GATORAID

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

GAR
Boa CUP DEN
rd o ERT GAT
Sup f Ed INO EE
erin uca 105 U NIO LEM
tend tion 00 A NS ENT
Boa ent: NN CH ARY
rd M P hil Q CUP ARBO O OL
D
Anja embers uon
ERT R AV IS
Nan IN ENU TRICT
li Ka : K at cy W O, CA E
usar Alic h ood 950
Josep Ben ia H leen M - Pr 14
hine Li anc cCu i n
Luce ao, ock l c i
-She loch - P pal
y, Ga par
d-S
TA P
ry M SC C residen
cCue hair t
, per
son
SCHOOL CALENDAR
OCTOBER 1, 2009
9/28-10/2 SCHOLASTIC BOOK FAIR
10/1 6:00-8:00 p.m. FALL SOCIAL AND BOOK FAIR - GLC
10/2 SPIRITWEAR ORDERING DEADLINE
10/2 GARDEN GATE PTA DIRECTORY DEADLINE
10/5-10/13 PARENT TEACHER CONFERENCES
12:30 DISMISSAL -GRADES 1-5, KINDERGARTEN - SEE SCHEDULE
10/6 8:00-9:30 a.m. PROJECT CORNERSTONE PARENT GROUP - STAFF ROOM
10/8 7:15 p.m. PTA MEETING - GLC
10/9 DIRECT DONATION CONTEST DEADLINE
10/9 REFLECTION ART CONTEST DEADLINE
10/13 8:00-9:30 a.m. PROJECT CORNERSTONE PARENT GROUP - STAFF ROOM
10/13 5:00-8:30 p.m. BACK TO SCHOOL CELEBRATION AT “THE JUNGLE”
10/13 6:00 p.m. C.U.S.D. BOARD MTG. - DISTRICT BOARD ROOM
10/16 3:00-5:00 p.m. FALL CELEBRATION - FIELD
10/19-10/23 RED RIBBON WEEK
10/20 8:00-9:30 a.m. PROJECT CORNERSTONE PARENT GROUP - STAFF ROOM
10/21 3:45 p.m. SCHOOL SITE COUNCIL MEETING
10/26 STAFF LEARNING DAY - NO SCHOOL FOR STUDENTS
10/27 8:00-9:30 a.m. PROJECT CORNERSTONE PARENT GROUP - STAFF ROOM
10/27 6:00 p.m. C.U.S.D. BOARD MTG. - DISTRICT BOARD ROOM
10/30 8:15 a.m. HALLOWEEN PARADE

Parent Traffic Duty: October 5th - 9th - Parents from Rms. #14 & #15

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....MRS. WOOD! PAGE 2

Fall Social & Scholastic Book Fair –Thursday, October 1 (6:00-8:00p.m.)

I hope to see everyone at tonight’s Book Fair & Family Dinner Night. The evening will start at 6:00 p.m. and end at 8:00 p.m.
There are more books than ever from which to select a new favorite, and it’s always great to connect with our community to share
a delicious dinner! Also, we will have a bike clinic where skilled volunteers will check your bicycles to make sure they are in tip top
shape. Please come! Thank you to all of the volunteers who have made this evening possible, including setting up, staffing, and
taking down the Book Fair, as well as providing and serving the food. Let us not forget the hardy souls that help with that ever
important clean up! Thank you to all! Special thanks go to the Fall Social Chairperson, Mahalakshmi Rameshbabu, and Book
Fair Chairperson, Azmeh Ahsan.

Goal Setting Conferences – October 5th – 13th (Grades 1st through 5th )

Don’t forget that next week starts our annual goal-setting conferences. By now, you should have scheduled a time with your
child’s teacher to meet and discuss the goals for this school year. This is an opportunity for you to team with your child’s teacher
to set a course for the success of your child. The bottom line is we want your child to be successful, not only in his/her current
grade, but for the future. You are a big part of that plan and we welcome the opportunity to collaborate with you! Please
remember that our school schedule will change. Below are the times for the school day.

10:00 a.m. Morning Recess

11:30 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. K-3 Lunch
11:45 a.m. - 12:15 p.m. 4-5 Lunch
12:30 p.m. Student Dismissal
Study finds three ways to help your child succeed in school.
Parents want their children to do their best in school. But what works? A study by researchers at Indiana University found
that children do better in the classroom when parents:
1. Are positive. You know that your child is sensitive to your emotions. Not surprisingly, the study found that also to be true for
parents' attitudes about schoolwork. Parents who thought their child could do an assignment successfully had a child who
believed that, too. In addition, the study found that encouragement from a parent led a child to be more motivated. Model positive
attitudes, and your child will copy them.
2. Break it down. A long assignment can overwhelm your child. One of the easiest things you can do to help is to break that big
task into smaller pieces. The study found that when children worked at a task they thought they could handle, they did better at it.
3. Teach the importance of a final check. One of the best habits to instill in your child is to look over his work before handing it in.
Oops--he added when he should have subtracted. He wrote their instead of there.
Correcting these minor mistakes can lead to a much better overall grade. In addition, the study found that children who were in the
habit of checking over their work were more likely to volunteer to answer questions in class.
Reprinted with permission from the September 2009 issue of Parents make the difference!® (Elementary School Edition)
newsletter. Copyright © 2009 The Parent Institute®, a division of NIS, Inc. Source: Anne Dopkins Stright and others, "Instruction
Begins in the Home: Relations Between Parental Instruction and Children's Self-Regulation in the Classroom," Journal of
Educational Psychology (American Psychological Association, www.apa.org/journals/edu).

