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SCHOOL NEWS
Dr. Seuss Café Kudos
A BIG thank you to the following parents, students, and staff for making the Dr. Seuss Café come alive: Val Lindsay, Kelly Cacic, Kira Keane, Caryn Johnson, Beverly Oler, Merrie Jaffe, Marie Cardinal, Carolyn Fong, Meera Dolasia, Deborah Huber, Jennifer Oreste, and Leslie Fielder. Thank you Janet Fox for the aprons, Critterland Pets for the goldfish, Mrs. Hoffman’s class for the great Dr. Seuss art, and all the fifth grade waiters. A special thanks to Ms. Lackey and her class for cleaning up the Café and to Mrs. Wiley for getting us all of the great books and lending us the library for the week.
Family Dance A Rockin’ Success!
It’s official: no Mill Valley school parties like Edna Maguire.
On Saturday, March 1st, more than 275 people packed the multipurpose room and rocked out at the annual Edna Maguire Family Dance. A spectacular line-up of parents, kids, professionals, teachers, and even one principal set the stage on fire and raised nearly $2000 for a worthwhile cause. See a complete list of the fantastic performers and their acts as well as some amazing pictures and video from the night.
Edna’s fifth grade chose the Mill Valley-based charity Common River to receive this year’s donations. Common River’s first goal is to build an elementary school in the village of Aleta Wondo, Ethiopia, where the literacy rate is only 8 percent. See exactly how Common River intends to spend the money raised at the Family Dance.
Every fifth grader made the Family Dance a success by hanging up posters in each classroom, baking items for the bake sale, and working at the bake sale and at the door. Special thanks to Eve Bernstein for choreographing the group performances and to Nancy Felder for promoting the heck out of the event and for her mad talent-recruiting skills! We also wish to thank each and every person who attended the dance and who made Edna Maguire’s gift to the children of Aleta Wondo possible. We hope you had a great time and we’ll see you next year!
Garden Volunteer Meeting Friday After Drop Off
Edna Maguire’s amazing, magical garden with its rich, extraordinary history flourishes only because of parent volunteers who tend to its upkeep.
Please come to the garden this Friday, March 14, at 8:30 a.m. to hear how you can help our garden grow. You may have 15 minutes a week after drop off or before pick up, you may have only 15 minutes a month, or you may only be able to help from your home on your computer after the kids are asleep. You may have time on the weekend or you may be handy with a hammer. Any time you have will be appreciated. The children express their gratitude with glee and Our Garden expresses its gratitude with the bounty it produces.
If you are unable to attend, please contact lbudish@comcast.net to find out what you can do to help. Thank you for supporting our wonderful children’s garden.
Green Team's Recycling Programs
The student Green Team will be recycling all of the juice pouches (Capri Sun-type) using the TerraCycle's Drink Pouch Brigade program. Our Green Team will collect them and send them off in the packaging that TerraCycle provides. TerraCycle then donates money in our name to help the rain forest.
The Green Team has started by collecting pouches from the Dr. Seuss Café. They will also start collecting at lunch. Great work, Green Team!
St. Vincent's Food Delivery a Success
Thanks to all for the outpouring of offers to drive unopened and uneaten food from the hot lunch program to St. Vincent’s Soup Kitchen in San Rafael. Now we have a twice weekly delivery to St. Vincent’s, which serves hundreds of people per day.
We would especially like to thank the following parents for their time: Tracy Rapplin, Stephanie Ryder, Karen Olson, Margaret Schultz, Courtney Phleger, Michelle Barenbaum, Katie Shine-Harris, Laura Figueirinhas, Jill Anderson, and Amy Sherman.
Thanks everyone for doing something that makes such a big difference.
Volunteer Opportunity: Yearbook Coordinator
Thanks to the extraordinary efforts of the Nominating Committee (Christina Michael, Erin Griffis, Lisa Gilmore, Margaret Krivoruchko, Karen Carr, and Amy Sherman), the 2008-09 PTA Executive Board and Committee Chair positions are almost all filled. Thank you to all who have committed to volunteering and leadership roles for next school year!
There is one major committee chair position that has yet to be filled: Yearbook Coordinator. The yearbook is an amazing Edna Maguire tradition. The coordinator responsibilities can be taken on by one person or can be shared by several. If you have interest in graphic design, photography, layout, interacting with students and teachers, and/ or organizational skills, this is a wonderful volunteer opportunity for you!
Without a volunteer to head this committee, the PTA will not be able to publish a yearbook. WE NEED YOU! If you are interested in the yearbook, please contact Mari Allen at allenmari@hotmail.com.
Need a Copy of your Lunch Order?
If you forgot to make a copy of your lunch order form, you can contact Lisa Church at churchlady@pacbell.net to receive a copy. Copies of the original order forms are available on our website.
Click here for grades 1-5 lunch form.
Click here for kindergarten lunch form.
MVSD Board Special Session, Budget Discussion: Tuesday, March 25
Please attend the Mill Valley School District Board Special Session to discuss the budget for the 2008-09 school year. The session will be held Tuesday, March 25th from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. at the Mill Valley Middle School Library.
Next School Year’s Calendar Now Available
The 2008-09 MVSD calendar is available on the website: www.mvschools.org
REMINDERS
Talent Needs a Stage!
Come join the “Show Biz Kidz” for the Fourth Annual Edna Maguire Variety Show. Auditions are March 20th from 3:00 to 5:30 p.m. in the multipurpose room. Permission forms are due in the office by Monday, March 17th.
All Talents Welcome! Acts should be practiced and stage ready for auditions and rehearsals. Criteria and guidelines for the acts are listed on the permission form. We will try to accommodate scheduling conflicts to allow participation in auditions and rehearsals. Please specify on the sign-up form if your child has time constraints for auditions and/or rehearsals.
Questions: contact Jody Branham at jodyvera@pacbell.net or call 388-1282. Download pdf copies of the letter to parents, schedule, and permission form.
KIDDO!
Mollie Stone’s Market Recycles for Kiddo!
Mollie Stone’s Market in Sausalito is setting up eScrip collection bins for recycling cell phones, printer cartridges, iPods, and laptops in their store. Mollie Stone’s will return the waste to eScrip and all funds generated will benefit Kiddo! Cell phones and printer cartridges can also be recycled at the Park School campus in Mill Valley. Thank you!
Kiddo! Student Art Show
Kiddo! is proud to announce the opening of the 2008 Student Art Show at the Mill Valley Community Center. The show, which runs from March 4 through March 29, features various works of fine art from kindergarten through eighth grade students. The young artists are from all of the Mill Valley School District’s five elementary schools and the middle school.
March is Arts Education Month
The California Legislature has designated March 2008 as Arts Education Month, promoting the arts as an essential part of a well-rounded education. The arts help children develop literacy skills such as reading, writing, speaking, and listening. The arts encourage divergent thinking and problem-solving skills, which enable students to think creatively. Current research shows that arts education can play a critical role in a child’s academic and social development. Well-designed and executed arts education leads to overall improved academic performance, builds skills necessary for workplace success, and has a positive influence on the lives of students. In addition, research shows that access to and participation in the arts helps decrease and prevent negative behavior by at-risk youth.
Thanks to the ongoing support of Mill Valley School District parents and community members, Kiddo! is here to fund the arts in our public schools. By providing excellent programs in art, music, dance, drama, and poetry, we are helping each of our children reach their full potential and learn skills necessary for life. Thank you! |
