Calendar
Jan. 16 Staff In-Service –No school or childcare
Jan. 19 Martin Luther King Holiday – No school or childcare
JAN. 21 Parent Core Meeting 5 pm

SCHOOL CLOSURES
GLM will be closed for a Staff In-service day, on Friday, Jan. 16. The school will also be closed on Monday, Jan. 19, for Martin Luther King Day. There will be no childcare at the school either day; however, Ms. Aima, toddler teacher, will offer childcare in her Alameda home on MLK Day. Please see the notice below for details.

MARTIN LUTHER KING DAY CHILDCARE
Ms. Aima (Mulberry teacher) will be offering childcare in her home in Alameda from 8:00 am – 6:00 pm on Monday, Jan. 19, at the rate of $40.00 for the day. Activities include cooking, art projects, a video and a walk to the nearby park. Sign-up sheets will be put on all clipboards. For more information please contact Mary Aima at 510-749-0853

PARKING LOT SAFETY
Please remember to use the utmost caution and courtesy when entering and exiting the church parking lot. The speed limit is 5 mph, and children ALWAYS have the right of way. Do not attempt to exit the driveway by the class entrances if there are children in that driveway.


SOUND OF THE WEEK Each Wednesday your child is encouraged, with your help, to find an object at home (preferably not a toy) that begins with the sound of the week. Put it in a labeled bag to share with your child’s class. The sound of the week next week is “R”, as in Rug, Red, and Rat.

GLM ON CUTTING EDGE OF LEADERSHIP TRAINING
Helen Campbell and GLM have been chosen from 60 schools to participate in a 18 month training project, called Every Director Counts, for directors of programs serving children in Alameda county. The project will provide 24 schools with in-depth, cutting-edge training with follow-up support to develop leadership skills, enhance the quality of their programs and positively impact the curriculum and teaching practices within their programs. The goals are to improve the quality of early childhood programs in Alameda County and develop a cadre of highly skilled directors and director mentors who will be early childhood leaders, trainers, and mentors in the county. Every Director Counts is based on a nationally recognized model from the Center for Early Childhood Leadership and is the first of its kind in California.

PENNIES FOR PATIENTS
The GLM elementary class is participating in the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s Pennies for Patients program this year. The program starts on February 2, 2004 and runs through the month of February. During this time the elementary children will ask you to help your child collect pennies, nickels, dimes, quarters, and even dollars to assist their class in the fundraising. All funds raised will go to support the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society’s mission: to cure leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin’s disease, myeloma and to improve the quality of life for patients and their families.
Get everyone involved: your neighbors, coworkers, friends and family. Consider donating that jar of pennies that sits on a shelf collecting dust! Dig under your couch cushions, in bottom drawers, the floor of your car! Elementary students had their own suggestions; Jessica said, “We’ll take money that doesn’t make any noise”, and Crystal reminded, “you can write a check”! Thank you for your support. For more information contact the GLM elementary class or the Leukemia Society at 415-625-1100.

GLM ALUMNI PERFORMANCE
GLM alumni, Gabriel Perko-Engle and Xavier Torrence, will be performing with their St. Paul’s kindergarten class this Sunday, Jan. 18, at the Oakland Museum. The performance, using shadow puppets, is the ancient Indian epic “The Ramayana”. The show is from 12:45 to 1:15 in the first floor lecture hall. Many other cultural events will happen throughout the day as part of the Oakland Museum’s Lunar New Year celebration. Come one, come all!

PARENTS NIGHT OUT
Ms. Leck is hosting a Parents Night Out on Friday, January 23, from 6-11 pm. Children should come to the Jacaranda classroom in their pajamas, and bring their sleeping bag. A snack, crafts, and movie will be provided. The cost is $35.00 for one child, $55.00 for two. Children must be at least 2.5 years old. Please call Ms. Leck at 510-663-8770, or email her at sidleck@earthlink.net. Advance payment reserves your spot! This service is not affiliated with Grand Lake Montessori.

PARENT CORE MEETING
The next Parent Core meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, Jan. 21, at 5 pm in the Pinewood building.

FINANCIAL AID
Financial Aid information and procedures have been passed out to all families. For re-enrolling families the deadline for submitting a Parent’s Financial Statement (PFS - obtainable from the Business Office) to retain your child’s space in the school is 2/2/04 – no exceptions. The original PFS is to be mailed to the School and Student Service for Financial Aid, and a copy of the PFS must be delivered to Nancy Haskins, Director of Financial Aid at GLM by 2/2/04. If you need the procedures/info, please contact either of the school’s offices.

