GATORAID

School Phone: 408-252-5414 ~ Absence Line 408-252-5414-6 ~ FAX 408-996-9725

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SCHOOL CALENDAR
JANUARY 28, 2010

1/30 5:30 p.m. CEEF GALA - FAIRMONT HOTEL, SAN JOSE

2/1-2/11 KINDERGARTEN REGISTRATION PACKETS DUE
2/1 SCHOOL SPIRIT DAY - “100TH DAY OF SCHOOL”
2/4 7:15 p.m. PTA MEETING - GLC
2/5-2/11 OPEN ENROLLMENT & ALTERNATIVE ED. ENROLLMENT REGISTRATION
2/9 VISION SCREENING - GRADES 1 & 3
2/9 6:00 p.m. C.U.S.D. BOARD MTG. - DISTRICT BOARD ROOM
2/9 6:30-8:00 p.m. BOOK EXCHANGE AND LITERACY NIGHT
2/9 6:30-7:15 p.m. BOOK EXCHANGE - GRADES K-2
2/9 7:30-8:00 p.m. BOOK EXCHANGE - GRADES 3-5
2/10 HEARING SCREENING - GRADES 1, 2, AND 5
2/12 VALENTINE DAY CLASS PARTIES

2/15-2/19 MID-YEAR RECESS - NO SCHOOL

2/23 CLASS PICTURES - GLC

2/23 6:00 p.m. C.U.S.D. BOARD MTG. - DISTRICT BOARD ROOM
2/24 3:45 p.m. SCHOOL SITE COUNCIL MEETING

Parent Traffic Duty: February 1st - 5th Parents from Rm. #29
PRE-PAY FOR CUSD LUNCHES at PAMS (Parent Account Management System) Lunchroom! You can make payments and
view your students account balance online by going to http://www.pamslunchroom.com or by calling 1-888-994-5100.
TO EMAIL STAFF:lastname_firstname@cusdk8.org
ATTENDANCE: If your child will be absent, please call 252-5414. Ext. 6, by 8:30 a.m. to report the absence.
HOMEWORK: Homework may be requested for illness absences of three days or more. Please call the office before 9:00
a.m. to request the homework for pickup after 3:00 p.m.
EVERY TUESDAY IS EARLY DISMISSAL – Students are dismissed at 1:30.
 FROM OUR PRINCIPAL....MRS. WOOD! PAGE 2

How Do Student Excused and Unexcused Absences Affect Garden Gate

Funding? Please Read.
Parents may not be aware that we don’t receive funding for students who are absent for either
excused or unexcused absences. Excused absences include illness. Unexcused absences include
taking time off for extended vacations. When your child is not in school, the loss to the district is
approximately $36.00 per student per day. Incredibly, last year the total lost funding due to absences
at Garden Gate School was $71,531! Remember that we are one of twenty-five schools. The total
amount the district lost to student absences is substantially higher. In light of the budget crisis our
district is facing, we can ill afford to have students miss school for elective or unexcused absences.

Now, if your children are ill, please keep them at home until they are well enough to attend school. It
is important for students to be well in order to do their best learning and not to possibly infect others.
Those are excused absences and the loss of funding is unavoidable and understandable.

However, if a family decides to extend their weekend by a day or two or take a longer vacation than
scheduled by the school, then those absences are considered unexcused. The school and the district also lose funding for every
student every day he or she has an unexcused absence. Considering the funding cuts our district is facing, we are asking families
to make a concerted effort to make sure that their children are in school every day, barring illness, and to schedule vacations and
other “elective absences” around our school calendar.

Please remember that there is a “cost” to students, too, when they miss school. It is important that they be in school to take
advantage of the learning opportunities available to them each day. You cannot re-create what happens in a classroom at home by
doing some homework sheets. Also remember that actions speak louder than words. If we tell our children we value education
and learning, what does it say to them if we decide to add an extra day to our weekend to go skiing, for example? Again, aside
from illness, please make every effort to have your child in school. Thank you.

Discipline: Follow Five Research-Based Tips For More Successful Discipline

Helping children learn appropriate behavior is a parenting task that sometimes seems overwhelming. But research shows there are
five ways parents can be most successful in shaping children's positive behavior:

1. Give your child positive attention. Set aside time every day when you can give your child some individual attention. Read a
book, play a board game or work together on a household project. The important thing is that the two of you are together, talking
and listening to each other.

2. Listen to your child. Give him words to express his feelings. Kids who can say, "I'm angry" are less likely to hit.

3. Give choices whenever you can. Kids learn how to make good choices by making lots of choices. Let your child make choices--
and then live with the results.

