Orion Gazette
Oct 10- Oct 14
Orion Alternative Calendar of Events
October
10/10 School Holiday - Indigenous People's Day
10/11 School Festival with Lawrence Hall of Science during the school day grades 3-5
10/11 Early release day for grades k-5 for teacher Professional Development-FOSS Science
10/11 MI Parents-Mandarin Immersion Literacy Parent Workshop with Pearl You
10/12 International Walk to School Day
10/12 4:00-5:30pm School Site Council Virtual
10/14 Schoolwide Celebration for Hispanic Heritage Month 9:00-10am
10/20 The Great ShakeOut - Statewide Earthquake Drill at 10:20am
10/21 Coffee with Principal Katherine Rivera and Vice Principal Mrs. Winnie Wong at 8:30am
10/23 2:00pm Julia Robinson Math Festival
10/28 10am Ribbon Cutting Ceremony for the New Orion/MI Building
10/31 8:30am Halloween Parade around the school campus
November
11/01 11:45 Dismissal at 11:45am for grades TK-5 District Wide PD
11/04 Picture Make up Day
11/05 Author Illustrator Fair Live on campus
11/11 Veteran's Day No School
11/18 Early Release grades k-5 at 1:30 or 1:40 Day before Thanksgiving Holiday week
11/21 & 11/22 Parent Teacher Conferences No school for students
11/23-11/25 Thanksgiving Holiday - NO School
International Walk to School Day - Wednesday Oct 12
Author Illustrator Fair November 5th, 11-3
We’re excited to bring back Orion’s Author Illustrator Fair on November 5th, in person! This year’s fair will include a book sale with Linden Tree Books, wonderful author presentations and book signings, activities, and a delicious bbq hosted by our Dad’s Club, Brorion. A portion of book sales will go to Starship PTO. This is a special day, bringing talented local authors to our community, and fostering enthusiasm for reading, illustrating, and BOOKs!
Lots of Volunteers will be needed to make this day a success, including student docents and potluck contributions. District Clearance will not be needed as it is an after-hours event.
Volunteer Signups
Green Room potluck (bring delicious food for authors to enjoy)
Check out the website and Facebook for more info!
https://starshiporion.org/ai-fair/
Questions? Email Authorillustrator@orionschool.org
Substitute for Our Students at Orion or Work as a Classroom aide
We need substitute teachers and we find that parents and community members make the best subs!
You must love working with children and you must have a Bachelor's Degree and pass a background check.
You will love substitute teaching for these reasons:
Flexibility: teach when, where, and how often you want.
Money: you earn a fair salary doing something you love.
Recognition: you get honored for a job well done.
Professionalism: you work with other teaching pros.
Students: you can make a positive difference in the life of a child.
Great hours: an ideal job while your kids are in school.
If interested, please call our Personnel Specialist, Gricelda Santamaria gsantamaria@rcsdk8.net or via phone at 650-423-2220.
If you are interested in working in a Parent Cooperative classroom as an aide, follow this link:
Orion School Site Council Single Plan for Student Achievement Review Part 1
The role of the School Site Council is to write, review and monitor the annual Single Plan for Student Achievement (SPSA).
The SPSA at each school is a collaborative effort between parents, teachers, and staff.
The plan is aligned to the RCSD goals for all students.
The SSC members review achievement data in English and Mandarin and align along to allocate financial resources.
All families are welcome to attend and listen to the process of the elected site council members.
The agenda is attached below.
Wednesday, Oct 12, 2022, 04:00 PM
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Family Cyber Safety Nights in October
What Families Will Learn
Fun activities to teach Cyber Safety to K-8 Children, Parents and Guardians
Plus: Families Create Their Own Family Cyber Safety Plan
Use the link below to sign up.
Lawrence Hall of Science Brings Hands on Learning to Orion
Join Us at the Julia Robinson Math Festival at Orion! Sunday, October 23
We are hosting the Julia Robinson Math Festival (JRMF) at Orion again on Sunday, October 23rd, from 2-4 pm. JRMF is an event where students can explore math in a collaborative atmosphere by choosing a table with a puzzle or game, and solving it before moving to the next table. We will have new puzzles and games for the students to explore, along with favorites from our last festival. All Orion families are welcome to attend after registering.
