Sunday, September 15th, 2019

Issue #4

For Previous Issues Click Here

UPCOMING DATES

• September 16- LCAP Meeting, 3:30pm, Hall Rm 301

• September 18- Walk & Roll to School Day 

• September 20- No School, Professional Development Day

• September 27- Spiritwear Sale, 8:00am, Courtyard 

• October 3- School Site Council Meeting, 3:30pm, Cove Conf. Rm

• October 9- No School

• October 10- Cove Fall Family Picnic, 5:00pm-7:00pm, Cove Blacktop

• October 11- Coffee with Principal Walker, 8:15am

• Oct 14-18- Conference Week, Early 1:15 Dismissal

• Oct 14-18- Scholastic Book Fair, Cove Library

PRINCIPAL’S MESSAGE

Reading- At School and At Home Teachers are busy launching Reader’s Workshop in their classrooms.  Lessons during these first few weeks include building routines: choosing a “just right” book, finding a good place to read, transitioning from the carpet to that place quickly and quietly (efficiency!) and focusing on building stamina (the ability to read for longer periods of time). 

Life is busy – that’s a fact.  Fitting even twenty minutes into an already packed schedule might feel impossible, but these twenty minutes a day will have a lasting, compounded, positive academic impact on your child. It is never too early to start a reading routine at home with your child.  No matter where they are along the continuum of reading development, establishing a consistent practice routine at home shows the value your family places on literacy! Check out this article that packed with research and tips to help set up a successful home reading routine: 

Does Reading 20 Minutes At Home Really Matter? written by Kristie Martinez, LCMSD EL/ Literacy Specialist

SCHOOL NEWS

Safety First! Drivers- Please slow down and watch for pedestrians in crosswalks, especially on Paradise. We encourage families to walk and bike to school, and lately we have had some near misses. Those who walk and bike reduce traffic for ALL of us. When we make it safe for people to walk, we all win! 

Volunteer Orientation Recap: Thank you to the many people who came to last week’s volunteer orientation.  For those of you who weren't able to attend, please review the following LCMSD Volunteer Expectations that Michelle Walker and Toni Brown reviewed.  Anyone who plans to volunteer in the classroom or on a field trip this year, please complete this required LCMSD Volunteer Agreement that will be shared with staff to let them know who has agreed to our volunteer policies.  Thank you!

Cove School Site Council 2019-20 - Seeking members The Cove Site Council furthers our yearly academic, social-emotional, innovation and communication goals for our school. The membership of the Site Council includes parents and school staff members. Meetings take place on Thursday afternoons (4x/year with additional committee meetings) from 3:30-5:00pm.  If you are interested in participating, please submit a short bio here by Friday, September 20. Bios will be circulated to our parent population who will elect parent representatives for the open parent position. Thank you!

The Birthday Book Program has begun for the 2019-20 school year!  This program supports purchasing new books for our Cove school library and is a beloved tradition amongst the kids and families alike.  During the month of your child's birthday you should receive a flier home with information on how to purchase a book on your child's behalf.  Please return this form along with your donation to the Cove school library when complete. If you have any questions about this program please reach out to Belinda O'Neil or Melissa Scheeline.

The Green Sneaker Challenge continues this Wednesday, September 18th with Walk & Roll Wednesdays. It's not too late to get stamps to enter our raffle! We will be giving out cards for the Green Sneaker Challenge and goodies to anyone who walked, rolled, bused, or carpooled to school. If you need to drive, take advantage of our great weather and try parking and walking a few blocks to school. Find us in the courtyard Wednesday morning!

DISTRICT NEWS

LCAP Meeting on September 16th at 3:30 in Room 301 at Hall Middle Please join us in creating the Local Control Accountability Plan (LCAP) which guides our District’s efforts to meet the needs of ALL students. Parent and staff participation is greatly encouraged.

Board Updates During the September 11th meeting the Board recognized newly permanent teachers Rebecca Bisel and Julia McKee, approved the unaudited actuals, reviewed the enrollment and staffing report, and recognized the collaboration between LCMEA and LCMSD in creating a tentative agreement for the 2019-20 negotiations. During the Board report, Vice President Sellers described a recent MCOE meeting she attended and how the Schools and Communities First Act opponents have begun to send out mailers with misleading information. Specifically, mailers are focusing on the residential portion of Prop 13, which would not be affected if this measure passes; only property taxes for commercial real estate would be adjusted. This measure would generate an estimated $2,000 per student if passed.

Mindshift Podcast Features Hall Middle School! It was amazing to see Hall Middle School and district’s focus on well-being and joy (for kids and adults) featured in the KQED Mindshift podcast! One of the most respected educational podcasts in the nation, Mindshift sent a team to Hall for two days in February to witness and create a podcast focused on Global School Play Day. We encourage you to check it out!

