Saturday Work Day for March: 3/7/09, 9:30 am - 1 pm

Hello All!

Due to the upcoming Spring Break, we will be holding the March Saturday Work Day this coming Saturday, March 7th from 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. I am pleased that Mr. Dan Simpson, father of Danielle (Gr. 3) and Ty (Gr. 5), will be hosting this Saturday's event! He is a veteran Saturday Work Day Chair, but please be patient with him as he manages the multiple volunteers and tasks on Saturday.

At the start of the event (close to 9:30-9:40 a.m.) on Saturday morning, volunteers are asked to assemble together for a "meet and greet" and to go over the tasks for the day.
⇒ Volunteers are asked to personally introduce themselves, to include mentioning their children's names and grades at ISM, and
⇒ mention what tasks they would like to do (clean, organize, rake, hammer, etc.), which will assist Dan in assigning folks to different tasks on the list.

I've provided the task/tool list below so that volunteers can better plan what supplies to bring on Saturday and the tasks to accomplish.

TASKS LIST PROVIDED BELOW IN PRIORITY ORDER

⇒ 1. CLEAN UP TRASH IN LOWER PARKING LOT: TASK REQUESTED BY ISM PARENT FRED HOFFMAN
⇒ TASK: Fred would like to have the help of at least two other men to assist w/ trash pick-up in the lower parking lot.
This lot is used routinely by soccer players/families who litter the area and do not pick up after themselves! I am trying to communicate the litter situation to MPUSD and Seaside PD…..
⇒ TOOLS: 2-3 volunteers, brooms, rubber gloves, trash bags

⇒ 2. CLEAN / SWEEP / VACUUM MUR STAGE
⇒ TASK: The stage is not as regularly cleaned as other parts of the campus. We try to address this on SWDays. Please have volunteer(s) sweep & vacuum the stage thoroughly to remove dirt and dust. Leftover uniforms can be put in lost and found and debris can be thrown away.
⇒ TOOLS: 1-2 volunteers, brooms, wet/dry vac or vacuum with a hose attachment

⇒ 3. SPRING CLEAN MUR BATHROOMS / ADMIN OFFICE 3 BATHROOMS
⇒ TASK: A SWD regular (Khang Nguyen) will hopefully be bringing cleaning tools (cleanser, buckets, etc.) to do some heavy cleaning of the bathrooms in the MUR (boys & girls) and the three bathrooms in the Admin building. This would include cleaning the sink, toilets, walls, floors. The bathrooms in the Admin office also have cobwebs dangling from the ceiling, which can be vacuumed.
⇒ TOOLS: 2+ volunteers, vacuum with a hose attachment, bathroom cleanser, buckets,
sponges

⇒ 4. INVENTORY LOGO CLOTHING IN CLOSET IN OPERATION MGR.'S OFFICE
⇒ TASK: Using inventory sheet provided by Nikki Madden (logo clothing coord.), please have volunteers INVENTORY the different types of logo clothing in my closet. Inventory sheet will be provided. Leave completed inventory sheet on my desk.
⇒ TOOLS: 1 volunteer, inventory sheet, pen

⇒ 5. CLEAN SINKS IN POD CLASSROOMS # 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26
⇒ TASK: Using cleanser and buckets, please clean sinks in all pod classrooms
⇒ TOOLS: 1-2 volunteers, cleanser, buckets, gloves

⇒ 6. ORGANIZE DRAMA COSTUMES/OUTFITS ON NEW DOWEL ROD IN CLOSET TO LEFT OF MUR
STAGE
⇒ TASK: Using hangers provided, please have volunteers organize/hang costumes, etc. on hangers and place on dowel rod hanger in drama closet
⇒ TOOLS: 1 volunteer, hangers

⇒ 7. REMOVE PENCIL MARKS ON WALL OF POD HALLWAY
⇒ TASK: Using cleanser, please have volunteer(s) remove pencil writing/grafitti on right-hand hallway wall of pod hallway (location highlighted on map)
⇒ TOOLS: 1 volunteer, disinfectant cleanser, small bucket, gloves

