Friday, February 22
George Washington's Birthday
STUDENT COUNCIL SPIRIT DAY: SUNGLASSES DAY
5th Grade Play Rehearsal; MultiPurpose Room, 3:00 PM-5:00 PM

Monday, February 25
Student Council Meeting; Rm. 23, 12:20 PM
SSC Mtg.; Office, 3:30 PM
Chess Club; Library, 2:45 PM

Wednesday, February 27
PFC Legislative Field Trip to Sacramento; all day
California Symphony; MultiPurpose Room
9:20 AM-9:50 AM: All K
9:55 AM-10:25 AM: Spain & Sturman
10:45 AM-11:15 AM: Thompson & Finta

Thursday, February 28
Student Council Jamba Juice Fund Raiser for Christopher Rodriguez; 10:25 AM
Student Council Officer Forum; Stanley School, 11:00 AM-12:30 PM

Friday, February 29
Stanley Jazz Band, 5th grade Concert; MultiPurpose Room, 11:00 AM-11:30 AM
5th Grade Play Rehearsal; MultiPurpose Room, 3:00 PM-5:00 PM

Monday, March 3
READ ACROSS AMERICA WEEK: Dr. Seuss's Birthday
Guest Readers' Day: 9:50 AM
Reception in Lounge; 10:25 AM
Chess Club; Library, 2:45 PM
Cub Scout Pack 200; Library, 7:00 PM-8:00 PM 

Tuesday, March 4
4th Grade STAR Writing Test
Bargain Book Bonanza; noon
LASF Math Night; MultiPurpose Room, 6:30 PM

Wednesday, March 5
4th Grade STAR Writing Test make-up

Thursday, March 6
RAPPORT Mtg.; District Office, 9:00 AM
5th Grade Colonial Days; Samman Barn, all day 

Friday, March 7
End 2nd Trimester
5th Grade Play Rehearsal; MP Room, 3:00 PM-5:00 PM

Saturday, March 8
RUN FOR KIERAN; Stanley Middle School, 9:00 AM 

Sunday, March 9
Daylight Savings Time begins

Monday, March 10
Student Council; Rm. 23, 12:20 PM
Chess Club; Library, 2:45 PM

Tuesday, March 11
California Symphony; MultiPurpose Room
9:00 AM-9:40 AM: All 2nd Grade
9:45 AM-10:25 AM: All 3rd Grade
10:45 AM-11:25 AM: All 4th/5th Grade 
District Wellness Committee; District Office, 3:15 PM 
LSD Board Mtg.; District Office, 7:00 PM

Wednesday, March 12
LASF General Board Mtg.; Stanley Library, 7:00 PM

Thursday, March 13
REPORT CARDS GO HOME WITH STUDENTS

Friday, March 14
Staff Development Day; Student Holiday

Saturday, March 15
PFC Parent Party; Contra Costa Country Club, 6:00 PM

Sunday, March 16
Palm Sunday

PRINCIPAL'S MESSAGES

A. DID YOU KNOW that the Lafayette School District is facing a $1.74 million budget shortfall for next year due to the the governor's declared budget emergency? DID YOU KNOW that it would have been a $3.5 million budget shortfall if the citizens of Lafayette had not passed MEASURE J last November? ONCE AGAIN, THANK YOU ALL FOR PASSING MEASURE J! More information to follow on the district's and state's current budget crisis. THANK YOU AGAIN!

B. KINDERGARTEN & NEW 1st-5th GRADE STUDENT REGISTRATION FOR 2008-2009: We are now accepting kindergarten and new 1st-5th grade registrations for the 2008-2009 school year in the Office. Please inform any new neighbors or those whose children are currently in private schools who plan to have their children attend Springhill School next year. Remind them to bring the child's birth certificate, immunization record and two proofs of address. Thank you. 

C. 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 Mr. Wong's 3rd grade, differentiated instruction takes the form of extra credit assignments. These activities are to extend an idea or theme that the class is exploring. While students are studying the Pilgrims, a very challenging Thanksgiving trivia crossword puzzle is offered. Currently, students are learning about pioneers and for extra Social Studies credit, the children are challenged to build a model of a pioneer style house. All extra credit activities are offered to each student. 

