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Principally Speaking
A Message from Lisa Zimmer
Dear Family,
I hope you have all settled into a back to school routine. Our goal is to provide a safe and happy place for your children to learn, and we are off to a great start! Our Lifeskills of the month are "community building" and "no put downs!" Students are being taught to never use words, actions and/or body language to degrade, humiliate and dishonor others.
Car Line: Your children should wait in the back parking lot for pick-up and drop-off. Please do not pick-up or drop-off in the front circle! It sets a bad example for your children when you do not follow our safety procedures. Waiting in the front also causes congestion for cars trying to get in and out of the back lot.
With all of us back together, germs are inevitable. We have new soap dispensers and paper towel holders in the classrooms, and all children are expected to wash their hands. Great activities for kids about good, clean fun can be found at HenrytheHand.com. When children are sick, they must stay home from school until 24 hours after symptoms have subsided without the use of fever-reducing medications. Please help us avoid the spreading of colds and flu. For more information on the H1N1 Flu Update, visit http://www.mvschools.org/swineflu.html.
I would like to thank Ronnie Sharpe and Sean Baccei for obtaining the grant for the new bike racks near the library. Thank you Tim Ryan and his maintenance crew who installed the bike racks in time for the start of school. We hope they inspire more students to ride their bikes to school, especially since parking is so limited. Special thanks also to Walk Bike Marin for the generous grant to purchase and install the new bike racks. Walk Bike Marin is an initiative by the county to help make Marin more healthy, livable, and environmentally sustainable by encouraging walking and bicycling as everyday transportation.
In addition, I am very grateful to the wonderful people at Wilderness Trail Bikes, Tam Bikes, and staff at Edna Maguire who helped raise money to acquire a new bike, lock, and, helmet at cost for a student at Edna Maguire. If you get the chance, please let these businesses know how thankful you are for their support.
We need school Site Council members! Site Council meets Monday afternoons four times per year (dates: 10/26, 1/11, 3/1 and 5/10) to work on a site plan to support, sustain, and enhance our educational programs; increase parent and community involvement; and promote a positive learning environment. The Council approves grant proposals using Innovative Teaching Grant funds supported by the PTA. Last year, the Council implemented the new Car Line process. The meetings are very informal. This year one of our tasks will be to focus on family involvement and fun by planning Family Bingo Night on February 27th. If you are interested in joining, please email me at lzimmer@mvschools.org.
Best Regards,
Lisa Zimmer
Seeking Steeplechase T-Shirt Sponsors
No experience necessary, just a desire to Make a Difference! If you have a business, please consider sponsoring the Steeplechase t-shirts at the $200, $400 or $600 level. Just fill out this form (pdf) and return it to the school office by September 25th. If you have any questions, please contact Janie Karp at 860-6730.
Steeplechase Pep Rally
Give me an E! Give me a D! Give me an N and A! What does that spell? EDNA! The annual kick-off to Steeplechase is on Friday, October 2nd at 8:35 a.m. in the multipurpose room. Each grade will cheer to launch another successful fundraising drive.
Students, wear red to the pep rally (this year's t-shirt has red lettering with the logo "Make A Difference") or white if you do not have red. The more people who wear the colors, the more spirited and unified we'll be! Questions? Contact Mari Allen at allenmari@hotmail.com.
Steeplechase Permission Slips are Due
Our school's Steeplechase fundraiser is coming up soon! We must have a permission slip on file for each student. Please return signed permission slips to the school office or your child's teacher by Wednesday, September 23rd. Permission slips (pdf) can be downloaded from the Edna Maguire website.
Needed: Hot Lunch Liaison
The PTA is looking for someone to assist with the Revolution Foods hot lunch program. This person would attend a handful of meetings, report back to our community (via the Pony Express) with program changes or menu updates, reply to general questions from parents, and help schedule a food tasting. He or she would partner with Josie Viscardi (volunteer coordinator and food distribution) and Lisa Church (reporting, RF liaison and website support). Please contact Lisa Church at churchlady@pacbell.net if interested. Thank you!
Operation Coffee Club
When was the last time you said thank you to someone who is doing a great service? Now is your chance. Join us at Edna's inaugural Operation Coffee Club at drop-off on Friday, September 25th in front of the Main Office. From 8:15 to 8:45 a.m., you can enjoy a free cup of coffee provided by Green Beans Coffee and contribute to Cup Of Joe For A Joe.
For as little as $2.00, you can provide a deployed member of our armed forces with a little taste of home. Cup Of Joe for a Joe gives everyone an opportunity to express their support for our men and women in uniform just by buying a cup of premium organic coffee and having it delivered with a personalized message of thanks to a soldier serving overseas. For Every Cut of Joe order, Green Beans Coffee has also graciously offered to donate 20 percent back to Edna Maguire.
Parking Recommendation: Due to very limited parking on campus, consider coming early and taking a nice morning stroll with your child. There is plenty of parking in the Rite Aid/Whole Foods lot, or at the far end of Lomita.
