Principal's Message

December 2, 2009

We received some very exciting news in a personal call from California’s Superintendent of Public Instruction, Jack O’Connell: Pine Hill School has been identified as a 2010 Title I Academic Achievement Award recipient. We are receiving this prestigious recognition from California Department of Education because we met our 2008 and 2009 Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) criteria and Academic Performance Index (API) targets for our school, and for all numerically significant subgroups. In fact, we doubled our school wide numbers and those for several subgroups in the same two years. Way to go everyone!

The first week of March is going to roar in like a lion at Pine Hill. We are busy with special events for our students and want to be sure all of you know about them ahead of time:

1. Monday, March 1 (10 a.m. – noon): science fair projects will be judged all morning in the library.
2. Tuesday, March 2 (5:30 - 6:30 p.m.): Science and History Project Night in the Court. All 4th - 6th grade science and history projects will be on display. Science Fair projects going on to the county competition will also be on display.
3. Thursday, March 4 (9:00 a.m.): Spelling Bee in the Court. The top two finishers will compete in the District Spelling Bee the following week. (The County Spelling Bee is Saturday, March 27, at Humboldt County Office of Education.)
4. Friday, March 5 (1:30 - 2:15 p.m.): School-wide assembly in the Court. Science awards will be handed out and the top two finishers of the Spelling Bee will be announced.

Other events in March include:

1. Saturday, March 13 (8 - 11 a.m.): PTO Pancake Breakfast at South Bay. We hope you can join us.
2. Monday – Friday, March 15 – 19, and Wednesday, March 24: Parent Conferences. All students will be released at 1:30 p.m. on parent conference days.

Keep your eyes on the marquee out in front of the school – we’re sure there will be more events added as the month progresses. Hope we see you soon!

Pam Olson

443-4596                                                                                   

Hemos recibido una noticia muy emocionante en una llamada personal de California, Superintendente de Instrucción Pública, Jack O'Connell: Pine Hill School ha sido identificado como un receptor 2010 del Título I Premio al Desempeño Académico. Hemos recibido este prestigioso reconocimiento de California Departamento de Educación porque nos reunimos con nuestros 2008 y 2009 el progreso anual adecuado (AYP) y el Índice de Desempeño Académico (API) de los objetivos de nuestra escuela, y para todos los subgrupos numéricamente significativos. De hecho, hemos duplicado nuestro número de toda la escuela y los de varios subgrupos en los mismos dos años. Camino por recorrer todo el mundo!

La primera semana de Marzo se va a rugir como un león en el Pine Hill. Estamos muy ocupados con los eventos especiales para nuestros estudiantes y quiere estar seguro de que todos ustedes saben acerca de ellos antes de tiempo:

1. Lunes, 1 de Marzo (10 am - mediodía): proyectos de ciencia feria será juzgado durante toda la mañana en la biblioteca.
2. Martes, 2 de Marzo (5:30 - 6:30 pm): Ciencia e Historia de proyecto de la noche en la Corte. Todos los 4 a 6 grado de la ciencia y la historia de los proyectos estarán en exhibición. Ciencia proyectos de la Feria de pasar a la competencia del condado también estará en la exhibición.
3. Jueves, 4 de Marzo (9:00 am): concurso de ortografía en la Corte. Los dos primeros clasificados competirán en el Concurso de Ortografía del Distrito de la semana siguiente. (El concurso de ortografía del Condado es el sábado, 27 de Marzo, en el condado de Humboldt Oficina de Educación.)
4. Viernes, 5 de Marzo (1:30-2:15): Escuela asamblea general en la Corte. Ciencia premios serán entregados a cabo y los dos finalistas del Concurso de Ortografía se dará a conocer.

Otros eventos Marzo incluyen:

1. Sábado 13 de Marzo (8 am - 11 am): PTO Pancake Breakfast en South Bay. Esperamos que pueda unirse a nosotros.
2. Lunes - Viernes, 15 de Marzo - 19, y Miércoles, 24 de Marzo: Conferencias de Padres. Todos los estudiantes se dará a conocer a las 1:30 pm en los días de conferencia con los padres.

Mantenga sus ojos en la carpa en frente de la escuela - que estamos seguros de que habrá más eventos agregó que el mes avanza. Esperamos verte pronto!

Pam Olson

Kindergarten News #21

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.

February 26, 2010

Read Kindergarten note here

We have finished the unit Look Up: Exploring Space. The Read Aloud book was Happy Birthday, Moon. The Science Link Book was What Is In Space? The big and little book was What Do You See?. Our Alphafriend this week was Queenie Queen who helped us to learn about the sound the letter "Qq" makes.

This has been a break-through week for the children's writing. I have been very impressed with their writing, especially in their journal pages. It is fun to see them put together all the strategies that I have been teaching them to spell out words and write sentences with punctuation! Your child should have brought his/her writing journal home today as we are now finished with the unit of study about Space. Please take some time to go through the journal with your child. You can read the prompt at the top of the page aloud and have your child read what they wrote to you. Remember that most students are writing phonetically and often forget to put spaces between their words. This journal sharing can be a great springboard to a discussion with you child about what he or she is learning at school and how proud you are of them!

I started a new KinderRoots reading program last week and we are off to a great start! A puppet, named Alphie, now visits our class each day and helps the children to learn the letter/sound of the week. He also helps them learn the skills they need to become readers. On Monday of each week I will send home the KinderRoots book for the week. Last week's book was Matt. This week’s book was Dogs. Every night, please take time to listen to your child read the book to you. Each day two students are selected to read. He/she will practice at home to read in front of the class on the next day of school. When he/she has done this, he/she will bring home a certificate celebrating his/her accomplishment.

Earlier this year, your child learned the four basic shapes: square, circle, triangle and rectangle. In mathematics, we have been studying the 3-D figures: cube, cone, sphere and cylinder. Have your child look for objects in your house that are cubes, and then have him/her locate cones, then spheres and finally, look for cylinders.

The second trimester of school ends next Friday, March 5. Next week, I will be conducting formal assessments of student progress. It is important that the children get plenty of sleep and eat a nutritious breakfast. Parent/teacher conferences will begin on Monday, March 15 and run through on Friday, March 19. There will also be conferences on Wednesday, March 24. I am looking forward to meeting with you and discussing your child's progress.

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