School Emergency Preparedness This week Superintendent, Dr. Brett Geithman, held coffee chats at each school focused on school safety. If you missed this important conversation, the slides can be found here.

From The LCMSD District Office Please click here for a letter from The Marin County Office of Education (MCOE) in coordination with school districts, PG&E, the Marin County Fire Department, and the Marin County Sheriff’s Office of Emergency Services, regarding potential “Public Safety Power Shutoff.”

PTO UPDATES

Save the Date! Cove’s Fall Family Picnic (& Costume Party!) Thursday, October 10th, 5:00pm to 7:00pm. More information to follow. 

Spirit Wear Fridays are Back Show your school spirit by wearing your Cove Spirit Wear to school every Friday. No spirit wear? No problem! Wear our school color- blue! 

• Our next spirit wear sale is on Friday, Sept 27th in the Cove Courtyard at 8am!

• Buy online anytime- Click here to purchase from our store on Zazzle

Picture Day Thank you to our picture day volunteers, Sherri North, Lilianne Sommer, and Margot Ridout. If you still need to order pictures, today is the last day. Click here and enter code P5629FHE. 

SPARK NEWS

See what how your kids benefit from SPARK every day Check out the SPARK back to school video here and don’t forget to make your 2019-2020 Annual Giving donation. You can donate online, set up automatic monthly installments, make a gift of stock and take advantage of Corporate Match. Learn more about SPARK here. 

Fun Run Thank you to the volunteers who made today’s event possible!

We need you! We have many jobs big and small for parents to help this year. We’re especially need volunteers to help with Biz partnership outreach.  Email info@SPARKschools.org if interested and learn more here. 

COMMUNITY NEWS

• Please click link to view Community News that includes updates from: 

• TinkerTech at the Cove

• Marissa Joy Ganz NY Broadway Training Classes

• Registration for St. Patrick CYO Basketball

• Organized by Geanne

• The North Bay Science Discovery Day

• Dedication to Special Education's 16th Annual Golf Tournament Fundraiser

• Coastal Clean Up 

• TOWN HALL: Youth, School Policy, Parenting and the Law

• An Evening With David and Nic Sheff, local authors of Beautiful Boy and Tweak, moderated by Michael Krasny of KQED

• Motherload Screening

• Suzuki Piano and Voice Lessons with Gretchen Klein 

The Green Sneaker Challenge and Walk & Roll Wednesday are back! We will be giving out cards for the Green Sneaker Challenge during our first Walk & Roll Wednesday, September 4th, and we hope to see you all walking, rolling, scootering, cartwheeling, carpooling...Any green way! See you all Wednesday morning!

PTO UPDATES

Join Us! All parents are members of our Cove School PTO, but did you know your financial contribution helps our school? Click here to learn more 

Classroom Coordinators -- Urgent Need! Being a Classroom Coordinator is a role suitable for both working and non working parents. Each class needs at least two volunteers or your child's class will miss out on many fun and rewarding experiences! Click here for volunteer for this amazing role. Classroom Coordinator meeting will be held on Wednesday, September 4th, 8:30am in the Library. Email info@covepto.org with any questions!

SPARK NEWS

What does SPARK support? Our schools are community-funded. Thanks to generous donations from District families and Biz Partners, SPARK funds Music, (Band & Chorus), Art (Digital & Studio) Science (Integration & Materials), Tech (Integration, Maker Ed, Game Design, IDEA), Robotics, Wellness (Social Emotional Learning and Counseling) at your three schools  this year. Help us reach our $1.5M goal this year with your 2019-2020 Annual Giving donation. You can donate online, set up automatic monthly installments, make a gift of stock and take advantage of Corporate Match. Learn more about SPARK here. 

Fun Run Early Bird Savings end September 3rd  Join us Sunday September 15th from 9-11:30 am for an event that’s fun for the whole family. Enjoy Microsoft games, snacks, raffle and great tunes spun by our DJ. Tickets are $25; $30 starting September 4th.Sign up here.

Become SPARK Biz Partner Do you own a local business? A SPARK Biz partnership gets your business in front of our growing community of nearly 1,000 local families and support SPARK! We offer a wide variety of sponsorship options to help you find the perfect level of exposure for your business. Learn more here.

We need you We have many jobs big and small for parents to help this year. We’re especially looking for classroom SPARK reps. Email info@SPARKschools.org if interested and learn more here. 

COMMUNITY NEWS

Please click link to view Community News that includes updates from: 

• Learn about the Cub Scouts

• Lice Happens… Call the Lice Lady

• Marin Girls Chorus 

• Broadway Training Classes

• St.Patricks Annual Fall Hoedown 

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.