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LAUREL EAGLE
September 2013

From the Principal

Susan Glines
Dear Laurel School Students, Parents and Guardians, It is my pleasure to extend a warm welcome to all of you who will be attending Laurel School for the 2013-2014 school year. The teachers and staff are very happy to have you as part of our school community and we know we will have another successful and challenging academic year. I am excited to be starting my 28th year in education and my 5th year as Laurels principal. I love working at Laurel as it is such a pleasure to work with a dedicated staff and community who always put children first. You should have received a letter from me with important information regarding the start of school. If you did not receive this important letter please call, 312-7555, or email us, lsierra@smfc.k12.ca.us, and we will get one out to you right away. Please join me in extending a warm welcome to our new PTA executive board:
President Chelsea Bonini Executive Vice President (EVP) Michelle Pauling Treasurer MonaLisa Oaks Secretary Laura Jelniker Auditor Marie Genc VP Fundraising Barbara Sibley VP Community Events - Cynthia Nessel VP Parent Education - Margaret Edwards VP Student Activities - Jen Nobrega VP Membership Stefani Shek Historian Elena Escalante Parliamentarian Aileen Snodgrass

From the PTA President

Chelsea Bonini

Dear Laurel Families, On behalf of the Laurel Elementary School PTA, I would like to welcome you to the 2013-2014 school year. I am excited to step into the role of PTA President! I am sure that your children are eagerly anticipating the start of this school year, and Laurel is already bustling with activity and planning for the coming year! We will have a PTA WELCOME BACK COFFEE & VOLUNTEER SIGN-UP on the first day of school in the MPR, so you are invited to stop by after dropoff to meet new parents, catch up with friends, and learn about the PTAs plans for this year and how you can help! We hope to see you there! We will not be having a student social on class assignment day, as we have for the past few years. The PTAs goal of supporting the many special programs at Laurel continues, and to do that, well need YOUR support of the PTA! Continued on page 3-

Continued on page 2

August 27th - Class Assignment Day August 27th - Kindergarten Orientation August 28th - First Day of School!
Kindergarten: 8:25am 12:50pm 1st, 2nd, 3rd grades: 8:35-2:55p.m. 4th, 5th grades: 8:25am-3:05pm School ends at 12:50 on Wednesdays for all

Please visit our web pages: http://laurel-smfc-ca.schoolloop.com/ and http://www.laurelpta.org/

From the Principal, continued from page 1They have many exciting events planned for you this year. The purpose of the PTA (Parent Teacher Association) is to promote the welfare of children throughout the community and build a closer relationship between home and school. Through our school PTA we are able to offer a physical education program for every student as well as an antibullying program and Art in Action. They also subsidize our field trips and provide classroom materials. These integral programs and supplies provide your child with a well-rounded education. When you support the PTAs fundraisers you are supporting your child. It is also important to know that all money raised by the PTA goes directly to support the students at Laurel. There are many ways to get involved here at Laurel and everyone has something to contribute. As I stated above Laurel is an incredible school with a dedicated staff and parents working together to provide the best for our children. Through the PTA, every person can make a difference and support the many activities that build a strong school community. I urge you to join the PTA. It has been shown that parents who get involved their childrens education do better in school and tend to develop better self esteem. For this reason I always like to share the following statistics at the beginning of every school year about parental involvement because it tends to be one of the most overlooked aspects of American education today. All parents and family members should try to find the time and make the effort because research shows that when families get involved, their children: Get better grades and test scores. Graduate from high school at higher rates. Are more likely to go on to higher education. Are better behaved and have more positive attitudes.

Family involvement is also one of the best investments a family can make. Students who graduate from high school earn on average, $200,000 more than students who drop out and a college graduate will make about $1 million more! Most important of all, ALL parents and families can enjoy these benefits. It doesn't matter how much money you have. It doesn't matter how much formal education you've had yourself or how well you did in school. And family involvement works for children at all grade levels. Family involvement includes a lot of different types of activities. Some parents and families may have the time to get involved in many ways. Other may only have the time for one or two activities. But whatever your level of involvement, remember: If you get involved and stay involved, you can make a world of difference. Family involvement in education can mean: Reading a bedtime story to your preschool child...checking homework every night...getting involved in PTA...discussing your children's progress with teachers...voting in school board elections...helping your school to set challenging academic standards...limiting TV viewing to no more than two hours on school nights...getting personally involved in governing your school...becoming an advocate for better education in your community and state...and insisting on high standards of behavior for children. Family involvement can also be as simple as asking your children, "How was school today?" But ask every day. That will send your children the clear message that their schoolwork is important to you and you expect them to learn. I am urging you to please make a pledge to get involved! Once again, I am excited for the upcoming school year and look forward to working with the Laurel community and staff to continue to provide a quality education for your children. Warmest regards, Susan Glines 2