*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!!!


1. 1. THANK YOU to the 3rd grade for their annual Semi-Freddi's Crouton and Apple Juice SMILE TRAIN FUND RAISER!!! The Smile Train Organization provides cleft palate surgery for $250 per surgery for those in need across the globe. Over $2000 was raised, funding eight cleft palate surgeries somewhere in the world!!! Thank you Springhill students and community for supporting the 3rd grades' special effort for this worthy organization!

2. STUDENT COUNCIL JAMBA JUICE FUND RAISER FOR CHRISTOPHER RODRIGUEZ: A notice will be coming home shortly to order your Jamba Juice for Thursday, February 28, to support Christopher Rodriguez, the 10 year old Oakland boy shot and paralyzed while having a piano lesson. Thank you Student Council for your compassion and concern for this unfortunate boy.

3. MARCH FUND RAISER: Be looking for Student Council to sponsor a fund raisers to address school supplies for a classroom in the village of Sotuba, outside of Bamako, Mali, in West Africa. More information to follow!

4. PENNIES FOR PATIENTS: We will have our annual Pennies for Patients drive to benefit the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society from March 10- March 28. More information to follow!

5. RUN FOR KIERAN; Stanley Middle School, 9:00 AM, SATURDAY, MARCH 8, supporting Stanford Children's Research Center and the Lafayette School District's Special Ed Program!!

6. JUMP ROPE FOR HEART IS TAKING PLACE RIGHT NOW supporting the American Heart Association and the lifelong health of those who participate! Thank you, Ms. Noel, the students of Springhill School and the American Heart Association! 

Thanks to the participants in our letter writing campaign about the budget. Over 3400 letters were delivered to the officials on Tuesday. If you weren't able to turn your letters in please do so ASAP. There are unsigned sets in my in box on the PFC table in the office. Signed sets should be placed in the "Letter Writing Campaign" box in the office. Please call (925.283.7956) or e-mail (kfguthrie@earthlink.net) Karen Guthrie if you have questions.

The link for the letters is www.lastrampaspta.org/ letters.html.

This Week in the Library

How many wheels do you have in your house? The kindergartners have begun studying wheels, so this week we shared a book from the series Simple Devices calledThe Wheel by Patricia Armentrout. Students learned about how wheels work, looked at pictures of some of the many things that have wheels, and even heard about the importance of axles and ball bearings. Talk with your kindergartner about things with wheels that she can find in her room. 

Lion dancers, sizzling firecrackers, booming drums, and clanging cymbals can only mean that we are into the final week of Lunar New Year celebrations. This Saturday the Year of the Rat will be formally ushered in with the annual parade in San Francisco's Chinatown. All the excitement of a parade ending with the famed golden dragon dancing through the streets makes this an experience to remember!

First graders heard the story Gai See: What You Can See in Chinatown by Roseanne Thong. This story looks at markets in Chinatown, picturing the different seasonal items you can buy and ending with a Lunar New Year celebration. Ask your first grader what his favorite item was.

Second graders heard Chinese New Year's Dragon by Rachel Sing. The young girl in the story catalogs all her family's usual preparations for the Lunar New Year and then shares a very special New Year's Eve when something extraordinary happened. Ask your second grader what that was and what it might have felt like.

Some of the third graders heard My Chinatown by Kam Mak and Big Jimmy's Kum Kau Chinese Take Out by Ted Lewin. Mak uses poems and paintings to follow an immigrant boy's first year in Chinatown, beginning and ending with the New Year's celebrations and giving a sense of the sights, smells, and sounds which the boy experiences. Lewin's book is about a boy who helps out at his family's restaurant one Saturday and details just what's involved in preparing meals for many people throughout the day. Together these books give an insight into life in Chinatown. Ask your third grader what seemed especially exciting to him. (Because they had no library last week Mr. Wong's class worked on the encyclopedia lesson the other third graders did last week.)

