GATORAID

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

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SCHOOL CALENDAR
FEBRUARY 4, 2010

2/1-2/11 KINDERGARTEN REGISTRATION PACKETS DUE

2/4 7:00 p.m. KENNEDY M. S. INCOMING 6TH GR. PARENT NIGHT
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 CELEBRATIONS

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

2/23 CLASS PICTURES - GLC

2/23 YEARBOOK COVER CONTEST DEADLINE
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
2/25 6:00-6:55 p.m. “ART OF MATH” NIGHT - GLC (LAST NAMES A-L)
2/25 7:00-7:55 p.m. “ART OF MATH” NIGHT - GLC (LAST NAMES M-Z)

Parent Traffic Duty: February 8th - 12th Parents from Rm. #27

EVERY TUESDAY IS EARLY DISMISSAL – Students are dismissed at 1:30.

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.
 FROM OUR PRINCIPAL....MRS. WOOD! PAGE 2

CODE RED DRILL

This past Tuesday a “Code Red” practice drill was conducted at Garden Gate by our School Resource Officers from the Cupertino
Sheriff’s Department. Congratulations to the staff and to all of our students for a very successfull drill!

100th DAY OF SCHOOL

Monday, February 1st Garden Gate Gators celebrated our “100th Day Of School.” Students were very
creative and came up with many different ideas and ways of celebrating “100.” Mrs. Butcher’s 1st and
2nd Grade students created “100 THANKFUL HEARTS.” Stop and see their display and read their
words of gratitude located outside of room 16B. Many Gators also enjoyed dressing up as if they were
100 years old!

THE ART OF MATH. . .COMING TO GARDEN GATE

Lawrence Hall of Science brings “The Art of Math” to Garden Gate for Family Math Night on Thursday, Feb. 25th. This year we are
asking families to come to one session, based on the first letter of your last name. Families whose last name begins with A - L
should attend from 6:00-6:55 p.m. Families whose last name starts with M - Z should come from 7:00-7:55 p.m. We are also
looking for parents to help lead the activities. Please email Mrs. Patti Wolf at wolf_patti@cusdk8.org if you are available from
5:00 - 8:00 p.m. on Feb. 25th. “The Art of Math” will show students the relationship between math concepts and a variety of art
forms. They will engage in a variety of creative, cooperative work, including the ancient art of origami, mind-bending maze
construction and the 3-D world of paper sculpture.

VISION SCREENING
Vision problems are a common childhood health problem which, when detected early, can be corrected or
minimized. Conversely, failure to identify and treat these problems can lead to significant learning
impairment, developmental delays and failure in school. Vision difficulties are often discovered during the
school vision-screening program, an essential component of the school health program. The district school
nurses will be conducting vision screening at Garden Gate School on Tuesday, February 9th. Students in
grades 1 and 3 will be screened. School vision screening does not substitute for a professional eye
examination by an optometrist or an ophthalmologist. If your child has difficulty with the vision screening, a
note and a referral to an eye specialist will be mailed to your home.

PARENTS AND VISITORS ON CAMPUS

Once school is in session, please do not go directly to the classroom for any reason! Teachers are very busy and
interruptions distract and affect classroom instruction. If it is necessary during the school day for you to speak to a
teacher or your child, please come to the office first. All visitors or classroom volunteers MUST sign in the school
office and obtain a visitors/volunteer badge when school is in session. For the safety of your children, it is
necessary for the office to know who is on campus. Also, please remember when picking up your children after
school, to wait by the lunch tables or the front of school. When you and younger siblings are standing outside the
classroom, it is very distracting to the instruction still going on in the upper grade classrooms. Thank you for your
continued help in this matter.

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

Hello Gator Families,

PTA BUDGET MEETING WITH NANCY WOOD - THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 4TH!

Come and hear important information on Thursday night regarding the budget and how it will effect next
school year from our Principal, Nancy Wood. The PTA will then discuss how we can fill the gap based on
the information we receive from Mrs. Wood.

BOOK EXCHANGE AND LITERACY NIGHT - TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 9TH IN THE GLC
Please join us on Tuesday night, February 9th for our Book Exchange and Literacy Night. Students can
exchange their gently-used books for new-to-you books that they will enjoy and will want to read! Also,
come and enjoy the Literacy activities that are also being planned: Word Bingo, Jump Rope Poetry, Puzzles
and More! Simply take your books to our librarian, Mrs. Gokhale, ASAP! She will give you an exchange
ticket for each book, video or DVD that you bring in. No money is involved. To accommodate the flow of
children, we will divide the time schedule into two separate groups, please respect these times:

K - 2nd Grade Students - 6:30 to 7:15 p.m.

3rd - 5th Grade Students - 7:30 to 8:00 p.m.

JUST SO YOU KNOW. . .

