April's Character Trait of the Month:  Responsibility

May

              “We must find time to stop and thank the people who make a difference in our lives.” 
― John F. Kennedy

April 6, 2013

Dear Bollinger Community,

If you have not yet had the chance, please stop by the school and take a close look at the absolutely gorgeous tile wall that now graces our courtyard.  I want to thank all of you who contributed your handiwork in creating the heartfelt tiles and I especially want to thank Diana Davis and Connie Book for their insight and vision towards creating this artwork.  They gave their entire spring break along with assistance from Ed Book, Lisa Roepken, Karen Murphy, and Paula and Todd Allen, for the installation.  I want to thank one of our CEIA employees, Jeff Antonio, for his generosity and outstanding bulldog drawing and tile work!  This wall will be a memory maker for years to come and can be added to in the future to commemorate the spirit and pride of our Bollinger community.

In the month of April, we celebrate Earth Day, and with that, we look for ways to enjoy the richness of our Earth and ways to sustain our planet globally and locally.  On April 13th and 14th, my Leadership San Ramon Valley class of 2013 will begin building our organic garden.  Attached to this newsletter is information regarding the work that will be done to build this garden and ways for you to assist if you are available.  Please contact Mike Continillo (a future Bollinger parent) if you have questions and/or want to help out in any way.  In order to raise funds for this garden, LSRV will be providing several opportunities in which the Bollinger community can participate.  One will be a recycling event at our school on April 20th.  Another will be the sale of pies donated by PG&E food technology center in mid May, and a food truck that will be selling treats the night of our Science Fair on May 9th.  LSRV will also sponsor a food truck at the Art and Wind Festival in May.  More information on each of these events will be sent home in the near future.

Our growth in the development of the Common Core Standards has continued with our 5th grade students recently piloting the Smarter Balanced Assessment.  This is a computer based testing process that does not include typical multiple choice answers but has questions that require students to write short answers supported by text evidence.  A portion of the test required that students listen to text and again respond in sentences with text based evidence.  Generally the students enjoyed taking the test, mostly because the questions allowed them to “think.”  They also enjoyed taking the test on the computers and were able to maneuver their way through the test with relative ease.  Although Star testing will remain the same throughout this year and 2013-2014 (for 3rd through 5th grade), we will be working towards preparing our students for the transition towards mastery of the Common Core Standards which will be in full force and effect as of 2014-2015.

For those of you who have children going into 2nd grade next year, the district has decided to eliminate Slip reading for 2nd grade.  Therefore, beginning next year, all 2nd grade students will be on a full day schedule.  As much as our site preferred the smaller class instructional opportunity, the teachers will alter their curriculum and support the students to maximize the benefit of this longer day.

I look forward to our school auction this evening and having the opportunity to play with those of you who can be there.  If you are not able to join us, I certainly know you will be there in spirit.  Mahalo!

Sincerely,
Shawn Wells
Principal