GOVERNOR VISIT AND A NEW CALENDAR FOR SSES!

I am very excited to announce that Mrs. Culp's 5th grade class won the statewide "Home Means Nevada" singing contest! These kiddos do a great job of singing our state song and a shout out to Mrs. McKinnon for getting them ready for the contest! The prize for winning the contest is a visit from Governor Sandoval. He brought the students his Governor's Coin and a Nevada State Flag! Mrs. Culp's students asked him such awesome questions. I was very proud of them. Of course I had to throw in my two cents to the Governor. I challenged him to a game of one on one and if I won, he had to put more money into education. He said he didn't play basketball anymore but he promises that education is on the forefront of his mind. Overall, I was very excited to show off our class and our school! I am sure he was impressed! Well, I am at least!

We also got some exciting news about changing calendars next year. I am happy to announce that we will be joining the rest of the district on the new balanced calendar. Please see the district website for the new calendar. Here is my thoughts on all of this. Rezoning is a band-aid. The best answer is to build a new school out here in Spanish Springs. Well, there is no money for that so then we have to take the next best thing. I was hoping the rezoning would help get our numbers down but they really did not. I don't like the idea of having to move families around but I also think staying multi-track is not best for families and it certainly is not best for collaboration and culture for our school. So, I support this new movement, but with the hope that some day soon, the district will be able to afford a new school out here. With that being said, it is important for all of us to really push our legislators to give more money for education...more money for our children. The new maps will be on the district website soon. Please stop by or call if you have any questions.

Rocktober!

We are rocking in October here at SSES! I have been enjoying some great music concerts by our fabulous Mrs. McKinnon! Thank you for putting the time in for our students! The students and the parents are so enjoying them. I especially liked our bullying or anti bullying concert. It fit nicely in with our focus on respect this month!

We also did our part for raising money for Breast Cance Awareness. We compete each year against different schools to see who will raise the most money. We raised over $380 this year! We wore pink and donated money for the cause!

I am excited to show off a couple of our students this month. Kaili Hill won the Miss Vaquero Day Contest! Congratulations Kaili! You looked beautiful!

I also want to show off one of our students dance moves! Go Jacob!


Life is good here at our little Oasis in the Desert! Thanks to all of our students, faculty and families that make this an Otteriffic Place to be!

An Otteriffic Place to Be!

As the rest of the city begins their new school year, we have already finished two months worth of work! And boy have we been working effectively! We were awarded a Bronze Medal from the WCSD for Remarkable Performance and Improvement on our CRT test scores! I am so proud of our students, teachers, and families for working so hard to do well on those tests!

We are in the middle of tie dying and raising money for the 6th graders to go to Point Bonita. I am just so imppressed by the work that our volunteer parents do. I especially appreciate how much work Reba, a fabulous parent volunteer, does every year for our tie dying fund raiser. Thank you, Reba!

I have already enjoyed two Principal Luncheons! It is so fun to spend time and reward great students! Here are a few pictures from the day!

Really? This is what I have to put up with every day?? I so love my job!

I encourage you to visit our school on a regular basis and see what great things are going on!

Lastly, I wanted to share some new art work by our students! Check this out!

Cool Geckos!

I encourage all viewers of this blog to add their great story to our blog! I want the world to know what a great school we have. What a great community we have. What awesome students we have! Join in the fun!

A New Year at SSES...2012-2013 Bring it!

We are off and running with our new year of school, and I have so much to share. My favorite comment of the week came from a 1st grade boy. He was delivering the attendance to the office and I told him that he would get to see his teacher tonight at Back to School Night. For you see, his teacher is on Maternity Leave right now. He seemed to confused and then said, "Oh good, then she will start teaching us tomorrow?" I had to tell him that no, she was not starting tomorrow but coming out to meet the parents tonight. He of course wanted to know why she couldn't start tomorrow. I frowned and told him that she has a new baby and needs to stay home with her baby for a little bit. In true child-like innocence, he replied, "Why can't the baby's dad do that!" I loved it! The office staff erupted in laughter. I love this job!

I am excited for Back to School Night tonight. We always have such a great turn-out, which is a testament to our fabulous families and wonderful staff. I look forward to seeing familiar faces and excited to meet our new families. See you soon.

Lastly, I just want to share with all of you the exciting entrepreneurs we have at SSES. I am having many students wanting to sell items to help raise money for field trips or families in need. I try to make sure that I use it as a teachable moment. They have to type up proposals and figure out profits and all kinds of details. It keeps to be somewhat of a pain, but anything to help our children be involved in real life experiences.

