MCCV Newsletter August 31, 2018
Keeping Families Connected
September Events - Next Newsletter 9/14/18
September 3
No School, Labor Day Holiday
September 5
1:00-3:00pm, Walk-a-Thon (click here for pledge form)
September 7
6:00-8:00pm, Middle School Dance
September 10
1:00pm, Author Event - Mac Barnett (Grades 2-5) (click here for order form)
September 12
2:00-4:30pm, One and Only Ivan Event (click here to listen to event info from our students)
September 13
5:30pm, PTA Meeting
6:45pm, Ed Foundation Meeting
September 14
PTA BBQ + Ice Cream Social (Can you help us with this event? Click here to sign up!)
September 17-21
Sixth Graders to Point Bonita
September 21
Walk-a-Thon Donations Due
Last Day of First Quarter
Future Events
September 24-October 12 - No School, Fall Break
October 15 - No School, Staff Development Day
October 18 - 7th Grade Ropes Course
October 18 - 8th Grade Pasta Feed Planning Meeting
October 19 - PTA Movie Night (Tentative)
October 22 - Friends of Cherry Valley Library Meeting - Library
October 31 - Halloween
SCHOOL NEWS
New MCCV Website Coming Soon!
CELEBRATE READING DAY
WALK-A-THON - SEPTEMBER 5, 1:00-3:00pm
The Education Foundation Walkathon is coming NEXT WEDNESDAY, and we need your help to make it amazing!
First and foremost, GET THOSE PLEDGES! Here are some ideas for drumming up donations:
* Make a video of your child talking about what our programs mean to him or her - why do they love garden? What's their favorite game to play in PE? What is the best song you've learned in music? Share the video with friends and family!
* Incentivize donors to give more by offering to "dedicate" a lap to them: you could do a backwards lap! A skipping lap! A lap singing the donor's favorite song!
* Know any families with Cherry Valley alumni? Ask them to support their alma mater!
WE NEED VOLUNTEERS for the day before (9/4) and the day of the Walkathon. Sign up here to help out! Any time you can offer is greatly appreciated!
https://www.signupgenius.com/go/20f0f44aeae2ca7fe3-walkathon
Thank you for supporting the Mary Collins Education Foundation!
Walkathon donations are deductible. For a tax receipt, please click HERE"
and link to: TAX RECEIPT
Click here for an extra pledge form. Extra pledge forms are also in the office.
"ONE AND ONLY IVAN" EVENT - NOT SO DIFFERENT: HELP SAVE OUR GORILLA RELATIVES!
CLICK HERE to listen to our middle school students tell you about the event.
Mary Collins School Friends,
To everyone who got a chance to read "The One And Only Ivan" this summer, everyone who loves gorillas, and anyone else who is looking for a fun community event...
The wonderful group of MCCV middle schoolers Mr. Yu gets to work with on Wednesdays has been expending oodles of positive, thoughtful creative energy to design an event to celebrate gorillas, reading, and our school community.
Please join us on Wednesday, September 12th in the Amphitheater at school for an afternoon of fun activities, delicious treats, and a chance to acknowledge and work to save the lives of some of our closest living relatives.
The event is called "Not So Different: Help Save Our Gorilla Relatives" and is being planned and executed 100% by our passionate students. It runs from 2:00-4:30pm. There will be crafts, face painting, a bake sale, an educational slide show, and much more, all to raise awareness and funds for mountain gorillas. We hope to raise enough money to adopt a silverback, about whom we will receive regular updates and videos that we can share at assemblies.
Hope to see you there!
STILL HOPING TO READ "THE ONE AND ONLY IVAN"? SEE MRS. DERBY IN THE LIBRARY.
Wednesday, Sep 12, 2018, 02:00 PM
MARY COLLINS SCHOOL AT CHERRY VALLEY, Cherry Street, Petaluma, CA, USA
GETTING YOUR KIDS TO SCHOOL SAFELY
Please, please, please, be careful when dropping off and picking up your kids from school. Here are a few tips that will help to ensure everyone’s safety when dropping the kids off at school:
- Drive slowly and cautiously in school zones.
- Respect designated drop-off and pick-up areas.
- Drop the kids off on the side of the street where the school is located.
- Have the kids exit the vehicle on the side of the car closest to the sidewalk.
- Don’t double park even for just a minute as it blocks visibility for other children and vehicles.
- Expect the unexpected and don't drive distracted. Leave your coffee in the holder, your phone in your bag, and the radio station where it’s at.
- Don’t attempt dangerous maneuvers like a U-turn or three-point turn.
- Never overtake other vehicles within a school zone or within a half block of any crosswalk.
