BLUES’ NEWS
Richmond Street School and PTA Newsletter
September 2006				Volume 7, Issue 1
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 THE PRINCIPAL

Dear Richmond Street Families,

Welcome Back to Richmond Street School! I would also like to extend a warm welcome to those students and their families who are new to Richmond Street.

Summer has been a busy time for the Richmond Street Staff. Our custodians and office staff worked tirelessly to make sure the school was in top shape and ready for opening day. Many of our teachers attended staff development in the area of reading, writing, math, and data analysis. Several staff members also attended the city’s emergency response training.

We have a few new staff members on board at Richmond. Janice Hickey is our new assistant principal. Mrs. Hickey was a teacher at El Segundo High School and recently received her administrative credential. Mrs. Thompson moved to 4^th grade and Mr. Lubba is our new 5^th grade teacher. Mrs. McClain is job sharing with Mrs. Pickett in 1^st grade. We are also fortunate to have a P.E. instructional assistant, Tricia Gonalez for grades 4 and 5. More information about our new staff members can be found on the next page.

We received our STAR test scores and Richmond Street continues to perform at a very high level with an API score of 897. I would like to thank our very supportive parents and our dedicated teachers and staff for all you do to ensure that our students are prepared and successful in school.

I look forward to another successful school year and wish each student and his/her family a positive and happy experience at Richmond Street School.

Sincerely,

Dickie Van Breene

Principal

dvanbreene@esusd.k12.ca.us

SEPTEMBER CALENDAR OF EVENTS
9/11 Monday	Minimum Day Grades 3 – 5 attend 8:20 – 1:30 Grades 1 & 2 attend 8:20 – 12:50 Kinder remains 8:20 – 12:45
9/11 Monday	PTA Meeting 7:15 p.m. Richmond Auditorium
9/18 Monday	Minimum Day Grades 3 – 5 attend 8:20 – 1:30 Grades 1 & 2 attend 8:20 – 12:50 Kinder remains 8:20 – 12:45
9/20 Wednesday	School Picture Day
9/21 Thursday	Minimum Day Schedule BACK TO SCHOOL NIGHT – see schedule
9/25 Monday	EARLY BIRD/LATER GATOR SCHEDULE BEGINS Monday Minimum Day Schedule Grades 3 – 5 attend 8:20 – 1:30 Grades 1 & 2 Early Birds attend 8:20 – 12:50 Later Gators attend 9:00 – 1:30 Kindergarten (Regular Schedule) Early Birds attend 8:20 – 12:45 Later Gators attend 9:20 – 1:45
9/26 Tuesday	EARLY BIRD/LATER GATOR SCHEDULE BEGINS Kindergarten (Regular Schedule) Early Birds attend 8:20 – 12:45 Later Gators attend 9:20 – 1:45 Grades 1 & 2 Early Birds 8:20 – 2:05 Later Gators 9:20 – 2:45 Grades 3 – 5 (Regular Schedule) Attend 8:20 – 2:45

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Back to School Night: Thursday, September 21 is for parents only.

Kindergarten 6:00 – 7:00pm

Grades 1 & 2 6:30 – 7:15pm

Grade 3 7:00 – 7:45pm

Grades 4 & 5 7:00 – 8:00pm

Arrival Time: Students are not to arrive on campus before 8:05. We require this for the safety of your child. We do not provide supervision before 8:05.

Loading Zone: The loading zones are for pick-up and drop-off only. For the safety of all students please drive carefully and slowly. The El Segundo Police Department may ticket individuals who are double-parked. Crossing guards will be on site to help students and to monitor traffic.

Drop off and Pick up: We ask for your help in keeping our students safe by choosing to drop off and meet your upper grade children at the corner of Mariposa and Virginia. This will help alleviate traffic hazards for our children in front of the school where it is very congested.

Visitors and Volunteers: per Education Code and for the safety of students, all visitors and volunteers must first check in at the school office.

School Site Council Nominations: We are in the process of School Site Council (SSC) elections and we are looking for nominees. The SSC is the organization that meets throughout the year to assess the educational needs of the school and to develop a School Improvement Plan. Decisions concerning how to spend the fund are made by the SSC, comprised of the principal, teachers, staff and parents. Please look for the School Site Council nomination form in your student’s First Day Packet.

Receive Preferred Mailing: (If you would like to be put on an email list we will send you notices and announcements)

1. Log onto the school website at http://elsegundousd.com/richmond_school

2. Click on the button “sign-up for our mailing list” below the home page graphic

3. Type your email address, first and last name, and indicate grade levels

Skateboards, Skates, Roller Blades, Roller Shoes, and Scooters are not allowed at school! This is school board policy. Helmets must be worn when riding a bike to school.