Thanks for your time and I encourage comments as long as they are positive. Keep the Peace!

Jog-a-thon, Otterfest, and Rezoning!

Let's start with some serious business. The Spanish Springs Valley is rezoning and we are right in the middle of the mess! It is important for all of us to voice our opinion in the matter. The next committee/public meeting with be at Sepulveda at 6PM on June 5th. Let your voice be heard so that a good decision is made on what is best for our children and community!

Ok, now for celebrating! We raised over $8,200.00 for our PE teacher with the Jog-a-thon! That is great! Thanks to all of you that donated your time and your money. And, the students were awesome running around the track like they were track stars! Speaking of track stars, our very own Dr. Truax, a marathon runner, ran 30 laps trying to inspire our young athletes! Once again, thanks to the families and the community for your support in this event.

Speaking of a good time, the Otterfest is coming June 14th from 3:30-6:30. I am so excited about our huge end of the year community event! Please come out and join our celebration and if you are interested in volunteering your time or products or money, please contact the office at 425-7710. Thank you for joining us for a end of the year celebration!

Lastly, I want tell you about what a great day I had on Thursday. I had a 6th grade student Principal for the Day. He earned the reward by collecting 250 Otter Shells. I so enjoyed our time discussing my job and what he would do if he was the principal. He is such a bright, mature 6th grader. I love my job! I get to hang out with the coolest kids! Here is what he had to say about the day:

Hello Joe Donovan here I’m going to tell you what it’s like to be principal for a day here, at first it seem s really strange and I was not sure what to expect once I got here and started to do things I got in to the flow of things I first went and collected otter shells from the kindergarteners through second grade for the drawing then I went to the class rooms handing out otter shells to the students that were working quietly and productively. After that I copied some papers for Mrs. Walters and then helped pass out flyers in the lunchroom for a basketball camp. After that we got lunch: pizza. After lunch I got to go out- side with my friends witch was nice to get out of the office but overall the experience is great and helps you get a feel for what the office is like every day at school. 

And there we have it for another day in paradise...the oasis in the desert...SSES!

SSES Jogathon Success and The Addison Award

I just loved watching all of our students running their laps to help raise money for our PE teacher! Exercise is so important for our students to learn early on. It was also great to see all of my teachers taking part in the activities, including our marathon runner, our fabulous AP. Dr. Truax ran 30 laps! I also want to thank our dedicated PTO Board for making this happen and all the parent volunteers that showed up to help pass out drinks and snacks and cheer on our students!

I also want to thank our Partner in Education, Sierra Concrete and Design, for helping us with our 11th Annual Addison Awards! The Addison Award goes to a deserving 6th grade student that has shown over the many years here at SSES a great example of someone who follows our Otter Be's day in and day out. The honor is to represent Mrs. Charles daughter, Addison, that blessed us for only 6 days, but in those 6 days showed promise and courage, just like our 6th graders moving on in the world, making a difference in their future, our future.

Great Stuff in the Oasis in the Desert!

It has been a while since I have blogged for so many reasons, but the great news is that wonderful things are still going on out here in Spanish Springs, Home of the Otters!!!!

Sparks Centenial Rotary cooked Green Eggs and Ham for our 2nd graders in celebration of Dr. Suess' birthday! They also donated Dr. Suess books to our 2nd grade. Our second graders loved it! Thank you Sparks Rotary for taking good care of us!

Next, I want to brag about one of our 5th grade students, Gwen, for doing a book drive for needs children.

"She was able to get 1,000 books donated with the help of the school and Basketcase Organics. The DeHaan family came to help pass the books out. The kids were so excited to receive books!  One child was heard saying, "Books!  This is better than candy!"  Another child, when told she could take five books said, "I've never had five books before!"  It was so rewarding for Gwen to see the difference she made in these kids' lives." 

 Does it get any better than this?? Great job, Gwen!

And lastly, we are still trying to help Adrienne's family with all of their medical expenses since Adrienne is still in Stanford. Mrs. Sutherland, a teacher here and their neighbor, organized a golf tournament fund raiser. It was a huge success. There were at least 20 foursomes and tons of donations for the raffle. The best part for me was I got to see her family and Adrienne. I got a big hug and knew that we were doing a good thing for this family. Adrienne looked great and was so excited to see everyone. A huge thank you goes out to these businesses for their donations:

"Adrienne Tamayo Charity Golf Tournament

I wanted to write and let everyone know how pleased we are with the help that has been pouring in for Adrienne, our 6^th grader that is in need of a kidney transplant. We are receiving donations of food, time, money and prizes of all kinds.  We whole-heartedly thank everyone who is helping make this fundraiser a success."

