The Cove Connection 

 Sunday, April 28th, 2019

Issue #32

For Previous Issues Click Here

UPCOMING DATES

• Fourth Grade Music Concert 9:35am-10:20am, Cove Gallery

• PTO Family Art and Recess Night Wednesday, May 1st, 5:00pm-7:00pm, Cove Playground

• Cardboard Arcade (Created by 2nd and 5th graders) Friday, May 3, 2:15pm-3:00pm, Cove Courtyard

• SPARK Gala Saturday, May 4th, 6:00-11:00pm

• Cove Staff Appreciation Week Monday, May  6th - Friday, May 10th

• Tuesday, May 7th, Flower Day

• Tuesday, May 7th, Appreciation Notes Collection Deadline, Office

• SPARK Board Meeting Monday, May 6th, 7:30pm-9:00pm, Hall Library

• National Bike to School Day Wednesday, May 8th

• PTO Board Meeting, Wednesday, May 8th (note new date), 8:30am,Cove Library

• Cove Site Council Meeting Thursday, May 9th (note new date), 3:30-5:30pm, Conference Room

• Elementary CAASP Testing Monday, May 13 - Friday 24th

• SPARK Night at the Giants Tuesday, May 14th, 6:45pm

• In Coming Kindergarten Sneak Peek Wednesday, May 15th, 2pm-3pm,Cove Gallery

PRINCIPAL'S MESSAGE

SPARK Fund-A-Need: Personalized Learning Every year, at the culmination of the Live Auction at the Gala, we ask parents to “raise their paddle” to support programs that the Principals are passionate about. We are excited to share with you that this year's Fund-a-Need is focused on personalized learning and conferring at all three Larkspur-Corte Madera District schools. What does this mean exactly and what does it look like in our schools?

Personalized Learning & Conferring: Student success in math and literacy starts with providing comprehensive support for teachers to meet the needs of all learners in their classrooms.  Through conferring (which means intentional, thoughtful conferencing individually with children) teachers personalize the learning experience so all children are challenged and supported, regardless of whether they are at, above, or below grade level standards. Artful conferring requires multiple years of study, which is why our partnerships with Momentum (trained by Columbia University) and UCLA are essential in supporting this work.  

By aligning with Readers Workshop and CGI Math (priorities in our district’s multi-year professional development plan), this year’s Fund-a-Need will support our goals of narrowing/eliminating achievement gaps and continuing to improve academic outcomes for every student. Our classrooms will be turned into learning labs where teachers are coached by Momentum and UCLA to provide this sophisticated level of personalized instruction. This includes:

• • Literacy: Teachers will use the newly-purchased classroom libraries for Readers Workshop to teach children in high-interest text at their “just right” levels.

  • Math- Cognitively Guided Instruction (CGI):  Teachers will provide “just right” numbers (different levels of difficulty) for word problems, ensuring that all learners can access the curriculum in any classroom. Through conferring, teachers will strategically move students along the continuum of mathematical thinking.

We hope you’ll consider supporting these important programs at the Spring Spotlight event on May 4th with a directed gift.

Sincerely,

Michelle Walker, Principal

SCHOOL NEWS

Cove’s 5th Annual Family Art & Recess Night is Wednesday, May 1st from 5:00pm to 7:00pm. Coach Arroyo has put together a fun evening of games for all ages and the whole blacktop will be available for all to enjoy! Ms. McKee will have the Art Room open with a multitude of activities. Abel’s Taco Truck will be selling yummy food. You can also bring your own picnic dinner to enjoy.  RSVP here and include the number of guests.  Any questions please contact Kari Stiffler.

Hot Lunch Reminder  Please place your student's lunch orders for May -  the menu is available here. If you are ordering a field trip lunch for any of the upcoming field trips, please do not order a lunch online for that day - field trip lunches are ordered and paid for separately.

