school newsletter - Lucerne Elementary School

LUCERNE SCHOOL
NEWSLETTER
Board Members
Mike Brown
Superintendent/Principal
Bruce Higgins, President
Dawn McAuley, Clerk
Rhett Gray, Member
February 4, 2015
Friday, February 13, 2015 will be a
school holiday in observance of
President Lincoln’s Birthday.
There will be no school for students
and staff.
Also on Monday, February 16,
2015, there will be no school for
students and staff in observance of
Presidents’ Day.
SCHOOL SITE COUNCIL NEWS
The next school site council meeting will be held on
Thursday, February 5th at 7:30 a.m. in room C8.
SCHOOL BOARD MEETING
The next meeting of the Lucerne Elementary School
District Board of Trustees will be held on
Wednesday, February 11, 2015. Closed session will
begin at 5:30 p.m. in room C-8. School Board
meetings are open to the public.
SCHOOL YEARBOOK
Pre-order your school yearbook now before they run
out! Place your orders in the school office.
Personalized books - $25.00 Regular books - $20.00
VALENTINE GIFT SALE
Leadership will be selling gifts for
Valentine’s Day. Gifts will be on sale for
$.50 to $3.00. They will be sold at lunch
on Thursday, February 5th, through Wednesday
February 11th, The gifts will be delivered to the
recipients’ class on Thursday, February 12th.
AFTER SCHOOL TUTORING
Lucerne Elementary School will be offering after
school tutoring from February 3rd through March 26th
to eligible students, determined by STAR test scores,
and are still below grade level expectation, as
determined by the STAR Reading test and/or teacher
recommendations. The tutoring days will be held on
Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. If your child is
in grade 3, the tutoring is from 2:30-4:00 p.m. If your
www.lucerne.k12.ca.us
Check out our website!
Volume XXV - Issue 12
child is in grades 4th-8th, tutoring is from 3:00-4:30
p.m. If your child didn’t receive a permission slip and
you want tutoring services, please request a form
from Mrs. Mott. Please call Mrs. Mott or Mr. Brown if
you have questions about the program.
DESSERT AND DANCING WITH DAD
On February 6th from 6:00p.m-8:00p.m, the Booster
Club will be hosting an ice cream social and dance.
Fathers, Uncles, Grandfathers, or any father figure,
with a special girl that attends Lucerne Elementary is
invited to spend an evening of ice cream, music,
dancing, pictures and more! Please contact a
Booster Club member for information.
Presale Tickets will be available from:
Feb. 2nd - 6th at 8:00a.m and 2:30p.m.
Cost: $10 per couple $5 per additional person
At the door: $15 per couple $5 additional person
BOYS’ BASKETBALL
The boys’ basketball season is underway! The
students must maintain good citizenship and GPA to
be eligible for participation. All basketball games are
scheduled to begin at 4:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m. The
game schedule is as follows;
February 4 – Terrace @ Lucerne
February 11 – Konocti @ Lucerne
February 12 – Lucerne @ Mt. Vista
February 18 – Lucerne @ Terrace
CHARACTER COUNTS AWARDS
Congratulations to the following students who
received an award for demonstrating RESPECT:
Cooper Armstrong, Kaylin Smith, Connor Howells,
Kyle Schaffter, Garrett Wantt, Brody Loflin, Alivia
Stark, Kai Knight, Kahlei Phelps, Leland Milliron,
Donye Teal, Victoria Wantt, Cheyenne O’Sullivan,
Mario Naranjo, Johnathan Barnes, Treasure Hodges,
Doran Lincoln, Connor Saulman, Naomi Collins,
Brandon Pulido-Doyle, Angelina Perez, Jeneah
Clores, Sammy Avelos, Keely Sprague, Alissa
Blanton, Hayleigh Sertich, Ashley Sprague,
Students are now working on the pillar of
TRUSTWORTHINESS. The next Character Counts
assembly will be on Monday, March 2nd at 9:15 a.m.
ACCELERATED READER NEWS
On any given school day at Lucerne Elementary,
students can be seen in the library, choosing their
books for the week. Softly murmured questions can
be heard being passed between teacher and
students, or student to student.
“Where are the ‘Diary of a Wimpy Kid’ books?”
“Wanna get the same book as me?”
“Where are the spider books?”
Lately, a few new questions have started circulating.
“What color sticker do I look for?”
“How many points is this book worth?”
“Can I take an AR test?”
The last question has become the most prevalent.
AR, or Accelerated Reader, is a computer program
that helps teachers and librarians manage and
monitor student’s independent reading practice.
Students are tested at the beginning of the year, and
put into their correct level. They can then read an AR
book, and afterwards take a test of 5-20 questions,
depending on the level of that book. Points are
earned by answering questions correctly. The higher
and harder the book, the more points a student gets.
Every 10 points, students may pick a prize from the
prize board, which is located in the library.
The prize board itself is also a huge draw to the
library. Students stand around it, whispering about
how they plan on spending their points. One wants a
Beanie Baby, another wants the Frisbee with Snoopy
on it. Rocket balloons and yo-yos are also popular
commodities. There are kites, beach balls, cards,
puzzles, and Star Wars toys, all bright and shiny, just
waiting to be earned.
And earned they have been. Weekly, the library
gives away 3 – 8 small prizes, and, usually, one or
two large ones. Teachers and students praise and
cheer the prize-earning student, who happily shows
off his or her prize to the rest of the group. New
prizes are put up, and the cycle begins all over again.
And the students love it.
“I like the Accelerated Reading program because it
inspires me to go higher on my reading level to get
more points,” said Dylan Slater, fourth grade.
“We get better and better at reading AND get prizes,”
said Laney Teal, third grade.
The younger grades are getting involved, as well.
First grader Willow Epperson said, “It’s kind of fun
reading and teaching others to read.” She is also
really excited to get a prize.
The teachers are happy with the program, too.
“I really enjoy the AR Program,” said Deondra
McGuire, first grade teacher. “It encourages my
students to read in the classroom and at home.
When the students have read their book, they take
the quiz in our classroom. This makes it super easy
and convenient.”
“The Accelerated Reading (AR) program is a
program that enables students to read at their
individual level and to then take a short test on the
story,” said Cindy Jacobson, third grade teacher.
“The program provides encouragement for reading
and assesses their comprehension of the
story….The students have embraced the challenge
of taking collectively 100 AR tests by the end of the
year. They are very enthusiastic about the
proposition and reward of an ice cream party!”
“The AR program works quite well for students who
like to compete,” said Martin McClure, fourth grade
teacher. “Some students are simply not interested in
the competition but most like to earn the prizes. It
allows students to develop fluency by reading easier
books for fewer points or students can push harder to
read more difficult books for more points. It has
infused excitement for reading in the classroom.
Students enjoy trading books and sharing their
favorites with each other. Students are reading more
books on their own than ever before.”
There are some downsides, though.
“My AR books are falling to pieces,” said Katy Tipton,
school librarian, with a grin. “I’ve had to put in a midyear order for more book-repair supplies. I don’t
mind, though. It’s really exciting to me to know that
the books are being read and enjoyed. And it’s
amazing to see the progress that the students have
made in such a short time. Plus, I get to know them a
bit better than I would without the program. I’m
excited to see how the rest of the year goes!”
Hopefully, it will be fun and full of progress.
If you would like to contribute to the Lucerne
Elementary Library, please call (707) 274-5578, or
email Katy Tipton at [email protected].