Baywood Elementary School

TUESDAY MAIL

October 25, 2005

IMPORTANT INFORMATION…Monday, October 31, will be a NO SCHOOL DAY for students.  Teachers will be participating in a Districtwide staff development day.

The annual Baywood Halloween Parade will be on Friday, October 28, beginning promptly at 1:05 PM. Students should not wear their costumes to school.  They will be given time to change into their costumes after they eat lunch.  Remember to make sure that student’s costumes are appropriate.  No weapons of any kind may be brought to school.  Weapons will be taken from students and kept in the office to be picked up after school.

***Kindergarten students should wear their costumes to school.  They will have their own parade beginning at 9:00 AM.  Kindergarten students are welcome to come back to school for the parade at 1:05…but they must be under the supervision of a parent at all times.

Every Day Counts…in a child’s education.  Every day a student misses school he gets more than two days behind his peers, because, he must make up missed learning and catch up with new learning at the same time.  Every day a student is in school, she raises her chance to score well on tests.  Every day a student goes to school, he learns a little more about responsibility.  Every Day Counts toward funding for schools too.  Laws have changed the way schools receive state funding. Schools no longer receive money for any absences.  Schools only receive money if the student is in school.  Of course students should stay home when they are ill, but for every “elective” absence the school loses $27.00 in funding.  This past year Baywood lost over $12,000.00 in funding due to “elective” absences.

How can you help support the school in providing the best possible learning situation for your child as well as not lose funding?

• Plan your family vacations during the summer months or when school is on holiday.
• Teach your children to be in school and on time for school every day
• Make sure your child only stays home when they are truly sick.
• Schedule doctor appointments before or after school hours
• Bring your child to school before or after appointments if you must schedule them during school hours.
• Ask for an “Elective Absence Contribution” envelope to make a voluntary contribution of $27.00 for each day your child is absent for reasons other than illness.

Independent Study…while the school board recognizes that the ideal situation for students is continued attendance in school, they have provided for Independent Study so that students may receive credit for work during an unavoidable absence.  This program is fully described in Board Policy and Administrative Regulations 5150, but here are the highlights:

• Except in extreme emergencies, Independent Study must be requested 2 weeks in advance and may never be done retroactively.
• The school principal and district administrator must approve all Independent Study
• Independent Study is good for a minimum of 5 days and maximum of 10 days
• Independent Study may not be “tacked” on to a scheduled school vacation
• Work assigned for Independent Study must be equivalent in quality and quantity to the classroom instruction that will be missed.
• Special education students may not participate in an Independent Study program unless his or her individual education program so provides
• Students whose achievement is below grade level standards in language arts or mathematics are not eligible for Independent Study.
• Assigned work must be turned in on the day the student returns to school.  Students who fail to complete the work assigned will receive unexcused absences for the school missed and be considered truant.
• Students will only be allowed 3 Independent Study contracts in the course of schooling grades 1 – 8.
• Students in Kindergarten are not eligible for Independent Study

Extended School Absences…Throughout the year, schools receive request from families intending to take their children out of school for extended periods of time asking schools to reserve their children’s spaces in the classrooms in which they are currently enrolled.  This process applies to any request to reserve a child’s place when the child is out for an extended absence for anything other than the child’s illness (as documented by medical personnel if the illness exceeds 5 days).

The District’s position is that spaces in schools should be allocated to students who intend to be present at the school on a regular basis and we are not willing to hold spaces open for extended periods of time, therefore:

• A child may be absent between 5 and 10 days if the school is notified in writing in advance of the absence and the principal approves the absence.  A child who will be absent between 5 and 10 days should complete the Independent Study requirements during the absence.  Independent Study will not be approved for the first two weeks of school, before or after scheduled vacations, or the last two weeks of school.  If the absence is approved by the principal, the child’s space will be saved for up to 10 days.  On the 11^th day, the student will be dropped.
• Students who are away for more than 10 days (or even fewer days without prior permission from the principal) will be disenrolled.  If a space in the school is not available when they return they will be placed in another school.
• Even if the principal approves the absence if the student does not do an Indpendent Study these days will be unexcused and a truancy letter will be issued.

Truancy letters…you need to know that we will be sending truancy letters to any student who has three or more unexcused absences (absences do not need to be consecutive).  As provided in the Education Code and under SB 727 the following are excused absences:

· Illness (any student absent 5 or more days will require a physicians release for return to school)

· Funeral services for a member of the immediate family – limit one day within California, three days out of state

· Profession appointments – must bring note from the doctor

· Medically required quarantine

· Immunization – limit of five days

· Justifiable personal or legal reasons such as an appearance in court, observance of a holiday or ceremony of his or her religion.

Additionally, student who have 3 or more unexcused tardies of 30 minutes or longer are considered truant and will be receiving truancy letters.  The only exception would be a student who has been to a medical or dental appointment and returns with an appointment card from the doctor.  Truancy letters will be put into the students CUM and become part of the permanent record.

Our hope in giving you all of this information is to point out the importance of regular attendance by our students.  Not only to help stop the loss of funding but to provide students with the sense that we all feel that their job “attending school”  is the most important job they have. 

                                                          Joanne Day

                                                          Principal

Baywood and Banana Seed Books present the Fall Book Fair… Please come by the LGI and see the wide selection of quality books for adults and children, educational games, CD;s, DVD;s and much more.  Raffles and Prize Baskets will be given away daily!  Tuesday, October 25 – Friday, October 28

                             8:00 – 10:00 AM

                             12:00 – 3:30 PM

PTA General Meeting…Tuesday, October 25^th  7:00 PM – LGI

6^th ANNUAL BAYWOOD SCRAMBLE – IT’S A WRAP!

