Newsletter – December 3, 2009

Student Council

Congratulations go out the our new student council:  Britt Alphson, President, Dylan Norris, Vice President, Natalie Turgemon, Secretary; Emma Spivak and Riley Aronson, Historian.  Look below for a note from the new president.

Book Fair

The Book Fair is open this week.  Please make sure that you take the time to go and visit the Fair.  There are a number of great selections for you to choose from.  The fair will close promptly at 4:00 pm on Friday, December 4.  Thanks go out to Gloria Kim for taking the lead on the Book Fair and to those who have helped out during the week.

Read-a-thon Starts Next Week

Don’t forget that the Read-a-thon begins on December 9 with a kick off assembly during grade level meetings.  Cynthia Kanner is yet again taking on this huge endeavor and we thank her for her time and effort.  Make sure you visit the book fair to purchase books for the fair.  Last year we blew the roof off the house and read around 25,000 books!!  This is unprecedented and certainly will be very difficult to repeat, but we have to try.  So I guess my challenge to every student is to read 40 books from December 7 through January 31st.  A book for the upper grades will constitute 75 pages, so if we read Harry Potter at 750 pages, that would count as 10 books.  We do have our 3 week winter vacation that needs to be filled, so help us to motivate your child to read during this time.  Set a goal and keep track of it. More information on the Read-a-thon here!

Holiday Program

The Marquez Holiday Program is coming up on Wednesday, December 16.  The kinder and 3rd grade will perform at 9:00 am, 2nd and 5th will perform at 10:45 and 1st and 4th will perform at 11:45.  Please take the time to visit the Marquez boutique before and after the performance.  We are anticipating somewhere in the neighborhood of 16 vendors to be here.  It will be a great holiday shopping opportunity.

Mr. Jacobs’ First in Math Program

One exciting event is happening each day here at Marquez and is expanding with interest to other classrooms as well.  In the 4th grade, Mr Jacobs has been using an online mathematics program called First in Math.  This application has the classroom working at their own level and in competition not only with themselves, but with the rest of California and even the United States.  The coursework can be quite challenging.  Currently Mr. Jacobs class is 75th in the nation out of more 
than 4000 classes in grades 1st through 8th playing.  His class is also 
9th in the nation for 4th grades classes with more then 500 4th grade 
classes playing.  Currently Marquez, and in particular, Mr. Jacobs class is 1st in California with more than 100 4th 
grade classes playing.  Marquez as a school is 7th in the state out of 
57 schools with at least 5 classes playing.  It is great to see the children engaged in this application and motivated to work on their math skills in a new and fun manner.

Lost and Found – Last Call

Please check the lost and found (near the library entrance in the main courtyard) for your items.  Things remaining after Friday, December 4 will be donated to charity.

And Now, a Message from the President

Hi, my name is Britt Alphson and I am the new student council president.  I am very excited to go through the new year making changes with Mr. Hollis.  In my campaign, one of the things that I said I would try to make possible was having a suggestion box put up on the front desk.  Another was having milk be in cardboard cups instead of plastic ones, so that the cups can be composted.  Also raising money is a big part of Marquez and krispy kreme has been a great success so I am hoping that we can have it more often to raise even more money for our school.

Report Cards

Report cards are scheduled to go home on Dec 11. Kinder students have an alternate report card that issued only twice per year.  They will be issued early in the new year.  Sometimes the 1st-5th grade report card can be tricky to understand, especially if it is the first time you have seen it.  Each subject area is divided into two scores: Achievement and Effort.  Teachers use a scoring guide published by LAUSD where specific skills and benchmarks are provided for students who are proficient readers and are able to consistently and thoroughly apply comprehension strategies to a variety of reading material.  In addition they are able to effectively and consistently distinguish between the structural features of text and literary terms (plot, theme, conflict, irony for example).  A reading score of “3″ is reserved for students who read and comprehend grade level material and are able to use comprehension strategies as needed. A reading score of “2″ is reserved for students who read and comprehend some grade level material and use some comprehension strategies.  A score of “1″ is reserved for students who read and comprehend little, if any, grade level material.

In mathematics, a score of “4″ is reserved for students who can explain clearly relationships between numbers, estimate accurately, solve problems effectively, as well as organizes, displays and interprets data accurately and clearly. A score of “3″ is reserved for students who can model and apply learned problem solving techniques, determine relationships between numbers, use estimation strategies, collect data, and solve problems in reasonable and justifiable ways.  A score of “2″ is reserved for students who demonstrate misconceptions about relationships of numbers, units of measurement, or interpreting data and solves some problems using whole numbers (fraction, decimals depending on grade level).  A score of “1″ is reserved for students who do not use estimation appropriately, determine few relationships between numbers, does not model problem-solving techniques, does not recognize units of measurement or makes few decisions about how to set up problems.

Work and study habit grades are a bit different where a “4″ is reserved for students who show STRONG performance in the criteria, “3″ is reserved for students with CONSISTENT performance in the criteria, “2″ is reserved for INCONSISTENT performance in criteria, and “1″ is reserved for students who show POOR performance in the critieria.  Hopefully this small explanation, coupled with your child’s conference this past week, helps you to understand the report card.  If you have any questions, please contact your child’s teacher or myself.

The Christmas Scoop

Mark your calendars for Friday night, December 4th!  Swing in the Holiday Season with Holiday Party Band “The Christmas Scoop!” and help support Marquez at the same time!

Musician and Marquez Dad, Chris Schoop will perform with his band “The Christmas Scoop,” Friday December 4th at the Dakota Lounge in Santa Monica.  Half of all proceeds go to Friends of Marquez! “The Christmas Scoop” performs holiday classics and original songs by current artists (including Chris!) with a twist:  “We play music that makes people move and groove in ways they would not imagine when listening to this genre. You will never hear Christmas music the same way again.” Start your holidays right.  Come groove with style to the coolest Holiday Band on the West Side at Santa Monica’s Dakota Lounge!  (If you are good at decorating, art work or if you have a fog machine (!) and would like to help please call Chris Schoop at 310-454-8066).

Friday December 4th  — 7:00 p.m.

$20 per person – Coordinated by The Schoop Family

New ‘Do

Don’t forget that next week is your chance to get a new ‘do and help Marquez at the same time. The London Colour Studio, in Pacific Palisades, has generously donated their time and expertise to the women of Marquez Charter School (and your friends, mothers, sisters, aunts, grandmothers) with 95% of the proceeds to come back to Marquez.  We need to get all the women of Marquez there for a trim or new’do.  The London Colour Studio is located at  15113 Sunset Blvd next to Coldwell Banker and the phone number is (310) 573-9444.

As always, you can reach me at phollis@lausd.net