PRINCIPAL'S MESSAGES

A. I WISH YOU ALL THE MOST WONDERFUL OF HOLIDAY SEASONS AND A HAPPY AND PROSPEROUS NEW YEAR!!

B. Help Master Plan the Lafayette School District's Outdoor Facilities (Fields) at Six Sites:
Public Meeting for Community Input
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
6:00 - 8:30 p.m.
Stanley Middle School Faculty Room
3455 School Street, Lafayette 

The Lafayette School District's landscape architect Carducci and Associates is seeking public understanding and input for the master planning of the district's outdoor facilities (fields) at its five school sites and the Montecito site. This is the first of two public meetings that will present site issues and opportunities, recommendations from turf and arborist assessments and presentation of field options for each site for review and comment. Community input is encouraged and welcome. Please contact the Lafayette School District offices for further information at 925-299-3502. We look forward to your participation. 

C. ABSENCES: Please be aware that each day of a child's absence costs the District $43.50 per student per day regardless of reason for the absence. Certainly, if the child is sick, the child should stay home. We want to encourage families to schedule vacations on non-student days (whenever possible) and for absences of 5 days or more, complete an independent study. We must stress the importance of learning opportunities lost by missing school needlessly. Thank you for your cooperation! 

D. LOST & FOUND: Please check out all items in our Lost & Found to find that long lost jacket, sweater, shoe, etc. . . . In mid-January, we will be donating all Lost & Found items to a worthy charity. Take a look in the New Year for those missing items! Thanks you! 

E. Join the PFC! Register for e-SCRIP!! 

DIFFERENTIATION CORNER 

*Differentiated Instruction takes place in all of our classes. Each week, we will be profiling a particular teacher's implementation of Differentiated Instruction every week in the Friday Flyer. Don't miss it!!!

In Ms. Hirsch's 2nd grade, a compacting program for math is utilized. Students take a pretest before each unit and if they score 95% or better, they use a packet and a variety of center activities that are more challenging. For example, if the class is doing tangrams, Ms. Hirsch has a program on the computer as well as 3 dimensional tangram activities. 

*Differentiated Instruction is not individualized instruction, but rather the delivery of curriculum to students in a manner that complements their learning style while always challenging them at their ability level. 


PAY IT FORWARD CORNER

Every week we will be including different aspects of our Pay It Forward theme for this year in the Friday Flyer. Character development should be a major component in any well-rounded educational program and it has been for many years at Springhill. Ask your children what their classes are doing for Pay It Forward. Come to Spirit Wednesday, 8:30 AM every Wednesday morning in the main courtyard and find out how we promote character development at Springhill School. We do have a significant change in the Pay It Forward program this year. If you are familiar with how this program was originally designed, you know that all of the "pay it forward" efforts remained anonymous in order to promote the altruistic and selfless nature of the act. Although we will acknowledge all of the acts themselves in the weekly Student Bulletin, at Spirit Wednesday and in the Friday Flyer, we will no longer identify the specific students who performed the acts. We are hopeful the enthusiasm for the program will continue to be as strong as it has been the last several years with this change. Thank you.
Keep up that PIF Spirit!!!


A. THANK YOU TO ALL WHO PARTICIPATED IN THE STUDENT COUNCIL JAMBA JUICE SALE TO BENEFIT "SAVE THE BAY" in its efforts to clean up the oil spill in San Francisco Bay last Tuesday. WE RAISED $364!!! THANK YOU TO HOLLY NOLAN & KERRY BOLEN FOR THEIR ORGANIZING EFFORTS FOR THIS DRIVE. THANK YOU FOR PAYING IT FORWARD!!! 

B. TODAY IS THE LAST DAY TO DONATE: CONTRA COSTA FOOD BANK has its barrels here to collect dried food and canned goods for the needy from November 26 to December 21! Please give what you can! 

C. TODAY IS THE LAST DAY TO DONATE: GIRLS SCOUT TROOP #1116 asks you to donate old LMYA soccer uniforms and equipment (including shin guards and shoes) until Friday, December 21st. Look for collection bins in the front of the school by the main office. Last year they collected over 600 soccer jerseys that were ultimately shipped to a village near Kenya, Africa . Give what you can--pay it forward!!! 

Science Fair "Fun Facts" for Families 

This Week in the Library

In the Northern Hemisphere, the shortest day and longest night of the year falls on December 21 and is called the winter solstice. Many ancient people believed that the sun was a god and that winter came every year because the sun god had become sick and weak. They celebrated the solstice because it meant that at last the sun god would begin to get well. Evergreen boughs reminded them of all the green plants that would grow again when the sun god was strong and summer would return. 

During this dark time in the winter there are many festivals of light. On December 13th in Sweden, the eldest girl in many families wears an evergreen wreath of candles on her head to honor St. Lucia. Many Jewish people celebrate Hanukkah by lighting a menorah for eight days to celebrate the miracle of light. On the eighth night, the candles are an absolute glowing wonder. Lights sparkle and twinkle on Christmas trees in many windows all over Europe and the United States. 