ELEMENTARY ACTIVITIES
The following is a partial list of activities the elementary students will be participating in:
~ Baseball season begins!
~ Trip to General Vallejo’s Fort
~ Continued library trips
~ Cents For A Cure (Leukemia fundraiser) in February
~ Spring dance performance
~ Attend Theatre Works USA production of Ramona Quimby

MISSING COAT
Angela Harris is missing her Mickey Mouse jacket. It is black and gray. Please return it to the office or the Live Oak class if you find it. Thank you in advance!

HOUSE FOR RENT
Small 2 bdrm house for rent behind ours (shared yard) in Laurel District between 35th & High. Contact Alice, Julia’s mom, at the above numbers/e-mail.
BABYSITTER AVAILABLE
One of our weekend babysitters, Ying Saechow, is looking for nanny work on Mondays and/or Thursdays. Ying is very responsible and CPR trained. You can contact her directly at 510-437-9750, or call Arlene Rosen or David Cohen at 510-465-7296.


CLASS News


LIVE OAK - MS. CHURCH
We have been reading a book about the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr, “A Man Who Changed Things”. The book very elegantly traces Martin Luther King’s life, accompanied with some excellent photographs. We will continue reading about and discussing MLK, Jr. and the changes he made with his peaceful actions. We have talked about the word “peace” and how using words instead of our bodies helps to facilitate peace.
There is always time for a story and the children LOVE it when a parent or other visitor comes to share a story, talent, or to just listen to the children’s stories. 9 am and 11 am are excellent times to join us. Please let the Live Oak teachers know!
Morning drop-off for the Lake Park classes begins on the playground at 8:00. At 8:45 the children make their way down the driveway to their classes. Please be mindful of the time and the fact that there are children in the parking lot. Thank you.
A reminder: we are closed this Friday, Jan. 16, for an all-staff in-service, and on Monday, Jan. 19 in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

GINKGO – MS. NITONDE
We have been learning about life in the Arctic region. It is a very cold place with the winter temperatures averaging –30 degrees F (-34 degrees C). Today, people live in wooden houses, but once upon a time they lived in houses built of skins or ice! They wear parkas, coats made of caribou skins, but they can also be made from seals, fox, or polar bears. For transportation, sleds pulled by dogs or reindeer, and kayaks were used. These day you will more likely see a snowmobile instead of a reindeer-drawn sled!
Thank you to Mr. Tien for giving our class a Chinese calendar. This year, 2004, is the Year of the Monkey. A person born during the Year of the Monkey is intelligent, possesses a good memory, and takes the opportunity to show off his/her abilities. A “Monkey” can also be naughty, but clever. Next week Ms. Yang will share Chinese New Year activities with the children
Thank you to Eli Brown-Martin and family for donating three sets of puzzles to our class and a tea cup set from Italy for our cultural shelf!
Thanks also to everyone who donated their old calendars for our art projects.
Mr. Moody joined our class to do music and movement with the children. He presented an activity called “Going Around the Mountain”. The children come up with ideas about how to travel around the mountain; for example, jogging, skipping, hopping. It is a lot of fun to watch the children act out their suggestions!
Happy Birthday to Olivia Theut, who turned 3 years old!
Many children are arriving late to school and missing the very important Circle time when they receive information about the day’s activities. School starts at 8:45 am, and Circle time follows very shortly after that. Late arriving families are disruptive to the classroom, and it is difficult for the late child to catch up with the children who are already engrossed in their work. Please, please, please arrive at school on time. If you are going to be late, be sure to call the office.

MAGNOLIA – MS. OLIVARES
The weather has been very wet and chilly lately. Please dress your child in layers so they can stay warm throughout the day.
The children are growing rapidly which means it is time to check their cubbies to make sure the extra clothing fits. If your child attends aftercare, also make sure they have a set of clothing in their backpacks for later in the day.
We would like to welcome two new students to our Magnolia family; Mia Horvath and Zeke Idelson. Both children have been visiting us from the Brown Cottage and are now officially Magnolia students!

CAMELLIA – MS. ALLEN
During the past week the children have helped to make Chinese firecrackers for the upcoming Chinese New Year, Jan. 22. They rolled rectangle shaped pieces of red construction paper and Ms. Lau tied them together with string. They look just like firecrackers but don’t make any noise!
They also enjoyed making cherry blossoms using tissue paper and twigs.
We had delicious banana bread for snack this week brought to us by Sarah Sharman, Jamie’s mom. Thank you!
We wish to thank the Pauletich family for their donation of puzzles and beads to the classroom!
We have talked with the children about Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. We explained that he was a very special man who wanted all people to have the same rights.
REMINDER:
Class begins at 8:45, Circle time is at 9 am. It is important that your child be here on time to attend Circle time. Please arrange to have your child at school on time. It is disruptive to the class to have late-comers, and often upsetting for the late child.

