Voyager Family News
Special Summer 2019 Edition
Gratitude from Ms. Moore
Dear Silver Strand Voyager Community,
Thank you to all the people who contribute to our school's daily business and special unique community culture, including our Silver Strand certificated and classified staff, our amazing students and their families, our district office (including the Learning, Student Services, Technology, Maintenance and Operations, Business, Nutrition, Preschool/Childcare, and Human Resources Departments), our partner schools and the Board of Trustees in Coronado Unified School District. We are proud to be connected with our military bases and resources through partnerships and support programs for our students such as Military Family Life Counseling and Operations BIGS and PALS. We are grateful to the South Bay Union School District Transportation Department for providing bus services daily and for our students' field trips.
We are proud of our partnership with our neighboring military Youth Center and CUSD Childcare Centers for their loving care of our students before and after school, and our PTO and Karen Pierro for their support and coordination of our after-school Enrichment Clubs. Coronado SAFE and the City of Coronado Library and Recreation Department offer resources to our students and their families all year long. We are grateful to the Coronado Police and Fire Departments for their protection and awareness programs for our students. Our students benefit from parent and community volunteers, such as Rotary and the Everyone a Reader Program, every single day. You provide additional encouragement, resources, and care for our students and staff! Thank you to parents and staff members who served on our School Site Council and Title I Committees. Organizations and businesses such as Junior Achievement, Humane Society, Water Conservation Garden, Coronado Historical Association, the Hotel del Coronado and Loews Coronado Bay Resort opened their doors or offered docents for school programs, visits, field trips, and events.
We receive truly incredible financial support through the generosity of partnering businesses and community organizations. Loews Coronado Bay Resort's Play by the Bay event provided funding for our students' classrooms and programs through Donors Choose this year. Our hardworking and big-hearted PTO members and volunteers raised money and sponsored family fun nights, Holiday Shoppe, staff appreciation, our family Luau party, and more!
And finally, the vision, hard work, and ongoing commitment of Coronado Schools Foundation staff, board members, community business partners, and individual and family volunteers and donors means we can provide our school with rich visual and performing arts and STEAM programs and resources for the unforeseeable future.
It has been my honor and privilege to join and support this special school and community and serve your curious, kind, and inspiring children this year, and I am grateful for your support, feedback, and encouragement. I am excited to "Voyager On" with our new and returning families!
Jenny Moore
Exciting Changes Ahead in 2019-20 School Year!
We used the following criteria and goals in the development of our schedule:
1. Create a schedule which is family-friendly and deliberately prioritizes student achievement.
2. Calibrate instructional minutes from Kindergarten to Grade 5.
3. Limit student transitions during the instructional day.
4. Designate blocks of designated time for Math, English/Language Arts, Science/Social Science, Specials, and Sanford Harmony (SEL).
5. Ensure common daily teacher prep time (TK-5) by grade-level team.
6. Provide weekly collaboration time for staff.
Highlights of the new schedule:
- ALL students in grades K-5 will start and end their days at the same time, Monday through Friday (students in TK will end their school day before kindergarten lunch).
- ALL students K-5 will have PE or VAPA/Innovation every day for 50 minutes Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday (PE twice a week and either Innovation or VAPA twice a week, switching topics halfway through the year to provide continuity and concentration on one topic per semester). ALL students K-5 will have 30-minute PE on Wednesdays.
- Social-Emotional Learning time, in the form of lessons, morning circles/meet-ups and/or buddy time, is built into our schedule every day.
- Our new lunch schedule will make serving, transitioning, and supervising students safer and more manageable.
New Curriculum:
- Bridges Math: We are implementing new curriculum in mathematics which aligns with the Common Core standards and prepares our students for mathematics at Coronado Middle and High Schools. Our 3rd and 5th grade teachers piloted Bridges Math this year and report more excitement about numbers and problem solving, as well as increased scores in math among their students. Exciting features of the new curriculum are its accompanying intervention and challenge/extension activities, to meet the needs of a range of learners.