Germany is credited with starting the Christmas tree tradition that we are all familiar with today. Christmas trees date back to the 16th century when Germans brought trees into their homes and decorated them with candles, apples, nuts, and marzipan cookies. This custom was later adopted in America and by the 1890's, Christmas tree popularity was on the rise. Electricity brought about Christmas lights, making it possible for Christmas trees to glow for days on end. With this, Christmas trees began to appear in town squares across the country and having a Christmas tree in the home became a tradition for many Americans.

New Books in the Library

This Christmas in Judy Moody & Stink: The Holly Joliday by Megan McDonald, Judy Moody is making a list and checking it twice. On the other hand, all her brother Stink is wishing for this year is snow. There hasn't been snow for Christmas in Virginia in more than a hundred years. Suddenly, Stink makes friends with the mysterious new mailman, Mr. Jack Frost. Jack Frost is a kindly old soul who just happens to look a lot like Santa! You're in for a treat with this book especially when strange packages and lots of surprises start swirling around. Will Stink finally get his wish for the long awaited snow? Judy Moody and Stink fans will love this new holiday addition, and you can be sure that it will be the coolest Yule ever. 

Happy Birthday to our Author of the Week 
Happy December birthday to author Avi! Avi has written books in many genres. Some of his books are Crispin: The Cross of Lead, a Newbery winner, and Poppy, Midnight Magic, Bright Shadow, and The Secret School. Check out these and many more at the Springhill Library. 

Springhill Library Website
Explore our website at http://www.lafsd.k12.ca.us/people/smattern/index.htm . You can find a full update on what's happening at the Springhill Library, find more reviews of new books and links to many helpful resources.

Sherry Mattern, Library Specialist
Kimberli Sparks-Buckley, Library Aide

Springhill Spring Rummage Sale Fundraiser Announcement 

DON'T THROW OUT ALL THOSE OLD THINGS TO MAKE ROOM FOR THE NEW HOLIDAY GIFTS....GIVE GENTLY USED ITEMS TO SPRINGHILL FOR OUR ANNUAL RUMMAGE SALE FUNDRAISER! Once again, it's time to begin our donation collection in preparation for the Rummage Sale in April 2008. Last year we encouraged you to clean out your closets, kids' rooms, garages, etc. to make room for the new holiday gift goodies. 

January donation week: Tuesday-Thursday 1/15-17. Please call either Shelli Shepherd @ 925-788-8274 or Karen (Williams) Macdonald @ 925-588-8300 to arrange drop-off by appointment. We had so many donations last year that Karen's garage was overflowing, so we'll have 2 drop-off locations available to you this year: Lafayette & Concord. 

ACCEPTABLE ITEMS FOR DONATION: Books, Games, DVDs/Videos, Toys, Sports & Camping Equipment, Small household items & applicances & small furniture items. If you're unsure, just ask Karen or Shelli.


Camp Hideout, Summer '08 - Passport to Adventure 

Join Kid's Hideout this summer! We will be holding camps from June 16th through August 15th. Summer packets will be available on Wednesday, January 9th. Enjoy Big Discounts if registration and fees are received February 1st. Please stop by Hideout, or the Springhill office, when school resumes in January to pick up your summer packet! More information to follow... "Oh! The Places You will Go" ... when you join us this summer at "Camp Hideout!" 


Gold Coast Chamber Players 

100% calorie free gift! Give concert tickets to the award winning Gold Coast Chamber Players in 2008! 3 great local concerts with world renowned musicians- great fun for the whole family. Concerts are March 9 at 2pm (Mozart and Those Who Loved Him), May 10 at 8pm (Fairy Tales and Love Songs) and June 1 at 2pm (Cuisine de Musique). For tickets call the Willows Box Office (925)798-1300 or check out www.gcplayers.org. For more information call (925) 283-3728. Family packages available! 


Is Your Child a Lego Lover? 

If your child is interested in learning about engineering and architecture through the Lego building system, then this is the class for you! The curriculum (designed by engineers) builds off the math and science skills students learn during the school year, and applies them in real-world engineering scenarios/challenges utilizing Lego bricks and pieces as a manipulative. Students will have access to over 100,000 Lego pieces including motors, gears, leads, battery packs, etc., as they are given challenges appropriate to their skill level. During class students will build projects presented by an instructor who teaches them part names and how to build the different models. 

The program is open to girls and boys grades K-5, and will begin January 15, 2008 and run through March 18, 2008. Class is on Tuesdays from 2:45 pm to 4:15 pm in Room 25, and the fee for the ten week session is $165. Class minimum is eleven students with a maximum of twenty. To register pick up a form in the main office and mail it in or go to the Springhill PFC web site http://www.springhillpfc.org/ , click on "Resources", then scroll down to "Programs" for a link to Play-Well Teknologies where you can print out a registration form yourself.