PTA Membership: Join the PTA and help our school be the best it can be. Please send in your membership envelope given out in the first day packets by September 22^nd. The money raised by our PTA fundraisers and programs is gifted to the school to provide everything from new computers to the buses that take our children on their classroom fieldtrips.

WELCOME TO OUR NEW STAFF MEMBERS

Janice Hickey – Assistant Principal. Mrs. Hickey came to ESHS in 2003, where she taught Career Explorations, Business Math, Geography, Keyboarding and Computer Applications.  She assisted in writing the WASC mid-term review as well as facilitating the institution of the Critical Friends Group (CFG) protocols.  Prior to that, Mrs. Hickey was at Albany High in Northern California for two years. She has a BA from the University of California at Berkeley and earned her teaching credential from the Berkeley School of Education.  Mrs. Hickey holds a Master's in Educational Administration and the Administrative Credential from National University.  Before her teaching career, Janice was a screenwriter (Member, Writers Guild of America - West) for over 20 years, with produced credits in film, cable and television.  She claims to be able to order off a French menu, thanks to time spent in Grades 5 and 6 at L'Ecole Jean D'Arc in Fontainebleau, France, where her father served as an Air Force Colonel working with NATO.

Marcus Lubba – 5^th Grade Teacher. Mr. Lubba holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics from the University of California at Santa Cruz. He received his Master of Arts degree and teaching credential from Loyola Marymount University. He is also a graduate of El Segundo High School where he taught math for a year and a half. However, it was his original desire to teach upper grade elementary school and he has been a substitute teacher at Richmond Street School on many occasions. He was the freshman water polo coach at ESHS and is also an avid outdoorsman. Mr. Lubba attended middle school in Germany and speaks German fluently.

Kate McClain – 1^st Grade Teacher. Mrs. McClain is joining the Richmond team after taking last year off for maternity leave.  A graduate of UCLA and UC Berkeley, she has ten years of teaching experience, having taught most recently at Center Street School.  Mrs. McClain is thrilled to be sharing a first grade class with Mrs. Pickett.  Mrs. McClain and Mrs. Pickett fully anticipate merging into one super-teacher called "McPickett," and are toying with the idea of starting a bluegrass band with the same name.  When she's not teaching, Mrs. McClain enjoys running, reading, cooking, and spending time with her husband and their one-year-old son, Scott.

MESSAGE FROM PTA

I would like to welcome all of our Richmond Street Families Back to School!  The Richmond Street PTA is ready to go with exciting activities and fundraisers this year.  Let me emphasize that the best way to keep up with your children's education at Richmond Street is to get involved and PTA is a great way to do that.  The Fall Festival is only 8 weeks away and this year will be the best ever.  Look for meeting times the first week of school.  Our wrapping paper sale starts in a few days. The work room is always looking for parents to help our teachers. Our first meeting is September 11th, at 7:15 pm.  Get involved! PTA is a great team and we value each member.  Just one person can make a difference, with all of our PTA members, our school will soar!

Tammy Long

President

INNISBROOK FUNDRAISER

Our Innisbrook fundraiser is here again!  This fundraiser is a great way for our PTA to raise money for Richmond Street School.  The PTA receives 50% of all sales!  Please take the time to share the Innisbrook Wraps catalog with family and friends.  Out-of-town customers can order directly from the Innisbrook website.  Our school ID# is 118959.  Money and orders need to be turned into your child's teacher by September 22nd.  If you have any questions you can contact Brandy Smith at 310-615-1944 or KBKSmith@excite.com.

JOIN THE FALL FESTIVAL COMMITTEE

The Richmond Street Fall Festival is scheduled for Friday, October 27. We welcome anyone interested in being a member of this committee to come to our first meeting on Friday, Sept. 15 at 12:00pm in the PTA room inside the Richmond Street Auditorium. If you have any questions you can call Cathy McKenna at 310-819-5122.

CONSIGNMENT SALE FUNDRAISER

Richmond Street School to benefit from Just Between Friends Consignment sale!

You’re invited to consign, shop and help your community at the Just Between Friends children’s consignment sale. JBF specializes in high quality, gently used (and new) children’s, juniors’ and maternity clothing, toys, books, videos, strollers, cribs, high chairs and so much more.

Anyone with gently-used (or new) children’s items can be a consignor. It’s EASY! Prepare your items, hang them and drop them off! The rest is up to us. YOU set the price. YOU earn 70%. After the sale, you may pick up your unsold items or donate them to our selected charities: Richmond Street School and Women of Excellence Academy

How: Sign up by September 25^th to sell your items at www.jbsale.com/southbay

or call us at 310-430-8445. If you don’t want to sell items, you can still benefit the school by shopping! Look for the JBF postcard in your child’s homework folder the week of September 18^th.

When: Sept. 27-30, 2006. Open to the public for shopping starting September 28th at 9:00am.

Where: The Rebekah Lodge at 406 E. Grand Ave. , El Segundo, CA 90245