« March 21, 2008 | Main | April 04, 2008 »
March 28, 2008
Printable version
If you want to print today's Friday Letter, click here for a printable version.
If you want a printable version of a past Friday letter, select the Archive date of the letter you want to print.
Save the Date: May Festival
Upcoming Events 3-28-2008
ALL SCHOOL EVENTS:
• March 29–Art for Kids' Sake
• March 31–Cesar Chavez Day (Day of service - students do service projects - School in session)
• April 10–MS Parent Conferences, 12:15 PM MS dismissal
• April 11–MS Parent Conferences, No MS Classes
• April 14–18–Spring Break - No classes - Spring Camp by reservation (see announcements for more info)
Click here for a downloadable calendar of events for April 2008
Click here for a downloadable 2007-2008 School Year Calendar
Please click below for a copy of the DRAFT 2008-2009 School Year Calendar. Please note, the later start date is due to construction on the second floor (installing new flooring) which predicates a three-day later start to the school year.
Click here for a downloadable DRAFT 2008-2009 School Year Calendar
Announcements 3-28-2008
ART FOR KIDS' SAKE BOOKS!
It is time once again for the Art For Kids' Sake Book!!! Gigi Obrecht and Nicole Leong have worked their magic to bring the art and poetry of our kids to us in these amazing books. With special thanks too to Adra Valentine, Rebecca Magill, and our wonderful teachers who help guide the projects featured below. Click on the following links to have a special
sneak preview of the fun:
Kindergarten Book - http://www.posttool.com/gigi/k.pdf
First Grade Book - http://www.posttool.com/gigi/1stGrade.pdf
Emily's Second Grade - http://www.posttool.com/gigi/2ndGrade_E.pdf
Patty's Second Grade - http://www.posttool.com/gigi/2ndGrade_P.pdf
Third Grade Book - http://www.posttool.com/gigi/3rdGrade.pdf
Forth Grade Book - http://www.posttool.com/gigi/4thGrade.pdf
Fifth Grade Book - http://www.posttool.com/gigi/5thGrade.pdf
Sixth Grade Book - http://www.posttool.com/gigi/6thGrade.pdf
Seventh Grade - http://www.posttool.com/gigi/7thGrade.pdf
Eighth Grade Book - http://www.posttool.com/gigi/8thGrade.pdf
These books are available now (through the order form listed below) http://www.posttool.com/gigi/Book_Order_Form.pdf
You will be able to see the printer's proofs of the books on Saturday evening, March 29 - join us then for an Art Rageous time! [please note that any corrections to the books should be sent to Mary Austin at mka@archive.org - thank you]
From the PHS Parents Association:
A reminder to please fill out the nominating form (click here to download - or click the link below for a way to complete the form online), which asks people within the PHS community to help nominate others or one’s self to work on important community projects, tasks, and events. Click here to download a cover letter about the form. Please complete this form and return it to PHS by April 11 or complete the form online by clicking on the link below: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=a6bPYdYcb1U8E9LYuY7flg_3d_3d. Please make sure you participate and help us initiate this new process. Please feel free to email Kimberley Spears kimberleyspears@yahoo.com or Regina Casciato at CasciatoReggae@aol.com for specific questions about the Presidio Hill Parents Association.
Also, our next Parents Association Meeting will be on April 10 from 8-9 a.m. Please feel free to join us.
From Raymi Orozco
Reserve a spot for April Camp!
Open to K-5th graders, April camp will be held on April 14-18, from 9-4pm daily. Reservations MUST be made no later than 12 noon on April 7 to confirm a spot. Drop-ins will not be allowed. Camp fees are $70/day for 1-2 days and $60/day for 3-5 days, (financial assistance rates are available). An additional minimal field trip fee may be required on certain days. When making a reservation, please specify the exact days of attendance with approximate pick-up times. All children are required to arrive no later than 9:30 am and to bring a lunch. Field-trip/activity details to follow; check back next week or visit the after-school webpage.
*Camp will be offered contingent upon a minimum enrollment of 10 students.
Please contact Raymi at raymi_orozco@presidiohill.org or 751-9318 x.130 to make a reservation or if you have any questions.
Follies DVDs are here!"The Secret of Sparkly Shine" is now available on DVD!Much thanks to Carla Leshne, David Donnefield and crew, who shot and edited the video. Each DVD is $9.; You can pick up your Follies 2007 DVD from Martin at the front desk. (There are plenty to go around).In case you did not get a copy of the 2006 Follies show (Follywood), we also have some available for $6.
Art for Kids' Sake: Saturday night!
Dear Families and Friends,
Auction night is upon us!
What to expect on Auction night?
6:30pm Auction Begins- If you pre registered go to EXPRESS CHECK IN.
If not go to the Registration Check in table.
Buy your key to the Prohibition Wine Cellar. Only 60 keys available at $100 dollars each. Its the best buy in town!
Dress up for fun, shake off your jeans and sweats and time to put on the "Glad Rags" !
9:00pm Entertaiment at the Theater with Isadora Duncan Dancers, 6th Grade band, and Live Auction.
Grab a bidder paddle in the Theater and write your bid number BIG and BOLD!
Live Auction Lineup:
1) Scholarship Fund "shout out" Bidders raise thier hands in support of Financial assistance.