Fry family                                           

DeHaan family

Tiernan family

Kurtz family

Bellione family

Gagliano family

Lunt family

Mrs. Charles’ class

Mrs. Charles/Premier Jewlery

Arrow Creek Golf Course

Costco

Nesler family

Ruby River

Sizzler

Moana Lane Nursery

Reno Dodge

Mrs. Leeper

Mrs. Carroll

Mrs. Gaynor

Ike Stuber

Olive Garden

Cashman Equipment

Cal Neva

This school and our community is a great place to go and live! Thank you to everyone in the community for your support and dedication to the children of our valley! Go Otters!



Last Two Weeks--Always Some Good News!

I am just going to say it! We have the best music teacher in town! We, parents, teachers, and students enjoyed Mrs. Pinto's and Mrs. Harris' 2nd grade class singing and entertaining us lasts week. I so enjoy how much children love to sing and perform in front of us adults! It makes my heart happy watching how proud they are of themselves. Speaking of being proud, keep up the effective work, Mrs. McKinnon, our fabulous music teacher!

I would like to also share some other great news! I had a parent take the time to write me a letter and tell me how much she appreciates our 6th grade teacher, Mrs. Hill. This parent's child ask Mrs. Hill to go to one of his gymnastics meet. Teachers get this all the time, and some times they can make it and sometimes they can't. Mrs. Hill made his meet and he told his mom that it made him feel special. We are making a difference! A philosophy we preach at SSES is making sure we are building relationships with all of our students. It is a Love and Logic approach, love with natural consequences. Good job, Mrs. Hill for going out of your way to make a difference in this child's life and all of your students. :0)
I love this school, and I love this job! Go Otters!

Lastly,  more art work from our students. Thank you Mrs. Libby!

Another Great Week in Otterville!

As always, I am sharing some positive news about our students and teachers. This latest email is pleasure to receive from parents:

I am writing to let you know how pleased I am with my daughter’s placement in Mrs. Beug’s class.  I have been impressed all year with both the classroom environment and the academics established by Mrs. Beug. 

When Pauline has friends over I sometimes here them talking about a bully situation or other difficulties.  They always come around to the same solution, “Tell Mrs. Beug.”  All of the students know that she will not allow children to be excluded from activities or teased. 

I am equally as impressed by her academic standards.  Pauline enjoys doing her best for Mrs. Beug.  She comes home everyday talking about something she learned in reading, science, or math.

She is always accessible to parents and students.  Even during her recent break she answered e-mails concerning the writing packet. 

In my dealings with her she has always been cheerful, professional and responsive. 

Thank you for the support you give her so she can do an amazing job. 

Mina Avery   

I concur with Mrs. Avery, that Mrs. Beug is an excellent teacher, and we certainly love Pauline and I am very excited that she is doing so well!

On another note, we had such a great time at our first annual Family Dance! The children were all dressed up and moms and dads were dancing with their children. We found out some of our students have talent on the drums and we also found out that I do NOT have talent on the drums!!! We also took some great pictures of everyone all dressed up. I thoroughly enjoyed watching our families have a good time.

We had a great week because that was not all that was wonderful about this week. Our 5th grades from Ms. DeLucchi's class and Mrs. Retzer's class put on a musical performance about bullying. It was funny and informative about bullys! I was so proud of their signing and their message. I even saw one of our students, who is so shy, come out of his shell and did a monologue in front of everyone! I love this job! Every day I get to see students learning and growing and teachers making a difference. :0)

Lastly, I want to share with everyone a write up in the paper in Palo Alto where one of our students, Adrienne, is there getting treatment. Adrienne may be gone from our school for now, but she is never far from our hearts. Here is the article:

Science and Book Fair Was a Fun Success!

I want to thank all the families that joined us for the Book and Science Fair night! We had fun with bubbles and I enjoyed seeing all the hard work that went into those Science Projects. I was amazed at the different experiments and the thought process that went into those masterpieces! A huge shout-out to my staff that made it such a wonderful night.

I like to blog about the positive things going on at my school so with that in mind, I had a parent, Gina Franklin, tell one of my teachers how much the morning tutoring has helped her daughters Madison and Makayla. I have some teachers working extra hours to make sure our students are ready for the CRT's! It makes my heart happy when I hear about the difference we are making for not just these two, but for many of our students. Good things are happening here at Spanish Springs ES!

I hope to see many families and students at our first annual Family Dance! Monday, Feb. 13th, from 6-8PM!

