As we say goodbye to one year and welcome another it is important to keep the important things in life in mind. One of those of course is the education of your children and their experiences in school. These can and should be life-long and significant events that imprint them for the rest of their lives. As a profession, education has a responsibility to do all it can to ensure your child’s wellness, both cognitively and affectively, are well taken care of. As the New Year begins its long journey and each day gets a tad longer, I feel fortunate to a part of this journey with you and our students. We must embrace each moment and each day as if it will have a significant impact upon you and your children….because it does! As we go about this business called education let’s take a moment to reflect upon all the good that we did last year and strive to do even more good this coming year. While we may not always be perfect, our intent and intentions must always be aligned with our belief: Children are our business; Parents are our partners; and, Teachers are our guides. Wishing all of you a happy and healthy New Year.

Dennis Bissmeyer

Here are a few dates and events that you should be aware of:

Jan 5 End of Holiday break; school resumes
Jan 9 End of Second Quarter
Jan 12 Start of After School Activities
Jan 16 Report Cards go home
Jan 17 PTSA Carpet Auction
Jan 21 Chinese New Year Assembly for Students (1:00-2:30)
Jan 22 Chinese New Year Assembly for Parents only ( 1:00-2:30)
Jan 22 Elementary School PTSA meeting 8:30
Jan 26-30 Chinese New Year Holiday…no school

December is always an exciting month for schools across the world. It is the month where we come together in spirit and hope in all that is and can be good for our students, parents, and staff. It is a month where presents of the heart are more frequent than presents in our hands. It is the month where children proudly present holiday plays, ceremonies, and concerts. For the month of December there are some important dates and events you should keep in mind for the Elementary School. Happy Holidays and safe travels to all!!

Dennis Bissmeyer, Principal

• December 4th:

1. PTSA General Meeting and School Wide presentations 9:00 A.M.
2. Treat Day for 2nd and 3rd grade.
3. Holiday Bizarre for Adults…Orange Couch Room.

• December 5th. Grade 5 Leadership Training…Student Council

• December 9th: Santa Lucia Parade, 2nd Grade
• December 9th: Start of Santa’s Workshop through December 12th.
• December 11th:

1. Winter Concert: K-2 Concert from 10:30-11:15.
2. Grade 3-5 Concert from 1:15-2:45.

• December 12th: Staff Christmas Celebration
• December 15th: PTSA Winter Luncheon
• December 16th: Board of Director’s Meeting
• December 17th: 5th Grade Native American Open House from 8:00-3:00.
• December 19th: Half-Day. Student’s go home at 11:30….if you are going to pick up your child, please do so before 11:30 as the school will be closed and staff gone.
• January 5th: End of Holiday break…school resumes.

• November 4th-7th:  School Wide Book Fair.
• November 6th and 7th: Parent-Teacher Conferences. Half day for students…leave at 11:30. Parent conferences from 12:15. This is an important meeting, especially for you and your child. See you at school.
  
• November 8th: Ryder Cup Golf Tournament for staff, Links Golf Course.
  
• November 13th: Elementary School PTSA meeting. We encourage a full turn out for this special meeting.
• 10:30-12:00 Special presentation from Counselors: Gloria Bissmeyer and Ed Woods
  

• New Student Council Program…Ed Woods
  

• Kelso Decision-Making Choices…Gloria Bissmeyer

• November 18th: Maggie Moon Literacy Consultant Visitation all week
• November 18th: Assistants PD Training Day. 1:00-2:00
• November 19th: ESOL Alignment meeting
• November 27th: School Assembly 10:00
• November 28th: Half day for students, leave at 11:30…Thanksgiving

So instead of you going to the site, by using a free simple tool let the information come to you!

Netvibes gathers all the rss feeds you want and sends them straight to one page.

RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication. In the example here I have every teacher’s blog and administrators. I am able to see any updates that are made immediately, on one page. No longer do we have to fish for information going to a site to see if there is any new information as it can all come to you on one page. To learn more on setting up your own page, Amanda Decardy our Middle School tech Specialist has created a short screencast demonstrating how easy it is!

October 1st - 3rd: Chinese Holiday, no school
October 9th: ES PTSA meeting from 8:30-10:00. Topics include:
* Chinese Presentation
* Library Presentation
* Announcement of Cinderella Musical
October 9th: PTSA General Meeting from 10:00-10:30
October 11th: PTSA BBQ @ Pudong from 11:00-4:00
October 12-16th: WASC Self Study Visitation Team
October 16th: ES Library Session for Parents 9:00-10:00
October 16th: Santa’s Workshop planning meeting 10:00
October 16th: PTSA EXCO meeting 1:00
October 18th: ES Cinderella Musical (check with PTSA President for tickets)
October 20th-25th: ITBS testing for 3rd through 5th grades
October 24th: End of 1st Quarter
October 24th: United Nations Day 8:30-3:00
October 31st: ES Report Cards go home
October 31st: ES Halloween

In school organizations, we are good at measuring activities related to learning.  In fact that is primarily what we do. Too often however, there is a fuzzy and never satisfying end to this, never an end point where we finally know everything about every part of the system.  Why does change itself, that very event we’re all supposed to be managing, keep drowning us relentlessly?  How do we create organizational coherence, where activities correspond to purpose and meaning? And, what is it that we are really learning?  While we don’t often allow these questions to surface in organizations, they contain powerful metaphors that demand understanding beyond our traditional framework.

Leadership, an acknowledged phenomenon within organizations, must be examined for its relational aspects. Most often it is connected to qualities of stewardship, management, mission, and various other aphorisms.  In recent years however, a new way of thinking about organizational leadership has been emerging. It is connected to design.

Nothing has a more sweeping influence in how an organization functions than the design of the organization.  Like a large ship, an organization will perform only to the degree to which it is designed. Poor design typically results in limited capacity and function.  The gears of organizational functions are rarely invisible; they are found in decision-making, configuration of positions, roles and responsibilities, values, policies, use of time, connections with each other, and a myriad other ingredients. Without the proper design however, these gears never function properly.  As a result, the organization rarely, if ever performs up to its potential.

I believe we are in a time and place in education where traditional organizational designs may no longer stand up to the close scrutiny of performance. The issue is not what titles or positions will take care of the problems, but what energy, know-how, influence, insight, courage, and wisdom are available to help us see the proper design for solutions and effectiveness.

While human beings are hard wired for learning, successful leadership will not be found in the pages of organizational theory, titles, or positions. The most influential and effective leaders will be those who have the ability to design school organizations that are responsive to their purpose. Schools that wish to reach optimal performance year after year will need an eye on organizational design.

• Sept 8th-12th: Teacher Assistant Training will include one hour sessions in the following:

• Sept 10th: EveryDay Math Training: All teachers will received this training.

• Sept 19-21st: Learning 2008 Technology Conference

• Sept 22nd: Elementary School Spirit Walk. 8:15-9:00

• Sept 25th: ELEMENTARY SCHOOL OPEN HOUSE (see schedule sent home)
• Sept 29-30th: Teacher Work Days…no school for students