- If traffic is too heavy to safely drop your child at school, find a legal spot to park on a street away from the school, then walk to the school with your child.
- Carpool, if possible, with other parents to reduce congestion.
School zones are busy spots, but with extra care and caution, they don’t have to be dangerous too.
Please be aware that on the corner of Elm and Cherry there is a stop sign and a pedestrian cross walk. It has been reported to the school and the Petaluma Police Department (PPD) by a neighbor that often cars do not stop, making this a hazard for students who use the crosswalk to get to school. PPD is planning to monitor this intersection more closely throughout the school year.
Just a reminder that the staff parking is for staff parking only. The lot can be used in the morning as a student drop off zone. However, please keep the line moving. It truly is meant as a drop off area only. If you need to chat with your child, brush hair, finish breakfast, etc., please park on the street so that you are not holding up the line behind you. Also, unless you have the proper documentation to use the handicapped parking spaces, please do not pull into or block these important spaces for our school community. Thank you.
JOIN US AS WE GATHER TO RAISE FUNDS FOR A CHERRY VALLEY FAMILY
LOOKING FOR MENTORS
SCOE Student Events & Academic Competitions
Learn about the five events SCOE will sponsor for K-12 students this school year and get the dates, deadlines, and contacts for each one.
These events give students and school teams the chance to come together outside of the classroom to demonstrate their learning. For teachers and administrators, the events are a resource to encourage and motivate student learning and spotlight student achievements.
AUTHOR MAC BARNETT COMING TO MCCV
Grades 2-5
Click here for order form if you wish to purchase an autographed copy.
This is the national launch of this book!
NEWS FROM THE GARDEN
Thank you to the two classes that took the inaugural plunge into the new Taste of the Garden/Farm program last week and this. Mr. Watt and Mrs. Howe's classes and volunteers were able to provide a tasting menu of fresh, vegetarian, student-created items from the fruits and veggies we received from the school's membership to Open Field Farm! For the next Taste of the Garden/Farm (9/12), we will be using some of the beautiful lettuces and arugula that the 2/3 classes planted and have cared for this quarter. (See attached picture.)
Please bring your reusable plates and utensils, and a $5 optional donation (for adults)!
With all the changes from last year, Taste of the Garden/Farm will be held every other week (with gaps for breaks, conferences, and special events), consist of mostly raw vegetarian options, and be served slightly later than the old Salad Bar. Currently, the service times are as follows: K @ 12:00, 1-3 @ 12:15, 4-8 @ 12:30. Please come volunteer on your child's Taste of the Garden/Farm day. Below is a schedule of Taste of the Garden/Farm dates with the hosting classroom teacher:
9/12/18 - Craig Wicks
10/24/18 - Lisa Lewis
11/7/18 - Trinity Pellkofer
11/28/18 - Rob Ruddell
12/12/18 - Carrie Caudle
1/16/19 - Mary Akers-Bell
1/30/19 - Amy Diego
2/13/19 - Keoni Yu
2/27/19 - Kim Ribeiro
4/10/19 - Coreene Kavanaugh
4/24/19 - Jackie Johnson
5/8/19 - Annie Cozza
5/22/19 - Sarah McClure
The last two weeks in the garden the students began beautifying the green spaces adjacent to their classrooms by installing wood chip mulch (K/1); continued caring for our new veggie starts in the raised beds by mulching and removing volunteers (2/3); harvest worm castings from the vermicompost bins and began mixing with mineral rich native soil to build superb planting soil in our recently re-built raised bed (4/5); exercised our safe tool beavers and worked in groups of three to refill our rebuilt raised bed with soil (K/1); and collected gopher upwelling soil from he quad and front-of-school lawns (4/5).
See you in the garden!
Best,
Bryce Nahas, Garden Coordinator/Teacher
(provided for by generous donations to the Mary Collins Educational Foundation)
Mary Collins School at Cherry Valley, Petaluma City Schools
GREEN TEAM
All hands on deck! The Green Team is looking to recruit volunteers to take on various improvement and beautification projects around campus. The garden could use some new planting containers, the green spaces outside several classrooms need some TLC, and our 6-8 Beautification Project-Based Learning group wants your support. If you have relevant experience or spare materials that you think could support one of these endeavors, please contact me at bnahas@petk12.org.
We are also kicking off our rain-catchment grant project through the Ocean Guardians School project. Please reach out if you would like to get involved in improving our campus water usage behaviors and spreading watershed awareness!
The Taste of the Garden program wishes to continue reducing its waste impact by providing more reusable forks and spoons. If you have any mismatched or old utensils (please no knives), please bring to school and drop off in the office. Thank you for your continued support!