Great Teachers and Students at SSES

I am proud to announce that Mrs. DeLucchi has been awarded the Social Studies Teacher of the Year for all elementary schools in WCSD! She was given this awesome award because she works so hard and effectively teaching the students about the Constituion with her WE THE PEOPLE project and for her units that expose her students to the different cultures in our community. Great job Mrs. DeLucchi!

We not only have great teachers, but great students also. I had a principal's luncheon yesterday and I got to eat lunch with 46 RESPECTFUL students. Their classmates or their teacher nominated them for being the most respectful students in their class, and they certainly were!  I heard lots of thank you's and smiles and they kept their area clean and were quiet when they needed to be. I really do have the best job in the world. Where else in the world do you get to spend lunch with such bright, cheerful, respectful children? Spanish Springs ES is the place you OTTER be!

Another Great Week in Otterville!

This week I encouraged the students to write an essay about their favorite teacher. Barnes and Noble is having an essay contest and I sure would like to see one of our teachers win this contest. So encourage your child to write about a favorite teacher they have at SSES and submit it to me soon!

Check out this great artwork from our students. Vickie Libby volunteers here time. We are so lucky to have her.

Including Mrs. Retzers 5th grade class, I also volunteer to instruct Art Attack lessons for Miss Kautz 4th grade. Mrs. Kindred 6th grade, and Mrs.Hill 6th grade. I volunteered when my daughter was in Mrs. Retzers 5th grade class 4 years ago.      And have since Volunteered for 3 more Teachers classes. I really enjoy it. The students are wonderful and are always excited on Art day once a month. I have branched out, adding other Art this year from famous Artists such as: Mary Blair who worked on art for Walt Disney. Next month (Feb): "Heart Art" from the Artist Jim Dine. And in the spring: Enlarged water colored Flowers from the Art of: Georgia O'Keefe. If someday I could be hired for a job such as this, it would be a dream come true. For now, I am happy to volunteer to share Art with the wonderful students of these 4 really great teachers at Spanish Springs Elementary School. Sincerely, Vickie Libby.

I hope my SSES Families have a wonderful weekend. Thanks to all of you that make this an Otteriffic place to be!

One of my fabulous teachers wrote this after our big scare on Friday afternoon. We were all proud of how the community came together to help this family:

Dear Parents,

I just wanted to write a follow up to the Connect Ed phone call that you received tonight regarding the missing child. The child was my good friend's son. He was found safe and is at home now. The reason I am writing this email is because I want you all to know how much we all appreciate how the community came together to find him.

Teachers returned to school to help look for this child. Parents, students, friends and family all canvassed the neighborhood looking for him. Complete strangers came out to look for a child they never even met. School police came and knocked on doors looking for him. It really was amazing how quickly everyone got together and started helping this family. I know that my children are safe at Spanish Springs.

I am humbled by the response from the community for this emergency. We are so thankful that the child was found and this story has such a happy ending.

Thank you for your time.

Carrie McDonald

Doing Something Out of the Kindness of his Heart!

I enjoyed this story from my librarian today and it made my heart happy knowing that young ones DO do things because it feels good! Here is her story:

How refreshing it is to have a student help when asked and not expect to be rewarded. That’s exactly what happened when I began reading one of the nominated Nevada Young Reader Award books. Interrupting Chicken is best read using two voices. When Mrs. Retzer’s class visited library on Monday, I asked Ricky Dawson if he would consider reading with me to his class. He agreed to read with me and did a great job. I gave Ricky a Green Otter Shell as a thank you. In fact he did such a good job, I asked him to come back and read with me again to first grade and kindergarten. When finished, I again offered a green Otter Shell or a fancy pencil. Ricky said, “No thank you, I don’t need anything. I did this because I  enjoy it.”

WOW! What a wonderful student to have here at SSES.

Starting the New Year Off Right!

We are back to the grind at SSES. Students and teachers are getting ready for what we call the "Testing Season! All classes will begin their Map testing; this test helps teachers monitor where their students are in learning the grade level standards. Then there is the 5th grade Writing Test coming up at the end of the month. This tests to see if students are coherent writers. Then, coming in April, we will begin CRT testing; this test the students to see if they have learned the grade level standards. This last test is important because we are graded by the district, the state, and the federal govt. This is where our AYP accountability comes from. Well, enough about testing, let's talk about something more exciting!

Mrs. Charles had her 6th grade class submit their poems to READ magazine for a contest. The great news is that one of our 6th grade students won the contest! She will be given some prize money, but more importantly, her work will be published in the READ magazine! We are so proud of I.D. and I am thankful for Mrs. Charles for encouraging her students to enter the contest. ;0)