging your child to only cross in the cross walks when safe to cross.

Big BIG thanks to all the parents staff and students that came out for tonight’s ‘Movie Night’!  It was great see parents, students and staff enjoying some time out of class to kick back and watch ‘Coco’.   More to come….

**Next Parents 4 TLC Meeting is October 15th @ 6:30 pm in P2**

Lunch Menu – Week Oct.15-19

Mon. –  Pizza

Tues. – Chicken Nuggets

Wed- Cheese Ravioli

Thurs – Chicken Noodle Soup

Fri – Beef or Vegi Burger

PCS

Initial

Our first week of the Read-A-Thon is complete, but there is still one more week to go! Students are asked to read as much as possible and collect donations. PCS has a goal of $10,000 and the classroom that brings in the most money will win a class party. If you haven’t done so, please go online and set up your child’s account and share with family and friends to collect donations! Don’t forget to log all reading sessions online on your student’s account. Reading to your student for 20 minutes of nightly reading counts for their minutes logged. There are SO many prizes to be won and a fun award ceremony at the end of the month. All we have to do is READ to earn money for our school!

Phase One

This week Phase One started a new unit in Writer’s Workshop. We discussed the difference between a fact and an opinion. Some of the groups started their own opinion paragraph. We will continue this unit for the next 4 weeks.

The Read-A-Thon is off to a great start! Our school’s goal is to raise $10,000 and we have been averaging $1,000 a day. We are also having a friendly competition between the classes, with the winning class getting a fun class party. Help your student’s class win, by registering our child and pledging money. Spread the word to your family members.

Phase 2 students are learning all about California and Native American tribes.  Did you know that there were tribes in all 4 regions of California?  They even lived in the desert!  We will soon begin a research project about specific tribes and will begin our unit on the California Missions.

Our students are so excited about the Read-a-Thon!  It will continue through next week, please make sure you activate your child’s online Read-a-Thon account and share it with family and friends.  Our goal is to raise $10,000!  We are halfway there!

The 4th grade Leadership students will be selling candy grams next week.  Small candy grams are 50 cents, large candies will be $1.00.  All proceeds will be donated to the Tracy Animal Shelter.

DCS

Discovery 5/6

DCS Survival Tip: Science Camp Q & A

When is Science Camp?
Monday, October 29^th to Friday, November 2^nd.  Students who attend camp will come to school at 7:30 and check in with Ms. T.  All students will receive special luggage tags made out by the Outdoor Education Science Camp Staff for their belongings.  Ms. T will also be collecting medication upon check-in. Returning time to campus on Friday may vary. We will be hitting Bay Area traffic, but I will keep Ms. Kay updated when we leave and when we hit the Pleasanton/Livermore area so she will know our ETA.

Can my child bring a backpack?
A small string backpack would be best, rather than a large backpack they typically bring to school.  We will be taking county school buses (the traditional yellow bus) and there is not a lot of room for extra belongings. Also, on hikes and excursions, the kids may use the small backpack to carry their water bottle and a disposable camera with them.

Can my child bring their electronic devices?
Please do not allow children to bring cell phones or electronics to camp. There is also no reception for cell phones once at camp.  Camp has a landline available, if there is an emergency. Please send disposable cameras (at least 2, because unlike phones, they go really fast when kids can’t see what they took pictures of and can’t erase digitally) with students if they would like to take pictures of their adventures.  You may also have to teach your child how to use a disposable camera before departure.

How can I see how/what my child is doing at Science Camp?
I will have my camera with me so I will post pictures and general updates any time I can get reception.  You can go to my website to find updates during camp week!
https://dcsmathwithmst.weebly.com/science-camp

What to pack clothes in?
Please remember that although it is important to be prepared, all students are responsible for carrying their belongings to their cabins from the drop off location.  The bus does not do cabin to cabin drop off with their luggage because the busses cannot fit down all the trails.  A duffle bag is the best piece of luggage to invest in for this trip, because a wheeled suitcase does well on solid ground, but not as well in muddy dirt trails and gravel.

