BLUES’ NEWS
Richmond Street School and PTA Newsletter
May 2005			Volume 5, Issue 9
Richmond Street School 615 Richmond St., El Segundo, CA 90245 (310) 606-6831		Dickie Van Breene, Principal http://elsegundousd.com/richmond_school Shari Gulian, Newsletter Editor, ssa@copper.net		Windri Barriga, PTA President PTA El Segundo Council 33^rd District, CCPTS

MESSAGE FROM THE PRINCIPAL

Dear Richmond Street Families,

19,874!! That’s the number of books our Kindergartners, 1^st and 2^nd graders read for the Annual Richmond Street Read-a-thon! Thank you students, families, and teachers for all your hard work. A special thank you to our reading specialist Ms. Holbrook, and her assistant Mrs. Fujii for organizing this event.

Thank you to all of you who responded to our School Site Council Survey. We received more than 280 responses. That is almost double from what we received last year. The School Site Council members spent two meetings reviewing the results and analyzing your concerns. If you would like to see the results of the survey please go to the Richmond website at http://elsegundousd.com/richmond_school and click on School Survey Results. We will be addressing more information on topics in which you expressed interest in upcoming months of the Blues’ News. Some of these topics include GATE, summer school, P.E., bullying, California Academic Standards, tutoring and school lunches.

STAR testing for grades 2 – 5 is scheduled for the weeks of May 16 and 23. We would like to encourage you to send your child/children to school on time and well-rested having had a nutritious breakfast. Homework will not be given during testing.

May 2 – 6 is Teacher Appreciation Week. I would like to express my appreciation and respect for all of the teachers at Richmond Street School. I see daily, the professionalism, dedication, and caring attitude our teachers have for our students.

Sincerely,

Dickie Van Breene

Principal

dvanbreene@esusd.k12.ca.us

SCHEDULE OF MINIMUM DAYS

Grades 1 – 5 attend from 8:30 – 1:30

(Kindergarten remains on regular schedule)

May 26 Open House

June 23 Last Day of School

SPRING SING SCHEDULE
Thursday, June 9
9:10 – 9:50	Choir and 1^st Grades perform – 1^st grade parents attend
11:00 – 11:40	2^nd and 3^rd Grade perform – 2^nd grade parents attend
2:00 – 2:30	4^th Grade performs – 4^th grade parents attend
Friday, June 10
9:00 – 9:40	Choir performs – choir parents attend
11:00 – 11:40	2^nd and 3^rd Grades perform – 3^rd grade parents attend
2:00 – 2:30	5^th Grade performs – 5^th grade parents attend

Summer School: Summer School will not be held at the elementary level this summer due to lack of state funding. State funding allows the district to operate summer school for grades 6 – 12 only. Fee-for-service programs such as Science Camp, Drama Camp and TLC are available at Richmond. For more information visit the school office.

5^th Grade Culmination and DARE Graduation will be held on Wednesday, June 22 at 11:00 in the High School Auditorium.

Gifted and Talented Education Program (GATE): The District will be conducting a search to identify students in grades 3 – 12 for the GATE Program. If your child is a high achieving student or is exceptionally talented in the arts he/she may be eligible for the GATE Program. Referrals for gifted students with learning disabilities or limited English skills who might be typically overlooked are also considered. Applications will be available in the school office on May 9 and must be returned by May 27.

MAY CALENDAR OF EVENTS
5/2 – 5/6	Teacher Appreciation Week
5/4 Wednesday	5^th Grade Panoramic Picture
5/7 Saturday	Hometown Fair
5/9 Monday	PTA Meeting 7:15pm in the Richmond Street School Library
5/10 Tuesday	Kindergarten visitation for students entering kindergarten in Sept. 2005 @ 10:00 Parent Volunteer Luncheon 11:30 – 1:00
5/16 – 5/25 5/26	STAR Testing grades 2 – 5 Make-up Testing
5/26 Thursday	5^th Grade P.E. Testing Minimum Day – Early Dismissal Grades 1 – 5 attend 8:30 – 1:30
5/26 7:00 – 8:00pm	OPEN HOUSE Choir Concert in Auditorium 7:40 – 8:00pm
5/30 Monday	Memorial Day School Holiday

MESSAGE FROM THE PTA

It’s hard to believe it’s already May and another school year will be coming to a close. It has certainly been a productive year, Richmond Street Elementary School reported a total of 12,500 (yes, the figure is correct) volunteer hours! That is the equivalent of hiring six full time staff at 40 hours a week for the entire year. We are very proud and thankful for all the time the parents have given towards making this such a successful school year.