⇒ MONTHLY TASK: The campus ALWAYS needs trash pick-up, especially in the area around the lower blacktop, and the area in and around the portables. This is a great task to get STUDENTS involved.
⇒ TOOLS: Rubber gloves and trash bags are in the blue Rubbermaid container in my office

⇒ MONTHLY TASK: City of Seaside upper playground: Please rake & level wood chips in the upper playground. This is a safety issue task that we try to do each month.
⇒ TOOLS: Rakes

Saturday Work Day (SWD) volunteers are reminded to log their hours into the PTO Manager software. For any needed assistance logging volunteer hours, please contact
"ptomanager@ismonterey.org".

As always, we appreciate the valuable help our parent and student volunteers contribute on Saturday Work Days! We are a stronger community for the efforts we all put into ISM!

Regards,

Lisa Griffin Burns
ISM Operations / HR Manager
Tel: 831-583-2165
Cell: 831-521-4900
Email: lburns@ismonterey.org

Parent Letter - 3/1/2009

Dear 4th Grade Families,

We had a wonderful trip to the Seaside Dunes on Friday. The weather was perfect and we were able to plant 100 seedlings to help the dunes in their restoration process. The students did great work planting each of the plants very carefully. Now, let's hope the rain really does materialize this week for those fragile plants. Thank you to all of the parents that assisted with the trip by driving and chaperoning: Barbara Okamura, Sonia Perez, Claudia Paul, Debra Istenes, Glenn Harrell and Stefani Chaney. We could never do these trips without you.

Let me work backward this time. The week after next will be a shorten week with an early dismissal of 11:30 am on Thursday, March 12th to begin conferences. Friday, the 13th, will be a holiday for the students and conferences for parents and teachers. I am attaching my conference schedule. Please sign up for the times that will work for you. I will work on getting a finalized schedule out to you as soon as I can. Students will need to be at these conferences as they will be leading the discussion.

On that note, please check Power School to see if your child has any incomplete work due. I will accept work until March 9th (although full credit will not be available). Students do need to make up missed work during absences.

This week:
Monday is pajama day in honor of Dr. Suess' birthday. Students may wear pajamas but need to have regular shoes on for outside. Robes are helpful and slippers are okay in the classroom. If your child has a favorite Dr. Suess book, please send it in with their name on it. We will read as many as we can with the time allowed.

Tuesday will be the Star test for writing. Please make sure your child has a good breakfast as usual. The test will take from 60 to 90 minutes though it is not timed. Students will be given a prompt to write about for the test.

Wednesday is World Math Day. All of the students have been given their login and passwords and we have practiced once or twice at school. Students should try to practice at home as well so they can be as speedy as possible for Wed. We don't have an opportunity to practice in the Tech Lab before our time allotted on Wednesday. It's a fun and challenging way to practice our math skills against students from around the world.

We are nearing the end of our math unit. We will have (yet another!) math assessment on Friday this week. I will send home a study guide on Wednesday or Thursday. Because of our field trip on Friday, we were not able to have our spelling test. We will have that test on Monday and then one for our new words this week on Friday. It's a crazy end-of-the-trimester testing time!

Homework will be:

Monday: Math Study Links 7.11
Spelling: Sort and write words
Reading: Read at least 20 minutes, write title, minutes and pages in planner Handwriting pg. 38

Tuesday: Math Study Links 7.12
Spelling: Sort and write words
Reading: Read at least 20 minutes, write title, minutes and pages in planner Handwriting pg. 39

Wednesday: Math: Review for test
Spelling: Sort and write words
Reading: Read at least 20 minutes, write title, minutes and pages in planner Handwriting pg. 40

Thursday: Math: Review for test
Spelling: Sort and write words
Reading: Read at least 20 minutes, write title, minutes and pages in planner Handwriting pg. 41

Wishing you an enjoyable week ahead,
Mary Welsh