TLC Charter Chatter
A Message from Virginia
Wishing all of our TLC staff, students and families a wonderful and safe Thanksgiving break. Enjoy a restful week off, you deserve it!
Next School Holiday
Nov. 25 – Nov. 29 Holiday Week – Thanksgiving
Personal Days for Next School Year 2019/2020
VERY IMPORTANT CHANGE for our upcoming 2019/2020 school year Beginning August 5, 2019, we are reducing personal/family days for students from 10 days down to 7 days. Allowing 7 days is still much higher than what the district schools allow and we feel 7 days is more beneficial for the school and for each students’ education.
Lunch Menu Week of Dec. 2, 2019 – Dec. 6, 2019
Mon – Pizza
Tues – Chicken Taquitos
Wed – Teriyaki Meatballs
Thurs – Cheese Raviolis
Fri – Beef or Veggie Burger
Sick Students
Just a reminder: Please keep your child home if he or she is sick or has a fever. We had many sick children last week and several were given tylenol prior to coming to school in the morning. These illnesses/viruses are very contagious and we are trying to stop them from spreading. Children must be 24 hours free of symptoms and fevers before returning to school.
Good news! There is now a “Give Credit” function within the app. If you are not seeing this function, make sure you have the most updated version of the app installed.
The “credit” button (star icon) shows after you take first image. A blank field appears that allows up to 50 characters to be typed. Type in your student’s classroom number to give credit. This field may auto-fill after the first entry; make sure to update it if necessary (such as if someone is supporting more than 1 child at same school, etc.).
NOW HIRING: Spring 2020 Head Athletic Coaches-
Boys Volleyball: https://www.edjoin.org/Home/DistrictJobPosting/1228598
Softball: https://www.edjoin.org/Home/DistrictJobPosting/1228598
9th Annual TLC’s Got Talent Show – Video auditions are now open!
Video Auditions for the 9th Annual TLC’s Got Talent Show are now open, deadline for submission is December 10, 2019. Please submit all video auditions to mhscounseling@tracylc.net and return the participation form to the MHS Counseling Office.
TLC Preschool: P.E. in preschool?
Physical activity is critical for development both emotionally and physically. Our preschool students are so lucky to have PE class as part of their educational experience! Coach E works hard to create fun PE classes that help our students develop their fine and gross motor skills. We believe you would be hard-pressed to find another preschool that provides PE to all!
Initial Phase
- Teachers had such a wonderful time meeting with all of our awesome P2 parents at conferences this week! We always love getting the opportunity to tell you how great your kids are! We are so thankful to have such kind and supportive families in our class this year! We hope that everyone enjoys their Thanksgiving break and is able to take the time to relax, recharge, and spend time with family and friends. We will see you back at school in one week on Monday, December 2nd.
- We LOVED all of the disguised turkeys! Everyone did a FANTASTIC job!
- WINTER CONCERT: Monday, November 2nd at 1:00. Students should dress in their holiday best. Small headwear is allowed; but nothing that will block the view of the students behind them.
Phase One:
The Phase One teachers would like to thank all the parents that met with us for conferences this week. It is always nice to meet with you in person and discuss your child’s growth. We would also like to thank all the families that brought in food for our classroom Thanksgiving feasts! The students loved it!
Remember that the Winter Music Concert is on Monday, December 2nd!! The concert starts at 6:30. Phase 1 students should be dropped off in classrooms by 6:10.
Phase Two:
Thank you to all the parents who met with us for conferences. We enjoy talking to you about your child’s progress and goals. If you ever have questions, we are always just an email away!
On Friday our classes enjoyed a PIE PARTY! We appreciate everyone who donated pie, whipped cream, plates, forks and napkins. What a great way to end trimester 1!
DON’T FORGET!!! The Winter Music Concert is on Monday, December 2nd! The concert will start at 6:30. Phase 2 students should be in classrooms by 6:25 please!
Primary See’s Candy orders are due on Monday, December 2nd.
