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May 30, 2008
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Upcoming events 5-30-2008
UPCOMING SCHOOL EVENTS:
• June 3–2nd to 3rd Step Up Day
• June 11–Step Up Day
• June 12–Last Day of School for LS Students
• June 13–Graduation! Grades 6–8 required to attend.
Please check the announcements below for more information about many of these events.
Click here for a downloadable calendar of events for June 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 5-30-2008
AFTER-SCHOOL NEWS
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PHS TALENT SHOW
SAVE THE DATE!
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Potluck Snacks @ 3:15
Show Starts @ 3:30
ALL performers welcome!
Drama and Guitar enrichment class students will also showcase their talents.
Limited space is available, so sign up today.
Sign-ups will end on Monday, June 6.
*Families please join us and bring a snack for the potluck that starts at 3:15 p.m.
For more information and to sign-up contact Raymi at raymi_orozco@presidiohill.org or 415-751-9318.
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AFTER-SCHOOL SURVEY
Please take a moment to complete a short survey about after-school.
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=b5KPXgvcuGKWbCAJX5rJwA_3d_3d
Your feedback helps us to continually improve our program. The survey deadline has been extended through Sunday, June 1.
PHS School Store Summer Sale
Last chance to get your PHS swag at the end of the year blow-out sale!
Monday, June 2nd from 3:00 to 4:00
Hope to see you there!
The 38th Annual LGBT Pride Parade is Coming Sunday, June 29th.
Presidio Hill School is proud to be a participant in this yearly event.
This year's theme is: United by Pride, Bound by Equality
Please come out and show your school and community pride by walking, riding , or skating in the parade. Bring your friends and family. The parade route runs along Market, and we will be meeting at 9:30 to start the celebration. Bagels, fruit, coffee and juice will be provided. Please RSVP to Jaime Thomas @ momjbt@aol.com We also need 2 volunteers prior to the parade to take a 1-time contingent monitor training. Please let me know if you are available
Thanks,
Jaime Thomas
Penny WarsThe PHS student body declares war on poverty and suffering by pledging support to Kiva a nonprofit organization that supports entrepreneurs in developing countries by lending them money to start up sustainable businesses in their communities.
Students raise money to give by starting a "Penny War" here at school where lower school classes and middle school advisories battle it out, each trying to earn the most points. The class or advisory earning the most points wins the "Penny War!" Points are earned by collecting pennies with each penny collected by a class/advisory being a point* earned for that class/advisory.
Pennies should be deposited in the class/advisory collection bottles each day. Running point totals will be reported regularly over the course of the next two weeks.
All the money collected by 06/06/08 is then donated to Kiva who directs all funds to an aspiring businessperson in a developing country. The winning group gets treated to pizza from Arizmendi Coop Bakery a locally operated sustainable business!
Visit www.kiva.org for more information or to give on your own!
Contact Todd's advisory with any questions or concerns through todd_ditto@presidiohill.org.
* The point calculation is somewhat different in the middle school to foster more engagement and lively competition. Pennies still earn one point however any non-penny denomination donated to an advisory has the negative penny value for example one-dollar bill donated has the effect of taking away 100 previously earned points.
From the Director 5-30-2008
Hello, Families and Community Members:
We have more very good news to report on the hiring front. Although we are still in process in hiring a First Grade Teacher and a 7/8 Grade Math Teacher, we hope to wrap up both searches before the end of the school year; however, we intend to keep them open until we find the right people for the positions.
Over the last several weeks, we have seen a variety of great candidates for our open positions. We are pleased to announce a number of new hires we have made:
TEGWYN LEWIS-PINE has accepted our offer to become the PE Teacher and Athletic Director, working with Kiah Jeffries. Coming to us with great experience working with kids in physical education and in outdoor education, Tegwyn is currently the site coordinator at Cleveland Elementary School where she works for the organization, Sports4Kids. After graduating from UC Santa Cruz last June, Tegwyn also completed the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS) in the Pacific Northwest.
