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Letter from Principal Cathy Howard
Barron Park Buzz, November 6, 2009
Dear Barron Park families,
During the past month we have had wonderful parent and family involvement in the Family Fun Day, Silent Auction, Community Conversation, and third grade Bike Rodeo. Many thanks to event coordinators Susan Giovannotto, Kerri Jung, Rita Lee, and Donna Pioppi, and to the dozens of volunteers who helped out at these events. Thanks to the Site Council for hosting the Community Conversation, and to the teachers who presented information about our mathematics curriculum and instruction. By the time you read this we will also have enjoyed our annual Ice Skating party and be in the middle of performances of our school play.
This year we are focusing on a school-wide theme each month. The events mentioned above are all good examples of October’s theme: community. Community is one of our core values (see the School Handbook for all five core values):
We the children and adults who are part of Barron Park School, have talked and worked together to develop a common understanding of what we value and how we want our school to be. Our goal is for Barron Park to be a place where…
…we feel that we belong to a community. We want to be included and accepted by the people at our school. We want to know that each of us is important. We want to feel a sense of connection and cooperation among the people at Barron Park.
These are the values we will strive for as members of the Barron Park
School community.
In each class and across the school, we have reinforced this theme through
activities in our constellation groups, by reading aloud and discussing
relevant books, and by explicitly noticing and acknowledging students’ actions
that contribute to building our school community. For example, second
graders in Arlinda Smith’s class take turns being the class “Community
Care Commissioners” who notice other students’ positive behaviors,
write them down in small notebooks, and report back to the class and
sometimes to the principal. [see photo] At fifth grade, Larry Wong and
Shari McDaniel invite students who have been positive, contributing citizens
that week to have lunch with them on Fridays. And across the grades and
classes there are many other, similar examples.
PREPARING FOR EMERGENCIES
Each year in October and April, we participate in District-wide earthquake
drills as part of our preparation for a disaster. This year we chose
to have the fall drill be a “full scale” earthquake drill.
At that recent drill, our Search and Rescue team and First Aid team
had to search, rescue, and care for “injured” students.
The Traffic Control team secured the school entrance, posted informational
signs for arriving parents and emergency vehicles, and monitored people
arriving and leaving. Barron Park parents Anne Woodbury and Donna
Pioppi are involved in neighborhood preparedness efforts,
and they helped by observing the drill and giving us feedback. Since
the drill we have been studying their feedback and carefully evaluating
all aspects of the drill to further refine our preparedness.
Each school has an emergency preparedness plan geared to its site, location, and student population. An on-site storage shed of emergency supplies contains water, food, extensive first aid supplies, splints, blankets, cold packs, flashlights, and tarps for shelters. Staff members have been trained in first aid, CPR, and disaster search and rescue. We are prepared to care for your child(ren) until you arrive.
Just a few reminders:
In the event of a major disaster in which transportation and communication
are rendered inoperative:
- No student will be dismissed from school unless a parent (or individual previously designated by a parent on the emergency card or tag*) comes for him/her.
- No student will be allowed to leave with another person, even a relative or baby-sitter, unless that particular person is listed on the student’s emergency card or tag. With this in mind, please keep your emergency card up-to-date by informing the office promptly of any changes.
- On arriving at school in the aftermath of an earthquake or other
disaster, proceed to the Student Release Center to
sign out your child. It is marked with an orange flag and
will be located on the blacktop near the sand box.
I hope we never have to use these plans, but it is reassuring to do our best to be prepared.
CELEBRATE READING!
Next week join us at the Book Fair (in the room 21 portable this year)
to celebrate reading! Help your child choose a book to read by him/her
self, and choose another book for reading aloud. Think about giving
books as gifts for the upcoming holidays. And read, read, read with
and to your children!
Cathy Howard
Email Principal Cathy
Howard
Phone: 858-0508
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