- English/Language Arts Pilot: A few grade levels at Village and Silver Strand Elementary Schools will be participating in pilots of ELA curricula this fall (Scholastic and Benchmark). Our intent is to pilot in 2019-20 and adopt a new curriculum for the following school year. If your child is in a class participating in the pilot, you will receive more information at the beginning of the year.
- New Science "Innovation" Special: We are excited to continue to offer our weekly Science Special with a new curriculum, Project Lead the Way (the engineering/design/robotics/project-based program used by CMS and CHS). Students will be incorporating more technology and STEAM activities into their time in this new "Innovation" special, funded by CSF!
Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday Bell Schedule Basics:
8:10 AM: School begins for all students TK-5th Grade
9:45-10:00 AM: TK-2nd Grade Recess
10:00-10:15 AM: 3rd-5th Grade Recess
10:40-11:30 AM: VAPA/Innovation/PE for 4th and 5th Grade
11:30-12:15 PM: 4th and 5th Grade Lunch
11:50 AM: TK Dismissal
11:50-12:35 PM: Kindergarten and 1st Grade Lunch
12:15-1:00 PM: 2nd and 3rd Grade Lunch
1:00-1:50: VAPA/Innovation/PE for 2nd and 3rd Grade
1:50-2:40: VAPA/Innovation/PE for Kindergarten
2:00-2:50: VAPA/Innovation/PE for 1st Grade
2:55: Dismissal for ALL students K-5th Grade
Wednesday (Early Release) Bell Schedule Basics:
(K-5th Grades have 30-minute PE during the schoolday)
8:10 AM: School begins for all students TK-5th Grade
9:45-10:00 AM: TK-2nd Grade Recess
10:00-10:15 AM: 3rd-5th Grade Recess
11:30-12:15 PM: 4th and 5th Grade Lunch
11:50 AM: TK Dismissal
11:50-12:35 PM: Kindergarten and 1st Grade Lunch
12:15-1:00 PM: 2nd and 3rd Grade Lunch
1:40 PM: Dismissal for ALL students K-5th Grade
PM Staff Professional Development
Questions about the schedule? Email Ms. Moore at Jennifer.Moore@coronadousd.net
Calendar Highlights: Plan Ahead for School Year 2019-20!
Monday and Tuesday, August 12 and 13: Registration for NEW students, 8:00-11:30 AM and 12:30-2:30 PM
Wednesday and Thursday, August 14 and 15: Registration for RETURNING students, 8:00-11:30 AM and 12:30-2:30 PM
Thursday and Friday, August 15 and 16: TK/Kinder Assessments (by appointment, TBD)
Monday, August 19: First Day for Teachers
Wednesday, August 21: AM: New Student and Kindergarten Orientation
Thurs 8/22: First Day of School for Students
8/29: Back-to-School Night at SSES
Mon 9/2: Labor Day Holiday/No School
Thurs 9/26: Late-Start: all students start at 10:00AM
Mon 10/14: District Holiday/No School
11/4-8: Parent-Teacher Conferences (Students Early Release)
Mon 11/11: Veteran's Day Holiday/No School
11/25-29: Thanksgiving Holiday/No School
Fri 12/20-1/3/20: Winter Holiday/No School
Mon 1/6/20: School Resumes
Fri 1/17/20: Teacher Workday/No School for Students
Mon 1/20/20: Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday/No School
Thurs 1/30: Late-Start: all students start at 10:00AM
Fri 2/14-Mon 2/17: Presidents' Weekend/No School
Thurs 2/27/20: Spring Open House
Thurs 3/19: Late-Start: all students start at 10:00AM
3/30-4/3: Spring Break Holiday/No School
Tues 4/7-Thurs 4/9: Spring Parent-Teacher Conferences (Students Early Release)
Fri 4/10-Mon 4/13: District Holiday/No School
Fri 4/24: SSES Luau
5/25/20: Memorial Day Holiday/No School
6/11/20: 5th Grade Promotion/Last Day of School/Early Release
Dropoff and Pickup in 2019-20
Our new bell schedule means ALL students TK-5th Grade will start school at 8:10 AM (same as this past year), and ALL Kindergarten-5th Graders will release at 2:55 on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday, and at 1:40 on Wednesdays (Transitional Kindergarten will release at 11:50 each day).
