GATORAID

School Phone: 408-252-5414 ~ Absence Line 408-252-5414-6 ~ FAX 408-996-9725

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SCHOOL CALENDAR
NOVEMBER 17, 2011
11/18 11/18 GATOR DAY - SCHOOL SPIRIT DAY FLAG FOOTBALL - GARDEN GATE AT McAULIFFE

3:30 p.m.

11/21-11/25
12/1 12/1 12/2 12/2 12/9 12/13 12/14 12/16 12/16 8:30 a.m. 7:15 p.m. 4:00 p.m. 3:30 p.m. 6:00 p.m. 6:00 p.m. 3:30 p.m

THANKSGIVING RECESS - NO SCHOOL

STUDENT PHOTO MAKE-UP - GLC PTA MEETING REPORT CARDS GO HOME FLAG FOOTBALL - EATON AT GARDEN GATE FLAG FOOTBALL - MEYERHOLZ @ GARDEN GATE C.U.S.D. BOARD MEETING HAPPILY EVER AFTER SCHOOL THEATER PERFORMANCE - GLC PAJAMA DAY - SCHOOL SPIRIT DAY FLAG FOOTBALL - GARDEN GATE AT REGNART

12/19-1/2 1/3/2012

WINTER RECESS - NO SCHOOL SCHOOL RESUMES

EVERY TUESDAY IS EARLY DISMISSAL Students are dismissed at 1:30. PRE-PAY FOR CUSD LUNCHES at PAMS (Parent Account Management System) Lunchroom! You can make payments and view your students account balance online by going to http://www.pamslunchroom.com or by calling 1-888-994-5100. TO EMAIL STAFF:lastname_firstname@cusdk8.org ATTENDANCE: If your child will be absent, please call 252-5414. Ext. 6, by 8:30 a.m. to report the absence. HOMEWORK: Homework may be requested for illness absences of three days or more. Please call the office before 9:00 a.m. to request the homework for pickup after 3:00 p.m.

FROM OUR PRINCIPAL....MS. HUCKO!

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Thanksgiving Recess We will be on vacation next week, November 21-25, for Thanksgiving Recess. You will not receive the Gatoraid next week. I want to wish all Garden Gate families a happy, healthy and safe holiday. Enjoy spending time with friends and family, doing the things you love to do.

With Our Holiday Season, Chances Are You Will Probably Focus on Family Traditions
Traditions that center on family or friends can be a great way to put meaning back into the holidays. Here are a couple of ideas: Talk about which family traditions your family loves the most. Then figure out how you can put more emphasis on them. If you love the tradition of lighting the menorah, get together as a group to make your own candles. If you enjoy the family trip to pick out a tree, make it an all-day event in which you head to a tree farm to choose your own. Find out what the holidays mean to others. Have your children talk to a grandparent, parent, uncle, or aunt about how they spent the holidays growing up. Some holiday traditions that used to be strong - such as neighborhood caroling - are all but lost today. Maybe you'd like to revive some of these as a way to share some holiday spirit with your family, friends, or community.

Build some new traditions. If you don't have any family traditions, it's never too late to start. Get together around activities that you all enjoy, such as cooking or ice-skating. Ask your kids what they would enjoy doing every year and make an effort to do it. If you can't all decide on one thing, make traditions out of several, so that everyone feels like part of the festivities. From Kids Health for Parents (The Nemours Foundation)

Dismissal Time

Parents, please remember that there are two designated waiting areas on campus where wed like you to wait for your 4th or 5th grade student to be released from class: Under the shade structure, or at the tables in front of the caf window. Please do not wait in the hallways, as low noise, such as conversation can be disruptive for classes still in session. The Garden Gate Staff appreciates your support with this matter.

Special Visitors

Thank you to Board Member Anjali Kauser for her visit to Garden Gate yesterday! It was wonderful to be able to tour the campus and classrooms, and share with her all of the things that make Garden Gate such a special place for our children.

Medi-Cal/Healthy Families Program

Each year thousands of children in California miss out on basic medical care because their family cannot afford health coverage. In our school office, we have information on the California Department of Health Services Medi-Cal/Healthy Families Program. Please come to our front office for more information.

Propellers

Do you wonder how to connect better with your children? Do you wonder what matters to them, and how you can assist them to grow up to be healthy, caring and responsible citizens? I encourage you to try a "propeller" - a question intended to spark conversations with your children. Try it around the dinner table tonight! This week's propeller: If you were an adult, how would you show the youth in your community that you value them every day?