Discovery Middle School 5-6
Upcoming ⅚ Dates:
November 23 – December 1: NO SCHOOL = Thanksgiving Break
Honor Roll:
This year we are celebrating students whom have achieved academic excellence by awarding Honor Roll. We are awarding Honor Roll students in three categories: Bronze, Silver, and Gold. Below are those students whom have achieved this high honor for their GPA for Trimester 1:
Gold Honor Roll:
Silver Honor Roll:
Bronze Honor Roll:
⅚ Discovery Top 5 Nest Point Earners:
Falcon Pride!!!
Peregrine:
Saker:
Kestrel:
Amur:
Mrs. Zuniga/Mrs. Bengson’s Math:
Varsity: Students worked on word problems all week long and how to break them down. They have also taken their interim state test which helps us figure out what we need to prepare for before the state test in May.
Scholastic: Students just finished the last lesson in Unit 3 and began reviewing on Tuesday. They have also taken their interim state test which helps us figure out what we need to prepare for before the state test in May.
Honors: Students have been reviewing Unit 2 for their test this week. They have also taken their interim state test which helps us figure out what we need to prepare for before the state test in May.
Mrs. Nijjar’s Math:
Varsity: We spent this week learning about the patterns, rules that define each pattern, and later, completed the In-and-Out tables based on patterns and rules. This week included lot of testing – Interim testing, multiplication-division word problems quiz, and fractions pre-assessment. That said, the students are all set for a well-deserved Thanksgiving break!
Scholastic: Students got introduced to the basics of algebra and learned about exponents, PEMDAS, and algebraic expressions. Students put their best efforts to take the Interim test for two days in a row.
Honors: Students learned to interpret domain and range of various graphs by using different strategies – paper foldable, colored pencils, rulers, and by swiping pencils on a graph. In addition, students took the Interim test for two days and completed the week by reviewing the coordinate plane vocabulary and terms.
Ms. Rodieck’s Language Arts and Humanities
We are continuing to read Fever 1793 and when we come back from Thanksgiving Break, we will be writing a Personal Awareness Essay comparing ourselves to Matilda. Speaking of writing, rough drafts will now be a part of homework. We will start the essay in class, but it will need to be completed at home. Then we will be able to spend class time working on revising and editing our essays to improve our writing. Final drafts of essays will need to be typed and printed to be handed in. If computers are not available, I am here until 5 pm for Study Club and students can use computers then.
Have a thankful Thanksgiving and we will be back to work in December – only one month left this year!!
Language Arts with Mr. Harding
Social Studies with Mr. Bird and Mr. McCarthy
This week in social studies, our scholars finished their unit on Ancient Egypt! We started the week off by playing a fun review “basketball” game where we asked students questions and groups had to write down their answers on a whiteboard. If correct, the groups chose a person to come to the front of the class to throw a small ball into our class hoop for nest points. The students had a blast with this game and were able to review for the unit test they took on Tuesday.
To end Ancient Egypt and introduce our next unit on Ancient Hebrews, the students watched The Prince of Egypt for the remainder of the week. While watching the movie, students were required to complete a “See-Think-Wonder” handout. Students had to write down a number of things they saw related to what they’ve learned, things they are thinking about the topic, and things they wonder about the movie or upcoming unit. It was a perfect transition between the units before the Thanksgiving break.
There is no homework during the Thanksgiving break for social studies. Please enjoy the time with your family.
When we return from break, students will begin a lesson on the origins of Judaism focusing on the essential question: How did Judaism originate and develop? Students will be learning about key figures in the development of Judaism and create scrolls about them.
Science with Ms. Diaz:
Greetings scientists! This week, students made flashcards to start learning about the planets in our solar system, and no, we didn’t leave out poor Pluto because we also went over dwarf planets. So Pluto still got its due recognition! See the students busy at work below. The Mixtures & Solutions quizzes were graded and passed back. Students also submitted their Personal Awareness SWOs on Monday. There were some truly lovely scrapbook pages and trifolds, complete with a family tree, timeline and acrostic poem, to behold. We ended the week on a festive note by having a Friendsgiving party, partaking in savories, sweets and merriment. Happy Vacation to all!
Next week we will have a scavenger hunt to see how much we were able to learn and store our solar system facts.
