Welcome to Mrs. Van Vleck, Interim Principal

May 3, 2010

To All the Students, Staff, Parents and Guardians of Pine Hill Elementary School,

Unfortunately, due to unforeseen circumstances, Ms. Olson will be gone for the remainder of the school year.  Assuming her duties will be Ms. Cynthia VanVleck.  Ms. VanVleck retired as the Pine Hill Principal eight years ago and has such dedication to our school that she is willing to return as our interim principal.  Coming out of retirement for the second time  to serve at Pine Hill Elementary, some of you will remember that she was interim principal in 2006-07.

Ms. VanVleck’s schedule will vary, however, she plans to be there 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. each day.  I will continue to be available on as needed basis.   I feel so grateful that
Ms. VanVleck continues to give support to our Pine Hill School Community and the South Bay Union School District.  Thank you Ms. VanVleck!

Please welcome Ms. VanVleck back!  If you have any questions or concerns please feel free to contact me at the District office.

Sincerely,

Marie Twibell
Superintendent/Principal

Kindergarten News #34

Mrs. Blanchard and Mr. Lentz will be sending a note home with his kindergarten students every Friday during the school year. If your child did not bring the note home or if you would like to view it now, you can click on the link on the left side of the page to download it in .pdf format.

All newsletters are saved in .pdf format. You can read them using the free program Adobe Reader. If you do not have Adobe Reader on your computer, you can download it for free by clicking on the link on the right side of the page.

June 4, 2010

Read Kindergarten note here

TONIGHT is the annual school carnival! It will be held at South Bay School from 5 – 8 pm. Take the King Salmon exit off of highway 101, go under the overpass, and drive straight into the school parking lot. You don’t have to even cook dinner tonight. You can buy dinner for the entire family before you embark on a night of fun. There will be jolly jumps, clowns, face painting, a cake walk, mini-golf, a stuffed animal walk, the ever-popular Joke House, and more! There will also be a Dutch auction. This is a great family fun time. I hope to see you there.

Keep Kids Reading All Summer Long: Tips from Librarians. Few people have more experience getting kids excited about reading than librarians who staff school and local libraries. So we asked a few to share what really works and what to do to make sure your kid doesn't take a vacation from reading.

Full of Summer Reading Fun: Visit your local public library because there is so much going on and the enthusiasm of the librarians is infectious. So many libraries do wonderful summer reading programs for all ages. We actually have a program called "Teens & Tots" where older kids read to younger kids — it's great to make that connection between kids and both generations really enjoy it. We also hold a lot of activities at night like story hours so parents can come after work with their children — and we encourage parents to volunteer, which really shows the kids that reading is important to adults as well.

Research shows that if kids continue to read during the summer they don't lose any of the skills, so we try to find ways to motivate kids like having them keep reading logs and giving rewards and prizes. We also hold "Book Bingo" and replace the numbers on the board with book titles and library vocabulary. The kids get really excited to win the books we use as prizes — it's so great to hear a kid yelling, "Yes! Yes! I just need Dewey decimal!"
—Anita LaSpina, Librarian, Rockville Center, NY
Show Children That Reading is Important to You Model, model, model. It cannot be emphasized enough that children who observe their parents reading become readers themselves. Make sure there are plenty of reading materials scattered throughout the house — not just novels, but magazines and newspapers as well.

Make reading a family activity. When everyone gathers together at the end of a busy summer day, read a book aloud. It's a great way to unwind. A picture book is a fine choice, but reading a book that will last several weeks or more extends the pleasure and excitement.
— Jennifer Hubert Swan, Librarian at the Little Red School House/Elisabeth Irwin High School, New York, NY

Make Reading a Way to Connect:
Some children respond better when they know other children are going to read and respond to a book, which is why book discussion groups are great. I also think parents should be required to read what their children read at all ages so they can really connect with their child and be able to answer questions and instigate discussion. This is one of the reasons parent/child book groups are so great.