PTA CORNER

PARENT TEACHER ASSOCIATION (PTA) NEWS & RESOURCES

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Hello Everyone! PTA REFLECTIONS ART ASSEMBLY This past Tuesday we had a Reflections Assembly, which was an award presentation ceremony for all the winners and participants of the PTA Reflections Art contest. This year, we had one hundred and nineteen entries in six different categories. Wow! I hope the children had fun at the assembly and were inspired to take part in the program next year! Special thanks to Mahalakshmi Rameshbabu, the chairperson for this program and to the rest of the Reflections volunteers who put in many hours of their time to make it a success. Thank you! SCRIP Please visit our Scrip table located in front of the office and stock up on holiday gifts for friends, family and teachers too! Please note. . . American Express Gift Cards are now available to purchase. Please stop by the Scrip table located at the front of the school office on Tuesdays from 1:151:45 p.m. and also on Fridays 7:458:15 a.m. LETS COLLECT BOX TOPS FOR A NEW PLAYGROUND! The PTA is working on a new project to upgrade the upper grade play structure. The plan is to have the children participate by collecting funds through the Box Tops for Education Program. All of the funds that we collect through this effort and also from Scrip sales will be used toward the purchase of a new play structure at Garden Gate! Please encourage your kids to look for Box Tops when you are grocery shopping, and then remember to cut them out and bring them to school. You can find details with this in the flier that was sent home today.

Have a Happy Thanksgiving and Enjoy The Holiday Break!

Azmeh Malik Garden Gate PTA President

Garden Gate Elementary School 10500 Ann Arbor Ave., Cupertino CA 95125

GATORAID!
STUDENT PORTRAIT MAKE UPS
Bud White will be on campus Thursday, December 1st from 8:30-9:00 a.m. to take photos of students who were absent on Picture Day, are new to the school, or are returning their old photos for a retake. If you are having your pictures retaken, you must return the original photo packet. Order form notices will be coming home after the Thanksgiving break.

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Attendance/Independent Study

Parents, thank you for reporting your students absences on the school absence line and for notifying the office in advance when you know your student will be absent. Attendance letters for unexcused absences and tardy/ delays have recently been sent home and there have been questions regarding the letters. The following information will help to explain the letters. Please note: Notifying the office of an absence in advance does not automatically make it an excused absence. For example, vacations/trips are an unexcused absence. When a student has accumulated 3 unexcused absences, the attendance system will generate a letter to be sent to the parents. A second letter will be sent after 4 unexcused absences. Please review the CUSD attendance policies found in the Opening Day Packet (pages 4-5) and the Garden Gate Parent Handbook (pages 10-11) that was sent home the first day of school.

back in school. If the Independent Study work is not completed and returned, the days missed will be recorded as unexcused absences. Students who are absent for more than 10 consecutive school days will be dropped from the school roster. When the dropped student returns, they will be reinstated in their home school only if there is space available. If there are no spaces, the student will be assigned to another school in the district, and put on a wait list at the home school. If you are traveling for less than five school days, your childs absence will be recorded as unexcused. If you have questions about attendance or Independent Study, please contact the school office. Thank you.

Doctor and Dentist Appointments

The state of California allows medical/dental appointments as excused absences. Garden Gates policy for these absences requires a doctors note verifying the appointment. Please make appointments for after school or Saturdays. When this is not possible, children must be signed out by a parent (or someone authorized on the enrollment card) in the school office. After signing a child out, the teacher will be notified and your student will come to the office. Students are not allowed to come to the office to sit and wait to be picked up as they often lose valuable class time. Again, this is for the safety of your children.

Will You Be Moving?

Independent Study (IS) Contracts

Please remember to schedule your vacations during school recess periods so students miss as few school days as possible. Garden Gates curriculum is rich and moves at a fast pace. However, if your student is away from school for a minimum of 5 to a maximum of 10 school days, please inform your teacher and come by the school office to fill out an Independent Study Contract request form at least 2 weeks before your departure date. Students benefit from doing IS work while gone and the absences are excused when the packet is returned the first day back and meets the standards expected by the teacher.

If you know you will be moving, please notify the office and your childs teacher as soon as possible. Your student maintains his class seat until he/she actually leaves the school.

Reminders:

CUSD Independent Study Policies:

A student must be enrolled for three consecutive weeks before an Independent Study contract can be initiated. To receive credit for the days away, the contract homework must be completed while the child is gone and returned to the teacher the first day the student is

For the protection of the students, please remember that students are not to be on the Garden Gate campus before 7:45 a.m. There is no adult supervision until 7:45 a.m. Please do not congregate outside of the classrooms while school is still in session. This is very disruptive to both the teacher and the students and could be a distraction from valuable learning time. Every Tuesday is early dismissal day. Please remember that all a.m. Kindergarten students are dismissed at 11:10 a.m. and all p.m. Kindergarten students along with students in grades 1-5 are dismissed at 1:30. Please remember to pick up your children promptly.

