2009-2010 OUSD Calendar

The first day of school for the 2009-2010 school year is August 31, 2009.  You can view the Crocker Highlands School Calendar and the 2009-2010 OUSD Calendar online by clicking on the links.

Teacher Appreciation Day

On this special day we honor our special Kindergarten teachers. Thank you to Mrs. Henry, Mrs. Harris and Mr. Yamada for all you do each day to help our kindergartners grow.

New Pictures and Video posted

Check out new pictures and video just added to the Kindergarten website. Special thanks to Lisa Thorne, Stephanie Marshburn and Jon Cecchettini for the great pictures and video.

If you missed the Nursing Home performance, Holiday breakfast, 100 Day Celebration or MLK Oratorical Fest click on the links above.

I need your help!!  If you have pictures of events, classroom activities, field trips, etc and are open to sharing them with the rest of the Kindergarten families, please email me.  Some of the classrooms are also working on end of the year picture books and it would be very helpful to have a selection of photographs to use.

Holiday Concert and Pictures Posted

Hi Everyone,

If you haven’t visited the Kindergarten website recently, you might be interested in the latest addition of a few pictures and video from the Holiday concert. http://crockerk.wordpress.com/kindergarten/kindergartenevents/holidayconcert/ (password required: crockerk)  If you have any pictures or video to share, I’d love to add more since I know there was a room full of photographers that day.

I’ve also added a number of photos from the classrooms, special events and field trips. You can see them on the Kindergarten Picture page: http://crockerk.wordpress.com/kindergarten/2008kindergartenphotos/ (password required: crockerk) Some of you have inquired about getting copies or ordering prints of the pictures. You can do both of these by clicking on “Download” or “Prints” in the Picasa Web Album. If you need help, drop me an email. (Note: all passwords on the site are crockerk)

For frequent updates and information about things happening in the Kindergarten classes, book mark the Kindergarten Website: http://crockerk.wordpress.com/kindergarten/ (you can also reach the same pages from the main Crocker School website when clicking on Classes and Curriculum)

I need your help!!  If you have pictures of events, classroom activities, field trips, etc and are open to sharing them with the rest of the Kindergarten families, please email me.  Some of the classrooms are also working on end of the year picture books and it would be very helpful to have a selection of photographs to use.

Also I’d love to hear your comments and feedback about the website. Do you use it? Like the content? What else would you like to see added?  Please share your comments and any feedback you have about the site and I’ll see what I can do.

Thanks,
Todd Marshburn
Ben’s Dad – Mrs. Henry

100th Day of School Celebration

I00th Day of School Celebration on Friday February 6th

Can you believe that your kindergartener will actually have been in school for one hundred days on February 6th?  In view of this we are getting ready to celebrate, and we will need your help. Please read the following information carefully:

• This week’s homework.  Please help your student make a special 100 item “creation”  – Students need to use 100 things (not more, not less!) to create something special! e.g. an eagle built out of 100 nails, an igloo built of 100 marshmallows, a night sky painting with 100 sparkling stars -Projects will be displayed in a the multi-purpose room on the 100th day.  In order for there to be room to display 66 pieces of art, please do not make this project larger than 18X22inches.  Also, items should be stuck on very firmly please!
• Our celebration will be from 9.15am to 10.45am.  We will need 4 or 5 parents from each class to help.  We’d like you to come to the multi-purpose room please, as soon as school starts, so you can help set up while the children have P.E. with coach B. Each class will be responsible for the following activities. Please let your child’s teacher now if you can help.

• Tanya’s class will be organizing the making of fruit loop necklaces with 100 pieces of cereal and special 100 day crowns.  Tanya will need donations of boxes of fruit loops and stickers, and a parent to cut out the crowns in advance.  She will also be getting the students estimating, counting and graphing as they “Lick to 100”, and she will need a donation of 62 popsicles for this activity!!
• Anna’s class will provide “100” shaped sunglasses for decorating, She will need someone to cut out the glasses in advance  She will also be setting up a snack station, and will need donations of 10 different snack items, such as raisins,  pretzels, Teddy Grahams, M & M’s, cereal, miniature marshmallows, chocolate bits, cheetos etc. Students will be making their own snack counting the snack items in tens to one hundred. Also, Anna will be organizing a “One Hundred things young children believe in” project. She needs someone to cut out 100 hearts. Parents will ask the children what they believe in and will write these things on the hearts to display in the multi-purpose room.

• Ken’s class is responsible for decorating the multi-purpose room with 100 helium balloons. Ken will also organize and the “100 movement” activity station. His class will also provide a “one hundred breakfast treat” (i.e. a sausage to make the one, and a mini bagel cut in half to make the two zeros)  Ken will need donations of helium balloons, a helium tank, someone to cook the sausages in advance and someone to buy the mini bagels and cream cheese.

Thank you so much in advance for your ongoing support.

