The Cove Connection 

 Sunday, May 19th, 2019

Issue #35

For Previous Issues Click Here

UPCOMING DATES

• Coffee with Brett Tuesday, May 21st, 8:15am-9:15am, Cove Library

• LCMSD Board Meeting Wednesday, May 22nd, 6:00pm-9:00pm, Hall Library

• Memorial Day -- No School Monday, May 27th

• PTO-hosted Volunteer Appreciation Breakfast Wednesday, May 29th, 8:15am Cove Gallery

• Hall Incoming 6th Grade Parent Information Night Wednesday, May 29th 6:30pm - 8:00pm, Hall Library

• 4th Grade Concert Thursday, May 30th, 6:30pm, Cove Gallery

• Lost and Found Walk-Through, Thursday, May 30th, Cove Gallery

• SPARK Board Meeting Monday, June 3rd, 7:30pm-9:00pm, Hall Library 

• LCMSD Board Meeting Wednesday, June 5th, 6:00pm-9:00pm Hall Library

• LCMSD Board Meeting - Open Session Thursday, June 6th, 6:00- 6:30pm Hall Library

• LCMSD Special Board Meeting Thursday, June 6th, 6:30- 8:00pm Hall Library

• Cove Field Day Friday, June 7th

• 5th Grade Culmination Wednesday, June 12th, 11:00am-12:00pm

• Last Day of School, 1:15pm - Early Dismissal Thursday, June 13th

PRINCIPAL'S MESSAGE

• Congratulations to our two 2019 Golden Bell Award recipients: Kristie Martinezand Erielle Apelo. This honor is peer-nominated and peer-selected.

Ms. Martinez is a positive, caring, outstanding educator who teaches 1st grade at Cove. She has high expectations, and through carefully differentiated instruction, she ensures that all students meet them. While she already has an advanced degree in teaching reading, she continuously seeks to grow and improve.  Additionally, Kristie works collaboratively with a wide range of colleagues, giving her own time to support her peers in their teaching. Most of all, she is a team player with a huge heart and a wonderful sense of humor that can brighten any room!

Erielle wears many hats. Her primary role is as a paraprofessional aide. She also supervises lunch and recess for all of our 3rd- 5th-grade students. Always willing to lend a hand, she is a helpful addition to any classroom. She is detail oriented, positive, and knows the needs of the students she serves. We appreciate her endless patience, calm and kindness with each child. She is an excellent role model. In addition to working as a paraprofessional during school hours, she is a beloved Program Coordinator at Boys and Girls Club after school. Always smiling, and always supportive, Erielle is a treasure to Cove!

We are grateful for Kristie’s and Erielle’s dedication to Cove and our students. Please join me in congratulating them on earning this well-deserved award!

Sincerely,

Michelle Walker, Principal

SCHOOL NEWS

Update on Teaching Assignments for Next Year: I am thrilled to provide you with staffing updates for next year.  Please join me in welcoming 3 new teachers to Cove! This Parent Communication re: Staffing 2019-20 offers a thorough overview of the plan for teaching assignments and grade level structures for next year.  Please take some time to read it. It is long and contains lots of important information. As a staff, we have had time to process the coming changes, and we have worked as a team to come up with this plan.  The teachers and I are very excited about this plan, and I believe that translates into a positive student experience! 

Library Books Due All school library books are due by Friday, May 31st.Your child’s final progress report will not be sent until books have been returned to the school library. Thank you!

Steve & Kate's Family Game Night At The Cove- Wednesday, May 29th, 5:30-7:30pm. Bring the whole family for a light dinner and games on Steve & Kate’s. Come meet summer staff, make new friends and ask all the questions your heart desires while testing out popular games from our Lounge & Gameroom and parts of our Film, Coding, Fashion and Breadmaking studios.  Dinner will include a sampling from our summer lunch menu. We'll finish the night playing our camp version of bingo, Antlers Up. And just like camp, everyone goes home a winner!  To RSVP, click here. Or click here for more information.