Last but not least, come one and come all to check out the DCS science blog site at: www.tlcdiscoverychannel.weebly.com. Read all about the Top 5 Most Haunted Places in the World (Kaitlyn Kwong) and Palmato Geckos (Sofia Richardson). Prepare to be SCIENCED!
Awesomely interesting announcements:
- Please don’t forget to check Google classroom and/or the science class website regularly with your student
Google Classroom Hon/Scholastic code→ jp9wlua
Google Classroom Varsity code→ 8d4s9b
Science class website: https://diazdoesscience.weebly.com
Mission to Mars:
- An email regarding rooming preferences has been sent out to all registered parent emails. If you haven’t received one, please contact me at cdiaz@tracylc.net. Preferences need to be turned in by Dec. 6th, otherwise we will room allocate remaining students.
- Next payment is due Dec. 4th. Your balance needs to be $600 or less to stay on time with the payment schedule.
Rube Goldberg:
- Practice/Workshops are Mondays/Tuesdays/Thursdays (4-5pm, picked up by 5:15)
- Competition Friday, Dec. 13th—> schedule has been handed out so please coordinate with your fellow inventor, as we would love to have parents watch
- Group requirements and deadlines have also been set, so please review with your inventor what needs to be done and when
Stay curious & keep exploring!!!
Discovery Middle School 7-8
- MHS Applications are due November 22nd!
- Thanksgiving Breaks begins Nov. 25th and students return to school Dec. 2nd
Honor Roll:
This year we are celebrating students whom have achieved academic excellence by awarding Honor Roll. We are awarding Honor Roll students in three categories: Bronze, Silver, and Gold. Below are those students whom have achieved this high honor for their GPA for Trimester 1:
Bronze Honor Roll:
Silver Honor Roll:
Gold Honor Roll:
Week 15 Top 5 Nest Earners!
DISCOVERY ATHLETICS
The 6th Grade Girls basketball team defeated Art Freiler with the score 32-6. The girls improve to 6-0 on the season. They will play in the first round of the playoffs when we return from break.
The 7th/8th Grade Girls basketball team defeated North with the score 28-20. The girls improve to 3-3 on the season. They will play Monte Vista @ Boys and Girls Club gym on Thursday, December 5th at 5pm.
Math with Mr. Dhillon:
Varsity :- currently doing unit 4 ( Integers , graphing and function.)
completed till lesson 3 coordinate plane and will be doing lesson 4 Functions ns Graph , lesson 5 Adding Integers, lesson 6 subtracting Integers and lesson 7 Multiplying Integers and lesson 8 Dividing Integers
Scholastic :- Currently doing unit 4 linear Equation . doing 4.2 slope intercept form and standard form ,will do 4.3 x and y intercept and 4.4 horizontal and vertical lines , 4.5 the point slope form , 4.6 parallel and perpendicular lines , linear equation word problems , 4.8 scatter plot , line of best fit and linear regression
Honors :- done with unit 5 Relationship in Triangles and will do data analysis ( measures of central tendency and and start with unit 6 similar triangles
Math with Mrs. Rapp:
In all classes we spent two days this last week doing Math Interim testing to practice for the state test. This is to better prepare our students for the state test by allowing them to get comfortable with the computers and format of the test. They will have those results when we return from Thanksgiving break.
In Varsity we just wrapped up Unit 3 on an Introduction to Algebra. This unit was challenging, but overall a great start to what will come in math for these students. This class has not been introduced to a variety of properties they will continue to use, order of operations, and solving one step equations mentally.
In Scholastic we finished Unit 3 on Parent Functions and Transformations, which was a shorter unit compared to Unit 3. This unit was fun as we got to learn how to use graphing calculators for the first time. Which helped us master how to find the domain and range of functions. The average for this test was a 75%, so there is still room for improvement. Unit 4 is on Linear Equations and this will be one of the last units we complete before their final in December.
In Honors we finished Unit 4 on Congruent Triangles and as a class we set a goal of a 90% average and got a 91% average on the test. So Good! They worked hard this unit to master two column proofs and I am pleased with their test scores. Unit 5 is on Relationships in Triangles and this will be one of the last units we complete before their final in December.