There are many wonderful parents eagerly at work at Garden Gate: Merav Talmor is staying busy planning
for a great Literacy Night, Ramya Vasudevan and the Walk-A-Round Team are warming up for our annual
event, Mahalakshmi Rameshbabu is hard at work on plans for International Day, Sanjay Agarwal is at work
on the PTA Audit, Sumitra Penmetsa is as usual, working to keep our PTA treasury accounts in good order,
Carolyn Young is busy at the Scrip table each Tuesday and Friday along with Alicia Hancock-Shepard,
Angelia Kan and Catherine Ng. These volunteers are just the tip of the iceberg! It is easy to be unaware of
the huge amount of effort that parents put in. I feel it is important for our large parent body to know about,
and remember, the people behind the scenes and all the work that they do for the children of Garden Gate.
They do it out of love and don’t expect recognition, but I think it is important to remember our volunteers
by expressing a hearty “Thank You!” So. . . Thank You to all the parents who put in a great deal of time
and effort.

I hope to see you all tonight for the very important budget meeting,
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 Tuesday,
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• 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
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grades K des 1 – 8
w s tu d ents in gra nly apply gently used books, DVD’s and/or
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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
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begins M ool or program oth given in exchange for the amount of books at the Book
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Detailed a
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• Cupertin .cupertino.k12.ca.u 08) 252-3000,
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•S 110 CUPERTINO UNION SCHOOL DISTRICT
extension LUNCH PROGRAM
Student lunch w/milk....................$2.75
Weekly................................ $13.75
Monthly.............................. $55.00
Milk or juice...................75¢ (all lunches include milk)
YEARBOOK COVER CONTEST PAMS website: www.pamslunchroom.com or to find out
The annual Garden Gate Yearbook Cover Contest is here! what the balance is on your child’s lunch account, you can
Put your artistic thinking cap on and your winning artwork call this toll-free number: 1-888-994-5100.
could be showcased on the covers of this year's yearbook.
All 3rd through 5th grade students are encouraged to
participate with their best creative work! Good luck, be UPDATING RESIDENCY INFORMATION
creative, and have fun! The sky is the limit for your Please be aware that district guidelines require that any
imagination and creativity. Please be sure to design both a change of residence must be reported to the school office
front and back cover for the yearbook. On the front cover, within ten (10) days. This guideline is in place to ensure
please include Garden Gate School, 2009-2010 and our that the address and contact information that the school
school mascot - GATOR! Your name and room number has on file is accurate. This information is crucial and is
must be on the back. Be sure to make your work attractive used to send official school/district correspondence and it is
and bright. All entries are to be submitted to the student’s also used in the case of an emergency. Failure to provide
teacher by February 23rd at 8:00 a.m. current residency information could result in the immediate
withdrawal of your child. If you have any questions
regarding this guideline, please contact the school office.

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

THE CUPERTINO MIDDLE SCHOOL PARENT INFORMATION NIGHT

The Cupertino Middle School Parent Information Night for next year’s 6th, 7th, and 8th graders will be held Thursday, March 4 in
the gym. The 6th grade presentation will be at 6:00 pm and the 7th/8th presentations will be at 7:00 pm. The presentations will
cover course selection, homework, expectations, extracurricular activities, and other topics. These presentations are open to
all families who will have students at CMS next year.

Additionally, at 7:00 pm in the multi-use, our PTA will host an informal gathering so that incoming 6th grade parents can talk
with CMS parents who have already experienced their student’s transition from elementary to middle school. This was a very
popular event last year.

Due to facility limitations, these presentations are for parents only. An electronic copy of the presentation and any handouts
will be made available upon request for any parents unable to attend the March 4 meeting.

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.

CUSD BOARD OF EDUCATION – BUDGET DISCUSSION

The Cupertino Union School District Board of Education has placed an informational budget discussion item on the agenda of
the regularly scheduled board meeting on Tuesday, February 9, 2010. This meeting will be held in the Collins Elementary
School Guided Learning Center and will begin at 6:00 p.m. Collins is located at 10300 N. Blaney Avenue in Cupertino. Any
concerned individual may appear before the Board of Education to comment or ask questions regarding the District’s current
budget situation. This item is for information only and the Board of Education will not be taking any formal action regarding this
topic. Detailed budget information is available on the budget reduction information page on the District’s website. The link to
the site can be found under the "Latest District News" heading at www.cupertino.k12.ca.us.

2010 STAR TESTING DATES

STAR Multiple Choice Testing for grades 2-8 will begin the week of April 26, 2010 and continues for two weeks. The STAR
Program is a state accountability measure that helps us assess how we are meeting the needs of our students. You can help
prepare your child for the test by ensuring your child goes to bed on time, eats a good breakfast, and leaves for school with a
positive attitude. Please do not schedule any family trips or doctor appointments during this time.

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
Garden Gate Elementary School 10500 Ann Memorial
Arbor Ave.,Day
Cupertino CA 95014
May 31, 2010
June 10, 2010 Last Day of School