Adult supervision outside school in the morning does not begin until 7:50 AM; please do not plan to drop your child off prior to this time unless they are participating in band/choir/other.
Kindergarten teachers will escort their students to the front of school for parent pickup ahead of other students, so parents of kindergarteners should plan for their students to be ready to reunite with you 5-10 minutes before 2:55 (or 1:40 on Wednesdays).
We anticipate a VERY BUSY afternoon pickup each day, with more students releasing at the same time! It will be critical that all drivers follow our safety protocols and plan for efficient reunification with students. We encourage those students/families who can walk/bike/scooter to do so!
Crosswalk Safety
Dropoff/Pickup Safety
Summer Learning and Exploring Tips and Suggestions
Some suggestions for fun academic focus:
- Online resources: Your child STILL HAS ACCESS to our district learning sites like Compass Learning, Raz Kids, and Ticket to Read! Click here for our SSES Computer Lab page, which will remind you of logon info and lead you to available sites.
- Keep your child interested in and excited about numbers by playing counting games, designing scavenger hunts, and/or researching cool number patterns (how house numbers and interstates/freeways are numbered). At the grocery store, have your child(ren) point out the least and most expensive brands of products, add costs, determine change, etc.
- Keep a journal or travelogue: Encourage daily writing/reflection time, or writing fiction or cartoons! Consider how you can help your child add illustrations, photos, stickers, etc. to bring stories/memories to life.
- Read EVERY DAY: Our libraries have reading programs with incentives for reading books. OR, make your own chart or reading reflection journal for your child. Designating time YOU AND YOUR CHILD are both reading makes it easier to motivate reluctant readers--high five at the end and reward yourselves with a favorite physical activity, game, show, or dessert.
Here are some ideas of things to do and places to explore and visit:
- Build indoor or outdoor forts, fairy/troll/elf gardens, flower and vegetable gardens, obstacle courses, scavenger hunts, and craft/lego, maker-space stations (recycled materials are great for these!).
- Involve your child in menu planning and cooking.
- Have breakfast, lunch, and dinner picnics in new places!
- Visit City Farmers in City Heights, where there are plants and animals and much to explore!
- Go biking, scootering, or hiking at Mission Trails, Santee Lakes, Lake Murray, Tecolote Canyon...and there are so many more possibilities!
- Go to the Drive-In movies or attend one of the many free outdoor movies offered across the county.
- Check out Hands On San Diego as a resource for places to volunteer as a family or individuals.
- Attend concerts in the park, drum circles, and street fairs.
- Sign up for a walk or jogathon.
- Visit a Humane Society or animal shelter or wildlife rescue.
- Visit an organic farm or flower field.
Most of all, nurture your child's natural interests, while encouraging them to step outside comfort zones in safe ways! HAVE FUN!
Coronado SAFE Events and Activities
Coronado SAFE supports healthy families and children through workshops/"coffee talks," school programs, speakers, and counseling.
Military Connections
Silver Strand Elementary School is SO fortunate to have the full-time services of our very own MFLC (Military Family Life Counselor), Gia Del George! Our MFLC is available to help students through the emotions and transitions associated with military life.
For information about military-sponsored activities for youth, visit the Fleet and Family Services website here.
Stay Connected with Silver Strand Elementary School!!
Check out and "like" our Facebook page to see photos of student events and programs! https://www.facebook.com/Silver-Strand-Elementary-School-176775765849277/