From the PTA President, continued from page 1 This year, please consider sharing your most valuable asset with Laurel and your children - your TIME. While monetary donations are always needed (and you will hear more about that soon from our PTA Fundraising Chairs!), it is your presence on campus that makes Laurel so special! I know that not everyone can be on campus during school hours, but there are many other opportunities to be there to support the school, PTA, teachers and students! I hope that the PTA can count on you to donate an hour or two a month to Laurel! This fall, we will be officially going GREEN for all communications at Laurel! Your survey responses overwhelmingly supported this change, and we have calculated that we will have over $4,000 in savings for our PTA budget without all the paper, so we are taking action! We know that this will be a major change in how you receive information at Laurel, but to make this easier, the PTA has launched a new website: www.laurelpta.org where you will be able to easily access all communications in ONE PLACE, including Thursday Folders! Through the PTA website, you will be able to sign-up online to help with everything imaginable at Laurel, and you will even be able to signup to become a PTA Member and pay online! Laurels Event registrations and payments will be on the website as well. You may see a bit of paper in August and September, but the goal is to have less and less paper as the year goes on. To further help with the transition, if you ever need a copy of something (such as an Event signup), well always have a master copy and some extras in the office and well post the Thursday Folder flyers near the office for easy viewing. As this will be a year of transition, I encourage you to embrace the resources and information on the PTA website and regularly check your email for important communications. ALSO, if you do not yet have an email account, please let us (or the office) know and we will help you get one! We will be available to begin helping with this at the PTA Welcome Back Coffee. We hope that you will give us a lot feedback throughout the year so that we can work together to make our GREEN communications successful at Laurel. If you have any questions/comments, always feel free to contact me or our new Communications Chair (and PTA Board, EVP), Michelle Pauling at michelle@laurelpta.org I am very excited for this school year to begin, and I hope that you are too! Best, Chelsea Bonini Laurel PTA President, 2013-2014 chelsea@laurelpta.org (415)531-0508

PTA FUNdraising!
We would like to introduce ourselves as your new Fundraising Co-Chairs for the Laurel PTA this year, and give a big Thank You to last years Fundraising Co-Chairs, Kim Unger and Terri Lim! Thank you for all you did for our school! Due to your efforts, the PTA exceeded its Fundraising Goals!! We hope to keep up the momentum! We also want to THANK everyone who contributed to the Laurel PTA last year with donations, time and expertise! Without your support, the PTA wouldnt be able to provide the opportunities that make Laurel such a special place for our kids. Your donations to the PTA go right back to the kids through various programs, including our PMT classes, Art in Action, our school Library, assemblies and speakers, our computer lab and many other programs and materials! Laurels FIRST Move-A-Thon last year was a HUGE success! This is the PTAs primary Fundraiser for this year, and we hope that it will be an even bigger success than last year! The Move-a-Thon will be held this Fall, and once we tally its success, we will let you know about a potential Spring fundraiser. Also, Laurels passive fundraising efforts, including eScrip, Box Tops and Restaurant Nights, will continue, so please keep an eye out for these fundraisers! Have a great year, everyone! Barbara Sibley and Marie Genc, Your PTA Fundraising Co-Chairs

The Laurel PTA Needs YOU!

We have filled many positions within the PTA but are still searching for volunteers to fill these important positions below please peruse the descriptions of our open positions - if you find something that interests you, please be sure to contact PTA President, Chelsea Bonini, at chelsea@laurelpta.org or PTA Executive Vice President, Michelle Pauling, at michelle@laurelpta.org to discuss the position and get involved! Thanks for your consideration! Newsletter Editor gather approved articles and send to district office for translation into Spanish - arrange into newsletter format in Microsoft Word (both English and Spanish version), put into PDF format, put onto PTA website approximately 10 hours per month (fewer when newsletter covers 2 months) volunteer today! Wee Care Coordinator clip banners to the fence at collection times, write an article for the newsletter (you will receive copies of previous articles from which to work), tidy collection site daily (typically 5 days), coordinate pickup by Samaritan house (1 phone call) - there is freedom to be creative with incentive programs for donations have some good ideas? Volunteer today! Restaurant Nights Coordinator one of our fundraising methods, we are looking for someone that is willing to organize a fundraising night at various restaurants around the city once every 2 months or so. Your choice of restaurants! Make the call to the manager, follow through with collecting the check, deliver to the PTA Treasurer. Directory Coordinator we are looking for someone to coordinate communication information from Laurel families into a directory for the school. Will get information from the office, assemble into the directory template, check for typos, and get printed through the district. It is useful to know various computer programs such as MS Word and Ms Excel (or equivalent.) This is a very short term but incredibly useful way to help Laurel school. 36th Avenue sign Coordinator we need someone that will change the sign on 26th avenue approximately once a month important upcoming dates are assembled from School and PTA calendars, items must be combined into short statements that will fit on the sign! Content must be approved by the Principal before displaying. Apparel Coordinator we will have some Laurel clothing stock for the first few weeks, but will need someone to keep track of student orders and communicate with the printer, fill out paperwork for payment orders can be placed every few months, with tracking and timely payment (from PTA) made through you. Grant Committee - There are many grants available for Education and related programs. We are looking for someone to help search for applicable grants for Laurel's programs and to prepare materials for submission to try to obtain grant funds. ELAC (English Learner Advisory Committee) Liaison --We need a parent to attend our ELAC Meetings and report back to the PTA Board with important information about what the committee has addressed that may impact PTA programs! Can you help? See http://www.cde.ca.gov/ta/cr/elac.asp

