GATORAID

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

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SCHOOL CALENDAR
MARCH 11, 2010

3/8-3/12 SPRING BOOK FAIR

3/11 6:00 p.m. SPRING SOCIAL AND BOOK FAIR
3/14 DAYLIGHT SAVING TIME BEGINS
3/12 SCHOOL SPIRIT - “CAREER DAY”
3/13 Sat. 7:30 a.m-1:00 p.m. GRADE 3 - “FISHING IN THE CITY” - CAMPBELL PERC. POND
3/15 STAFF LEARNING DAY - NO SCHOOL FOR STUDENTS
3/16-3/18 8:00 a.m-9:00 p.m. FUNDRAISER - BONJOUR CREPE CO.
3/17 3:45 p.m. SCHOOL SITE COUNCIL MEETING
3/19 REPORT CARDS
3/23 8:00-11:35 a.m. INTERNATIONAL DAY
(ALL KINDERGARTEN STUDENTS ATTEND 8:00-11:30)
3/23 6:00 p.m. C.U.S.D. BOARD MTG. - DISTRICT BOARD ROOM
3/25 6:30 p.m. LAWSON INCOMING 6TH GR. PARENT NIGHT
3/25 7:00 p.m. MUSIC CONCERT - GR. 4, GLC
4/1 7:15 p.m. PTA MEETING
4/2 SCHOOL SPIRIT - “CRAZY HAIR DAY”
4/5 YEARBOOK ORDER DEADLINE
4/5-4/9 GRADE 5 - MARIN HEADLANDS SCIENCE SCHOOL
4/6 6:00 p.m. C.U.S.D. BOARD MTG. - DISTSRICT BOARD ROOM
4/7 6:30 p.m. H.E.A.S.T. PERFORMANCE - GLC

Parent Traffic Duty: March 16th - 19th Parents from Rm. #3

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

PTA REFLECTIONS AWARDS 3/8/10

You might enjoy this fact that Garden Gate had an unprecedented number of 156 entries in the PTA Reflections program this
year. We had the largest number of any school that participated in the program!

GARDEN GATE STUDENTS “WOW” THE CUSD BOARD!

On Tuesday evening, members of our student council put on an outstanding presentation for our superintendent and school
board. The theme was about the many wonderful things we are growing at Garden Gate, including learning, friendship,
cooperation, and so much more! Congratulations to Nelson Niu, Ron Talmor, Victoria Whall, Debarshi Basak, Pranav
Muthuraman, Rupali Sujan, Ian McCulloch, Jeffrey Xu, and Andrew Chang for their excellent presentations. Congratulations and
many thanks to their student council advisors Joyce Che, Sarah Schwinge and Peter Ward for their coordination, hard work and
support of the students! We received many compliments on our presentation!

GARDEN GATE DESTINATION IMAGINATION TEAM, “INVENTING STARS,” PLACES FIRST!

On March 6, the Destination Imagination (DI) team comprised of Garden Gate students Vishal Swaminathan, Amrita Nagasuri,
Swetha Alachi, Varum Soma, and Pranav Muthuraman placed first in their competition at Independence High School in San
Jose. Their challenge included improvisational acting, story development, teamwork and research skills. The “Inventing Stars”
will now move to the state level competition to be held on April 10, 2010 at Independence High School. Congratulations to all of
these students and their parents!

STUDENTS ARRIVING LATE TO SCHOOL - PLEASE READ

Rainy days aside, we have been experiencing a larger than usual number of students arriving late to their classrooms. Please
remember that it is very important to have students in their classrooms at 8:00 a.m.

As it states in our parent handbook: “It is important for your child to be at school and on time daily, so that he does not
miss instructional time or disturb others by coming in late. Students need to be lined up at the door when the second
bell rings at 7:55 a.m. If your child is late, they will need to go to the office for a late slip.”