After break, all classes will be completing a mini unit on the following topics:
Box-and-Whisker Plot
Measures of Central Tendency
Mean Absolute Deviation
This is to better help students understand how to take data and analyze it. We will be using all of this to look at our test scores each unit and see how we did overall as a class.
Millennium High School
Congratulations to our top nest point earners this week!
We celebrated these students Friday morning at Unity. Their reward was free MHS beanies, perfect for our Winter Spirit week on return to school!
Kestrel – Pallavi Prasad, 275 (above, center)
Peregrine – Justine Jade Armat, 295 (not pictured)
Amur – Aidan Ray, 315 (above, left)
Saker – Mariah Minten, 465 (above, right)
ACTIVITIES
WINTER SPIRIT WEEK is the WEEK WE RETURN FROM BREAK, 12/2-12/6
Monday, Dec. 2 – Comfy Cozy Day (PJs)
Tuesday, Dec. 3 – Ghost of Christmas Past Day (Decades Day)
Wednesday, Dec. 4 – Extreme Holi-Day (Red/Green/Winter/Ugly Sweater)
Thursday, Dec. 5 – Falcons Fly Day (Black and Gold, show your pride!)
Friday, Dec. 6 – Extreme Nest Color Day (Rally Day)
Our Winter Sports Rally will be Friday, December 6th, at 10AM. Let’s kick off our winter athletics season and show our Falcon pride!
WINTER FORMAL
The Winter Ball, our annual Winter formal dance, will be Friday, December 13th, from 7-10 PM in the MHS Gym. Tickets are $15 each, or $25 for couples. Friendship couples encouraged! 9th through 12th grade welcome!
FALCON CULTURE PROJECT
Emma Ramirez
Meet Emma, a 2nd generation, Mexican American student at Millennium. Her family immigrated from Mexico in the 60’s, creating a big family in California. Some of her favorite traditional meals are enchiladas, fideo, caldo de res, and menudo. In 2017, she had a quinceañera but decided to have it in Mexico to have a more cultural experience and understanding of her heritage. One of her biggest values is family and always makes family functions a priority. Her biggest role model is her mother because of the many accomplishments she achieved with the obstacles that stood in her way. She admires how her mother had to mature at such a young age, translating documents and paperwork for her spanish speaking parents. This is one of Emma’s inspirations to choose a youth oriented career. She wants to create a strong mold for children and motivate them to achieve anything, regardless of race or background. Emma does not know for sure what job she will pursue, but she knows her purpose is to help and inspire children and for that I know she will make a great difference in this world.
YEARBOOK ORDERS and SENIOR DEDICATION AD ORDERS NOW OPEN!
Yearbooks are on sale now! Yearbooks are $75. Now is the perfect time to order a 2019-20 yearbook for your student. We look forward to yearbook delivery day, May 15th. Orders are open through April 11th. Click HERE to go to our convenient online order center! Or you may go to yearbookordercenter.com and enter code 21362. You may also pay by cash, check, or card in the front office or by contacting Miss Lamanna, blamanna@tracylc.net
Senior Dedication ads in the yearbook are available and can include photos alongside a personal message to your son, daughter, or teammate. There are a limited number of pages available, so act quickly. The deadline to place an ad is 3/15/20. Credit cards accepted! If you have any questions, please direct them to blamanna@tracylc.net.
Athletics
Interested in donating to the Athletics program? Here are 2 great opportunities! If you would like to help us purchase the padded flooring for the weight room we hope to have open by winter, you may donate here (We are just about $10,000 shy of FULL completion!!): https://www.gofundme.com/f/falcons-weight-room
Weekly Schedule (Girls & Boys Soccer, Girls & Boys Basketball):
Friday & Saturday 11/22-11/23: Girls Soccer at Stagg Tournament
Monday 11/25: Girls and Boys Varsity Basketball vs Mountain House (Foundation Game) played at 6 & 8pm at Kimball High in the small gym
Wednesday 11/27: JV/V Boys Basketball at Ceres High (5pm/7:15pm)
Saturday 11/30: Carson Edwards competes at the State Meet in Fresno, 11am
Sports Scores to be continued:
Saturday 11/16: Falcons Cross Country competed in Sections, of which the boys team finished 5th. HUGE CONGRATULATIONS to Carson Edwards!! He has qualified for State and will be racing in Fresno on 11/30!