Do I need to send bedding?
Cabins have twin mattresses, but students will be responsible for packing a sleeping bag and pillow.  It is also a good idea to teach your child how to roll up their sleeping bags themselves, because it probably won’t come back in the same neat roll you sent them to camp with Monday morning.  Personally, I find it helpful that sleeping bags and pillow go into a bag of some sort so that students are not holding multiple things on their walk to their cabins.  If you send sleeping bags and a pillow in a garbage bag, send an extra one for the return trip, because the bags tend to tear.

A Glance into 5/6 Classrooms

Technology with Ms. Ferguson:
Both 5/6 Technology/STEM classes are currently working on a partner project that expands their knowledge on the difference between an invention and an innovation.

Music with Mr. Dougherty:

Please save the date for the Trimester 1 concert that will be held here on TLC (51 E. Beverly Place), November 7^th from 6:30-7:30.  Students participating in this performance are Ms. Sabedra’s Homeroom, Ms. T’s Homeroom and Ms. Christensen’s Homeroom.

Language Arts with Ms. Christensen:
This week in L.A. we finished our novel The Revolution of Evelyn Serrano.  Next week we will be preparing for our final and working on a project for the book.  In writing, we cooperatively wrote a summary as a group and learned about the different types of persuasive writing. For grammar, the students are learning to diagram a compound subject and predicate and showing their knowledge of helping and linking verbs with a project.  We began our elements of art stations in Humanities.  The students are learning about different art techniques and practicing them in small groups.

Anyone still wanting to submit a scholastic book order can do so by the end of this weekend, I will submit the order Sunday evening.  If you are unable to order at this time, you can submit an order online at any time.  My classroom code is H8KBZ, this year students can choose a free book with a $25 order.

Math with Mrs. Zuniga:
Varsity: In our class, students are beginning to add fractions with like denominators. Students are also learning how to find the greatest common factor and the least common multiple. We are looking forward to using least common multiple to begin adding unlike denominator fractions.

Scholastic: In our class, the students are finishing dividing fractions. We will begin reviewing for our fractions test next Friday. I have informed students that after fractions we will begin decimals and they are very excited.

Honors: Our class has finished their Unit One Test. We will now begin reviewing for our Unit Two Test next Thursday which will include discounts, tax, mark ups, and tips. Parents make sure you are asking your students to find the discount amount or tip/tax when you are out eating or shopping. The students love that they can relate their math to real-life.

Geography with Ms. T & Mrs. Zuniga:
All classes have been working really hard learning the US states! So far we visited the heart of the US- Washington D.C. and then moved into the states of Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina.  As we visit each state, we also learn about top colleges there to prepare for our Career & College SWO that will start in January (after we return from winter break).

Some of our favorites have been Virginia Tech, Duke and John Hopkins!

Science with Mrs. Theall:
Last week we were working on experiments. It was a fun experience for all of us. Some of the experiments were making slime, rainbow color experiment with skittles and balloon blow up with a chemical reaction.

Math with Ms. T:
Varsity: We dove into fractions this week- we’ve mastered comparing fractions and finding equivalent fractions.  We also made our way into adding and subtracting fractions with common denominators this week.  Please look in your child’s math notebook to see what we have done and where we are headed next week. It’s a black composition notebook with rainbow colored duct tape on the binding.

Scholastic: We wrapped up Unit 1 (whole number review and fractions) and are moving on into Unit 2 (all things decimals and percentages) – most kids felt like decimals were a breath of fresh air after our intense unit of fractions! We will be moving quickly through add, subtract and multiplying decimals and will start dividing decimals.  We will practice unit rate as a class and it would be great real world practice for students to calculate unit rate while your family is out shopping!

Honors: Our class started Unit 4, which is Exponents. We dipped our feet into Algebra with evaluating expressions, combing like terms and work with squares and cubes. We had a practice drill with 1 to 20 squared and 1 to 5 cubed – whole class against Ms. T for speed and accuracy – stay tuned for who the fastest person in our class is!

Langauge Arts with Ms. Rodieck:
All Language Arts classes will be reviewing our first novel and we will be doing final projects and have a final exam the week of October 15th.

7^th/8^th

Important Dates:

• SWO number 1 is due November 5, 2018 (all students received this information in their language arts classes)
• CJSF Meeting next Friday 10/19
• Trimester 1 ends 11/ 9
• Parent Teacher Conferences: 11/13-11/15– Information to come!