Please do not take or send them directly to the classroom, even if it is 8:01 a.m. They are late and need to get a late slip. Also,
remember that leaving just five minutes earlier in the morning can help ensure that your child will be on time. Please read the
helpful suggestions below for other ideas.

INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING IN YOUR EVENING WRAP-UP Excerpted from www.keepkidshealthy.com:

• Pack all the items you and your child need for work, school, or daycare and load the car or place coats, bags, and lunch
boxes by the door.
• Designate a shelf, basket, or area for each family member to place whatever needs to go out the door in the morning.
• Check the calendar in case your child needs sneakers for gym or a snack for a field trip.
• Pack lunches and refrigerate sandwiches—sometimes this is easiest to do while making dinner. Put your car keys with
the sandwiches if it helps you remember to add the sandwiches to lunch boxes in the morning, or put a note on the
lunch box to remind you.
• Check the weather report to plan clothing and outerwear for the next day.
• Have your child pick out the clothes she wants to wear the night before, or lay out two outfits for her to choose between.
• Choose your own outfit for the morning, and take five minutes to lay out your clothes the night before to make dressing
hassle-free.
• Decide what to serve for breakfast to avoid early morning debates.
o Keep meals simple, and get your child to commit to a choice the night before. Wait until the weekend to make
time-consuming breakfasts.
o Some hot items, like pancakes, French toast, and bacon can be made ahead of time and reheated.
o For those desperate mornings when you or your child oversleeps, have breakfast items like muffins, fruit,
granola bars, or cereal in a plastic bag that can be eaten in the car.
o If you're a coffee drinker, prepare your coffee maker and set out a travel mug.
• Shower or bathe your child at night.
• Give your elementary school child her own alarm clock so she can start learning to wake up on her own. A clock radio
that wakes her to music will better ease her into the routine. Let her pick out the style she likes best so she feels vested
in this "grown-up" item.
PTA CORNER PARENT TEACHER ASSOCIATION (PTA) NEWS & RESOURCES ! PAGE 3

HELLO GATORS!

“THEIR FUTURE IS NOW!”

You soon will be hearing a lot about the district-wide effort to save our teachers. It has been named Their Future Is
Now! The parent that has taken up the commitment to lead Garden Gate is Sophia Chan. You will be hearing more
about this campaign next week.

THE BOOK FAIR IS HERE!

This is our second and final Book Fair of the year, with an Ice Cream Social on Thursday evening from 6:00 – 8:00 pm.
Let’s hope for no rain!

FUNDRAISER - BONJOUR CREPE COMPANY - MARCH 16-18

Please remember to come to the Bonjour Crepe Company between March 16th and 18th located at 19929 Stevens
Creek Blvd., Cupertino. Enjoy a great dinner with family and friends while raising funds for our school. See the
attached flyer for additional information.

PLEASE WELCOME SONIKA AGRAWAL, OUR NEW PTA TREASURER!

At the last PTA meeting, we elected Sonika to our Executive Board replacing Sumitra Penmetsa. Sonika is a CPA, and
CA! So she comes well qualified. If you see her around campus, please make sure to say hello and also “thanks.”
Being Treasurer is an important, time consuming, volunteer position. We welcome you, Sonika, to our board!

I would also like to thank Sumitra Penmetsa for her time spent working as our PTA Treasurer. Thank you for your time
and dedication Sumitra! I enjoyed working with you.

NEW BOARD NOMINATIONS!

