Greetings Fairmeadow Community,

 

On Friday, October 20th we welcomed Google Expeditions to our Fairmeadow Design Studio to present an augmented reality learning experience for all 2nd through 5th grade students. Through a digital camera screen that students moved around the room, children viewed a variety of objects digitally 'placed' in different spaces. Students closely observed and discussed objects specific to their grade level areas of focus, including dinosaurs, the moon, landforms, and planets of the solar system. The augmented reality lessons provided an incredible glimpse into the future of technology integration in schooling. I extend a huge thank you to our two technology lead teachers, Valerie Sabbag and Kristi Van, for coordinating this unique learning experience for our children and our school.

 

While the first classes of students were experiencing augmented reality in the Design Studio on Friday morning, an engaged group of parents joined our math instructional coach, Joe Young, and me for our Principal's Coffee in the MP Room. We modeled instructional approaches from our math curriculum, Bridges in Mathematics, reviewed a variety of in-class and at-home materials, spoke about the scope and sequence of instruction by grade level, and sampled online resources. Please check the new addition to our ' features' section of the Fairmeadow website to review the slides from this presentation, which include helpful links to online resources.

 

Unity Day, this coming Wednesday October 25th, is a nation-wide effort to highlight the importance of healthy peer relationships, with a focus on preventing bullying behavior at school. Students, staff, and community members are encouraged to wear orange, the Unity Day color, on Wednesday to show a commitment to this important message. The Unity Day slogan reads together for kindness, acceptance, and inclusion. Throughout the day, teachers will be reading a touchstone book with students to launch into a discussion about kindness and upstanding behavior, and commitments we can all make to support the social and emotional well-being of all students at Fairmeadow. During Wednesday's lunchtime activity, children will make a kindness generator with important passages from the books read in class.

 

On Tuesday, October 31st Fairmeadow will celebrate Halloween with our annual Halloween parade from 8:35-9:10 a.m. on the blacktop and field. Students are welcome to come to school in costumes if they wish on Halloween, however costumes must be school appropriate. Please do not send your child to school in a costume that includes any sort of weapon, or a costume that includes fake blood. While the Halloween parade is a fun opportunity to celebrate a fall tradition, October 31st is still a school day and costumes must not present a major distraction to student learning in the classroom. I look forward to seeing you at the parade!

 

Thank you to our incredible students for their patience during the school days affected by the unhealthy air quality in the Bay Area the past two weeks. As you know, our rescheduled Walkathon will be held this coming Sunday, October 29th, which promises to be an amazing day of community, camaraderie, and fun! Please plan to join us; sign your children up to participate.

As we approach the end of the first trimester, I feel it's critical to acknowledge the importance of regular and consistent school attendance. We all know that the more time students spend in school, the more they learn, but school attendance is also a protective factor, encouraging student engagement, inclusion, and overall well-being. Palo Alto Unified School District will continue to focus on efforts to align and increase attendance notifications and communication to parents from schools. To that end, should your child accumulate unexcused absences or tardies this year, you will receive a letter from the school to inform you about attendance expectations and strategies to remedy attendance concerns. Thank you for your partnership around consistent and regular school attendance for your child, and for your communication with our office staff if your child needs to be absent.

 

I look forward to seeing everyone at the Walkathon on Sunday; it promises to be a standout community highlight of the year!

With kindest regards and appreciation,  

• Please bring a copy of this signed waiver with you on Sunday!
• Please bring your own water bottle(s) to help the earth & receive bonus laps!
• Halloween Costumes welcome (no masks please).

Collection Dates: Monday, 10/30 through Thursday 11/9

Please help Fairmeadow Girl Scouts keep our neighbors warm this winter!  Working with other Girl Scout troops in Palo Alto, Fairmeadow Girl Scouts will be collecting coats for One Warm Coat and you can help!

One Warm Coat is a national non-profit organization that works to provide a free, warm coat to any person in need and raises awareness of the vital need for warm coats. The coats we collect will be distributed here in our local community, to any person in need, without charge, discrimination or obligation.

You can help us spread warmth! Simply go through your closets, pull out your gently worn coats and warm jackets (including raincoats) and place them in the collection bin labeled 'One Warm Coat' next to the school office. During the first week of the collection time, the Girl Scouts will be holding an information table next to the collection bin to receive your donation and to answer any questions their fellow students may have. For any questions, please contact Dana Chung or your grade's Girl Scout leader at Fairmeadow.

Thu, Nov 2, 6:30-8:00 pm, Fairmeadow MP Room

Every parent wants to find ways to support and encourage kids to do well academically and socially. Please join Ziem Nguyen Neubert of YMCA/Project Cornerstone on Thursday, November 2nd at 6:30 pm in the MP room for a 1.5-hour workshop on the the data-driven developmental assets model (implemented at Fairmeadow through the ABC Reader program). Ziem will teach us about the developmental assets and how to use them to promote the positive values, relationships, skills, and experiences to help all youth thrive.

Childcare will be provided for the elementary school-aged children of those attending. Please RSVP here by providing your name, email address, and the amount of children who will be with you. For any questions, please contact Tracy Ballard-Tal.

Hello 4th Grade Families!

The staff luncheon this month is on Thursday, October 26th, and is being hosted by 4th grade families. These monthly luncheons give us a chance to show our appreciation for all that the Fairmeadow staff does for our children. They allow the entire faculty and staff to come together over a meal and they really enjoy and look forward to it. This month's theme is Sandwiches. 

Please consider signing up to contribute food to the luncheon. In addition, we need a few people to come to the luncheon to help with set-up and clean-up. These jobs do not take long. Click here to sign-up to contribute a dish or help out!

If you have trouble accessing the Google doc, please email Sachi Messerian with the dish you want to bring.

Is your child not in 4th grade? Click here for a list of staff luncheons scheduled for this school year.