JOIN THE ART IN ACTION TEAM!

For those of you that are new, Art in Action (artinaction.org) is our parent-led, hands-on art program, now in its 15th year at Laurel. Art in Action is fully funded by the PTA and its success depends on the support of parents like you. Each classroom needs a parent leader and assistants, and an art background is not required to help. A three hour, grade-specific workshop is provided at the Art in Action corporate offices in Menlo Park, and this, coupled with a detailed lesson book, is all you need to lead or assist with your classrooms art lessons. Lessons occur about once a month, in our dedicated art room, and each lesson is 1.5 2 hours total, including set-up and clean up. Stop by our table and find out more about the Art in Action program at the Kindergarten Orientation on Tuesday, August 27, and the Welcome Back Social on Wednesday, Aug 28. We look forward to meeting you! In other Art in Action news, we would like to recognize our dedicated parent volunteers who are assisting with Art in Action program coordination this year. Program Coordinators: Marcella Ballard & Jen Nobrega Kiln Coordinator: Lisa Heath Supply Coordinator: Holly Yates UPCOMING EVENTS SAVE THE DATE!

Art in Action Welcome Back Coffee Friday, August 30, 2012 8:30 a.m. - 10.00 a.m. in Room 23 Refreshments will be served and little ones are always welcome! New Docent Orientation Friday, September 13 8:30 a.m. - 9:30 a.m. in Room 23 A great opportunity for our new volunteers to learn about the program, meet other parents and ask questions. We look forward to a wonderful year filled with art! Marcella Ballard: marcellaballard@gmail.com or 415.902.4946 Jen Nobrega: jen.nobrega@gmail.com or 650.281.1135

Laurel Move-A-Thon 2013

ON YOUR MARK----------GET SET----------MOVE!
The Move-A-Thon was such a great success last year that we are planning to do it again. Thanks to all of your pledges, we exceeded our goal last year! With your support this year, we hope to exceed it again. All the money raised goes directly back to Laurel Elementary by supporting a variety of PTA sponsored programs including PMT, Computer Lab, Art in Action, quality field trips, classroom supplies and our Library. More information on the Move-A-Thon will be given out at the beginning of the School year so keep a look out for it. This is our largest Fundraising event of the year so start talking to your friends, family and neighbors to Pledges your child for this exciting and very important event. Contact: Kimberly Unger at ungerink@yahoo.com Barbara Sibley at bsibley13@yahoo.com Marie Genc at mariemg1@yahoo.com

The Laurel Moms' Club is a great opportunity to get to know other moms in the Laurel community. The Moms' Club hosts an informal get together every other month at the home of one of our Laurel Moms to eat, drink & socialize. A small donation is requested, with the funds being used to support the Laurel student community and specific needs identified by Principal Glines. If you are interested in hosting an event this year, or just want to find out more, email laurelmoms@gmail.com. We look forward to seeing you at our first event! jen nobrega laurelmoms@gmail.com

Laurel Families who shop with their e-Scrip enrolled credit, debit or grocery loyalty cards contribute over $2500 to Laurel School PTA each year just by shopping!

Box Tops News

Welcome Back Laurel Elementary Families! Thank you to all those that participated last year in making our fundraising efforts so successful! Last year, we raised over $2,000 for our school from this very simple fundraiser. This was double from the year before. With your help, we are hoping to exceed that number this year. You probably have Box Tops in your house right now. Look for the Box Tops label on familiar household brands such as Kleenex, Avery, Betty Crocker, Chex, Cheerios, Hefty and Ziploc. Look for more participating products at: http://www.boxtops4education.com/earn/clip/Brands.aspx Clip your box tops and turn them into your students teacher. Our first contest will end October 30. Thank you for your continued support and Keep Clipping! Welcome Back Laurel Elementary Families!

