Guadalupe Gazette
May 2017
Principal's Corner: Celebrating Recognitions!
In the Union School District, we like to recognize folks for their contributions to our school and community. Each year, we select a Teacher of the Year, Classified Employee of the Year and Volunteer of the Year. The Teacher and Classified Employee of the Year are nominated and selected by his or her colleagues. The Volunteer of the Year is nominated and selected by the Guadalupe teachers.
Guadalupe’s Teacher of the Year this year is Mrs. Dianna Talley. Mrs. Talley was selected by her colleagues out of a number of other very deserving nominees. Mrs. Talley has been teaching in our district for 10 years. During that time she has become respected as a leader on campus who integrates innovative teaching and technology. She has served on a number of district committees and has been actively involved in the community. Our students and staff are grateful for her leadership. Congratulations to Mrs. Talley!
Guadalupe’s Classified Employee of the Year is Mrs. Ronda Nataraj. Mrs. Nataraj has been an instructional assistant in our Resource Program for a number of years. She has worked with countless students over the years, providing them with additional support and instruction. She brings a wealth of knowledge and strategies that help kids achieve at their highest levels. We are so lucky to have someone as skilled as her supporting our school. Congratulations to Mrs. Nataraj!
Lastly, Guadalupe’s Volunteer of the Year this year is Mindy Carpenter. Mindy was selected from a list of other volunteers recommended by the Guadalupe teaching staff. She serves on the Home and School Club board as the Volunteer and Room Parent Coordinator. In addition, she has been active in all of the Home and School Club events this year and she has worked tirelessly on our most recent Walkathon that raised money to fund our Recess 101 and Starting Arts programs. Next year she will be our Home and School Club Treasurer. Thank you Mindy for all that you do!
Art Show and Auction Coming Up!
Volunteers Needed! If you are able to help, please click on the Sign Up Genius link to sign up for a time slot.
Planning for 2017-18
Not Returning Next Year
It is important for us to know if your student is not planning on returning next year as we begin preparation for class placements. Thank you to those of you who have already let us know. Some of you were "undecided" when we asked earlier this year. Please let us know if you have confirmed whether or not your student will be returning.
Building Balanced Classes
During the months of May and June we work hard to build classes for next year. The school staff takes a number of things into consideration when doing this work. Our goal is to build balanced classes factoring in information like student abilities, student needs, behavior dynamics, and levels of support.Each teacher and grade level team has a strong understanding of the individual needs of each student and they work with the administration to build these classes. To that end, we do not accept class requests from parents. If you submit a class request it will not be used in determining your child's placement. This policy is in place to ensure that this process is fair and equitable to all families. Thank your for honoring this policy.
Open House: May 24th
Safe Routes to School
- When the stop signs are up please wait. Do not go around the Safety Patrol volunteers or the crossing guard until the signs are down and it is safe.
- Please cross at the crosswalks. Parking and quickly running across the street is dangerous with so many cars on the streets during drop off and pick up.
- In the drop off lane, students should exit cars out the school side door, not the door that opens into the through lane.
- Do not enter the parking lot through the EXIT driveway. There is only one entrance and once exit to our parking lot. Signs are posted to remind you of this.
- It is unsafe and illegal to park along red curbs or in front of neighbors driveways.
We have reached out the the city of San Jose Police Department and Parking Compliance offices to help us with enforcement. There is a link on our website for those who would also like to make a request for enforcement. The more requests they receive the higher priority we become. Traffic Enforcement Unit.
Thank you for your help keeping our school safe this year.
Great News about our STEAM Building!
These buildings are prefabricated and hopefully will be delivered this summer. Our goal is to have all the finish work done, and to have it open to students, early in the fall.
STEM Summer Camp for 5th Graders going to Dartmouth
Superintendents Message
As the end of the school year rapidly approaches, we are all reflecting on the wonderful year of accomplishments and joy we have experienced. I’ve witnessed amazing innovation going on in classrooms at every school, engaged and enthusiastic learners from Pre-K through 8th grade, dedicated teachers, staff and parents who all bring something truly special to the this district.
In April, the district participated in the #LoveMySchoolDay challenge. Teachers, staff and parents tweeted about what they love about their school. The positivity spread, and in one day, over 500 tweets (and 1,100 likes) were sent describing the love everyone has for Union schools. Twitter is one way to see and experience the great learning going on at our schools. If you haven’t already signed up, try it out, follow our schools, and take a look at our district hashtag #usdlearns.
For links to all school twitter handles, visit www.unionsd.org/apps/pages/socialmedia.
We are also incredibly proud that Dartmouth Middle School and Union Middle School were recently announced as recipients of the prestigious Gold Ribbon School Award. Both schools are models of excellence, the award serving to recognize the amazing work of teachers, classified staff and administrators who are so committed to our middle school students.
This year has also brought the start of the Makerspace construction at our elementary schools. The labs at Alta Vista, Lietz and Oster are slated for completion by the end of the school year. The labs at Carlton, Guadalupe and Noddin will break ground during the summer. Students and teachers looked on with excitement as the installation of the labs began and we all await with great anticipation for the innovative activities that will be conducted by our students in the upcoming months and years.
I wish all of our Union families and staff members an enjoyable and relaxing summer and we look forward to welcoming students back to school on August 16.
2016 CA Honor Roll
We recently received word that our school was chosen by Educational Results Partnership (ERP) and the Campaign for Business and Education Excellence (CBEE) as a 2016 California Honor Roll recipient!
The California Honor Roll is part of a national effort known for its extensive and rigorous analysis of student achievement in public schools. Our school stood above other schools in the state because of our success in getting students to grade level achievement and beyond.
We did not apply for this award (they found us!) and it is a great honor to have been chosen. We will be featured on the Honor Roll website and a banner has been designed for us to hang proudly at our school.
Walkathon Thank You!
Upcoming Events: Put these on your calendar
May 8-12: CAASPP Testing continues
May 8: Union School District Board Meeting
May 11th- Art Show and Spring AuctionMay 14th- Math Olympiads Tournament
May 19th: Incoming Kinder Round Up
May 19th: Spirit Day
May 24th: Open House
May 29th: Memorial Day: No School
June 7th: Olympic Day
June 8th: 5th Grade Promotion Ceremony
June 9th: Last Day of School: Dismissal at 12:15
Guadalupe Elementary School
Principal: Chris Izor
Superintendent: Denise Clay
Board Members: Vickie Brown, Jennifer Petroff, Janice Hector, Sheila Billings, Thomas E. Rossmeissl
Website: guadalupe.unionsd.org
Location: 6044 Vera Cruz Drive, San Jose, CA, United States
Phone: 408 268-1030
Twitter: @GuadGrizzly