4. Notice when your child does something right. This doesn't mean praising your child every time he takes a breath! But when he
does something positive, let him know you noticed. He'll be more likely to do it again tomorrow.
5. Be a good role model. You can't expect your child to control his temper if you scream at every car on the road. Your example is
the single most powerful way that you teach your child about appropriate behavior.

Reprinted with permission from the December 2009 issue of Parents make the difference!® (Elementary School Edition)
newsletter. Copyright © 2009 The Parent Institute®, a division of NIS, Inc. Source: American Academy of Pediatrics, "Guidance for
Effective Discipline," Pediatrics (

Garden Gate Elementary School 10500 Ann Arbor Ave., Cupertino CA 95014
PTA CORNER PARENT TEACHER ASSOCIATION (PTA) NEWS & RESOURCES ! PAGE 3

Hello Gator Families!

Meet our Walk-Around Team!

Our chairperson is the very capable Ramya Vasudevan! Merav Talmor with be the volunteer coordinator, Manonmani
Ramdass will coordinate prizes and handle the assembly coordination, Lavanya Sivakumar will provide advice from
her experience last year, and Duleep Pillai has volunteered to assist in a capacity yet to be defined. Now that you
know who is on the Walk-Around Committee, please take the opportunity to talk to these folks and see what you can
do to assist them. Committee positions still available are: 1) Finance; person needed to handle the incoming
donations and 2) Fund/Prize Raising; person needed to assist in getting prizes donated for the kids to win. So please
contact Ramya at ramyarathinavalli@yahoo.co.in!

International Day is on the Way!

Mahalakshmi Rameshbabu will be our Chairperson for this terrific, school wide event on March 23rd, but teams of
performers will start forming soon!

__________________________VOLUNTEERS NEEDED NOW_____________________

Nominations Committee
We are forming a nominating committee to find volunteers to hold board and committee seats for next year. Please
contact me if you can assist in talking to people about PTA positions. If you don’t know a lot about the positions, I can
easily tell you what you need to know! Please contact me!

Treasurer Needed Now!

Our current Treasurer, Sumitra Penmetsa, has made the difficult decision to resign her post because of family
reasons. Sumitra’s youngest child will leave Garden Gate in June, so we were going to need a new Treasurer. The
qualified candidate should know Excel or Quicken, and have a computer and printer available. Some experience
handling small company books or a checkbook is helpful. You will be trained and have advice readily available from
the Council Level PTA Treasurer! Please consider talking to me regarding this PTA Executive Board position. I can be
reached at (408)343-1232.
____________________________________________________________________________
Up Coming Events
Our kids will be treated to the Opera Assembly this Thursday, sponsored by your PTA dollars. This annual assembly is
a fun event for the children; ask them about it after school!

Parent Educational Opportunities at the Monta Vista High School Campus

1) The Creative Process/Coming of Age and Self Expression with Suruchi Mohan - Tuesday, Jan 26th at 7:30 p.m.
2) Parent-Teen Forum with Carol Saterlee from “Families on the Edge” - Tuesday, Feb 9th at 7:00 p.m.
See the flyer on the GG PTA window in the front of the school or go to www.montavistapta.org for more details.