Trustee Seat Open on Governing Board  On April 26, 2019, LCMSD announced that applications for an open seat on the Governing Board, due to the upcoming move out of the District of Trustee Katie Zwarg, will be available starting May 2, 2019, on the District’s website under “LCMSD News” on the home page through the submission deadline. Completed applications must be submitted in person to the District Office, 230 Doherty Drive, Larkspur, by noon on Thursday, May 23, 2019, or via email to mokeeffe@lcmschools.org. Interested persons who live within the boundaries of the Larkspur-Corte Madera School District and who are registered voters are welcome to apply for the vacancy. All applications will become public record upon receipt by the District.

Board Meeting Updates

At the April 22nd 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 approved the Final Certificated Layoff Resolution. 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. The full agenda can be foundhere.

For the May 22nd Meeting - Retirees will be honored, the Board will discuss the Local Control Accountability Plan (LCAP) draft, Trustees will vote on school plans, and the LCMSD Chief Business Official, Paula Rigney, will provide an update on FCMAT recommendations.

Coffee with Brett Do the recent LCMSD budget reductions and school district turmoil seen throughout the state make you wonder what is happening with school funding? This month’s Coffee with Brett will focus on California school funding, education legislation under consideration, and what you can do about it.

All coffee chats will be from 8:15 a.m.-9:15 a.m. on the following dates:

• Tuesday, May 21st - Cove, Gallery

• Thursday, May 23rd - Neil Cummins, Room A11

• Friday, May 24th - Hall, Room 505

2019-2020 LCMSD Calendar Please click here to view the updated 2019-20 calendar that has early dismissals, Back to School Night, and Open House noted.

Public Hearings On Wednesday, June 5, 2019 during the regularly scheduled LCMSD Board Meeting, there will be two public hearings: Local Control Accountability Plan (LCAP) and 2019-20 Budget.

Corte Madera Town Climate Resilience Survey Provide your input! The Town's Climate Resilience Survey is now Available. After a series of successful public meetings on May 8th and 9th, the Town's resilience project is really underway. Please help us guide the community's climate resilience efforts by filling out this short survey– it should take less than 10 minutes to complete. You can also find out more about this effort on the project website.

PTO UPDATES

School Supplies for Next Fall - Please Contribute Now! You do not need to shop for school supplies! Instead, our teachers are purchasing supplies now for our children for next year. This includes: paper, pencils, glue, scissors, crayons, markers, notebooks, folders, everything! We purchase supplies in an eco-friendly, equitable, and cost effective manner (we get excellent teacher discounts). The requested contribution is $50 per student, but please give what you are able. Please consider purchasing an extra set of supplies to support a child who may not be able to afford one. Click here to contribute today.

Volunteer Appreciation Breakfast On Wednesday, May 29th in the Gallery directly following drop off,  join us to honor and thank those who has volunteered at our school this year. If you have helped in our Cove Community in anyway this year, this is for you!  

Join us! The PTO Board currently has openings for the 2019-2020 School Year. We swear we are an awesome group! Many Cove events, adventures, and happenings would not be possible without PTO support! Click here to read a letter from the Board and a full description of each position. Contact our PTO President here for more information.

Visit our PTO Website for updates, events, and to keep in touch!

Let’s be social! Like us on Facebook

SPARK NEWS

Parent Parties Missed signing up via the Online Auction? All available spots for parent-hosted parties are now online.  

Fund A Need We invite you to support this year’s Fund a Need on personalized learning and conferring with a donation. Watch the video here.

COMMUNITY NEWS

Click here for updates from:

• Gino Pomilia Baseball Camps and Baseball Clinics

• Marissa Joy Ganz NY Broadway Training

• Corte Madera Library -- Summer Bookmark Design Contest

• Viva el Español -- Register for Now for Full-Immersion Spanish Classes at the Cove for 2019-2020 school year

• Room to Read Playdate and Book Drive

• Steve & Kate’s Summer Camp at The Cove

• June Happenings at the Larkspur Library

• CMFD & The Town of Corte Madera to host a “Chipper Day"

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.