In stewardship,
Bryce Nahas, Staff Liaison
WAYS TO SUPPORT OUR SCHOOL PROGRAMS
CLICK HERE TO LEARN HOW TO SUPPORT OUR SCHOOL
JOIN PTA
Did you know...the PTA funds seminars and professional development for Cherry Valley teachers and staff?
Helping our first-rate teachers and staff continue to grow is one way the PTA works to positively impact the lives of our children and build the community that drew us all to Cherry Valley.
Want to help? Start by becoming a member! It's one click away: https://www.cherryvalleypta.org/family-membership-form.html
JOIN MCEF
The programs that set us apart from other schools are simply not funded by the district and are possible only through funding by the Mary Collins Education Foundation (MCEF). These programs include Art, Music, Environmental Education, Spanish, Advanced Math, Physical Education, teacher symposiums and professional development. We do not consider these programs "extras;" they are core parts of our curriculum and essential to our charter's mission. To pay for these critical positions, we must raise $100,000 in the 2018-19 school year.
MCEF relies on donations from you and others from our community to fund these programs in their entirety. Please do what you can to help us reach our goal of at least $250 per child per year - or about $20 per month. Any amount is helpful, so if $20 per month is too much, please consider $10 or $5 per month.
JOIN FCVL
It's Not Too Late!
Add Your Name To The List!!
Thank you to all of the families who have already joined FCVL. Click here to see our current members. Haven't joined Friends of Cherry Valley Library yet? It's not too late to add your name to the list! Our membership drive is what determines our book budget for the school year, so join today!
PS - This is a wonderful way for grandparents and other friends and family to help support your children and their school. :)
- The Educational Foundation (can pay salaries + more) Co-Chairs Amy Cohen (amycohen339@gmail.com) and Megan Malone (meg@maloneweb.com). Think: Environmental education, music program, Spanish and middle school electives.
- The PTA (supports non-salary needs on campus) President Jen Stoneman,(jenstoneman@juno.com). Think: Classroom Supplies, Mentor Reading, Field Trips.
- Friends of Cherry Valley Library (supports the library) President Sonia Pai, (spai3@yahoo.com). Think: Librarian's Salary, Library Books, Technology.
These three groups hold community events, coordinate fundraisers, write grants and work tirelessly, all for the benefit of our children. Click here for a one page description of these three organizations.
It would be so wonderful to see some new faces working with each of these organizations. Don't be shy! You don't have to jump in as President! We are looking for brainstormers, worker bees, and helping us plan for the future. Email one of the presidents above and get involved today!
UPCOMING DISTRICT EVENTS
-
Innovations Showcase - February 28, 2019
- PCS Five Minute Film Festival - April 20, 2019
- Butter and Egg Days Parade - April 27, 2019
Click here for more Information
UPCOMING PEF EVENTS
Exciting Things Are Happening at PEF!
Click here to follow us on Facebook
Get Your 2018 PEF BASH Event Tickets TODAY!
PEF's Bourbon Street BASH is on Saturday, September 8th. Join us for a night of dinner, dancing to Pride & Joy, Super Silent & Live Auctions plus our Fund the Future paddle raise supporting all 13,000 K-12 students through the PEF Impact Grant Program!
Click Here for a link to our dedicated event website
PEF's ALPHABET SOUP BENEFIT THRIFT STORES
OPEN 7 DAYS A WEEK - DELIVERY & PICK UP SERVICES AVAILABLE!
Support all local K-12 public, private & charter schools in the Petaluma area when you
SHOP - DONATE - VOLUNTEER at our Alphabet Soup Stores in downtown Petaluma.
Visit our Alphabet Soup Clothing Boutique and Alphabet Soup @ Home Stores where your purchases are truly making a difference in our community through the mission of PEF.
Alphabet Soup Clothing Boutique - 217 Western Avenue
Alphabet Soup @ Home Store - 203 Western Avenue
707.778.4818
UPCOMING COMMUNITY EVENTS
PETALUMA REGIONAL LIBRARY
Click here for the September calendar for the Petaluma Regional Library.NORTHBAY PERFORMING ARTS ASSOCATION - CONTESSI BALLET
Click here for information on children and adult classes.
TEEN SUICIDE PREVENTION EVENT
Click here for flyer (English).
Click here for flyer (Spanish).
Mary Collins Charter School at Cherry Valley
Email: aderby@petk12.org
Website: http://www.cherryvalleyschool.org/
Location: 1001 Cherry Street, Petaluma, CA, USA
Phone: (707)778-4740
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/176049169161240/?ref=bookmarks
Twitter: @MCCherryValley