Fourth graders combined a look at traditional literature and the Lunar New Year by listening to and then comparing two different folk tale versions of how the animals were chosen to represent the twelve years in the Chinese zodiac. Cat and Rat by Ed Young and The Rooster's Antlers, retold by Eric Kimmel, are stylistically contrasting tales; the students had fun determining which version of the story they liked best and why they liked it. Ask your fourth grader which was her favorite.

Fifth graders are beginning work on their state reports. We went over expectations and research techniques this week.

New Books in the Library
Phineas L. MacGuire... Erupts by Frances O'Roark Dowell is the story of fourth grade science whiz Mac who is forced to work on a science fair project with the quirky new boy in class, also named Mac. Will they be able to pull off a respectable, let alone prize- winning, project when Mac R. wants to do something with dinosaurs?? Read the book to find out what the boys finally do for the science fair.

Happy Birthday to our Author/Illustrator of the Week!
Jim Aylesworth was born on February 21. After working briefly as a stockbroker he began a 25-year career as a first grade teacher. For the past ten years he has been writing children's books, visiting schools, and lecturing. He uses sounds, rhythms, and rhymes in his books, many of which are based on well-known stories. For example, My Son John takes the old Mother Goose nursery rhyme and expands it, highlighting a farm boy and his family. Look for this and many other books by Jim Aylesworth here and at the public 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

Calling All Parents! We have many volunteer opportunities for the 2008/2009 school year and beyond. Take a look at the list below to see if there is something that might interest you! All jobs can be shared. In fact we encourage it. Many of the jobs can be done at home, too! To get detailed descriptions of these positions, please visit the PFC website at springhillpfc.org/pfcleadership under Job Descriptions. For more information, please contact Beth Brown @ 482-7956 or pfcprez@yahoo.com.

EXECUTIVE BOARD
Vice President, Communications
Vice President, Fundraising
Treasurer, Receipts & Disbursements

COMMITTEE MEMBERS
Assemblies/ Red Ribbon Week, (Co-Chair)
Auditor
Book Faire, (Co-Chair)
Bulletin Board
Club Fit Field Day (5th Grade Parents)
Directory/Membership (Co-Chair)
Direct Solicitation, (Co-Chair)
Drama Coordinators, (Co-Chair)
Fall Fundraiser
Friday Flyer Editors, (Co-Chair)
Golf Tournament
Health & Wellness, (Co-Chair)
Lafayette Reservoir Run, (Co-Chair)
Notice Board
Old Board/New Board Dinner
Parent Party (Co-Chairs)
Scorpion Days
Year Book (Co-Chairs)
Young Authors

Thanks for your continued support of our school!
Beth Brown
VP of Communications, 2007/2008

Is your child a picky eater? Use these practical tips to avoid mealtime battles.

Your first grader has refused to eat anything other than peanut butter sandwiches for the past two days, and your toddler would rather play than eat anything at all. Sound familiar?

If children's nutrition is a sore topic in your household, you're not alone. Many parents are distressed by what their children eat - or don't eat. However, most kids get plenty of variety and nutrition in their diets over the course of a week. Until your child's food preferences mature, prevent mealtime battles one bite at a time. 

1. Respect your child's hunger - or lack thereof. Young children tend to eat only when they're hungry. If your child isn't hungry, don't force a meal or snack.
2. Stay calm. If your child senses that you're unhappy with his or her eating habits, it may become a battle of wills. Threats and punishments only reinforce the power struggle.
3. Limit liquid calories. Low-fat or fat-free dairy products and 100 percent fruit juice can be important parts of a healthy diet - but if your child fills up on milk or juice, he or she may have no room for meals or snacks.
4. Boycott the clean plate club. Don't force your child to clean his or her plate. This may only ignite - or reinforce - a power struggle over food. Instead, allow your child to stop eating when he or she is full.
5. Eat breakfast for dinner. Who says cereal or pancakes are only for breakfast? The distinction between breakfast, lunch and dinner foods may be lost on your child.

Your child's eating habits won't likely change overnight. But the small steps you take each day can help promote a lifetime of healthy eating. 

For additional wellness information, log onto lafsd.k12.ca.us/wellness.html. Also feel free to contact the Springhill Wellness Committee if you have any questions....Erin Benisek, Anne Bone, and Meagan Hagglund.