The Orion/Mandarin Gazette
January 2020 Newsletter
School Calendar
January 2020
Jan 8 Classes Resume
Jan 13-18 Grade 5 students to Jone's Gulch Outdoor Education
Jan 13 Soul Shoppe Student Assembly #3
Jan 13 5:30pm Meet RCSD for new families at Kennedy School
Jan 14 5:30pm Meet RCSD for new families at Hoover School
Jan 16 6:15pm English Language Advisory Committee
Jan 17 Grade 4 students to Año Nuevo
Jan 20 MLK Holiday - No School
Jan 22 School Board Meeting at 7:00pm Official School Name for our campus
Jan 23 4:30-7:00pm Now and Long Ago Student Market
Jan 27 8:30am Coffee with Principal Katherine for parents of students in grades 3-5
Jan 30 9-10:30am Orion/MI Chinese New Year Celebration for grades k-2
Sign up to help volunteer: https://signup.com/go/yPuFixq
Jan 31 9:00-10:30 Chinese New Year Celebration for grades 3-5
Jan 31 1:45-3:00 School Site Council
February 2020
Feb 6 11:45am early dismissal - Super Minimum Day district wide for professional development
Feb 17 President's Day Holiday
Feb 24-28 Book Fair in the library
A Message from Principal Katherine
Dear Families,
On behalf of the school community, we want to welcome everyone back to school for a New Year. The time off has given us a chance to refresh, reflect and start off energized and excited about working with you and your families.
We are beginning a new year full of hope and promise. We are excited about all the growth happening in our school. Our students are growing physically and academically. With professional development, our teachers are growing and applying best practices in the classroom and inspiring our future scientists, artists, and writers of the future. Our enrollment is slowly growing so we reach out for your help to promote our school.
Please share what’s going on in your child’s classroom or at our school. Please use social media for positive sharing. Share our posts on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter.
As always, thank you for your support and please do not hesitate to contact me with questions or comments.
Grade 5 students reading in the garden
Thank you parents!!
Music for Minors in grade 2
Coach Carlos
Yard supervisors Miss Nancy and Miss Rachel
Grade 5 students show off coding projects
School Naming Policy
Dear School Community,
RCSD School Board Trustees will discuss and vote on the official school site name at the school board meeting on Wednesday, January 22, 2020. School board meetings begin at 7:00pm. The location is: 750 Bradford Street.
The school naming policy is attached to this newsletter.
English Language Advisory Committee - ELAC
Orion/Mandarin Immersion next ELAC meeting:
Thursday, January 16 at 6:15 in the staff room
Child care provided
ELAC President: Mrs. Brenda Cuevas Melchor
Topic: Academic Achievement of English Learners and Reclassification status
What is ELAC?
ELAC is a group of English Learner parents and community members who advise and assist schools in making important decisions related to services for English Learners.
What are the responsibilities of the ELAC?
- Consult with parents regarding academic services provided to English learners. All ELAC meeting agendas are publicly posted and meetings are a matter of public record.
- Advise in the development and implementation of the school site plan for services and programs for English learners and submit them to the district's governing board.
- Review the school's language census report and academic achievement results when developing the school's plan for English learner services and programs.
- Help make parents aware of the importance of regular school attendance.
Social Emotional Learning at school
Social Emotional Learning
What does social emotional learning look like?
First, it’s important to understand social-emotional development. In a nutshell, Social–emotional development includes the child’s experience, expression, and management of emotions and the ability to establish positive and rewarding relationships with others (Cohen and others 2005).
The Importance
You may be wondering why social emotional learning is important. To put simply, social and emotional learning (SEL) is important because it provides a foundation in areas such as self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills and decision making. Students learn positive strategies that enable them to better succeed in school, and later in their careers and life in general. These are all areas that children (and adults) need for maintaining positive social relationships as they go through life. Without the ability to respond in appropriate ways, our students will suffer as challenges and obstacles enter their lives. So, it’s important that we ensure they know strategies to use.
Social Emotional Learning and the School Environment
Teachers and staff take the the time and energy to show respect, create a safe environment and build trust with their students. Our staff and students have used the organization Soul Shoppe to build our SEL teaching skills and communicate with a common language. We have been working on creating a safe place to ask questions and encourage risk-taking. We do this with our daily Community Circle where students and the teacher check in with each other.
This month, our workshops will focus on "Speaking our Truth." We will learn and practice strategies to speak up, express ourselves in healthy ways and get our needs met. Later this month I will include parent tips and strategies that can be used at home.
Coffee with Principal Katherine
Meet in the cafeteria just after drop off.
Mon - Jan 27 Grades 3-5