NOW HIRING: Spring 2020 Head Athletic Coaches-
Boys Volleyball: https://www.edjoin.org/Home/DistrictJobPosting/1228598
Softball: https://www.edjoin.org/Home/DistrictJobPosting/1228598
Meet The Coaches!
Hi, I’m Coach Mike Woods. I have been coaching at Millennium for about 14 years now. I love coaching here because the school has high academic standards. I have a real passion for the game of basketball and for teaching students how to play the game the right way. My goal as a coach is to increase the student’s knowledge of the game which helps to build their confidence. The more confident they are, the better they can compete.
For donations towards Millennium Athletics in general, you can go here: https://www.paypal.com/donate/?token=JV4bGcCRYeBxsAoeIm9378Hq0cPdQ5v5cVuYxrIDCxod5qM0FM8eQcBKQ-YhqrA_hGj2tG&fromUL=true&country.x=US&locale.x=en_US
Follow Millennium Athletics on Social Media:
-Instagram- @Millennium_Athletics
-Twitter- @MHS_Falcons
-Facebook- http://www.facebook.com/BalsamoPE
We appreciate your continued support! FALCON PRIDE!!
Upcoming Fundraisers for Athletics:
-Daddy Daughter Dance: December 14th, 2019
-Mother Son Dance: February 8th, 2020
COUNSELING, COLLEGE, AND COMMUNITY NEWS!!!
This time of the year it is especially important to give our appreciation and gratitude to our community members. Without the support from our business and nonprofit organizations, our students would not have the opportunity to participate in community service, internship, and employment. Thank you for all that you do for our school and students!
Interact Club helped out at the Keller Williams Holiday Boutique week by fundraising for one of our local nonprofits known as the Tracy Senior Association. We sold out of our treats and exceeded our goal of raising $200!
Community Service Opportunity-Salvation Army Kettle Campaign
The Salvation Army is in need of Volunteers for their holiday season Kettle Campaign (donation bell ringing) in Tracy, available dates are listed below. All interested volunteers must sign-up in the MHS counseling office. All locations will operate from 9am-7pm except Raley’s (9am-6pm).
November 29: Walmart & Macy’s
December 2: Safeway
Spring 2020 College Early Start Registration on Wednesday 11/27
Spring 2020 College Early Start forms have been approved and returned to students with instructions on the next step. Students must log in to their My Delta accounts to register for their classes – this does not happen automatically. Our Millennium students’ registration date and time is Wednesday, November 27th at 3:45pm. They must log in at this time or soon after to register for their class(es). The video at this link will explain step by step how to register for classes: https://deltacollege.edu/mydelta-portal/manage-classes-mydelta/how-register-mydelta If students have any problems registering, please have them visit the MHS Counseling Office when we return from Thanksgiving Break.
9th Annual TLC’s Got Talent Show – Video auditions are now open!
Video Auditions for the 9th Annual TLC’s Got Talent Show are now open, deadline for submission is December 10, 2019. Please submit all video auditions to mhscounseling@tracylc.net and return the participation form to the MHS Counseling Office.
FREE Boys to Men Conference 12/7/19
This FREE conference will be held on Saturday, December 7th, 2019 at Kimball High School in Tracy, from 8:30 am – 2:30 pm( Doors open at 8 am). This conference is open to boys ages 10 -18. The Boys-to-Men Conference is an uplifting and positive event using real-life approaches for realistic results. In this conference participants attend professionally delivered workshops, hear a keynote address, and ask questions during a panel discussion. A catered lunch is also included. The key focus areas include healthy lifestyles, personal accountability, leadership development and alternatives to deviant behavior. Visit https://www.sowaseedcf.org/ for more information and to register online.