Garden Gate Elementary School 10500 Ann Arbor Ave., Cupertino CA 95125

GATORAID!
2012-2013 SCHOOL YEAR CALENDAR

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The Board of Education just approved the 2012-2013 school year calendar during the board meeting held on November 15, 2011. The full calendar is available on the Districts website at www.cusdk8.org. Here are the important dates for the District and Murdock-Portal Elementary School for next year:

2012-2013 District Calendar (All schools

except Murdock-Portal)

2012-2013 Murdock-Portal Calendar August 13, 2012 September 3, 2012 October 8-19, 2012 November 12, 2012 November 19-23, 2012 Dec. 24, 2012-Jan. 4, 2013 January 21, 2013 February 18-22, 2013 April 8-19, 2013 May 27, 2013 June 25, 2013

Students Return Labor Day October Break Veterans Day Observed Thanksgiving Recess Winter Recess Martin Luther King Day Mid-Year Recess Spring Recess Memorial Day Last Day of School

August 20, 2012 September 3, 2012 (Murdock-Portal only) November 12, 2012 November 19-23, 2012 Dec. 24, 2012-Jan. 4, 2013 January 21, 2013 February 18-22, 2013 April 15-19, 2013 May 27, 2013 June 12, 2013

IMPORTANT REGISTRATION INFORMATION Students must be residing in the District at the time of registration and be available for any necessary testing.Registration and Open Enrollment for the 2012-2013 school year is as follows: Kindergarten Registration for all Attendance Area Schools: February 6 February 16 at the respective attendance area school. Any child who will be five years old on or before November 1, 2012 is eligible to attend kindergarten for the 2012-2013 school year. Only parents/guardians may pick up a registration packet at their attendance area school beginning January 30, 2012. Registration packets are numbered sequentially except at Stocklmeir Elementary School as this school site will hold a Kindergarten Lottery. The registration number on the packet is only valid for packets returned between February 6 through February 16, 2012. Packets returned after February 16, 2012 will not be eligible for the Districts Lottery and registration will be on a first come first serve basis. A Stocklmeir Elementary School Kindergarten lottery has been added to the 2012-2013 school year registration process as of November 14, 2011. A Kindergarten lottery for Stocklmeir Elementary School will be held on March 1, 2012 for Kindergarten students whose parent/guardian registered during the Kindergarten Registration window February 6 February 16, 2012 only. Please visit the Districts website at www.cusdk8.org, for more information regarding the Stocklmeir Kindergarten Lottery for the 2012-2013 school year. At Stocklmeir only, packets returned between February 6 February 16, 2012 will be included in the Stocklmeir Kindergarten Lottery. Packets returned after February 16, 2012 are not eligible for Kindergarten Lottery and registration will be on a first come first serve basis Transitional Kindergarten (TK) Registration for all Attendance Area Schools: February 1 February 3, 2012. (Satellite Sites: Regnart and John Muir) A child is eligible for Transitional Kindergarten if a child will have his/her 5th birthday between November 2 and December 2, 2012. You may register your child for Transitional Kindergarten at the District Office, Student Assignment Department, from 8:30-3:00 p.m. Please visit the Districts website at www.cusdk8.org for more TK information. Open Enrollment Requests: February 10 - 16, 2012 at the School of Desired Attendance. All in-district kindergarten students must be registered at their attendance area school before requesting Open Enrollment to another attendance area school or an Alternative Education Program. Stocklmeir Elementary School, however is a closed site and will not be available through the Open Enrollment process. The District's open enrollment process is a clear statement of the Board of Education's policy to offer parents choices to meet individual student needs whenever possible. If you would like your child to attend another school (except Stocklmeir Elementary School) next year for any reason, Open Enrollment or Alternative Education procedures must be followed. Detailed registration information is available on the District website or by contacting the Student Assignment Office, (408) 252-3000, Extension 110. During Open Enrollment/Alternative Education Registration, requests may be made to one school only, and forms should be completed at the school of desired attendance. As district enrollment continues to increase, space for open enrollment transfers may be limited at some schools or specific grade levels. If your child is not selected for the school requested during the open enrollment period, parents may apply to other schools beginning April 1, 2012. Alternative Education Program Registration (Faria and Murdock-Portal grades K-5; McAuliffe and Mandarin Immersion grades K-8): Garden Gate Elementary School 10500 Ann Arbor Ave., Cupertino CA 95125 February 10-16, 2012. Parents who do not already have a child in a particular alternative program are required to attend a program information meeting and school tour before applying for that program. Please contact the appropriate school for meeting/tour dates and other program information. Registration for new students in grades 1 8 begins March 1, 2012