BLUES NEWS
Richmond Street School and PTA Newsletter
April 2007				Volume 7, Issue 8
Richmond Street School 615 Richmond St., El Segundo, CA 90245 (310) 606-6831		Dickie Van Breene, Principal Janice Hickey, Assistant Principal elsegundousd.com/richmond_school Shari Gulian, Newsletter Editor	Tammy Long, PTA President PTA El Segundo Council Thirty-Third District California State PTA, everychild.onevoice

MESSAGE FROM OUR PRINCIPAL

Dear Richmond Street Families,

The Run for Education was great fun. Thank you to all of you who participated. We had a great turn out from Richmond and lots of winners! The Run is a great way to support our schools and encourage healthy habits. Richmond Street is striving to be a “healthy school” in many ways. Our new playground is in place and will help our students build upper body strength. We’re participating in Jump Rope and Hoops for Hearts, which educates our students on the benefits of keeping your heart healthy through exercise. Fourth grade is literally “running around the world” for good health by keeping track of mileage accumulated by running laps. Food served in our school cafeteria meets all state and federal nutritional guidelines. We’d like to ask that you help us to increase awareness of healthy habits by packing your student nutritious snacks/lunches, bringing healthy birthday treats, and adding nutritious food items at your child’s next classroom party. We can ensure that our children live healthy by working together. Please contact me if you would like to join us on the Richmond Street Wellness Committee.

Our School Site Survey results are in and can be accessed by going to our school website at http://elsegundousd.com/richmond_school We received some excellent ideas that will help us continue to make Richmond Street an outstanding school. We thank you for responding to the survey. We value your input and will do our best to implement your thoughtful ideas.

Sincerely,

Dickie Van Breene

Congratulations to our Richmond Street 2007 Run for Education winners!

Valerie MacKenzie – 2^nd Place (Overall Female Runners) & 1^st Place (in her age division)

Elena Wagner-Bagues – 1^st Place (Female 8 & under)

Jake Martinez – 3^rd Place (Male 8 & under)

Cali Hummel – 3^rd Place (Female 8 & under)

Miguel Wagner-Bagues - 1^st Place (Male 9 & 10)

Jackson Doering – 1^st Place (Male 11 & 12)

Katianna Lee – 2^nd Place (Female 11 & 12)

Samantha Denham – 3^rd Place (Female 11 & 12)

Laura Nilsson - 2^nd Place (in her age division)

Liz Hobbs – 1^st Place (in her age division)

THANK YOU PARENTS AND EL SEGUNDO EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATION!

91% of our families contributed to the Boost Our School Campaign

Our $2,500 reward will go to our new playground and science lab sound system.

MESSAGE FROM OUr PTA PRESIDENT

It’s April and that means Teacher Appreciation Week planning is off and running. If you would like to be a part of the planning just e-mail me at kipntam@sbcglobal.net and I will put you in contact with the committee.

Thank you to all the Richmond students, teachers and families that ran the Run for Education on March 24th. Several of our Richmond family members were winners in their age categories! Congratulations to all. We had a great turn out from students and teachers alike. The money raised from this event is split evenly between all of our schools and goes directly to help our kids.

Our Founder's Day event is Monday, April 30th at 7:00 pm at the Little Theatre at the High School. Richmond, as well as the other schools will be honoring some of our finest parent and teacher volunteers for the year. Personally, I wish we could honor all of our volunteers. As it is going now, Richmond Street will have over 18,000 volunteer hours by the end of the school year!

Try stopping by our PTA meeting. This month it is Monday, April 16th at 7:15 pm in the cafeteria......

As always, thank you all for making our school so great!

Tammy Long

TEACHER appreciation week

Teacher Appreciation Week is May 7th – 11th, if you would like to help or donate items, please contact Marcia DeAngelis at 310-535-0055 or marciadeangelis@sbcglobal.net.  It is a very fun week where we show our appreciation to all our wonderful Richmond Street teachers and administrators. Thanks.

Innisbrook all year long

Don’t forget to visit www.innisbrook.com.  Our school continues to earn 50% profit all year long!  You can shop for gift items gift-wrap and accessories, gourmet chocolates, school supplies, books, educational summer activity books and more! Our school number is 118959.  Just go to the web site, shop, enter our school’s customer number at checkout, and all items will be delivered to your home. You can also access the site by going to our PTA page on Richmond Street School’s website and click on the Innisbrook icon. Free Shipping on orders of $75 or more. 

