Weekly Newsletter May 6, 2011

What

Weekly Newsletter May 6, 2011

When

5/6/2011, 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM

INTENT TO RETURN
If you haven’t already done so, please complete and return the yellow Intent to Return form (green for 5th grade) on Monday. The information on this form is essential as we plan for next year. We must hear from every family. Thank you.

CELEBRATE TEACHER APPRECIATION WEEK – MAY 9TH-13TH
Next week we will be celebrating our wonderful teachers and staff as a part of Teacher Appreciation Week! How you can help? Please send in some baked goods. These treats can be delivered to the office.
K-1st Grade - Monday "Breakfast" is the theme, so coffee cakes, scones, muffins, breads, etc. would be great!

2nd-3rd Grade - Wednesday We'll be having "High Tea," so we'd love some petit fours, scones, mini cupcakes, etc.

4th-5th Grade - Friday Your day is all about "Fine Desserts," so anything decadent and/or chocolaty would be perfect!

STAFF APPRECIATION MESSAGE BOARD
A tree will grow outside the school office with hanging pockets for each member of the faculty and staff. These pockets are for you to place notes, drawings or other gifts/treats to show your teachers--past and present--and staff how much you appreciate them. Paper and pencils will be available at the board, or create notes at home. Thanks so much! We're looking forward to showing our Cornell Staff how much we love them!

SUPERINTENDENT TO ATTEND MAY 12TH PTA MEETING
Please join the Cornell PTA on Thursday evening, May 12th,
6-8 pm. It is a meeting not to be missed as we have Superintendent Marla Stephenson giving an hour presentation on the budget cuts for the 2011-2012 school year. Marla will go into detail about the proposed cuts and what it will mean for the Albany School District. This is an excellent opportunity for our community to come together to help our schools. Also at the meeting will be AUSD Board President Pat Low, Board Member Jonathan Knight, and Assistant Superintendent Laurie Harden. Marla will being speaking promptly at 6 pm. Pizza will be provided. RSVP for childcare to [email protected]. Please note - You may not drop off your child unless you RSVP first. Thank you.
Also, we are preparing to have PTA Board elections for next year's PTA, and will hold them after Superintendent Marla Stephenson's presentation regarding budget cuts.

MAY MOVIE NIGHT
All of our Movie Night Coordinators will be out of town for the May movie night, which is scheduled for Friday, May 13. It may have to be canceled unless we have parent volunteers willing to step up. We can train you if you haven't done it before. Would you like to make it happen? Contact Dorothe Piluso at [email protected]. Thanks.

LIBRARY BOOK EXCHANGE!
The Library is sponsoring our annual Book Exchange for all Cornell students. Students are encouraged to bring in a book from home which might interest to K-5th grade schoolmates. Books should be in good condition. When you bring your book to the library, you will receive a coupon good to trade for another book. During library time from May 31st until June 6th, students will have the opportunity to use their coupon to take home a book they choose. Students may bring in as many books as they wish. Please do not bring preschool books or books intended for students in middle school or high school.
Just a reminder - All Cornell School Library books are due by Friday, June 3rd. Many thanks!
-Mare Staton, School Librarian
GET READY TO GET SILLY!
Cornell’s yearly Silly Olympics are coming on May 21st, and it is going to be one heck of a good time! It couldn’t be so much fun without all the parent volunteers who make it possible. We need you to get silly and help us put on a fantastic party for the Cornell community. Please look for the sign-up sheet at the PTA bulletin board where you can sign up to help out with the Silly Olympics. It’s going to be a blast!

SPELLATHON UPDATE
Our Spellathon total keeps growing! If you haven’t turned in your donation, there’s still time. We have just topped $5000. Our goal is $6500. We’re almost there!

DANCE-O-RAMA 2011 SUCCESS!
The Dance-O-Rama exceeded our expectations! We raised nearly $5,000 and had FUN at the same time. We wish to thank everyone who attended and all the volunteers who worked so hard to make this happen, both during the planning process and at the event. We also would like to thank all of our sponsors who donated countless gift certificates, toys and gifts - as well as our food vendors who provided discounts and supplies including Albany Pizza Company (pizza), The Albany Cafe (Vietnamese sandwiches & rolls) and Eunice Cafe (salad containers). Please support our sponsors. -The Dance-O-Rama Committee

PTA REIMBURSEMENT PROTOCOL
All requests for reimbursement from the 2010-11 school year must be turned in to the PTA Treasurer on or before June 10th, the last day of school. If you need to obtain the reimbursement request form, they are in the office in the PTA Treasurer's folder. Please include the receipt and purpose of expenditure on the form. Completed forms can be left in that same folder or put into the safe. Receipts submitted after the end of the school year will not be reimbursed unless cleared ahead of time with the Treasurer. If you have questions, please email [email protected] to discuss.

MAY 9TH-13TH FAMILY WEEK – HONORING CORNELL FAMILIES
At Cornell, we value the diversity of our students and their families. To honor all of our students’ families, we have decided to take a more inclusive approach for Mother’s Day and Father’s Day than we have traditionally done in the past. Instead of celebrating Mother’s Day and Father’s Day, Cornell students will be celebrating their families in many different ways next week for Family Week, May 9th-13th. We have found that students with a deceased parent or students who are adopted, in foster care, being raised by a grandparent or other guardian, and others being raised in non-traditional family structures, celebrating the family as a whole allows them to feel more included in the discussion. This is a decision that we made last year as a means of furthering our work of fostering an inclusive school. Thank you for your support.



STAR TESTING CONTINUES UNTIL MAY 20TH
STAR testing will continue for the next two weeks (until May 20th). As parents, you can help your children be prepared for STAR testing by:
• Encouraging your children put forth their best effort
• Making sure they get plenty of sleep
• Giving them an extra snack on test days
• Talk positively with them about the experience
• Sharing your own experience of testing as a way of offering strategies for success

BIKE TO SCHOOL DAY IS JUST AROUND THE CORNER!
It's time to dust off your bike, pump up the tires, and check the brakes! Schools around the county are celebrating Bike to School Days during the week of May 9th-13th. At Cornell, we are celebrating Bike to School on Wednesday May 11th. Safe Routes to Schools Champions will be greeting riders with stickers, smoothies made on the Famous City Blender Bike, and Bike to School bags will be handed out along with high fives! Remember that children under 18 must wear a helmet. Be a role model and wear your helmet, too. For questions, please contact Aleida at 528-5759 or [email protected].

NEW PROGRAM FOR FRIENDS OF SPECIAL NEEDS STUDENTS
During the year, “friends” are invited to accompany elementary special needs students to their special education services of occupational therapy and adapted physical education. This practice benefits both the special education students and their non-disabled peers. The special education students receive the benefit of enjoying time with their non-disabled peers while seeing them model the skills being worked on in the therapy. The general education students get to see where students go and what goes on in services such as occupational therapy and adaptive physical therapy. Occupational therapy and adapted physical education meet for 30 to 45 minutes per session. While it would be ideal if these services could be provided during non-academic time, this is not always the case. Classroom teachers monitor the general education “guests” on a rotational basis. Please let your child’s teacher know if you do not want your child to participate in this “guest” program.

FINGER PRINTING AT CORNELL- May 25th, 26th
To help our volunteers meet the new fingerprint requirement, we will host Andrew Cohen from the organization, Berkeley Live Scan at Cornell on May 25th and 26th, 8-11 am and 1-4 pm. This service will be of no cost to you. To secure an appointment on either of these two days, email Andrew Cohen at [email protected].

Be the change you want to see. Have a terrific weekend,

Wendy Holmes
[email protected]