Bids start at $500, $250 and $100
2) 1st Grade Platter of San Francisco Landmarks. Bids Start at $200
3) Professional Development fund for Teachers and Staff. Bids start at $500, $250 and $100
4) 2nd Grade Japanese Quilt. Bids Start $200
5) 2nd Grade Solar System Quilt. Bids Start $200
6) Master's in Progressive Education (Support teachers to acquire their Masters in Education) Bids Start $ 500, $250 and $100
7) Italo Scanga Art. Bids start at $600
8) Solissombra: Valley of the Moon Vacation house in Sonoma for 3 nights! Bids Start at $900
9) Enterline Bracelet. Bids start at $600
10) Kindergarden Alphabet Felt Quilt. Bids Start at $300
10pm "The Wash" performs
10:00pm 1st Floor Auction rooms remain open till 10:30pm (Spanish, Art, 1st and Kindergarden rooms)
10:05pm "LA TI DO" hot latin dance band perform till 11pm! Dancing and Dessert in the Theater!
11:30pm End of Auction night
On behalf of the Auction Committee, we look forward to seeing you all on Saturday!
ArtRageous 1920's is the Cat's Meow!
Thank you all for your support and help for AFKS Auction.
Cheers,
Grace Angel
AFKS Chair
From the Director 3-28-2008
More news to report on the staffing front for next year.James Wygant has accepted our offer to be the 8TH GRADE HUMANITIES TEACHER beginning in the 2008 - 2009 school year. For the last two years, James has been teaching at the San Roque High School in Santa Barbara where he has collaborated closely with other teachers at the school while also helping to encourage students to be "flourishing learners and confident individuals." One of the many things that impressed us about James is his ability to relate immediately to our students during his demonstration lesson as well as his passion for the vigorous study of reading and writing in a progressive way. James comes to PHS with a BA in Art History from the University of California at Santa Barbara and an MFA in Poetics and Creative Writing from New College of California here in San Francisco. James has also been an editor and writer for BEATITUDE MAGAZINE and AIR MAIL, DRIVING TO DEERLICK.
Please join me in welcoming James Wygant to Presidio Hill School.
Sincerely,
Brian
From the Lower School Dean and Librarian 3-28-2008
And the winner is…
by Lisa Jeli
This year was the first time that PHS participated in the statewide program, California Young Readers Medal, which is sponsored by the California Association of Teachers of English, the California Library Association, the California Reading Association and the California School Library Association. The purpose of this program is to promote recreational reading and to honor students’ favorite authors and illustrators. Students from 1st grade through 8th grade participated by either listening to or reading for themselves several stories, and then voting for their favorites. A few diligent fifth graders read and voted in all 5 categories! Thanks to Sara Anderson and Max Fletcher, we even had a real voting booth and a swank ballot box. Students really enjoyed having the chance to enter the private booth and cast their ballots.
For the Kindergarten students, who were intrigued by the large booth but were not participating in the program this year, we provided the opportunity for them to vote either YES or NO to the question of whether or not they “liked the library.” I am happy to report that there were only two "no’s" amongst the dozens who voted in this category (several older kids also asked if they could vote on this) and a couple of ballots had little hearts and the word LOVE written in!
Please visit the PHS library blog at www.presidiohill.org/books to enjoy the pictures of students lining up for the voting booth and enjoying their post-voting popcorn and lemonade treat. Max and I think that maybe snacks should be provided to adults who vote; it might increase turnout!
Curriculum Spotlight: Middle School Science
Friday Letter 3/28/08
Science Sixth and Seventh Grades
Sue Marvit
Sixth Grade has just finished their unit “Exploring Earth and Mars”, and during that time they were fortunate to be able to visit the NASA Ames Exploration Center for a field trip related to space exploration. Please enjoy the pictures.
We are now exploring the Ecology of San Francisco Bay. Be sure to ask your kids why it is not really a bay. Students should also be able to show you a model of California’s watershed using their hands. They have created mock watersheds and wetlands. Using their wetlands models
,
they designed experiments to see what happens with and without protective marshes. They discovered how much salt it takes to float an egg and were challenged to create colorful density drips. This week is pollution week, and they will identify sources of urban runoff and examine the ‘plastic’ issue. Upcoming studies will include critters that live in the mud and the bay, and their specific adaptations, dissecting the Northern Anchovy, and designing plankton. There will be two culminating field trips; one to the mud flats and docks of the Berkeley Marina, and the second, a morning on a working research boat.
Seventh Grade has concluded their Human Biology studies and we have just begun to examine plants and botany. Today they had a banquet of “Yummy Plant Parts”. They were challenged to identify what part of the plant each vegetable, fruit, seed, came from and to sketch the actual plant from which it was harvested. The chef’s took over the last half hour and students created salads and dressings, salsas, guacamole, and dips of all kinds.
We will raise Wisconsin Fast Plants to examine the growth cycle of plants from seed to seed. We will germinate different types of plants, examine plant cells and photosynthesis, and how pollination and seed dispersal occur around the world.
We will study native plants of the bay area, creating a field guide, and take a field trip to the Native Plant Nursery on May 1.
We will begin our monitoring project at Mountain Lake Park in April. Students will go every Monday to collect data on turtles and amphibians, to add to the 10-year information pool that has been collected by the Presidio Trust since they began restoration efforts. Students will identify an original research question and create a scientific poster using the same format that scientists use everywhere in their poster sessions. They will present their research posters to the school during the final week of the year. Enjoy the photos.
Sue