Anna, Tanya, and Ken

Upcoming Kindergarten Events

We are going to need some help next week, we have several events coming up.
 
Wednesday Feb. 4:  Field trip to the Oakland Museum (Mrs. Henry’s class in not going) Kids will need a BAG lunch.  We are seeing a performance and having a tour.
 
Thursday Feb. 5:  Chinese New Year Lunch:  All 3 classes, as well as all of the first grades, are having a      “Chinese New Year’s Lunch”.  We’ll be bringing in food from a nearby restaurant for lunch. We’ll need a couple of parents to setup/serve/cleanup.  We’ll be coordinating with the first grade Room Mothers also.  Needless to say….you will not need to send a lunch that day (unless your child dislikes Chinese food!)
 
Friday Feb. 6:  100 Day Celebration!  The directions for the “100 day project” will go home this week.  All the children are expected to do a little (FUN) project.  I’ll need 5 parents from each class.  Please email me and let me know if you are available that morning.  We will be in the MPR from 8:45, until about 11:00 AM.
 
Friday Feb. 13:  Valentine’s Day Party.  The children will exchange valentines with their classmates, and we usually have some sort of party, either lunch or afternoon snack.  Each teacher will decide what their class does that day. 
 
The field trips after next week are:  Tuesday March 24th at the California Academy of Sciences in Golden Gate Park.  There is a charge of $25.00/ parent…..we’ll probably pay a portion of this from the class funds.  In April (Anna’s class 4/15, Tanya’s 4/28 and Ken’s 4/29) we’ll be going to the Berkeley Marina for the “Low Tide Program”.  On Thursday, May 14th, we’ll be taking the ferry from Jack London Square into SF, to the Aquarium at Fisherman’s Wharf (my personal favorite field trip!) 

If at all possible, we’d like to get some of the parents who have NOT been able to drive, to come on one of these field trips….and to give parents that have driven on all (or almost all) a break.
Thanks so much!

Melissa

Crocker Holiday Concert Video and Pictures

I’ve posted the 2008 Crocker Highlands Holiday Concert for Kindergarten and 1st Graders. You will need a password to view the video and pictures which I will email directly to the parents. If you don’t receive it, please contact me for assistance.

With the hundreds of cameras there capturing every angle of the event, I’d love to get some better photos and possibly video to add to the page. Please contact me if you have any pictures you are willing to share on the site.

Thank you,

Todd Marshburn

Back from Break

Hi Everyone,

I hope that you all enjoyed your break.  I’m sure that you are looking forward to getting the kids back to school and back on a schedule (I sure am!). We do have a couple of things coming up this month.  All 3 classes are going on a trip to MOCHA in January.  Each class has a different day, so we need to make sure that there are enough drivers for each class.  It is a short morning trip, and the kids are back at school for lunch.
Ms. Harris’ class goes on Tuesday Jan. 20th.
Mrs. Henry’s class on Wednesday Jan 21st.
Mr. Yamada’s class on Thursday Jan 22nd.

The next field trip after MOCHA is on Wednesday Feb. 4th, to the Oakland Museum.  That Friday, February 6th, is the 100th day of school celebration.  This is similar to the Halloween Carnival/Holiday Breakfast, and we’ll need parent volunteers form each class all morning in the MPR.

The After-school Program Winter Session starts this week (some classes will start next week).  The new calendar is up on the main bulletin board by the office.  There is no Mad Science for Kindergartners this time.  Check out the web site for some of the new classes.

REMINDER:  This is especially for Ms. Harris’ class.  The building has been closed for 2 weeks, and the heat has been off…..the school will be FREEZING tomorrow, so please dress your child appropriately.  Layers would be best.
Thanks and Happy New Year,
Melissa

Reminder: Kindergarten Book Exchange Friday

On Friday afternoon 12/18, at 12.15pm the Kindergarten classes will have their gift exchange and we will be decorating cookies and cupcakes.  Please make sure you send a book to gift! They should be wrapped and labeled  To: My Friend and the From: your child’s name.

Reminder, Friday is a minimum day with dismisal at 1:35 PM

After school classes – Winter 2009

Dear Crocker parents:

I’m attaching to this message the after school enrichment class schedule for Winter 2009.  I hope you’ll like the selection: there’s yoga, martial arts, and gymnastics, drama and dance, Spanish and Mandarin, chess and science, sewing, chess, art, LEGO, and guitar.

Everyone has been so busy this time of year, we haven’t yet been able to post the individual class flyers and registration materials on the Crocker website, but I hope to get this done before we all come back in January.

I would like to get hard copies of the schedule and flyers out to everyone this week — I need a few volunteers on Friday morning to help collate and staple them, so we can make packets for each classroom.  Could you please let me know if you can spare an hour starting at about 8:45 on Friday morning?

crocker-highlands-after-school-classes-winter-2009

Thanks very much,

Beth