Newsletter – June 12, 2009

Thank You Marquez Families!

Thank you, thank you, thank you to all the Marquez families that have contributed to our fundraising efforts aimed at keeping our fantastic teachers.  It is truly amazing that when we put our minds to something that incredible things can happen.  We have been able to adjust the 2009-2010 budget in many creative ways thanks to YOUR GENEROUS CONTRIBUTIONS to the Friends of Marquez.  We have been creative enough to ensure that Erin Abrams and Randy Hain remain as classroom teachers and we will ensure that Sherry Venn and Akiko Arevalo will continue to have a classroom as Local Designed Educators to work with our Marquez students as well.  Ms. Venn will assist 1st and 2nd grade next year and Ms. Arevalo will assist both in kindergarten and the upper grades in order to provide an enriched curriculum and to reduce class size. It is extremely important that we continue to pursue our fund raising efforts in order for our vision to take hold in this uncertain time with State funding and to keep working towards full restoration of our teaching staff through the Los Angeles Unified School District.

Changes Ahead

Although we were able to keep all of our teachers, there are going to be changes to the instructional program.  Changes, that in my opinion are positive and I am confident that we will continue to provide a world class education.  In fact our class sizes in the upper grades look like they will be hovering around 24, just like that of our kinder through 3rd grades.  This is a significant gain in our creative local design plans for next school year.  With your contributions we were able to save the jobs of Sherry Venn, Akiko Arevalo, Randy Hain, and Erin Abrams.  Unfortunately with this good news, also comes some bad news. We are saying good bye to some wonderful educators that have been at Marquez for a number of years.  First we will truly miss Mrs. Brucker.  She has a legacy of 18 years here at Marquez involved with our special education program. We recognize her hard work in making Marquez a leader in special education programs and we wish her well in her retirement.  As a direct result of budget constraints and program priorities we regrettably bid farewell to Lori Wilson, a long time 4th grade language arts teacher.  The 4th grade program in language arts was enriched with her enthusiasm and love for teaching.  The staff and students will truly miss her warm, caring personality and we wish her nothing but the best.  Janet Seigel was our art teacher last year and taught every grade from 1st through 5th.  Prior to being the main art teacher last year, she was part of the art team that was at Marquez for a number of years.  We wish her well in all her future endeavors as we unfortunately say good bye.  We thank her immensely for her contributions to the Marquez program. Please join us in the center court on Tuesday, June 16 at 1:00pm as we honor these administrators and teachers and say goodbye.

Thanks!

I want to personally thank Dr. Kamins for becoming our second community sponsor with a $5000 donation to the Friends of Marquez organization.  “Dr. Kamins, DDS, providing quality comprehensive dental care for the entire family”is located in the village on Alma Real Drive. We thank him for his generous contribution.  You can find his ad in the Marquez directory on page 116. If you have any specific talents or are interested in becoming associated with our community or corporate partnership fundraising, please contact kasey.byrne@yahoo.com.

More Thanks!

A big thank you to all the parents and teachers who participated in our newly expanded scrip card fundraiser.  It was a huge success — Marquez just earned $1,200!  Starting in September, you will be able to order your cards once a month and we will be adding new retailers to our program.  If each family purchased $2,000 in scrip annually, Marquez would earn over $50,000.  Let’s do it!!!

Restaurant Marquez Nights

Please remember to continue to check the Marquez website for upcoming restaurant nights.  We have had great turnouts to our Marquez nights at the Village Pantry, Vitorio’s, Baskin Robbin, and PearlDragon.  We also thank Ronny’s Cleaners for their partnership with Marquez.  Please make sure you thank these organizations whenever you patronize them.  We want them to continue the partnership. Every little bit of help from our community partners helps.

Upcoming End-of-Year Events

Don’t forget 5th grade culmination will take place in the main courtyard at 9:00 am on Thursday, June 18.
END OF THE YEAR MARQUEZ BEACH PARTY – Saturday, June 20th – 11 am to 2pm 
Say goodbye to another wonderful year at Marquez and get summer off to a great start at the 3rd Annual Marquez Beach Party. Join us at our beautiful local beach for a delicious catered lunch, drinks, snacks and an afternoon of family fun. New this year, the experienced and enthusiastic counselors from Fitness by the Sea will be organizing fun games for kids and the whole family. If your child has been to Fitness by the Sea, you know how much fun it is. If they haven’t, they’ll love the beach games! It’s a great day at the beach – friends and fun plus no need to even pack a lunch. Just bring your beach chair, a towel and the whole family. $ 45 for the entire family – siblings definitely welcome. Includes lunch, drinks and professionally led games plus the knowledge that every cent of your money goes to support Marquez at this difficult time. Support your school and party at the beach!

Heal The Bay Thanks

Thanks to all the Marquez families that came out for our Heal the Bay beach clean up last Sunday.  You should feel good about yourself and your contributions to a cleaner Santa Monica Bay.  Thanks to Jody Norris for being our contact and coordinator of this effort.

Calling All Cub Scouts!  Sign Up for Cub Scouts Today!

Would you like to be a Tiger Cub, Wolf, Bear or Webelo?  If your son will be in first through 5th grade next school year, and would like to join a cub scout den at Marquez, or the Pack 223 Webelos  please contact Teresa Williams at TeresaW5@aol.com or 310-454-4680.  We have a great time, and learn lots of cool stuff.

Back-to-School Picnic

As the school year comes to a close, preparations are already under way for when we return!
The Back-to-School picnic is a fantastic way to start off the school year.  It’s a great day to catch up with friends, enjoy lunch from the Tommy’s truck and have loads of fun on the giant inflatable.  It’s also an opportunity to purchase Marquez Spirit Wear and Green Team items, sign up for A Year of Parties and to learn more about the different Marquez programs, such as the newly expanded Scrip Program.
So mark you calendars:  The Back-to-School picnic will be held on Sunday, September 13th from 1-3.

Parent volunteers are needed to get ready for this fun-filled afternoon.  Please contact Marlo Longstreet if you are interested in helping out (310) 454-4441 or longstreetcrew@mac.com.

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