A warm and fun time magically materialized at Edna Maguire Spring Fair, and we caught some terrific pictures. 

We knew we would have a good time, play a few games, collect our children's crafts, and peek at the Garden, yet we think everyone was happy to discover themselves eating homemade delicacies, running the crazy obstacle course, catching prize after prize at the fishing hole, making potions, sewing with Sally, painting a personal rock, making a bird feeder, watching the judges eat all those gorgeous desserts and painfully laughing uproariously at the teams of adults and children eating those pies -- for four hours! It was a party. It was fun. It had a wonderful community spirit. 

Posted by jamccrady on June 11

The 5th Annual Edna Maguire Variety Show was KIDazzling! See pictures of all the fantastic acts and read some parent comments. They are wonderful testimonials! Enthusiastic thanks go to our parent volunteers.

Posted by Linda Dunne on May 27

  A HUGE thank you to Rob Luster who coordinated the delightful morning and the volunteers that welcomed our fabulous moms for the annual Muffins with Mom event. We had a wonderful turnout, with lots of moms! Thank you to Wade Van Valen, Pete Gilmore, Howard Wynn, Mike Fox, Ed Faubel, Ryan Ferguson, Gianluca Viscardi, Bruce Cardinal and Jose del Castillo for serving the moms their muffins and coffee. We appreciate you!  See the photos of lovely moms and their kids.

Posted by Mike Bishop on May 15

On Friday, April 24th, Edna celebrated Earth Week and the Edna Garden with an all-school sing on Alto Field. It was a glorious Spring day and the entire school fanned out on the grassy field with their Kiddo! sponsored music teacher, Nora Thomas leading each grade in song. See some lovely photos here. 

Posted by jamccrady on May 4

For the grand finale of Earth Week, we celebrated by releasing 72,000 ladybugs into the Mill Valley Children's garden to help manage pests. The students paired with their buddies to release a packet of ladybugs into our garden. We also had a visit from student Conner Swenberg's chickens Turkey, Tiger, Squirt and Fluffy  who demonstrated their own method of organic pest management and garden fertilization. A big thank you to our generous garden sponsors who financed the ladybugs: Rob, Jill and Lea Anderson; Stephen Ludin, Sarah Suloff and Tomas; Patrick, Christina, Nicholas and Elias Michael; Rich Ross, Kathy Sonderby and Eliza, Lauren and Graham; Jed, Caitlin and Quinn Smith; and, of course, Sloat Garden Center who supplied the ladybugs at cost. Thanks to everyone for supporting the garden. Here are some photos of the event.

Posted by jamccrady on May 4

On April 2nd, 56 Edna Maguire 4th graders, 3 teachers, and 40 parent volunteers attended the Environmental Living Program at Sutter's Fort in Sacramento.  Thanks to your PTA contributions, the students experienced life in 1846 first hand.

Parents became docents for the day, teaching the children about various activities that actually took place more than 160 years ago.  Becoming pioneers, riding in horse-drawn covered wagons, cooking over open hearths, churning butter, roping cattle, creating corn husk dolls, hammering stools, making candles, baking bread and rolls, weaving a tapestry, sewing leather pouches, dancing the Virginia Reel, and sleeping on the Fort floor all added up to an unforgettable experience.

Thank you, Edna Maguire, for making this all possible!

You can see the people and businesses that made this trip possible here and some photos here.

Posted by Mike Bishop on April 12

The dads were out in full force last Thursday for Donuts with Dad. More than 360 donuts were consumed by happy dads, moms, kids and friends as everyone visited in the multipurpose room. A big thank you goes out to Donut Queens Christina Michael, Deb Luster, Ahtossa Fullerton, Anne Buxton, Karen Olson, Marie Cardinal, Karen Carr, and Margaret Krivoruchko for organizing and serving up this wonderful event. See the pictures here!