MULBERRY - MS. AIMA
Thank you to James Grandison for filling our planter box with flowers and plants! It looks wonderful and the children enjoy examining the foliage and blossoms!
Thank you to Eva Eisentraut for giving the class a wooden shape-sorting cube. It is a very popular work in our classroom!
To our Eye-Spy game we’ve added a utensil bag, making the game a new favorite! The children play it over and over!
Thank you to Diane Fong and Stephen Lee for surprising us with
birdseed for our class birds.
The toddlers all love Mr. Hoffman’s visits. He mesmerizes them when
he serenades them during lunch!
Class begins at 8:45 for the children. Please be on time.

JUNIPER - MS. KOERBER
The children have made an important discovery: spiders are not insects, they are arachnids (so are ticks and scorpions). Spiders have eight legs, insects have six. Spiders don’t have wings but most insects do. Insects are divided into three parts; the head, thorax and abdomen; spiders usually are divided into two parts. Thank you to all the children (and parents) for completing the homework assignment for the week. We plan to continue with the study of insects into the month of February. If your family has books, phony or real insects, music to share with the class, please let the teachers know.
Some families have become very casual about arriving at school on time. Class begins at 8:45 am. By this time the children are beginning to start lessons and becoming engaged in their activities. Besides being disruptive, late children feel left out when they arrive late and everyone else has started their activities for the morning. Sometimes it is harder for the late child to say good-bye or find a work. Please make a special effort to be on time.
Does your child have:
~ a balanced lunch which includes food from all four food groups?
~ proper weather appropriate, correctly sized clothing in their clothes bag?
~ frequent play dates with their friends?
~ have an object for Wednesday’s Sound of the Week?
~ restful sleep habits?
If your child develops a contagious illness (pink eye, strep throat) please inform the school office so that other parents can be informed via “Exposure Notices”. Thank you.
Happy Martin Luther King, Jr. Day (Jan. 19), and Gung Hay Fat Choy for the Year of the Monkey. We wish everyone a happy and wonderful Monkey’s Year! May all your goals be realized. Mr. Tien wants to remind all the “Monkeys” to avoid the “Tigers”…

JACARANDA – MS. LECK
The Jacaranda class began a celebration of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s birthday this week by reading age-appropriate books about his life and doing other activities. The teachers reminded the class of the hand-print holiday gifts that celebrated our color differences, which is just one way we show that we value everyone’s diversity. We have learned some new songs about diversity; “We are Made of the Colors of the Earth”, and “In the Very Middle You are a Lot Like Me”. Ask your child to sing them for you!
After the holiday break the children are noticeably taller! Their physical growth is a constant reminder that their mental and emotional growth continues, too, and in order to show respect for this inner growth we must, as considerate adults, allow them to be as independent as possible.
The open classroom, where children are invited to find and choose their own work from the Montessori works on the shelves, leads to real excitement among them. Since the children can be grouped in several age brackets, those within similar age groups are always watching one another. It is marvelous to witness how one child working will excite another observing child to attempt the same work. It creates a chain of children choosing to try a new activity that they saw another complete!
Remember that the children’s lunchboxes go inside the classroom during the cold winter months. Have your child put his/her lunchbox on this shelf by him/herself.

REDWOOD – MS. RANKINS
The class is having a much more productive week! The children are doing so well! We will begin playing softball this Thursday; however, not all of the children have their mitts at school. Please provide your child with one before Thursday, so all the children can participate.
The 1st years have been introduced to the fundamental needs of humans (defense, shelter, clothing, transportation, food and spiritual needs). They are making books on how their own families fulfill their fundamental needs.
The 2nd years are listening to Greek myths. They are also studying how various group’s fundamental needs have changed over time.
The 4th years are working on California mission reports.
The 5th years are doing research on famous Asian Americans.
The children took home some of their old completed assignments. Please take the time to go through their work with them!
Our class has started reading the book “When They Were 12”, biographies of famous people when they were 12 years old. The children are very interested in what life was like for adults when they were young!
REMINDER: If your child must miss school, please let me know ahead of time. If possible, please schedule appointments outside of school hours so your child doesn’t miss anything!
Have a great 4-day weekend!







































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