Computer Science
My Computer Science 1 and 2 classes went on their first field trip to the Computer History Museum in Mountain View and we had a great time! The students learned a lot about the history of computers and traveled through time experiencing the evolution of technology.
This week in English…….
Mrs. Ernst- English II Our class is currently working on completing The Kite Runner. We are also working on diagramming and writing skills. Students are preparing for finals with a study guide being issued to them on 11/21.
English I- This class is working on completing the novel Orphan Train prior to finals. All classes should make that goal. Along with reading the novel, we are looking at historical landmarks such as Ellis Island and time periods such as The Great Depression. Diagramming and writing are all important parts of our class, as well as vocabulary. Students will receive a study guide for semester 1 on 11/21.
Ms. Langston, English 1 and 2: We are currently preparing for our finals coming up after the break. Students received their last week of vocabulary for Semester 1 and should begin studying vocabulary from Week 1 through Week 16 for the final. I recommend that students make a quizlet or use another favorite study tool to help them. After the break, we will be reviewing the major diagramming and grammar concepts we learned this year, and we will review the foundational writing skills they have learned thus far. We will continue to make progress in our class novels this week and the weeks leading up to the final. I recommend that over the break, students read a book or some news articles of choice to keep their reading comprehension skills sharp. I also recommend that they work on their Semester 1 Final Study guide that they will be receiving in my class at the end of the week.
Mrs. Saldate- English Two: The school year is racing by! We are still reading The Kite Runner and students are very engaged. We are enjoying watching the characters develop and predicting what will happen next! We are continuing our lessons on diagramming and writing and can now diagram Interjections and write well developed introductions and Body Paragraphs.
English Three: We recently started our second book of the year, The Scarlet Letter. The students are still getting to know the characters and analyzing their relationships to one another. We’ve written our first research paper of the year and are getting ready to begin our second. Our writing ability has really developed and we are beginning to be able to produce collegiate level papers!!
Mr. Reyes- In English Three, students are fully immersed in The Scarlet Letter, a classic novel taught in nearly every high school across the country. Students have completed the Scandal project, created their own “Scarlet Letters” and written an essay that examines the hypocrisy of the Puritans as evidenced in the introductory chapters of the novel. Some students are convinced that they know who Pearl’s father is, and they can’t wait to find out if they are right!
In English Four, students have begun to read The Road by Cormac McCarthy. This novel explores a father and son’s survival in a world where very little hope exists after a post-apocalyptic event. My seniors brought in a picture of the one thing they would miss the most if the world changed like it does in The Road. Family and pets were popular choices, of course, but I was impressed that students made the realization that the mundane, routine elements of everyday life, and the ability to enjoy free time would be lost forever if survival became their primary focus. This book really helps students appreciate the lives that their families provide for them and offers them a chance to gain a new perspective on our world that we take for granted far too often. We are also working on reflective narratives that connect personal experience with that of a character from one of our novels from the past.
Finals are looming – after Thanksgiving break, there is only one week of regular school before finals week!
Mr. Crook’s English Four class is wrapping up the unit on The Things They Carried and Metaphor. The students are finishing up an essay based on the use of metaphor throughout the novel. In addition, the students are beginning to explore a bleak apocalyptic wasteland in The Road. Throughout the novel we will discuss human nature as we track the journey of a father and son through the waste.
Mr. Crook’s English Two class is continuing to study The Kite Runner. As we draw near to the end of the novel, we explore honor and morality through the lens of a culture much different than our own. In addition, we continue to academic vocabulary and increasingly complex sentence diagrams while studying non-fiction articles on a weekly basis.
Student Feature: Montek Sethi, 10th Grade
Montek accomplished an important milestone in his aviation/soaring hobby. On Saturday November 16th shortly after his 15th birthday, he flew his 1st Solo flight in a glider at Byron Airport. Montek joined Northern California Soaring Association and had been training almost every weekend over the last 10 months. He received dual training with glider instructors of about 40 flights and 15 flight hours during this time, while also volunteering and supporting the club activities. Montek is also a recipient of $2000 scholarship from the association. Congratulations, Montek!