Posted by jamccrady on March 30

On Saturday, February 28th, the 5th grade hosted the annual Family Dance and it was a smashing success! See the photos. "The Band Formerly Known as Chasing Maya" featuring 5th grader, Reed Felder, got the evening off to an awesome start with a red hot set.  The "Jonas Sisters" took the stage next and Principal Zimmer, Katrina Kehl (mom to 3rd grader, Ian) and Leslie Lewczyk (mom to 4th grader, Peter & 1st grader, Ethan) rocked the house with "We are Family" and "YMCA" converted to "EDNA." The "Jonas Sisters" performance was aided by 5th grade rockers and EDNA letterholders Peter Wynn, Kimo Karp, Eliza Ross and Estella Bastian. The night's headliners, "Close Enough" featuring Chris Newell (dad to 5th grader, Jake & 1st grader, Aidan) put on an amazing show with some great dance songs! $1,000 of the evening's proceeds will be donated to the Mill Valley-based charity, Common River which aids the town of Aleta Wondo in Ethiopia. 

Posted by jamccrady on March 10

The Multipurpose Room was transformed as The Marin Theatre Company's School Touring Program presented "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe," the imaginative adaptation by le Clanché du Rand of the series by C.S. Lewis. We stepped into "the magic circle" with the two actors, as they skillfully transported us to the land of Narnia. We laughed at the antics between Edmund and his little sister as she tried to convince her stubborn brother that she really had stepped out of the wardrobe and into an enchanted snow-covered forest. We giggled along with Lucy as Mr. Tumnus, the fawn asked why her legs weren't hairy and hoofed like his.  We were awed by the wicked and manipulative White Queen as she quarreled with the great Lion Aslan.  Afterwards, the actors stayed for a stimulating Q & A session with the children. See the photos. 

Posted by jamccrady on March 4

To the roll of drums and the crash of cymbals, 12 children form the Marin Chinese Cultural Association pranced and slithered into the multipurpose room doing lion dances to welcome the Chinese New Year. Edward Gilmore, an Edna Maguire third grader, was among the dancers. Afterward, the dancers and musicians answered many questions about the significance of the dances, music and costumes. See more photos of the event.

Posted by Linda Dunne on February 6

Congratulations to Lindsay Caruso and her team of second grade teachers, as well as fifth grade teachers Teresa Shern and Aubrey Bowen for winning Kiddo! Mini-Grants! The second grade grant provides a program which will teach students about change and stability in the garden through the use of art, poetry and science. And the fifth grade grant awards funds for the ever-popular "America Sings" performance. Click here for great pictures, teacher reactions to the news, and more.

Posted by Linda Dunne on February 2

Family Math Night was a huge success. Squeals of joy ran through the crowded room as students built towers and shapes that were taller than our host Randall, from the Lawrence Hall of Science. Edna students and their parents enjoyed making two and three dimensional shapes and tessellations using the skills of proportion, spatial visualization and creative problem solving. Families reluctantly left the multipurpose room after an enjoyable evening of inventive teamwork. Here are some photos from the event.

Posted by Linda Dunne on January 25

On December 19th, the multipurpose room was standing room only as students (many dressed for Pajama Day), teachers and families gathered for the annual Edna Maguire Winter Holiday Sing. The singing was led by our incomparable KIDDO! funded music teacher, Nora Thomas and the soaring, crystal clear voices of the children of Edna including the kindergarten reindeer chorus! The children sang traditional holiday songs, Jewish folk songs, and songs of winter to welcome  the winter holiday season. Here are some pictures from the event.

Posted by Linda Dunne on January 14

Guess how much candy was donated to Edna's Candy Drive for Soldiers... 240 pounds!!! View pictures of all the candy donated and the piles of boxes needed to send all this candy to Iraq.

A big thank you to all of the Edna students who donated their Halloween candy. It was sent to the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment stationed in northern Iraq, near the city of Mosul. These soldiers are on their third yearlong deployment and are focusing on building schools and hiring teachers. Your chocolate bars and lollipops will certainly brighten the day for these brave soldiers and Iraqi children.

Posted by Linda Dunne on November 8

The blustery weather did not stop Lucille Ball, assorted princesses, pirates, ghouls, goblins, hippies and other costumed students and teachers from showing off their creativity at the annual Edna Maguire Halloween parade. See all the wonderful and colorful pictures.

Posted by Linda Dunne on November 1