Language Arts-Cerezo

This week students are continuing to analyze our first class novel, The Revolution of Evelyn Serrano. Students are looking in the novel to discover the authors use of figurative language and symbols to drive the plot of the book.

-Students are working on a final project for the novel, due 10/19

-Students will take a written final for the novel on 10/12

-Book club books are due 10/12

Language Arts-Ernst

This weeks students are working on their final projects for the novel The Revolution of Evelyn Serrano. We will be having the unit final on Friday October 12th. Our next book will be the play “Hamlet” by William Shakespeare. This will be a challenging read and may require studying at home and over the weekends

Social Studies-Zaca

This week students dived into the life of President Lyndon B. Johnson and discussed the programs created to help the American people as a whole: His Great Society. President Johnson grew up in extreme poverty and personally understood the challenges those who lived in poverty faced. Students spent time in class discussing how one’s life experiences as a child can shape your perception on life.

Math-King

Still would love to have donations of tissues!!

Varsity continues working on Solving Equations with Variables.

Honors just completed the Unit 2 test and the Geometry Midterm.  This is the same midterm all geometry classes take at DCS and MHS

Scholastic will take their Unit 1 test on 10/12 and them move on to Solving Equations

Physical Education:

Students are finishing the “Final Rotation” of the “First Trimester” playing Rookie Rugby in Coach Williams Class, Lacrosse in Coach Penirian’s Class and Soccer in Coach Easterday’s Class!

Please be on the lookout in “Aeries” for “Grade Updates” as Coach Penirian, Coach Easterday and Coach Williams’ classes just took their second written test this past Friday, October 5th for 7th/8th. Please remind students to study, complete & turn in their “Study Guides” that are given by us teachers to help them achieve the best possible grade on their test!!!

Also, as a friendly reminder, please remind students that they should be applying
“Deodorants/Antiperspirants/Baby Powder or Sanitary Wipes” in the morning before they are coming to school and showering daily; as their bodies have already begun puberty even though there may be no signs of it showing physically as it’s October but it feels like Spring! LOL

Thank You!!!

Science:

This week for 7-8 science, we are exploring optics and optical illusions as part of Academic Pentathlon. Students carried out presentations last week on an optical illusion of their choice, and this week, we are playing brain games to see how the brain interprets what the eye takes in.

Verbal Expressions:

Ms. Dane’s Verbal Expressions classes have been busy with Mock Trial, Reader’s Theater, Mask Making and Video Production.
3rd period , 7 -8 Honors has been trying the case of : “The People V. Miller”  where the school bully, Jesse Miller is accused of writing a life threatening note to newly arrived, scholarship student, Sam Landon.  Prosecution and Defense have been questioning witnesses, preparing opening and closing statements and learning about objections.  Our case comes to trial next week and we shall see who might prove their case…’beyond a reasonable doubt.

Lightning Larry and his gift of a good heart to some bad outlaws has been the focus of Period 4 7 -8  Varsity class and they completed a fantastic set of masks showing research and creativity.
Period 7 5-6 Varsity showed their acting skills with Spiderella and the Bremmentown Rappers -the groups had several ‘break-out’ stars on this project – enthusiasm and a positive energy made these performances a real pleasure to watch.
Video Team from the 8th period 7 8 Varsity is growing weekly. – with the help and encouragement from Mr. Snell last year to our growing team working with Ms. Prescott and Ms. Dane we are producing the Soar Videos and will be working on Interviewing and I Movie during the coming weeks.

MHS

Did you miss this morning’s announcements?

If your student missed the morning announcements at Unity, please check the Millennium High School homepage located on our Tracy Learning Center Website at http://www.tracylearningcenter.com/school/millennium/  go to Quick Links and click on Unity Announcements, please see example below.

Delta College Early Start Program – Spring Semester 2019

The process has begun for students interested in taking a class at Delta College this spring, and there are many steps to complete in the next week!  Step One is to apply online at www.deltacollege.edu.  Several days after applying, students must log in to retrieve their Delta ID #.  Once they have their Delta ID #, they may sign up in the Counseling Office to take the Assessment – it will be Saturday, October 20^th at 9:00am at the Delta Mountain House campus.  After taking the Assessment, students should bring their scores to the MHS Counseling Office and we will assist students in selecting which class to take.  College Early Start forms are due to the MHS Counseling Office for approval on November 5th.  For further details, please see the following College Early Start Webpage link: http://www.tracylearningcenter.com/counseling/college-and-carrer-planning/ .  Please contact the Counseling Office at (209)627-8299 or MHSCounseling@tracylc.net with questions!