Kathleen McCulloch,
Garden Gate Lead Volunteer for the PTA

Garden Gate Elementary School 10500 Ann Arbor Ave., Cupertino CA 95014
 GATORAID PAGE 4
CLASS PHOTOS VOLUNTEERS
TRATION Bud White will be here Monday,
R G A R T EN REGISUR PG&E February 23rd to take class
1 KINDE AVE YO
2010-201 NROLLMENT - S pictures. Order envelopes will be
E
& OPEN REGISTRATION ation packet at distributed to students the Thursday
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BILL FO ay pick up a regis inning January before. If you wish to order a class
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25, 2010 y. The registratio rned between
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tu t payment to your student’s teacher.
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pack ary 1
1 – Febru e time of
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be residin . the office at 252-5414 ext 103. Thank you.
a ti o n 5 - 11,
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Reg attendan
ce. SAVE THE DATE - TUESDAY,
nrollment
• Open E school of desired FEBRUARY 9TH!
e
2010 at th istration
ti o n P ro gram Reg e program This year’s Book Exchange will be on
ve Educ a alternativ Tuesday, February 9th from 6:30 to
• Alternati - 11, 2010 at the rdock-Portal 8:00 p.m. in the GLC (6:30-7:15 for
5 u
February ice. (Faria and M rin Immersion Kindergarten - 2nd grade, and
r c h o , Ma a n d
of you , McAuliffe 7:20-8:00 for 3rd - 5th grade
e s K -5
grad students). Remember to bring in
-8).
grades K des 1 – 8
w s tu d ents in gra nly apply gently used books, DVD’s and/or
e
tion for n nts may o videos to our school librarian, Mrs. Gokhale, between 8:30
• Registra rch 1, 2010. Pare r than their a.m. and 1:30 p.m. Your child will earn tickets for books
a e
begins M ool or program oth given in exchange for the amount of books at the Book
o n e s c h
to ol.
ood scho Exchange. We will be needing a few volunteers the
neighborh llment evening of the Book Exchange. If you are interested in
n a n d o pen enro :
o
registrati ble by contacting ite: helping, please email Debbie Hsieh at
Detailed a
n is avail trict webs debkid@gmail.com Also, all Read-A-Thon sheets are
informatio Union School Dis s/ due to Mrs. Gokhale Friday, January 29th.
o
• Cupertin .cupertino.k12.ca.u 08) 252-3000,
http:/ /w w w t Office (4
tu d e n t A ssignmen
•S 110 TRAFFIC SAFETY
extension With the rainy season upon us, please remember to slow
down and use extra caution when driving your students to
and from school. Please be patient and give yourself
plenty of time to drive your students to school in the
morning. It will take more time to drop off and pick up your
YEARBOOK COVER CONTEST children. In the mornings when you are dropping off your
The annual Garden Gate Yearbook Cover Contest is here! children, please have their backpacks, lunch, and other
Put your artistic thinking cap on and your winning artwork belongings in the car, not in the trunk. This will help
could be showcased on the covers of this year's yearbook. expedite traffic flow during the morning. Remember
All 3rd through 5th grade students are encouraged to to pull your car up to the furthest available position.
participate with their best creative work! Good luck, be
creative, and have fun! The sky is the limit for your
imagination and creativity. Please be sure to design both a CUPERTINO UNION SCHOOL DISTRICT
front and back cover for the yearbook. On the front cover, LUNCH PROGRAM
please include Garden Gate School, 2009-2010 and our Student lunch w/milk....................$2.75
school mascot - GATOR! Your name and room number Weekly................................ $13.75
must be on the back. Be sure to make your work attractive Monthly.............................. $55.00
and bright. All entries are to be submitted to the student’s Milk or juice...................75¢ (all lunches include milk)
teacher by February 23rd at 8:00 a.m. PAMS website: www.pamslunchroom.com or to find out
what the balance is on your child’s lunch account, you can
call this toll-free number: 1-888-994-5100.

Garden Gate Elementary School 10500 Ann Arbor Ave., Cupertino CA 95014
 GATORAID! PAGE 5
DISTRICT NEWS SECTION

2010-2011 REGISTRATION & OPEN ENROLLMENT INFORMATION

• Kindergarten registration: February 1 – 11, 2010 at the neighborhood school. Parents may pick up a registration
packet at their neighborhood school beginning January 25, 2010. Registration packets are numbered sequentially.
The registration number on the packet is valid for packets returned between February 1 – February 11, 2010.
Students must be residing in the district at the time of registration and be available for any necessary testing.

• Open enrollment requests: February 5 - 11, 2010 at the school of desired attendance.

• Alternative education program requests (Faria and Murdock-Portal grades K-5, McAuliffe, Mandarin
Immersion and Home Study grades K-8) February 5 - 11, 2010 at the alternative program of your choice.

• Registration for new students in grades 1 – 8 begins March 1, 2010.

Parents may only apply to one school or program other than their neighborhood school.

Detailed registration and open enrollment information is available on the district website www.cupertino.k12.ca.us, by
contacting the staff in your neighborhood school office or by contacting the Student Assignment Office, (408) 252-3000,
extension 110.

PARENT SPEAKER SERIES

SELPA II (Special Education Local Plan Area II) is proud to host the following guest speaker presentation to parents of
students with special needs.

Wednesday, February 3, 2010 - “Summer Camps”

Speaker: Donna Hepp
The Therapeutic Services section of the City of San José’s Department of Parks, Recreation and Neighborhood Services
provides a variety of programs and services for individuals with disabilities. Donna will present information on services, as well
as how to enroll.

The event takes place at Bishop Elementary School (450 N. Sunnyvale Avenue in Sunnyvale) in the auditorium from 6:30-8:30
PM. There is no registration required to attend the event. Onsite childcare is available, but registration is required for childcare
and closes one week prior to the event, with no exceptions. For childcare contact Linda Toda at (408) 522-2474.

2009-2010 District Calendar

February 15-19, 2010 Mid-Year Recess

March 15, 2010 Staff Learning Day
April 12-16, 2010 Spring Recess
May 28, 2010 Staff Learning Day
May 31, 2010 Memorial Day
June 10, 2010 Last Day of School

Garden Gate Elementary School 10500 Ann Arbor Ave., Cupertino CA 95014