Brandy Smith

KBKSmith@gmail.com

MEET OUR TEACHERS

Alisa Lister (1^st Grade): Ever since kindergarten I have wanted to be an elementary school teacher. My kindergarten teacher had a pet bunny named Flakey. We were able to take care of the bunny in the class and we could even take him home on the weekends. I loved that bunny and the experience of taking care of a class pet. Ever since then, I knew I wanted to be an elementary school teacher and have a pet bunny rabbit. I don’t think I will have a class pet but I am sure glad I followed my childhood dream! I have been teaching for 11 years and have loved every minute of it. Teaching first grade is so rewarding because I am helping my students reach their full potential. I love seeing the “light bulb” go on when a child understands what I am teaching. The smile on their face when they get it makes my day!

Alison Stone (5^th Grade): My fondest memories from childhood were ones of my sister and me "playing school." I even had a wooden school desk in my bedroom! After graduating from the University of Colorado with a Psychology degree, I spent time working with a Child Development agency and within the ASU athletic department. It wasn't until the morning after the Columbine tragedy that I realized what I was supposed to be doing with my life – I was to become a teacher. Within 3 months, I moved to California to attend Pepperdine University and receive my credential and Master's in Education. Seven years later, I find myself in the same classroom, working for the best school district. I cannot imagine doing anything else. Having the opportunity to make a difference in a child's life...nothing can be more rewarding.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

New Computer Lab: Thank you PTA for purchasing new PC computers for our lab. The old computers are being put to good use in the classrooms. The teachers will spend two days in the summer revising technology curriculum, learning new software programs and learning how to use video streaming. Thank you to all of our families who support PTA in countless ways. You enable us to provide your children with the very best.

Congratulations, Mrs. Bennett: Mrs. Bennett and her husband welcomed a baby boy in February. Anderson and his parents are doing great. We wish them all the very best.

Richmond Street School Survey Results: A summary of the results from the recent school survey is available on our school website’s main page at http://www.elsegundousd.com/Richmond_school

Kindergarten Orientation: Please tell your friends and neighbors who have students entering kindergarten for the 2007-2008 school year that Kindergarten Orientation will be held for parents only, on Thursday, April 26 in the RSS Auditorium at 6:00 p.m.

Richmond Street Choir Concert: The Choir will be performing on Tuesday and Wednesday, April 17 and 18 at 7:00 p.m. This will be the Choir’s final performance of the year because Mrs. Baldino will be going out on maternity leave. We wish her all the best and look forward to her return in September.

Volunteer Luncheon: The Richmond Street School wishes to thank its parent volunteers on Friday, April 20. Please make sure to R.S.V.P. to your child’s teacher and attend the luncheon at your child’s specified lunch time.

K – 2 Read-a-thon ends on Friday, April 6. Our goal is to read 10,000 books. Please help us reach that goal by reading with your child nightly. Students who read 100 books are invited to the Green Eggs and Ham Breakfast on Monday, April 23. All students will be treated to a fun assembly if we reach our goal of 10,000 books.

Spring Clean-up Week, 4/16-20: The city trash service will pick-up and dispose of large items during this time.

RICHMOND STREET SCHOOL

APRIL 2007 CALENDAR

Sun	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat
1	2 Minimum Day K - 5	3	4	5	6 5^th Grade Family Life Films	7
8	9 Spring Recess – No School	10 Spring Recess – No School	11 Spring Recess – No School	12 Spring Recess – No School	13 Spring Recess – No School	14
15	16 PTA Meeting 7:15 pm Auditorium Minimum Day	17 TAW Committee 10:00 am in PTA Room 7:00 pm Choir Concert RSS Auditorium	18 7:00 pm Choir Concert RSS Auditorium	19 7:00 p.m. GATE Meeting	20 RSS Volunteer Luncheon 11:20 – 1:00 pm	21
22	23 Green Eggs and Ham Breakfast Minimum Day Grades 1 - 5	24 TAW Committee 10:00 am in PTA Room	25 SSC Meeting 8:30 am in Room 202	26 Kindergarten Orientation 6:00 pm Auditorium	27	28
29	30 Founder’s Day Little Theatre High School 7:00 pm Minimum Day Grades 1 - 5