CSU Application Workshop

October and November are busy months for all students wanting to apply to a four year college and/or to take Spring classes at Delta College. We held two separate application workshops and we filled the room with interested students.

Millennium High School – Fieldtrip to UC Merced and Cal State University Fresno

Attention all Sophomores, Juniors, and Seniors. MHS students will be visiting and taking a campus tour at UC Merced and CSU Fresno on Friday November 9, 2018. Space is limited to 42 students, all those interested may pick up a permission slip in the MHS Counseling Office and must return permission slips promptly to secure a seat. Please note: fieldtrip fee is $25.00. For additional questions, please contact the Millennium High School Office at (209) 627-8299 or email: mhscounseling@tracylc.net

Arbor Day & Tracy United To Make A Difference Day – October 27, 2018– Volunteers Needed

Volunteers are needed to plant 150 trees within the Tracy Community, this is a great opportunity to help beautify the community and gain community service hours, if interested please contact the MHS Counseling Office at (209) 627-8299 or email: mhscounseling@tracylc.net. You may also contact the Tracy Parks and Recreation Department directly (contact information below).

      Charter Chatter

A weekly newsletter written to parents of the TLC

Oct. 5, 2018                                                                                                                               Vol 9

Even with all the construction and temporary facilities, TLC kept up the school spirit with a fantastic homecoming parade.  It was wonderful to see all the schools come together.  I am so proud of your efforts and seeing the smiles on our student’s faces was a real treat.  We hope to see everyone out at the MHS football game this Saturday at the West High Football stadium.  JV starts at 5pm and Varsity kickoff is at 7pm.  Go Falcons!!!!!

New Board Member Position Opening

If you are interested in interviewing for a position as a member of the TLC Board of directors, please submit a resume and a letter of interest to the front office at the Beverly site.   The Board is seeking one member for its nine-member board.  The terms for this position are unlimited.  The Board meets once a month on the second Monday of the month.

Upcoming Picture Days

All re-takes are on Tuesday, Oct. 9, 2018

If re-doing pictures, please make sure your student returns their picture packet that you were unhappy with on picture day.

Car-line Issues

Very Risky Driving at morning drop off and afternoon pick up

We continue to have some very unsafe drop offs of students with parents stopping illegally, holding up traffic and letting children run across the street with the risk of oncoming traffic. Please, we beg you – Slow down and protect your child from injury or worse by safely pulling over and encouraging your child to only cross in the cross walks when safe to cross.

Next Parents Club Meeting

Monday, October 15 at 6:30pm in P2

Parents 4 TLC would like to thank all the families and teachers that participated in our Box Tops Contest.  There were 3,740 valid Box Tops for Education submitted which earns the school $307.40!!!  P3 was the winning class with 939 submitted Box Tops, and they have opted for a Pizza Party ~ way to go you guys!!!  P2 came in 2nd with 503, followed by P8 with 331 and rounding out the top 4 was TK with 315!!!!  We will be holding another contest before school is out so keep saving and clipping, and keep your eyes out for the announcement for the next contest!!

Don’t forget next Friday, October 12th is our Family Movie Night at the current Millennium High School campus (1904 Corral Hollow Road), doors will open at 6:00 pm with the movie, Coco, to start at 6:30.  We will have popcorn and other concessions for sale, and this time we will be holding raffles!!!  You still have time to turn in donations for your child’s class raffle bucket, don’t forget, Mrs. Stewart will be announcing the winning class next week, so let’s make those baskets amazing!  The winning class is getting popcorn and a movie in class!!  There is also going to be a 50/50 raffle.

Thank you again for all the Box Tops and see you under the tent next Friday!!!

