WG Roadrunner - February 4, 2018

Walnut Grove Roadrunner Newsletter

February 4, 2018

REMINDER:

Early Start Schedule this Week

Just a friendly reminder that this week is early start schedule for grades Kindergarten through 3rd grade. Schedule is as follows:

1st to 3rd Grade:

8:15 am - 1:55 pm on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday

9:15 am - 2:50 pm on Wednesday

Kindergarten:

8:15 am - 11:40 am on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday

9:15 am - 12:55 pm on Wednesday

Donut Fun for Everyone

Join us this Wednesday, February 7th for Donut Fun for Everyone! This all-inclusive event, for all of the special caregivers in our kids lives will take place before school from 8:15-9:15 am. We hope you will stop by for some coffee and a donut while spending some time before school with your special Roadrunner. Gluten free donuts will be available.

If you are interested in helping out at this event, please contact Christina Mantha.

Scholastic Book Fair

The Book Fair is finally here!! It will take place in the MPR from Tuesday February 6th to Friday February 9th. The book fair will be open during the following hours:

Tuesday:

1:50pm to 3:45pm

Wednesday:

8:05am to 9:15am and 2:45pm to 3:45 pm

Thursday & Friday:

11:15am to 1:20pm and 1:50pm to 3:45pm

You also have the option to shop online at your convenience. The online book fair link is available from now through February 11th. Click here to shop online.

All online orders will ship FREE to school. The book fair committee will then deliver your order to your child's class. All online orders will arrive at school within 5-10 business days after our online book fair ends on February 11, 2018.

If you'd like to volunteer at our fair, we have some additional time slots available.Please click here for the sign up form.

Thank you for your support and we hope to see you all at the book fair!

Dinner Gift Card Raffle Fundraiser

Walnut Grove PTA presents the 2018 Dinner Gift Card Raffle Fundraiser!!

Are you feeling LUCKY? We're putting the FUN in Fundraiser!

Our Roadrunners are so lucky to benefit from an extraordinarily generous community. Without your continued support, the PTA would be unable to provide all it does for the WG community: per-pupil donations, PE and Music equipment, library materials, art supplies and curriculum, K-5 Intervention programs, math and literature software, all our community events and assemblies, projector light bulbs, the list goes on and on, and it's all thanks to you.

This Spring, the WGPTA would like to fulfill Mrs. Erickson's request to provide high-quality, lab-grade furniture to the Science Lab (at a cost of about $6,200) in addition to fulfilling the rest of the obligations approved in this year's budget. In order to make this happen, Walnut Grove PTA is raffling off ten $100 gift cards for various local restaurants. You could win big on our Valentine's Day drawing~ and because you can win more than once, the more you give, the greater your chances are of winning!

Restaurant options are: Sabio, Oasis, Fontina, Namaste Pizza, Sushi Hanabi, Chinese Szechuan, Casa Orozco, Eddie Papa's, Experience Burma, Korean Village

Tickets are $2 each and you can choose which restaurant card you'd like your tickets to go towards winning. It's fun and easy!

Raffle ticket flyer will be sent home with students this week after the raffle kick off taking place at Wednesday's Donut Fun for Everyone event.
Return the completed ticket form on the back of the raffle flyer (with your name and restaurant preference noted) to the envelope in your child's classroom by noon on Wednesday, 2/14 OR you will have the option to purchase raffle tickets online (link will provided Wednesday)
Please include check payable to Walnut Grove PTA
Additional forms available in the office
Open to family members, neighbors, grandparents, and friends- spread the word!
Drawing will be held and winners notified via email on Wednesday, February 14th

Thank you again for your continued support. Together, we help Walnut Grove keep growing to meet the needs of all Roadrunners!

Walnut Grove's 50th Birthday Bash

Walnut Grove is turning 50 this year, and we hope you will come celebrate with us!

Join us at Handles Gastropub on Saturday, April 14th from 7:00-10:00pm for an adults only night of fun with past and present Walnut Grove parents, staff and alumni.

Tickets are $50.00 each and include heavy appetizers, non alcoholic beverages and entertainment provided by the Bell Brothers! Alcoholic beverages can be purchased at the event. There will also be a fun wine pull and silent auction.

Ticket sales are non-refundable and limited to 125 so reserve yours now by clicking here. Prices increase to $60 on April 1st.

