Hi Parents,

Sorry to be a bit tardy on my posting!  First of all, a big thank you to the parents that were able to chaperon our Mission San Juan Bautista field trip (Mrs. Kolassa, Mrs. Lauderbach, Ms. Harrington, Mrs.Varela, Mrs. Manchester, and Mrs. Harris ). The kids had a great time, and made a good beginning on this portion of California history, which we will be reading about in the Social Studies text quite soon. Our next field trip is coming quickly; we're going to the Monterey Bay Aquarium on December 5th! We will be leaving school at about 9:15, attending a Kelp Forest Lab, eating lunch, and then having some touring time in the museum.  Because we are not allowed in the museum before our 10:45 lab, I intend to return to school a bit past the regularly scheduled time (return to school about 3:00). I will need drivers for this trip.  Please remember that the state requires volunteers to submit a TB test to the district, and be fingerprinted.  When you've done this once, you'll be authorized for all your children's years in PVUSD.  This policy is for the kids' safety.
Please take the time to do this, even if you can only drive on occasional field trips. I would hate to cancel a field trip due to lack of drivers.

Next week is Conference Week, and almost all students have one scheduled at this point.  Please come to your conference on time, as many of them are scheduled back-to-back. The library's Scholastic Book Fair is also scheduled for that week, and purchasing books (including holiday gifts) is a great way to support our library's book collection. The kids will preview the Book Fair on Friday, and I'm sure they'll get back to you with their Wish List.

You will notice the homework is a little different this week, as we are stepping away from the Science and Social Studies texts to work on a short research project on phytoplankton. We will be working on it this week, and have watched a short video and read an informational article already. I reviewed the homework with the class on Monday, and gave them clear directions about my expectations about it on both the front and the back.  In addition, the kids appear to be working comfortably with the math these days, and are able to push through and ask questions when they're unclear.

Take care, and I look forward to seeing you all at conferences next week!
Carroll Mayer