This event is entirely parent-run, so we will need enough volunteers to lead the puzzles and games provided by the JRMF org. Volunteer clearance and a math background are not needed. Sign up to volunteer and register to attend today! Deadline is Friday, October 14th.
REGISTER: https://forms.gle/x4r4KcVvZ3HQRhUA6
VOLUNTEER: https://signup.com/go/FoMNxPD
Starship Parent Teacher Organization Corner
Dea Orion Community,
Thank you to all who joined us last night for a great community meeting! We had such great discussion about our community values and how to achieve them! Last night we approved the minutes from our August meeting where we took a special vote to increase our budget from $183k to $203k and discussed committees and volunteering.
Last night we offered a space for parents to discuss the direct drive and come up with possible solutions to move funding from the direct drive to the fundraising line on our budget. We presented an analysis of why we have raised our budget target by 25% this year. Analyzing our budget goal/enrichment cost per student over time, adjusting for; total enrollment, number of unduplicated (underserved, homeless, foster) students, and inflation, our ask has remained relatively constant. We want to remind families to check with their employer for a company match. If we are not submitting the paperwork to our matching employers we are leaving money on the table that could be put to good use! Please check with your company at Charitynavigator.org.
We discussed that we are fortunate as a community to have unduplicated students.This a community benefit. We recognized that many of these families have braved extremely challenging circumstances, even traveling with their families to leave political and climate instability to land with their families here, with their children in our classrooms, in community with our children. We welcome all families, and it is the PTO’s collective privilege to arrange parent volunteers and enrichment funding to support students to whom our enrichment has a disproportionate benefit to well resourced children. Furthermore, all children benefit from developing theory of mind skills, leadership, and empathy when diverse relationships are available.
We asked if the $700 recommendation for the PTO direct drive feels like it is too much. Families noted that our ask is more than other schools and it seems like it is a lot. On the other hand our budget is less than North Star and Roy Cloud, to which we are comparable for enrichment support.
We heard from economically diverse families who said they do not feel alienated, and recognized that there are many ways to contribute to the school. Families said the message is clear that not everyone has the same donation power and to contribute what you can and want to. We are on track this year with our % raised. Families said the little incentives to make a direct donation are helpful. We don’t know what we be able to raise when we pass the hat for our kids, but we will keep offering opportunities and we welcome any fundraising and grant writing opportunities!
Our second discussion topic was tutoring. Most of our students who are below grade level and seeking tutoring are also under resourced. Principal Rivera shared that the SPSA analysis in School Site Council is that only around 30% of underserved students are on grade level. This is a shame! We know we can do better! Tutoring is a powerful lever to pull and we need to inspire families to take on a tutoring relationship with a young student. Principal Rivera shared that from Kinder-2nd grade the focus is on teaching a child to read. Once they can read, they have access to all the material that the teachers give. Learning to read and learning base 10 number relationships before the end of 2nd grade will completely alter a student's trajectory in life. We have an unparalleled opportunity on this campus to lift students and change lives. If you are interested in developing a tutoring relationship with a young student, a commitment of about one hour a week, coordinators will match your preferences and personality with a student. If you want to sign up, please do so here. Orion PTO Tutor Sign up Sheet 2020-2023 Our goal is to have 25 families sign up to bridge relationships with students who are below grade level by the end of October.
It is my privilege to serve the community this year. I think we are all so fortunate to be at this school at this point in time. I appreciate you so much and am looking forward to next month's meeting which will be focused on Literacy!
Best,
Meghan O’Reilly-Green
Donate to Starship
We are only 40% of the way to our goal! Our Direct Drive ends on December 31rst. Would you consider making a monthly donation instead of one lump sum of $700?
Check with your Employer for Company Matching!
Does your company match? Learn if they do here.
Annual Orion Campout Fundraiser
Jitpal Sahai will be donating his time to prepare pancakes for families during the campout. Pancakes will be sold for $5/pp, or $20/family. Are you signed up for the field trip and you have been meaning to Donate to Starship and didn’t get a chance yet? Good News, if you make your yearly donation TODAY and take a screen shot, your family will get free pancakes! If you already donated, maybe you will consider donating a little more. Donations are optional, as always, and no family will be turned away from pancakes.
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Orion Alternative School
Website: https://orion.rcsdk8.net/
Location: 555 Ave Del Ora, Redwood City, CA, USA
Phone: 650-482-2406