Also at the last meeting we nominated a large number of people to our board and committee seats. Our nominated
Executive Board is as follows:
Merav Talmor – President
Azmeh Ahsan – Executive Vice President
Angelia Kan – 1st VP Safety and Emergency
Manonmani Ramdass – 2nd VP Direct Donations
Lavanya Sivakumar – 3rd VP Family Events
Megha Shetty – Secretary
Sonika Agrawal – Treasurer (She has been elected for the remainder of this year as well).
Sanjay Agarwal – Auditor
Jhulan Haldar – Historian
David Hodgkins – Parliamentarian

Please make sure to stop these folks and give them a big “thank you” for accepting the nominations. They are
committing to doing their very best to benefit all the children of Garden Gate, we owe them our support and dedication.
We will vote on these candidates at the next PTA meeting, Thursday, April. 1st so please join us at this celebratory
meeting! We still have a few positions open for committee seats and can always use extra people to assist the
committees, so please call me if you are interested, and check the website for open spots!
http://cupertino.ca.campusgrid.net/home/Links+to+our+Schools/Elementary+Schools

Kathleen McCulloch
Garden Gate PTA President
Garden Gate Elementary School 10500 Ann Arbor Ave., Cupertino CA 95014
 GATORAID PAGE 4

ER BOXTOPS FOR EDUCATION

B OO K REMIND ate We are continuing to collect Boxtops for our school. Simply
YEAR -2010 Garden G n
9 o
The 200 rbooks are now s collect 25 Box Tops (10¢ value each) put them in a
ea orie
School Y re m any mem r full, sandwich bag with the student’s name and bring them to
a p tu
sale! C ild and order you by school on Tuesday, March 30h . Your child can exchange
h k
for your c py of the yearboo them for a prize from the Box Tops table outside the school
re d -c o 2 0.0 0 . office at dismissal (1:30-1:45 pm). For more information
colo for $
o n d a y, April 5th ill be please go to http://www.boxtops4education.com/
M
l copies w t
Additiona n a first come/firs , AboutBoxTops/Products.aspx) Together, let's earn cash for
il ab le o r $ 2 5 .0 0
ava in June fo ks will our school!
rv e b a s is o o
se e! Yearb g
rd e r e a rl y and sav al yearbook signin
u re to o e an n u ry y e a r
so be s , in ti m e for th
th is e v ent eve DAYLIGHT SAVINGS TIME BEGINS MARCH 14TH.
une to n
arrive in J dents look forward r children their ow Don’t forget that Daylight Savings Time begins March 14th.
n t. S tu in g y o u
eve buy Be sure to turn your clocks forward one hour before you go
consider ok.
so please opy of the yearbo to bed on Saturday night or you will be one hour late for
a l c
person everything you do on Sunday. Firefighters suggest that
twice a year when you change your clocks, either forward
or backward, you should also check the batteries in your
smoke detectors.
Garden Gate
students are T.B. TEST FOR VOLUNTEERS
participating in a This is just a reminder that all adults that volunteer in the
quarter-drive classroom need to have a TB test on file in the school
fundraising program, office. If you have one on file at another school in our
“Pocketful of Wishes,” district, or in the district office, we still need one
which benefits children with life-threatening illnesses. on file at Garden Gate. Please be mindful of our policy
Money raised in the next month will be given to the Greater when volunteering in the classroom.
Bay Area Make-A-Wish Foundation, so they can provide
magical wishes for local children. Students can drop their
quarters and other change into a box located in each DON’T LOSE YOUR PLACE AT GARDEN GATE
We have noticed that many families are starting
classroom. As a school, if we can raise $2,000 for this
to make travel plans for the summer break. This
worthy cause, there will be a special school-wide prize
is just a reminder that CUSD policy states that all
involving Mrs. Wood! Classes will also set individual goals
students must be in class on the last day of
and could earn additional prizes. Please donate your
school. Students risk losing their placement at Garden
quarters (or more) if you can!
Gate School for the 2010/2011 school year if they are not
present on the last day of school, June 10th. Students
LAWSON MIDDLE SCHOOL must also be present on the first day of the 2010/2011
Lawson Middle School counselors will be on our campus school year, August 19th, 2010.
on March 18th talking to fifth grade students who will be
attending Lawson for the 2010-2011 school year. ABSENCES AND TARDIES
Conversations will center on the Attendance and punctuality are important in establishing
transitions they will be good behaviors and building responsibility in young
making to middle school. children. Please ensure that your child is at school
Look for papers they will be everyday and that they arrive on time. If your child will be
bringing home from that absent, please call the attendance line promptly (252-5414,
meeting. In addition, ext. 6). If your child arrives after 8:00 a.m. they must report
parents are invited to attend to the school office for a late slip before entering the
an Incoming 6th grade Parent classroom. Under state law, three unexcused absences,
Night Thursday, March 25 at 7:00 in the Lawson Event tardies, or a combination thereof are considered a truancy.
Center. This meeting is for parents only.