Last Call for 2018-2019 Library Birthday Book Program May, June and July forms will be going home this week. Those months and any other month's forms are due back by May 10th. Your child may then come to the library to choose their book, and receive a commemorative bookplate in the book they choose with their name on it. It’s a fun way to commemorate your child's birthday while supporting our Library. Thank you for your continued support in this special program! Belinda O’Neil & Melissa Scheeline

5th Grade Beach Bash: Calling all 5th graders to join us Saturday, June 8th, 7-9:30 p.m. at Hall Middle School for our annual "send-off" party!  Games, food, DJ and other surprises in store!  Tickets are $40. Please sign up today- sign up info here! For scholarships or questions, please contact Molly Giang @ magrn30@hotmail.com.

National Bike to School Day, Wednesday, May 8, 2019- Mark your calendars! Safe Routes will be doing a “Go Green Spring Challenge” with punch cards for the next five Wednesdays (May 1, 8, 15, 22 and 29) to get kids extra excited about taking Green and Safe Routes to School.  Students kids with five punches will be eligible for a special raffle prize drawing on May 29th. Additional raffles will be held for Mags gift cards.

Board Meeting Updates:

• At the March 6 Meeting - Trustees approved the Second Interim Budget, a Resolution for classified reductions/layoffs, and Dr. Toni Brownas the Hall/Neil Cummins Assistant Principal for 2019-20.

• At the April 22 Meeting - Trustees celebrated Golden Bell Recipients and Hall Middle School being awarded the School to Watch designation. Hall is the only middle school in Marin to ever receive this award. The Board discussed the Local Control Accountability Plan (LCAP) draft, professional development, and 2019-20 staffing and enrollment. Trustees voted on the Final Certificated Layoff Resolution (note: due to the separation incentive and other staffing factors, only one teacher will receive a partial final layoff notice. That same teacher will be a full-time employee for 2019-20 in temporary contract status). No certificated staff member will be unemployed due to the reductions.

PTO UPDATES

Teacher Appreciation Week is Coming Up - Monday, May  6th - Friday, May 10th Staff Appreciation Cards: Your words of acknowledgment and thanks are tremendously appreciated by our staff and teachers. You and your children are encouraged to write notes to any other staff members that make an impact on your/their lives. Each classroom will also be working on notes of appreciation so that we shower the amazing staff with cards!  Many keep these cards and notes for years to come! There will be a box in the office to drop your notes for non-classroom teachers and staff (list of people here!) no later than Tuesday, May 7. Questions, please email Erin Alvarez.

Nominations for the 2019-2020 Cove PTO Executive Board are Open! There are several positions currently without any nominations. Please Click here to read a letter from the Board and a full description of each position. If you would like to talk about your interest and/or to nominate a Cove parent for a Board position, please contact 2018-2019 PTO President Elena O'Brien.

SPARK NEWS

Kentucky Derby The race is on...to purchase your tickets by April 30th when ticket sales close. Don’t miss this fantastic event on Saturday, May 4th featuring casino games, photo booth, live music, open bar and a few surprises. More event info here; purchase tickets here.

SPARK Giants Night May 14th, 6:45pm Tickets on sale now  Watch the Hall Choir sing the National Anthem, hang with your friends on a school night and check out the new food offerings at the newly renamed Oracle Park. More event details here.

SPARK Board Openings We’re actively looking for enthusiastic parent volunteers to share their time and talent with us to join the SPARK Board for the 2019-2020 school year. Serving on the SPARK board is very rewarding and a fun way to get involved. Learn more here, or contact info@SPARKschools.org

COMMUNITY NEWS

Click here for updates from:

• Gino Pomilia Baseball Camps and Baseball Clinics

• Summer Camp at Steve and Kate’s

• Marissa Joy Ganz NY Broadway Training Classes and  Summer

• Broadway Camps

• Yoga at The Cove

• Discover Girls Scouts

Follow Us! #CoveSchool  #WeAreLCMSD

ABOUT THE COVE CONNECTION The Cove Connection is a digital bulletin published by the CovePTO and distributed to The Cove School community each Sunday via email. To submit content to the Cove Connection, please email info@covepto.org. To receive a subscription to The Cove Connection, or to change your email address, send a note to  covesecretaries@lcmschools.org.