Calling All Gators! Walk/Bike/Carpool to School on Wednesday, October 7th

Join your friends walking, biking or carpooling to Garden Gate on Thursday, Oct. 7th. Look for the flier in this week’s Gatoraid.
Mark your calendar, and ride your bike, scooter or skateboard, walk or carpool with a friend or neighbor to Garden Gate on
Wednesday, October 7th. Be a part of the National Walk/Bike/Carpool to School month!

Garden Gate Elementary School 10500 Ann Arbor Ave., Cupertino CA 95125
PTA CORNER PARENT TEACHER ASSOCIATION (PTA) NEWS & RESOURCES ! PAGE 3

Hello Gator Families,

Thursday Night at Garden Gate is turning out to be a very festive night from 6-8 p.m.!
• Fall Social Dinner - For those who pre-ordered their dinners – BRING YOUR COUPONS!
• Spirit Wear for Sale - Order T-shirts and sweatshirts with Garden Gate logos to show your
support for our school. They are great for easy identification on fieldtrips too!
• The Book Fair - Open from 6-8 p.m.
• New Special Event - A Bike Safety Check - Have your bikes checked by Alan Takahashi, a
Cupertino Commissioner for Bike Safety. He will make minor adjustments to the bikes and
helmets to ensure proper operation and safety!

Besides the Thursday events, volunteers are also currently busy with the following: the PTA Membership Drive,
Directory data entry, Direct Donation, Scrip Sales, Fall Celebration preparation, Walk-Bike-To-School Day,
Red Ribbon Week preparation, Spirit Wear Sales, Project Cornerstone - Continuing Education for Parents, and
the Reflections Art Contest. We are also getting ready for our next PTA meeting on October 8th! As you can
see, there is a lot going on in the Garden Gate PTA! Please know two important things: 1) We do it for the kids.
2) We can always use a helping hand. Please contact me if you just want to help out.

6th District Training for PTA Positions!!

The 6th District (the next level up from the Garden Gate PTA) is providing free PTA training on Saturday, Oct
10th from 8:15 a.m.-12:15 p.m. Are you curious about a PTA position but want to know about it before taking
it on? Would you like more training for the PTA position you already have? Please go to http://www.capta6.org/
training/ for more information and registration

Direct Donation
We are almost at our Direct Donation goal. We have received $47,000 very generous dollars so far. Our “goal”
is to reach a minimum of $50,000. Our “hope” is to reach $55,000! Additional orange envelopes are available
in the school office or you may simply use any envelope and mark it Direct Donation. If you have already
made a donation, please consider giving a little more. If you have yet to give, please do it now. This will
eliminate the necessity for doing additional fundraisers and/or cutting our present programs! Thank you for
your generosity!

Kathleen McCulloch
Garden Gate PTA President

Garden Gate Elementary School 10500 Ann Arbor Ave., Cupertino CA 95125
 GATORAID PAGE 4