At the recent Founder’s Tea six of these wonderful parent volunteers received an award in recognition of their commitment to kids and the community. Richmond’s PTA would like to congratulate Bonnie Stuger, Teresa Cina, Lynette Marcus, Monica Siadek, Tammy Long and Tish Mitchell for their service and commitment to Richmond’s kids and the El Segundo community.

In addition, Jayne Pimlott received special recognition for her outstanding service to education and the community. Jayne started the PTA organization at Richmond Street Elementary and continues to play an active role as a volunteer. She is responsible for initiating many of the programs that have made Richmond such a special place. Her tireless efforts have enhanced Richmond Street School’s reputation for quality education as well as tremendous parent support. Thank you Jayne, for everything you’ve done.

And now for some announcements; May 17^th at 7:00pm at the Middle School Bulldog Hall, the PTA Council is presenting program for parents on the writing curriculum in ESUSD. As you all know, ESUSD is collaborating with UCLA for its writing curriculum. I encourage all parents to attend the program and learn how our children are being taught to write. Everyone should be receiving a flyer coming home with your child in the near future. Also, El Segundo High School is looking for volunteers for May 25^th and 26^th for the “Every 15 Minutes” program. It is a powerful reenactment of a car accident involving a drunk driver. If you interested, please contact Kathie Stabile at El Segundo High School.

12,500 hours……amazing!

Thank you,

Windri Barriga

PTA President

MAY PTA MEETING SPEAKER

PARENTS- Middle School can be an awkward and difficult transition for many students and perhaps you could use some ideas to make the transition a bit easier. Jan Van Horn, El Segundo High School Psychologist and Jeff Greenapple, El Segundo Middle School Psychologist will be speaking at the next Richmond Street PTA meeting on Monday, May 9 at 7:15 in the Richmond Street School Library. Please join us for this informative evening.

MESSAGE FROM THE GIFT COMMITTEE

A huge thank-you goes out to all of our Richmond Street families. We are able to donate approximately $60,000 as a direct result of all your hard work with fundraising with wrapping paper, Fall Festival, Ralph’s Club, Target. With the money collected we are able to fund field trips, busses, room equipment and special programs for our school. The complete list of gifts to the school will be read at the May PTA meeting and a final vote will be taken to approve the list. A gift committee met with Ms. Van Breene to get her wish list from the staff and parent members to get input on what is needed. Richmond Street parents are the best! This is one of the largest gifts PTA has ever given. Again, thank you for all your hard work. It is worth it!

Tammy Long

Gift Committee Chair

THANK YOU TO RICHMOND STREET PTA AND STAFF

Thank you from the bottom of my volunteering heart.  I was truly surprised when I heard that I was chosen as one of the recipients of the Very Special Person (VSP) award for this year.  I am only one face among so many volunteers and I would like to share this award with each and every one of you.  It was so exciting to see all of the past award recipients at this year’s Founders’ Day Tea.  I feel so honored to be included in such an awesome group of people.  Thank you all very much.

Lynette Marcus

VSP Award Recipient 2004-2005

BOX TOPS AND LABELS FOR EDUCATION JANUARY WINNERS

Box Tops

Campbell’s Labels

Grade	Teacher	#BoxTops
K	Glenny	87
1^st	Loye	215
2^nd	Nodar	188
3^rd	Teitelbaum	130
4^TH	Blaney	157
5^th	Berkes	47

Grade	Teacher	#Labels
K	Jacobson	89
1^st	Loye	523
2^nd	Sabosky	225
3^rd	Saxonberg	21
4^TH	MacKenzie	542
5^th	Sleeth	80

BOX TOPS AND LABELS FOR EDUCATION FEBURARY WINNERS

Box Tops

Campbell’s Labels

Grade	Teacher	#BoxTops
K	Jacobson	256
1^st	Pickett	130
2^nd	Nodar	90
3^rd	Feinbloom	93
4^TH	Lewis	89
5^th	Miller	59

Grade	Teacher	#Labels
K	Jacobson	134
1^st	Pickett	53
2^nd	Foster	28
3^rd	Igi	3038
4^TH	Lewis	61
5^th