Over 100 hearty golfers enjoyed a stunningly perfect day in the sun and fresh air at Crystal Springs Golf Course on October 16 for the 6^th Annual Baywood Scramble. The lively event was followed by a fun-filled dinner banquet, awards, and lots of raffle drawings. The scramble raised about $12,000 to help fund many of Baywood’s programs.

Congratulations (and bragging rights!) to the following scramble winners:

Scramble Winners – Open Division

Tim Grant, Todd Hedrick, Chris Tun Zan, Alan Gennis

Scramble Winners – Mixed Division

Jim & Sara Mitchell, Rick & Joy Mayerson

Men's Longest Drive:

Tim Grant

Ladies' Longest Drive:

Lisa Braun

Men's Closest to the Pin:

James Kaye

Ladies Closest to the Pin:

There were no lady golfers whose drive landed on the green.

Of course, the Baywood Scramble would not have been possible without the generous support of our corporate and family sponsors. Many thanks to the following sponsors:

Corporate Sponsors

Eagle Tournament Sponsors

AdvanceV – Francois Modarresse

Guaranty Bank

Merador, LLC – Greg Herrera

Birdie Hat Sponsor

Predium – Roger Oser

Par Snack Sponsor

Amici's East Coast Pizzeria – Peter and May Lin Cooperstein

Check-in Sponsor

Boudin Bakery Catering – Jay Cornwall

Tee Sponsors

Arborwell – Peter Sortwell

Collection Bureau of America – Shawn DeLuna

Crestcom Training – Jeff Cohen and Mindy Gerson

First Horizon Home Loans – Andy Block

Helio Solutions, Inc. – David Auerweck

Ken Constantino – Alain Pinel Realtors

Miriam Chirko – Coldwell Banker

Peter Landes Estate Planning

Polyscapes Landscaping

PricewaterhouseCoopers – Jeff Kotowitz

SEA Construction

Skaates Inc. Plumbing and Radiant Heating – George Skaates

State Farm Insurance – Jim Dwyer

Stepping Stones

TNT Demolition – Tim Rosselli

Family Sponsors

The Auerweck Family

The Barnes Family

The Bhaumik Family

The Bowman Family

The Cornwall Family

The Dailey Family

The Diba Family

The Eveslage Family

The Garnick Family

The Grant Family

The Greene Family

The Harrington Family

The Hedrick Family

The Judy Powell & Dave Olson Family

The Kaye Family

The Kotowitz Family

The Modarresse Family

The Phil Constantino Family

The Tandowsky Family

The Tietz Family

Ulrich for School Board

Attention All Proud Parents and Baywood Photographers!

Spirit Week and Halloween are this week, so take lots of pictures of your children and their friends.  We'd like to use your photos in the yearbook.  Please send any digital photos you have to Nancy Schneider at rlwhns@rcn.com.  If you use film, you could leave copies for us in the Yearbook slot in the PTA room.  We will also accept pictures from the classroom and fieldtrips throughout the year.  If you have any questions or would like to help with the yearbook, please contact Nancy at rlwhns@rcn.com or 340-9839 or Debra Brinzo at dbrinzo@rcn.com or 343-2099.  Enjoy Spirit Week!

And the Gift Wrap winners are…….Shafer Smith (5^th grade) and William Graham (Kindergarten) are the grand prize winners in the Gift Wrap campaign drawing.  Shafer has won the iPod Shuffle and William has won the Sony Hifi Stereo. To be eligible for the drawing, a student had to sell at least one gift wrap item.  Congratulations to you both!

Also, congratulations to Miss Hinds and Mrs. Razak whose classrooms had the highest percentage of student participation in the fundraiser.  Innisbrook awarded each teacher a bag of great gifts to thank them for their support.

Baywood Auction 2006 – a new website!

We’re excited to announce a new website for our auction—check it out at http://www.baywoodauction.com!  It will feature auction news as well as sponsorship, procurement and volunteer information.

And if you are interested in getting involved in the Auction Committee, please attend the next meeting, October 26, 2005 at 7:00 at 22 Melrose Court and/or contact our auction chairs Heidi Bowman (heidibowman8@hotmail.com, 570.7510) or Niloo Ehsani (niloofar_ehsani@hotmail.com, 340.0315)

It’s Reflections time!

Entry forms for the Reflections Art Program will be distributed in the classrooms this week. Please encourage your child to enter as this is a wonderful and surprisingly easy way for them to flaunt their creative talent.

What is Reflections? It’s a national art competition sponsored by the National PTA in which students from each participating school submit entries in four categories: Visual arts, photography, literature and musical competition. 

How it works: A panel of anonymous Baywood judges will choose the most distinguished entries in each category for primary (K-2) and intermediate (3-5) grade levels.  We will send those entries to the district competition. The San Mateo/Foster City school district judges will then decide which entries to send on to the state level. The California PTA in turn will select entries to submit to the National PTA. Awards of Excellence and Awards of Merit are recognized at the annual National PTA Convention and are displayed as a part of the program’s traveling exhibit. 

This year’s theme is “I wonder why...”

What kind of art can be submitted: Drawings, paintings, photography, stories, essays and musical recordings. You’ll find details on these categories in your info packet.

Can my child enter more than once? Yes! He or she can submit as many entries as you wish in each category.

When are entries due? December 1^st to the classroom or school office.

I hope all parents and teachers will encourage their students to enter the competition this year. Please hold on to your child’s Reflections Packet when it comes home this week, and call Dana Halley (638-1665) with any questions you have.