PROJECT CORNERSTONE: MAKING A

OK FAIR IS CHAMPION OF OUR CHILDREN - HOW DO WE
THE FALL SOCIAL AND BO AS PARENTS ENSURE THAT OUR KIDS WILL
TOBER 1ST!
TONIGHT, THURSDAY, OC
ton ight from 6:00 to THRIVE?
Please come and join us enjoy dinner, - What does my child need in order to enjoy a
ll So cia l and
8:00 p.m. for our Fa
fety check. There successful life?
the Book Fair, and a Bike Sa
s available to - How can I show my child that I support his/her efforts
are still a few dinner coupon and dreams?
purchase. See you there! - How can I know what is most important in helping my
child to succeed in school academically and in life?
- Are there enough positive adults in my child’s life?
SPIRIT WEAR ORDERS ARE DUE FRIDAY! -
Friday, October 2nd is your last opportunity to place For simple answers to all the above questions please
your order for your 2009-2010 Garden Gate t-shirt and/ join the 6 week Taking Asset Building Personally
or sweatshirt. These are available in both adult and parent study group. This study group will be presented
children sizes (sample of sizes are in the school office). by Linda Silvius from Project Cornerstone at Garden
If you misplaced your order form, more are available in Gate on October 6, 13, 20, 27 and November 3, and
the school office. 10. We will meet in the staff lounge. A one time
donation of $10 is suggested. Please RSVP by Oct 5th
SCRIP DRAWING and email Alexandra Chong at
The Scrip drawing for the months of August and duydan02@sbcglobal.net or call 408-725-0448.
September will take place on Tuesday, October 6th at Please leave your name, number, and email address.
1:15 at the scrip table. It is not necessary to be present Paper flyers are available in the school office. Please
to win. A special “thank you” to everyone who turn them in to the office or to your child's teacher.
purchased Scrip and helped Garden Gate School.
HOT LUNCH ENVELOPE PROBLEMS
We are experiencing some difficulties with the way the
blue lunch envelopes are being turned in to the school.
2009-2010 NATIONAL PTA Frequently, the blue lunch envelopes are coming in
REFLECTION PROGRAM unsealed. Some of these have cash, including coins
It is time once again for the and are handled by several people before ending up in
National PTA Reflections Arts the office. We've had money missing as a result of this
Competition! Entries will be since it often falls out of the envelope. Please make
accepted Oct. 5th to Oct. 9th. The sure you seal the envelopes before giving them to your
theme this year is “Beauty Is. . .” As parents, we are children. This will help ensure that your student gets
aware that the arts are extremely important to our credit for the total amount of money you turned in.
children’s education and growth. Expression of Thank you.
thoughts and feelings through creativity and
interpretation of a theme is an immeasurably valuable
learning process which utilizes both the left side (logic)
and the right side (creativity) of the brain. Though the DISTRICT CALENDAR
Reflection Program follows the format of a contest, the October 26, 2009 StaffLearning Day
primary goal is to encourage participation and instill an November 11, 2009 Veteran’s Day
appreciation of the arts. November 25, 26 and 27, 2009
Thanksgiving Recess
Please encourage your child to think about this exciting December 21,2009-January 1, 2010
theme and to participate with his/her own best creation! Winter Recess
Entries can be submitted in one or all of the following January 18, 2010 Martin Luther King Day
six categories: Visual Arts, Literature, Photography, February 15-19, 2010 Mid-Year Recess
Composition, Film/Video Production and Dance March 15, 2010 Staff Learning Day
Choreography. Age groups are K-2nd grade and April 12-16, 2010 Spring Recess
3rd-5th grade. Remember that all entries must be an May 28, 2010 Staff Learning Day
original creation from your child. For entry forms and May 31, 2010 Memorial Day
rules, please visit the following website: http:// June 10, 2010 Last Day of School
www.capta6.org/reflections/parents.html

Garden Gate Elementary School 10500 Ann Arbor Ave., Cupertino CA 95125
 GATORAID! PAGE 5

DISTRICT NEWS SECTION

CUSD BUDGET UPDATE MEETINGS

Given the unprecedented magnitude of the state budget crisis and the uncertainty surrounding Cupertino Union School
District’s funding, Superintendent Phil Quon will be holding a number of budget update meetings throughout the District
during October 2009. The Superintendent would like to invite all interested parents and community members to attend
and hear what steps the district is taking to try and weather the state budget crisis. Please attend any meeting that is
convenient for you. Here is a list of meeting schedules and their locations:

• Tuesday, October 6, 2009 – 6:00 to 7:30 p.m.

Hyde Middle School, Multi-Purpose Room (19325 Bollinger Road in Cupertino)
• Monday, October 12, 2009 – 6:00 to 7:30 p.m.
Kennedy Middle School, Multi-Use Room (821 Bubb Road in Cupertino)
• Wednesday, October 14, 2009 – 6:00 to 7:30 p.m.
Miller Middle School, Gymnasium (6151 Rainbow Drive in San Jose)
• Thursday, October 29, 2009 – 6:00 to 7:30 p.m.
Lawson Middle School, Event Center (10401 Vista Drive in Cupertino)
• Monday, November 2, 2009 – 6:00 to 7:30 p.m.
Cupertino Middle School, Gymnasium (1650 S. Bernardo Avenue in Sunnyvale)

If you have any questions, please contact Jeremy Nishihara at (408) 252-3000, Extension 323.

H1N1 GUIDELINES
The Santa Clara County Public Health Department guidance recommends that, based on current flu conditions,
students and staff with flu-like illness stay home until at least 24 hours after they no longer have a fever or signs of a
fever without the use of fever-reducing medications (any medicine that contains ibuprofen or acetaminophen).

You can help keep our schools healthy by adhering to the following guidelines:

• Continue to enforce proper hand hygiene and respiratory etiquette. The recommendations continue to
emphasize the importance of the basic foundations of disease prevention: Stay home when sick, wash hands
frequently with soap and water when possible or alcohol based hand sanitizer, and cover noses and mouths
with a tissue when coughing or sneezing (or a shirt sleeve or elbow if no tissue is available).

• Leave accurate information as requested on the school’s absence line if you child is sick. This will help the
school identify any potential issues as soon as possible.

• Promptly pick up your child from school if they are sent home for being ill. The school will keep ill students
separated from others until they can be sent home. Please make sure that the school office has your updated
contact information.

• Any returning students after an illness with a fever will need to have their temperature taken in the school office
before returning to class. Teachers will be sending returning students back to the office to have their
temperatures taken if they arrive directly to the classroom without being cleared.

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