Garden Road Parent Weekly #11
A Leader In Me School - 10/7/22
Dear Families:
I hope your children are talking about our Schoolwide WIG (Wildly Important Goal)! We are trying to complete iReady lessons to improve our math performance and learn about achieving personal and collective goals. The Leader in Me program teaches us to focus on leading measures (iReady lessons), having a cadence of accountability (we check progress each week), and frequent celebrations. At increments of 5,000 lessons the kids will have crazy hair day, music at recess, popsicles, and eventually I am going to "Kiss A Pig" as incentives. Ask your child about our WIG and see how many lessons they have completed. Collectively, our students passed 2,677 lessons as of this Monday!
IT’S NOT JUST ABOUT FREE AND REDUCED MEALS: Although school meals are now free to all students under California’s new Universal Meals Program, the application for free and reduced-price meals is still very important. School funding depends in part on the number of students who qualify for free or reduced-price meals. With all students now eating for free, fewer families are completing the application and schools are at risk of losing funds. Household income information is confidential and applying online is quick and easy. Plus, students who qualify for free or reduced-price meals may also qualify for discounts on transportation, ESS, SAT and AP tests, home internet, and college application fees. Apply online at MySchoolApps.com, or pick up a paper application in the school office.
Upcoming Events:
- 10/10: GRES Foundation Meeting @ 6:30
- 10/11: ELAC Meeting via zoom (see invite below)
- 10/12: Leader in Me Parent Workshop @ 7:50 in the Library
- 10/14: PTA BOOfest (family fun night) @ 5:30pm
- 10/31: Garden Road Storybook Parade @ 8:15 am
Please note: November 15 -18 is conferences and Red Ribbon week!
- 11/11 - No school for Veteran's Day holiday
- 11/14 - All day conferences (No school)
- 11/15 - Minimum dismissal @ 11:30am
- 11/16 - Minimum dismissal @ 11:30am
- 11/17 - Regular dismissal @ 12:25pm
- 11/18 - Minimum dismissal @ 11:30am
Lisa Maguire
Counselor's Corner- Katie MacLeod
How to Raise a PROACTIVE child! Free Workshop!
These skills can be easily applied to family life as well. If you are interested in learning more, please join Counselor Katie MacLeod for a 1 hour presentation on Be Proactive. I promise you will walk away with lessons that will change the way you look at things! In this workshop we will discuss these topics in further detail and learn how they can be applied at home!
Coffee will be served at 7:40 and the workshop will begin at 7:50. RSVPs are appreciated but not required! RSVP here Questions?? Email Katie MacLeod at kmacleod@powayusd.com
BOO fest Sign up
TRICK Out Your Trunk and TREAT the kiddos ! Sign up for a parking spot using the link below or if you want to volunteer for this event contact megan.crooks@gmail.com.
https://m.signupgenius.com/#!/showSignUp/805044ea5ab29a0fd0-boofest
Library News
We welcomed "Pumpkin Jack" to our Library! He will stay here for the next few weeks and the kids will watch him disintegrate, every time they visit the Library.
As future scientists, we did our research by reading the story of Pumpkin Jack and drew the hypothesis of our experiment! We will be making our observations and deductions in the coming weeks.
Your students were very excited to start this STEM experiment in the Library- remember to ask them about it.
Next week, we will be celebrating Indigenous Peoples/Columbus Day by participating in "One Book One San Diego".
Storybook Parade October 31st @ 8:15 am
TECHNOLOGY CONCERNS
Roblox is a video game platform. It is not a specific game, instead it is a variety of games for players to choose from. Some are appropriate for young kids, while others are not. In most of the games, chatting amongst strangers is allowed. Children are able to go into private chat rooms and communicate with other people whom they have never met. Last year, we had a safety expert speak to a group of parents on the dangers of online gaming. She spoke at length about the avenues that online predators use to identify and groom potential victims. Chatting online while using a false persona is one of the first ways that predators make contact with children. Luckily, there are parental controls which allow you to set parameters on who they can connect with and what games they are allowed to play. Please click here for further details on how to set those parental controls.
Cell phones are an even bigger problem for many students. When we were kids, we had school drama to deal with- just like they do today. The difference was that once the bell rang, we went home and the drama and stress ended. Once home, we would go to sports practice, play in our rooms and hang out with family. We would have a solid 16 hours to decompress and relax. Today, the drama and stress never ends, thanks to being ever-connected via cell phones. Students, especially girls, feel they have to be hyper vigilant and monitor what is happening online and in their group chats. Many keep their phone on all night, leading to lack of sleep and the problems created by exhaustion.
Most professionals agree that elementary aged children are not developmentally capable of handling cell phones in a healthy way. They do not have the self awareness, self control or insight needed to react objectively to what is happening. Naturally, friends are becoming the most important people in their lives, and they have a very hard time pulling themselves away. To top it off, social media and cell phone companies are working hard to ensure that our phones are addictive, so its no surprise that our children can't maintain healthy phone boundaries.
What can a parent do?
1) Delay the purchase of a smart phone until middle school (or later).
2) Set a cell phone curfew (4pm? 6pm?).
3) Ensure phones are kept out of the bedroom at bedtime.
4) Not allow social media.
Please visit waituntil8th.org for more information.
About Us
Email: lmaguire@powayusd.com
Website: https://www.powayusd.com/en-US/Schools/ES/GRES/Home
Location: 14614 Garden Road, Poway, CA, USA
Phone: 858-748-0230
Twitter: @GardenRoadES