ANDREW GLASSCO will be the Spanish Teacher, grade 3-8, filling in for Paola Nou while she is on maternity leave. Andrew has a BA in English and aa MA in Spanish Education from the University of Colorado, Boulder. Currently, Andrew is a Spanish Teacher at Sonoma Academy in Santa Rosa (where they are very sad to see him go). After working as a Spanish teacher in Cordoba, Argentina, and at colleges and universities in Colorado and South Carolina, Andrew is looking forward to being at Presidio Hill School and in San Francisco. Josefina Jacquin, who returns from sabbatical leave, and Andrew will be the two Spanish teachers next fall.
This summer while Tania Hurter is away on a short leave and Martin Gross takes vacation, ROBERT OWENS will be handling some of the administrative duties and managing the summer camp for the school. Robert received a BA from California State University, Stanislaus. He has worked in an administrative capacity for the Positive Resource Center and for the HIV Health Service Planning Council, as well as a pre-school teacher at La Petite Academy.
CELESTE MACAPIA will be the new Art Teacher next year, taking over the position Adra is leaving. Celeste has a BA in Public Policy with a focus on Education from Brown University where she also spent a semester in a special program at the Bank Street Graduate Program. She also has a MA in Art Education with Honors from the University of New Mexico, Albuquerque. Currently, Celeste is toggling back and forth between two art positions, one at The Nueva School in Hillsborough and the other at the Community School for Music and Arts in Mountain View. Celeste has also taught art and architecture at Jefferson Middle School and Albuquerque Academy in New Mexico. Celeste's references, all of whom wished they could create jobs to keep her near, commented on her tremendous rapport with children, parents, and colleagues. Celeste and Rebecca Magill will be the two art teachers next fall.
Please join me in welcoming Tegwyn, Andrew, Robert, and Celeste when you see them.
Namasté,
Brian
Curriculum Spotlight: Kindergarten 5-30-2008
The Drama of Kindergarten
Shericka Hodges
I am sure we all agree that the Kindergarteners never fail to amaze and surprise us. It has been a joy to work with such a dynamic group of kids. It is so wonderful to sit in the front row and watch them grow in confidence as learners. The social atmosphere in our kindergarten classroom promotes risk- taking and the ability express all kinds of ideas. As a former theatre major, I know that the opportunity for children to creatively express what they learn is key to their emotional, social and academic maturity.
Since we are studying a unit on prehistoric animals, specifically dinosaurs, the children were given the opportunity to show what they have learned!
Without warning, we decided to discuss with them several theatre terms: cast, plot, theme, and setting. After 10 minutes of conversation we randomly split our class of 24 students into 4 groups. Each group was given exactly 10 minutes to come up with a short play, and 2 minutes to perform it in front of their peers. They had to listen to each other’s ideas, assign characters, decide a plot, setting, and finally come up with a title. Yes, 10 minutes to create and 2 minutes to perform! 
The titles were: “Dinosaur Chomp,” “Dinosaur Land,” “The Road Runners” and “Dinosaur Trouble.” Two groups decided to do a play that could explain why the dinosaurs went extinct. One child played an exploding volcano! What an imagination! They also came up with the idea to have a narrator. We didn’t even discuss that! Surprisingly, not all the plays had ferocious meat-eating dinosaurs; one play had friendly dinosaurs that liked to play and sleep in the sun! Some dinosaurs had special defensive moves like Anklylosaurus, who used his bone-crushing tail to save his plant-eating buddies. The students figured how to put this together in a very short amount of time and even came up with the idea of using a narrator, which was a great way to handle the time challenge. As I ran around to each group informing them of how much time they had left, it was fun hearing all their ideas.
They had a great time and worked amazingly well together. Steve and I were excited for them and amazed at the level of skill they showed. These are among the many moments that make teaching so much fun. I hope to continue creating this lively space for the kindergarteners to discover their endless learning possibilities.