For more information, visit http://www.greenbeanscoffee.com/coj or contact Mari Allen at allenmari@hotmail.com or Karen Olson at cokobo@comcast.net.
Thanks Picture Volunteers!
Earlier this month, HotShot Portraits took class and individual pictures of each student. A big thank you to all of the volunteers that helped out: Mari Allen, Jeannine Berman, Deb Luster, Erin Griffis, Paula Stetler and Stirling Somers. Students should look for their proofs and order forms in the next two weeks. For those students unable to attend, a make-up picture day has been set for October 26th.
Fourth Grade Sponsored Garden Work Day
October's Garden Workday is scheduled for Saturday, October 3rd from 9:00 a.m. to noon and is being sponsored by the fourth grade. Everyone is welcome but we hope fourth graders and their parents will make an extra effort to be there and support the garden. The seasons are changing and the garden is getting ready for the fall. As always, everyone is welcome and encouraged to participate; no gardening experience necessary. Tasks include weeding, adding compost and soil to the beds, planting and mulching the beds and the orchard, repairing the greenhouse, amending the soil, repairing irrigation lines, organizing the tool shed, and much more. Whole Foods will provide plenty of refreshments and breakfast snacks. Questions: contact Saor Stetler at sstetler@earthlink.net.
Fall Garden Festival Needs Volunteers
This year's Fall Garden Festival will be on Sunday, October 25th. We have lots of fun activities planned for the whole family including a chili cook-off, pumpkin carving, pie eating, and eat the hanging apple. Other fun activities include pony rides, an obstacle course, face painting, prize fishing, bottle game, potion making, bird feeder building, and planting seedlings for your winter garden. Food and beverages will be available, including Grilly's burritos, homemade chili, baked goods and apple cider. We need lots of volunteers! Please contact Barbara Bleckman at barbaracrampton@comcast.net or Jen Sheetz at jmsheetz@hotmail.com to sign up.
One Stop Shopping and Volunteer Forms
Please turn in the PTA One-Stop Form from your first day packet by Friday, September 25th. Extra copies are available in the office and on our website. For more information on how our students and teachers depend on your financial and volunteer support, visit the PTA section of our website.
Psychologically Speaking: A Sense of Community
All Mill Valley School District schools will be focusing on character education throughout the year. Our first target area is "building a sense of community and belonging at school." When we asked our wonderful elementary counselor, Claudia Trinklein-Engman, to write about this topic, here is what she expressed.
Kiddo!
Online Shopping Opportunities. Kiddo! encourages supporting local businesses, but sometimes online is the way to go. New this year, Kiddo! has partnered with Amazon at www.shopkiddo.org. When you shop Amazon (and its many partners) through this site, Kiddo! will receive between 4 and 15 percent of your total purchase. Wow!
Many online shopping portals will rebate a portion (typically 1 to 4 percent) to Kiddo! Just log on to www.eScrip.com for the eScrip online mall, or go to www.onecause.com or www.igive.com and designate Kiddo! (Mill Valley Schools Community Foundation) before you shop at one of over 800 online merchants. You can also earn dollars for Kiddo! by searching the internet using Goodsearch. Go to www.goodsearch.com and select Kiddo! as your organization. You'll earn a penny for Kiddo! every search. Every penny counts.
Famous 4, 12th Annual Block Party. Sunday, September 27, 1:00 to 5:00 p.m. Music, games, and fun for the whole family. For more information call Larry at Famous 4, 388-2550.
Community Connection
Richardson Bay Audubon Center:
Bay Shore Studies Volunteer Training Orientation
Tuesday, September 22nd, 8:45 a.m.
Become a Bay Shore Studies Volunteer at the Richardson Bay Audubon Center. Leading children in exploring the natural world is very rewarding and benefits both children and volunteer teachers greatly. Learn how you can lead small groups of fourth through sixth graders on their best field trip ever. RSVP: 388-2524.
Bats!
Saturday, September 26th, 10:00 a.m. to noon
Did you know that one bat can eat 500 to 1000 mosquitoes in one hour? Learn all about these fascinating flying mammals and how you can attract some to your yard in this fun program all about bats. Participants will assemble their own bat box to take home. Appropriate for children ages 6 to 9. Children ages 5 and under may participate, but must be accompanied by an adult. Advance Registration Required: 388-2524. Program will cancel with less than five participants. Cost: $20/child.
The Living Shore: Rediscovering a Lost World
Sunday, September 27th, 4:00 to 6:00 p.m.
Join us as author Rowan Jacobsen recounts his experiences on an expedition to a remote island off the coast of British Columbia, where a marine scientist has discovered a pristine bed of Olympia oysters. What started as a quest for rare oysters becomes an exploration of our ancient connections to the shore in his book, The Living Shore: Rediscovering a Lost World. For more information and to RSVP contact Suzanne Olyarnik, Bay Ecologist, at 388-2524 or solyarnik@audubon.org. | 
