Principal’s Message

Happy Holidays!  We have several special events planned for this holiday season and I hope that you will be able to attend at least some of them. 

We will have our Winter Concert at South Bay on Thursday evening at 7pm.  The South Bay band will play under the direction of our music teacher, Mr. Peter Jain.   

On Friday morning, beginning at 8:45am, we will host our Holiday Assembly here at Pine Hill.  Classes will be performing different holiday songs that they have been practicing for several weeks. They are excited! Please see the attached flyer for more information.

On Sunday the 18th, the Elk’s club will host a private party for Pine Hill and South Bay families.  The event will take place from 12pm-2pm.  Lunch will be provided, Santa will be there for pictures and more, plus there will be lots of activities for everyone to enjoy. Parent volunteers are needed, so if you can help please contact the school office at 443-4596. Again, thank you to the Elks for their generosity.

Best wishes for a happy and safe winter break.

Safety:  We have had several requests to remind everyone not to enter the school through the exit-only drive way.  We recently put up a Do Not Enter sign to do just that, so please remember to avoid accidents by avoiding this short cut. Also, please pull to the curb when dropping off students.

Lost and Found: Our lost and found will be on display outside the doors to the multipurpose room on Friday during our Winter Assembly.  Please stop by and take a look. Clothes without names inside will be donated during the holiday break.

Birthday Parties:  In order avoid disrupting class time and to prevent hurt feelings, please do not send party invitations to school with your child unless you will be inviting all the students in the class.  If you are inviting just some students or students from different classes, we would be glad to address and mail them for you.  Just provide us with the invitations in stamped envelopes and drop them in the office. We will add the addresses and send them on their way.

We have finished the second week of our unit about Space. We have been learning about the Sun and the moon. Next, we will study about the planets. Our Teacher Read Aloud Book was Sun Up, Sun Down by Gail Gibbons. The Science Link book was Sun and Moon by Marcus Pfister. The Big and Little books were What Do You See? and Presidents by Barbara Saul. Keely Kangaroo was the alphafriend who helped the students learn about the letter of the week, K.

Research shows that reading books aloud is the single most valuable support that parents can provide in helping children to learn to read. Some tips are:
•  Be a ham! The more enthusiasm you display, the more your child will enjoy the book.
•  Run your finger underneath the words as you read to signal that the print carries the story.
• Leave time for examining the illustrations more closely; encourage your child to find things in the picture.
•  Invite your youngster to join in whenever there's a repeated phrase in the text.
•  Link up events in the book with similar events in your child's life.
•  If your child asks a question, stop and answer it. The book can be a means to learning more about your child's thoughts.

Next Thursday is the 100th day of school, or Hundred Day. We will have many math activities to celebrate this day. I am inviting you to create a collection of 100 objects with your child. He/she may bring them to share on Thursday, February 9 for Hundred Day.

I have been asked about Valentine's Day. We will celebrate it on Tuesday, February 14. Each student will have a bag to receive valentines. His/her name will be written on the outside in BIG letters. If your child wishes to exchange Valentines, I ask that he/she bring one for each of the other students in our class. There are two ways to do this; first, your child could write each classmate's name on the valentine, or by far the easiest, they could just sign each valentine but not put a name on the envelope. These "generic" valentines could then just be dropped into each classmate's bag thus avoiding the confusion of having to read each name and making sure it got into the correct bag.

Presidents Week is Feb. 20-24. There will be no school for the entire week. When we return from this break, I will be conducting formal assessments for the students’ second trimester report card. During the break it will be very important to reinforce and practice the skills your child has been learning. Remember, if your child can identify ALL the upper case letters in random order in 30 seconds or less and do the same for the lower case letters, he/she will be in my ABC club.

Mrs. Romick’s Newsletter

$160 Needed to Fund a Second Aquarium for
Mrs. Romick’s Classroom

January 23, 2012

Dear Parents,

Mr. Williams (Alaina Moore) is going to donate $500 for a chiller unit for an aquarium to be placed in Mrs. Romick’s classroom.  We still need $160 for an aquarium, filter, and tubing in order to have another complete, running, aquarium for our Steelhead salmon unit.

If you were willing to donate any money at all it would truly be appreciated.  Mrs. Roberts and I will be purchasing the equipment within a week so we need the money as soon as possible. 

Thank you for your concern over this matter.  It is for the children in the classroom that we ask for your help. Once the aquarium is set up, it will be an on going lesson for years to come.

Debbie Kamberg, the office secretary will be collecting money for the aquarium.

Many thanks,

Sincerely,
Marie Romick
Work 443-4596
Home 443-7691
Email mbromick@humboldt.k12.ca.us