If you have any questions about this event, please contact [email protected].

Looking for New Executive Board Members for the 2018/19 School Year

The Nominating Committee is seeking community members interested in participating on the PTA Executive Board for the 2018-2019 school year.

If you are interested in finding out more, contact the Committee at [email protected].

Science Fair

Science Fair is 5 weeks away:

Help your WG student get cranking on a project for our 18th Annual Science Fair! For your convenience, poster boards are available for a $7 donation in the office, while supplies last.

SCIENCE FAIR

PROJECT REGISTRATION: MONDAY, MARCH 12, 2018!

We are looking for members of the community who would like to interview WG junior scientists on Tuesday, March 13 or Wednesday, March 14, in the mornings. Each participant gets interviewed and also gets a printout of the interview. Be a source of inspiration to our kids! Volunteer and interview. Please contact Anita Iyer ASAP at ani.chase@@gmail.com if you are able to help.

Science Fair T-shirts:

Order our unique "Walnutgrovium" t-shirts - orders will be taken till the end of February with t-shirts ready for pick up on March 12! Science Fair T-shirt Online Order

For more information on the Science Fair, check out it's newly updated website.

Display your child's Science Fair board:

We are looking for science fair boards to display in the front window of the school! Please contact Soojin Hwang, [email protected], if you'd like to share your child's projects from years past. Thanks!

National Geographic Bee

Our first ever National Geographic Bee took place last Tuesday. T he vast amounts of knowledge our students displayed was impressive! Big congratulations to our first place winner, 4th grader Tejomay Rao !!! Also, congratulations to the first runner-up, 5th grader Andreas Landhuis, and second runner-up, 5th grader Brandon H Lu. F inalists include Mateo Eichler and Brian Yi. We are so proud of you all!

We would also like to thank our Geographic Bee Coordinator and judge, Tina Wagner. Mrs. Wagner contributed a lot of her time and energy to make this first time event a success for our Roadrunners. Also thanks to our additional judges, Annalisa Perazzo and Kat Peters . Thank you, teachers for going above and beyond to help our students shine!

Recycling Results & Box Tops Winners

Here are our recycling results for January:


K	$11.16
1	$12.85
2	$54.12
3	$82.64
4	$69.86
5	$17.62
Resource/Library	$5.72
	$253.97

Also, congratulations to January's box tops winners:

1st Grade - Carter Kinney

2nd Grade - Wyatt Molitor

3rd Grade - Kayla Kadkhodayan

4th Grade - Caleb Bowers

5th Grade - Emerson Muise

MLB Essay Contest for Grades 4th & 5th

Major League Baseball and Scholastic are holding an essay contest for students in grades 4 - 9 for its Breaking Barriers: In Sports, In Life program, which teaches students about the obstacles faced by Hall of Famer Jackie Robinson as he broke baseball's color barrier.

For the MLB's Breaking Barriers essay contest, students submit an essay about barriers or obstacles they've faced in life, and how they overcame those obstacles using the values demonstrated by Jackie Robinson: citizenship, commitment, courage determination, excellence, integrity, justice, persistence, and teamwork. Entries are accepted in English and Spanish!

Ten national winners will be selected, with prizes including a trip to the 2018 MLB All-Star Game, 2018 World Series tickets, as well as student and teacher laptops. The essay submission deadline is March 14 and winners will be notified in early April 2018.

For more information, please see this fact sheet and this flyer or you may also visit www.scholastic.com/breakingbarriers

PUSD Community Math Engagement Night

The Pleasanton Unified School District would like to invite you to attend one of three upcoming community engagement meetings to provide input as they explore how we can best support our students experience and success in mathematics.

A team of middle and high school teachers, administrators and District office staff recently engaged in a focused inquiry process to explore ways to improve math learning for all students, increase professional development for our mathematics teachers, and review our mathematics instructional materials and course offerings.

As staff examine these areas, we would like to invite and engage our families in opportunities to learn about our journey to further improve the teaching and learning of mathematics in the PUSD and provide feedback. Please see this flyer for additional information and learn more by watching this short video .

Staff has determined that they will first look at ways to refine student placement, increase teacher training, and consider math course offerings and pathways in future school years. No changes in middle or high school math pathways will be proposed for the 2018-19 school year.