Parents 4 TLC

**Next Parents 4 TLC Meeting is October 15th @ 6:30 pm in P2**

Lunch Menu – Week Oct. 8 – 12

Mon. –  Pizza

Tues. – Chicken Chimichanga

Wed- Beef or Gravy and Mashed Potatoes

Thurs – Mac and Cheese

Fri – Beef or Vegi Burger

PCS

Initial Phase

Next Friday, October 12th is our TLC Family Movie Night! Entry is free and there will be concessions (hot dogs, nachos, etc.) for sale. There will be a 50/50 raffle and raffle baskets. We are still in need of donations for our P2 reading corner raffle basket. We are having a contest and the classroom with the best basket wins a popcorn movie party! Books, book lights, bean bag chairs, stuffed animals are all items that would be perfect for our basket! Thank you to everyone who has donated to our basket so far. We are looking forward to seeing you there!

Phase One

We had a FUN week in Phase One.! It was Homecoming for MHS and we always love participating by dressing up each day and walking in the parade. If you have a chance, try to make it to the MHS Homecoming football game tomorrow night at West High. JV is at 5:00 and Varsity is at 7:30. Come out to support our MHS Falcons!

This week all of the Phase One classes had their FIRST AR party of the year! Congratulations to all the students who made it! On Monday, your child will receive their new reading level and AR goal in their Red folders. AR goals will be due Friday, November 9th. Good luck and start reading!

Phase 2 students really showed their spirit during Homecoming week!  We also stayed busy with state reports and learning more about California. Please make sure you sign your child’s agenda every week!
Also…the PCS Read-A-Thon starts on Monday! Information will be sent home in Monday folders.

DCS

Discovery 5/6

Important Upcoming Dates:
Tuesday, October 9^th: Picture Re-Takes
Friday, October 12^th: Science Camp $350 is due

DCS Survival Tip:

Does your child have their own desk or workspace in an area of your home that is conducive to focused studying?  Studying for quizzes and tests is a skill that is built over time and comes with school experience. We continually tell our students that it is better to study a little bit every day because it helps with their long-term retention, compared to studying for a longer period of time (last minute cramming) in a single day. It is also important that they spiral back their review to go over what was previously taught as a refresher.

Ideas of how parents can help at home:
• Your student can practice active learning while studying at home by highlighting key themes in their notes, using Post-its to mark important passages/clarify challenging concepts, making study flashcards, and/or mind mapping unit concepts.
• We have noticed that some students focus better in the morning, others afternoon and at night. Help your child find the times that his/her focused efforts will be most effective.
• Sometimes we just have to memorize things like basic math facts or spelling words. Using a song or mnemonic device to aid the memory works wonders.
•Encouraging students to be lifelong learner by searching up Youtube videos can be a handy resource for this age group.  They can pause, rewind and search up multiple versions of the same concept explained twenty different ways at the touch of a couple buttons.  This is a great tool when students need additional clarification, especially with abstract concepts.

Homecoming:

DCS students brought the spirit this week!  We had tons of students come with full on 60’s outfits and lots of undercover secret agents!

Unfortunately, we had some challenges with our float this year and the 5 foot dome came apart and caved in during the parade…BUT we were beyond impressed watching how our students jump to action to make sure it did not crumble completely. Students immediately grabbed each side and held on!  They kept on smiling and waving to parents and friends who were in the crowd watching. 

To us, that is the definition of family; that is what people do in a striving community. They come together without questioning and help each other to ensure success for all. They don’t look at how it’s going to benefit just themselves, they look at how it benefits the bigger picture, the bigger goal. If something doesn’t work out, we band together to find a solution!  Our kids really demonstrated what the DCS community looks like.

We are so proud of our students because time and time again they show us, and everyone around them, what a TLC student sounds like, acts like, and looks like. 

Thank you again,
Ms. T & Ms. Zaca
DCS Leadership Teachers

Staff VS. Students Soccer Game at Lunch:

A Glance into DCS Classrooms:

Social Studies with Ms. Sabedra
This week, in Social Studies, we started our Personal Awareness SWO, which will be due on November 5^th  Students were sent home with a letter to parents on Tuesday with rubrics and more information detailing the project. It’s purple so it should be easy to find in their backpacks!

Language Arts/Humanities with Ms. Christensen
This week in L.A. we worked on diagramming and verbs.  Some of the groups are creating PPT or videos which teach about verbs.  Students are also continuing to work on summaries at home.   In humanities, we are learning about different types of art throughout history.   We are also learning about many famous artists and some new ones.  Students received books this week for the reading club.