We also regularly hold online chats with authors of books on our summer reading list, which kids can join from anywhere they can get online. Kids get really excited to ask the authors questions and just talk to a "real live" writer. We have a regular chat-room just for children to talk about the books that they've read, which is catching on.
— John Peters, Central Children's Room, The New York Public Library

Set Reading Times and Find the Fun in Books: The number one golden rule is to make time to read over the summer — parents should designate an hour a day just for books, or set aside a time once a week to go to the library. There's so much going on in the summer, so much temptation to be outside, that it's important to schedule time just for reading. Have kids keep a reading journal — even if it's just the book titles. Once the journal gets filled up, there's a real sense of accomplishment that's very rewarding.

On vacations, it's important to let kids pick out books they like to make reading fun. Pay attention to what your children like and help them select books — and don't forget about non-fiction — it's not just for homework! There's a lot of rainy day value with cookie cookbooks and craft and activity books.

Make story time fun by creating a story-puppet show. Or have your child use puppets and stuffed animals to create a show based on a book for other kids or the rest of the family. Another fun thing to do is to go on a field trip with a book tie-in or two. And while you're on the road, always keep magazines and books in the car.
— Dorie Freebury, Librarian, Northville, MI

Take Reading on the Road: When preparing for family road trips, stock up on audio books from your library. Let your children choose some stories to listen to in the car. Have family members share favorite ghost stories and/or adventure stories around the campfire at picnics and on camping trips. 
 — The American Library Association*

We will be conducting a short closing ceremony on the last day, Thursday, June 17, beginning at 12:15. I will be giving each student his/her award, report card, and kindergarten certificate. You are invited to come and help say good-bye to a fantastic group of young people. Also, please be sure to take care of all unpaid lunch fees or pay for any lost library books. Please remember that the last day is a Minimum Day. This means all the kids in the entire school will be released at the same time and the parking lot will be crowded.

Principal's Message

August 30, 2008

Welcome back to Pine Hill! We are looking forward to an exciting and energizing school year. We are pleased to welcome two teachers new to our staff: Mrs. Betsy Rains, who is teaching our 4/5 combination class; and Mrs. Shawna Roberts, who is teaching our 3/4 combination class. Both are veteran teachers with a dozen years collective experience; and we feel fortunate to have them on-board.

We’ll kick off this year with our Back-to-School Night on Wednesday evening, September 10th. This event is designed for the adults in our students’ lives to meet with our teachers, staff, and EXPLORE personnel. More information will be coming home soon, but please reserve that evening!

The Scholastic Book Fair will open that same evening (September 10th), so be sure to set aside some money to purchase books for home libraries!

We are currently printing our Pine Hill Handbook and will send it home to you as soon as it arrives. The handbook will be posted to our website so you can view it online.

And those of you with Internet access should check out our website. Our web master, Mr. Lentz, posts updated information on a regular basis. Look for newsletters, special events, reference materials, and slide presentations. I am sure you will enjoy exploring this valuable resource.

We encourage your active participation in your child’s education and in our school events where and when you are able. Please remember to sign in at the office when you come on campus during the school day.

Once again, welcome back!
Pam Olson, Principal

South Bay/Pine Hill PTO Newsletter

Welcome to another wonderful year at South Bay and Pine Hill Schools.  I would like to take this time to invite everyone who has not had the chance or opportunity to come to a PTO meeting.  This is a great opportunity to really get involved in what takes place within our school district but most importantly what can take place in your children’s lives.

Through the year PTO has the opportunity to put on special events for the children at both schools. We use these events as fund raisers to help provide school materials, school equipment or money towards a special event.   We also try to encourage these events as “special time” with friends or families. Some of the events that have taken place in the past are Winter Festival, Family Dinner and Dance Night, Pancake Breakfast, and Carnival. All of these events take time, planning and money.  Our goal for PTO this year is to try to continue all of these events and maybe add some more along the way. Without the help of all of you we can not guarantee all of these events can take place.

I know as a working parent with two kids it’s really hard to keep up with so many things. One of my great joys has been seeing my kids at one of these events having the time of their lives and to me it has made it all worth the time and energy I have put in.

I would like to encourage all parents to get involved whether it is just a one time event or on our PTO committee. We would love to have new faces and fresh ideas.

Next meeting will be held on October 15th (Thursday) at Pine Hill School Library at 6pm. We hope to see you there!!

Thank you,

Lisa Hall
Pine Hill School PTO President                                         sbphpto@yahoo.com