Garden Gate Elementary School 10500 Ann Arbor Ave., Cupertino CA 95014
 GATORAID! PAGE 5
DISTRICT NEWS SECTION

2010 STAR TESTING DATES

STAR Multiple Choice Testing for grades 2-8 will begin the week of April 26, 2010 and continues for two weeks. The STAR
Program is a state accountability measure that helps us assess how we are meeting the needs of our students. You can help
prepare your child for the test by ensuring your child goes to bed on time, eats a good breakfast, and leaves for school with a
positive attitude. Please do not schedule any family trips or doctor appointments during this time.

MATHEMATICS SPEAKER SERIES

“Beyond the Book: Learning More Mathematics” - Thursday, March 18, 2010 - 7:00 – 8:30 p.m.
Collins Elementary School, GLC, 10300 N. Blaney Avenue, Cupertino, CA 95014 - No RSVP Needed
District students and their parents are invited to participate in the Mathematics Speaker Series. The next speaker, who will
address interested middle school students and their parents, will be Joshua Zucker. This presentation is offered free of charge.
Joshua Zucker, whose talk last year was very well-received, is a talented and knowledgeable teacher whose accomplishments
in the field of mathematics have been recognized both in his tenure as a writer for the national MATHCOUNTS competition
and as the Director of the Julia Robinson Mathematics Festival. Joshua discovered his love for number theory at Dr. Arnold
Ross's summer program at Ohio State University many years ago. As a student, he was invited to the US Math Olympiad
Summer Program and was a member of the first US Physics Olympiad team as well as a top -10 scorer on the Putnam. Once
again, Joshua will challenge students with insightful, intriguing problems and offer parents words of wisdom about math
education that will help them work with their sons and daughters in productive ways.

The Speaker Series is part of the district's Math Initiative Plan and is sponsored by the Cupertino Educational Endowment
Foundation (CEEF) and a grant from Microsoft Corporation. All featured speakers will encourage students to think deeply, to
challenge themselves in mathematics both beyond and within the traditional curriculum, and not to rush through courses.

DE ANZA COLLEGE SUMMER EXTENDED YEAR PROGRAM 2010

De Anza College in partnership with the Cupertino Union School District will offer the Extended Year Program this summer,
mornings only, from June 21 to July 16, 2010.

Students entering grades 6 through 10

Classes will be held at Kennedy and Miller Middle Schools, and will include: Java Programming, Geometry, Intro to Algebra,
LEGO Robotics, Speech and Debate, Fashion Design and many others.

Students entering grades 1 through 5

Classes will be held at Eaton Elementary School, and will include: Pre-Algebra Prep, Writing: Paragraphs to Essays, Reading
Intensive, Mandarin Chinese, Math & Art, Mandarin, Journalism/Writing, and more!

Program brochures will be sent home in early March and will also be available in the school office. More information is
available at www.extendedyear.deanza.edu.

Early registration is by mail only and will begin on March 8, 2010 and ends on May 21, 2010. There will also be walk-in
registration available from June 1 to June 8, 2010.

2009-2010 DISTRICT CALENDAR

March 15, 2010 Staff Learning Day

April 12-16, 2010 Spring Recess
May 28, 2010 Staff Learning Day
May 31, 2010 Memorial Day
June 10, 2010 Last Day of School
Garden Gate Elementary School 10500 Ann Arbor Ave., Cupertino CA 95014