Language Arts/Humanities with Ms. Rodieck
In Ms. Rodieck’s Humanities classes we are currently doing a very brief History of Western Art that involves watching a video at https://smarthistory.org/tag/art-1010/ and writing notes about the art period.  Then we look at some art and sort it into different art periods.  We check the work and then glue them into our notebooks.  Ask about what your son or daughter has learned about Ancient Mesopotamian or Egyptian Art and Greek or Roman Art.

In Ms. Rodieck’s Language Arts Classes We finished up reading our first book club books this week and book reports were assigned on Friday to be due next Friday (or in two weeks for Honors).  If you have questions, check out my website at https://rodieckla.weebly.com/ – the assignments for the different classes will be posted over the weekend.  The assignments will also be put on Google Classroom.

All 5/6 Langauge Arts classes should be finishing up our first book of the year The Revolution of Evelyn Serrano next week.  The following week we will be doing a final project or writing assignment and taking a ‘final’ test about the book.

Math with Mrs. Zuniga
Varsity: The students have been so excited to start fractions this week. Students are learning how to compare fractions using cross-multiplication. They are also learning to create equivalent fractions.

Scholastic: Our class began dividing fractions on Monday. They are learning the reason why the second fraction is flipped and not the first. They know that division is the inverse of multiplication. They will be taking their dividing fraction quiz next Thursday.

Honors: Our class is completing the Unit One Test tomorrow (Friday). The students have been reviewing percents for the past week and are ready to be done with Unit One. Next week, students will continue discount, tax, and markup. They cannot wait to practice the concepts at home and out shopping with parents.

7^th/8^th

Science – Ms. Dominguez:

This week in 7-8 Science, we are onto the second Academic Pentathlon unit on “Optics.” Students are working on an “Optics Exploration” project, in which they are exploring how light plays a role in optical phenomenons and illusions such as auroras (Northern Lights), light from the moon, rainbows, and funhouse mirrors. Students will share their findings during in-class presentations at the end of the week.

Math- Mrs. King

The season of colds and flu is upon us. PLEASE send in donations of tissues, hand sanitizer and disinfectant wipes.  Thank you!

Language Arts- Mrs. Cerezo

All classes finished reading The Revolution of Evelyn Serrano this week! In each class we discussed the importance of the novel, their thoughts, and how the novel connects to what we have already learned about the 60’s.

Students in all classes must finish their at-home book club books by October 12th (project to follow).

The first trimester SWO is also being assigned this week (Friday), so please ask your students about the requirements for this first SWO project.

Language Arts–Mrs. Ernst

This week in Mrs. Ernst’s Language Arts class, students are continuing to read the novel The Revolution of Evelyn Serrano.  We are expected to finish by this Friday or at the latest early next week.  Our next class book is the play Hamlet by William Shakespeare.

Please make sure students study their vocabulary nightly- this will help students raise their quiz grades significantly.

MHS

Millennium High School – Homecoming Parade

Millennium High School’s homecoming parade took place yesterday in downtown Tracy. Tracy Learning Center’s grades TK – 12 showed their homecoming spirit with colorful floats and costumes, this year’s theme: “The 1960’s A Transformational Decade.”

Millennium High School – Homecoming Weekend

Saturday (October 6^th) we have a Tailgate in the MHS parking lot from 4pm to 5pm. There is no cost for admission. We will have hot dogs, music, face painting and poster making stations to create a huge spirit section for the game.

Homecoming Game at West High School. Saturday night (October 6^th) JV starts at 5:00pm and Varsity at 7:00pm. Usual admission fees apply.

Homecoming Dance under the tent at the MHS campus Saturday (Oct. 6^th) after the game ends. No students will be admitted before the game has ended. The dance is free.

PSAT Testing –Sign up today!

The PSAT will be held on Wednesday, October 10^th, 2018 7:30am-11:30am. Sign-ups for the PSAT are still available. The test fee is $18.00 and is due when you sign up for the test in the Millennium High School Counseling Office (Room A-2). For questions, please call the Millennium High School Counseling Office at (209) 627-8299 or email: mhscounseling@tracylc.net

Did you miss this morning’s announcements?

If your student missed the morning announcements at Unity, please check the Millennium High School homepage located on our Tracy Learning Center Website at http://www.tracylearningcenter.com/school/millennium/  go to Quick Links and click on Unity Announcements, please see example below.