Heres how it works: register your existing grocery loyalty card (like Safeway), debit card or credit card on-line or with an e-Scrip registration flyer available in the school office. Once enrolled use your registered card to make your purchases and the merchant donates a percentage of the sale to our school at no cost to you! You can also shop at over 1000 of your favorite on-line merchants at e-Scrips on-line mall, with a percentage of your purchases going to Laurel School at no cost to you!Its Free, Its Easy, Its Safe & It Pays! Enroll now: Go to www.escrip.com. Click on 1 Sign Up, choose one: Group name enter Laurel School PTA or Group ID enter 137235461, click on the purple Search, then click on Laurel School PTA and register your cards or renew if you are already registered. Thanks for your support! Lori Heizmann e-Scrip Coordinator

PLAYGROUND PARENTS NEEDED!

We are looking for about 20-25 parents who can pledge 1 hour each week during the school year and work one weekly shift on the playground during the lunch hour on a regular basis. Parents are welcome to share a shift and only work every other week or even be added to our on-call substitute list if your schedule is flexible. The playground needs SEVERAL parents to volunteer during lunch hour in order for all of our students to have access to the PTA ball cart and enjoy playing with our PTA supply of playground equipment in addition to our children having additional supervision and support of our Peacemakers during the lunch hour. We need all volunteers to be trained and ready to officially begin working on the playground no later than the first week of October. Our brief parent education trainings which will be scheduled for sometime during the month of September, and all parents who are interested in working on the playground this school year MUST attend the mandatory parent education training at Laurel. If you are unable to attend the training please contact our PTA playground parent coordinator, Aileen Snodgrass, at daksfo@earthlink.net and we can arrange an alternative training date. This FREE parent education workshop and playground parent training is open to ALL Laurel parents who are interested and wish to attend, even if you cannot be a playground parentThis workshop will provide useful parenting information for your family about helpful tips on how to use effective communication, problem-solving and conflict resolution with children. Thanks! Aileen Snodgrass Coordinator, PTA Playground Parent Program

Laurel Elementary participates in a program called Project Wee Care, developed as a link between the San MateoFoster City School District and Samaritan House. Samaritan House ia a non-profit agency providing a broad range of services to residents of San Mateo County: food, shelter, clothing, education and medical services. Through Project Wee Care, teachers, parents, and students join forces to help low-income families through donations of food, clothing, linens, holiday toys and other necessities. By participating in gathering donations, children gain an understanding that there are people in need within our community, they learn how to help, and how volunteering can make a difference. We hold 3-4 collections throughout the school year, typically in November, December, April, and June. Our donations have helped many children and their families enjoy the holidays as well as stay better clothed and fed throughout the school year. Last year we collected over a ton of food, clothing and gifts for those in need. Thanks so much to the Laurel families that made Project Wee Care such a success last year! Our hope is that when we run these collection efforts, as many Laurel families as possible will look in their closets and cabinets and donate items that will help children and families within our own San Mateo Community. Thank you so much for your consideration and your future donations!

LEAF
(L aurel Earth Action Force)

LEAF is Laurels green team! We have a great team of teachers, principal and parents but still have room for a few more members. If you have a passion for seeing our students and community learn and contribute to making our homes, school and community a greener place to live, please contact me or Mrs. Glines. We especially want a champion (or co-champions) to continue to reduce lunch waste! Meanwhile, please consider sending your child to school with a re-useable lunch box filled with food packaged in re-useable containers that can easily be washed when returned home. Plastic utensils and cloth napkins can be washed and re-used as well. Think of all the $ you will save by not having to remember to buy brown paper bags and napkins! Go Green!

KEEP LAUREL LOVELY COMMITTEE

Do you like to garden? Do you sometimes have about 15 minutes in the morning, mid-day, or afternoons before you pick-up your kids to pull weeds in our Laurel planters or plant something new? If so, it would be GREAT if you would join this new PTA committee! We will keep some gardening supplies in the office for you to easily access if you have the time and the inclination to help - on your own schedule! Having a beautiful campus at Laurel says a lot about how we value our school... so help us keep Laurel lovely! Join us! If you have questions, please contact Chelsea Bonini at chelsea@laurelpta.org or visit the PTA website at www.laurelpta.org

Laurel Elementary School 316 36th Ave. San Mateo, CA 94403

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Questions? Suggestions? Comments? Email the Eagle newsletter editor at michelle@laurelpta.org ions? Comments?