GATORAID

School Phone: 408-252-5414 ~ Absence Line 408-252-5414-6 ~ FAX 408-996-9725

Boa rd erin tend of Edu c a ti ent: on Dr. W Boa end r d y Anj Gud M alew Jose ali K au embers icz sar, phin : Ben e Lu Liao ce , Phy y, Gary llis M cCu Voge e, l Sup

CUP

GAR DEN ERT GAT INO EE U LEM NIO 105 ENT 00 A NS CH ARY NN O A CUP OL RBO D ERT IS R AV Bra INO ENU TRICT ndi , Gra C E A Huc dy W ko - 95014 r P ri n Sop ight - A cipa hia s l Cha sistan t Pr n-P inci TA P pal resi den t

SCHOOL CALENDAR
AUGUST 22, 2013
8/29 6:00 p.m. 6:45 p.m. 7:00 p.m. 6:00 p.m. 8:00 a.m. 6:00 p.m. 8:15 a.m. 8:15 a.m. 6:30 p.m. 8:00 a.m. 3:45 p.m. 6:00-7:30 p.m. 6:00 7:15 p.m. 12:00 noon 6:00 p.m. 3:45 p.m. 5:30-7:30 p.m. BACK TO SCHOOL NIGHT - PARENTS ONLY GR. 3-5 PARENTS IN CLASSROOMS ALL PARENTS IN THE GLC Gr. K-2 PARENTS IN CLASSROOMS LABOR DAY - NO SCHOOL PTA MEETING - STAFF RM. PROJECT CORNERSTONE ORIENTATION - STAFF ROOM CUSD BOARD MEETING AT NIMITZ SCHOOL REFLECTIONS ORIENTATION FOR PARENTS - ART RM. SPECTRA ART ORIENTATION SCOOL SPIRIT BAND NIGHT ROOM REPRESENTATIVE MEETING SCHOOL SITE COUNCIL MTG. SAFETY NIGHT NO SCHOOL - STAFF LEARNING DAY CUSD BOARD MEETING PARENT TEACHER CONFERENCES PTA MEETING - GLC REFLECTIONS - ENTRY DEADLINE CUSD BOARD MEETING SPIRITWEAR - ORDER DEADLINE SCHOLASTIC BOOK FAIR - GLC SCHOOL SITE COUNCIL MTG. BOOK FAIR & ICE CREAM SOCIAL DIRECT DONATION DEADLINE RED RIBBON WEEK

9/2 9/5 9/10 9/10 9/11 9/12 9/12 9/18 9/18 9/19 9/20 9/24 10/3-10/11 10/3 10/4 10/8 10/11 10/14-10/18 10/16 10/17 10/18 10/21-10/25

EVERY TUESDAY IS EARLY DISMISSAL Students are dismissed at 1:30. PRE-PAY FOR CUSD LUNCHES at PAMS (Parent Account Management System) Lunchroom! You can make payments and view your students account balance online by going to http://www.pamslunchroom.com or by calling 1-888-994-5100. TO EMAIL STAFF:lastname_firstname@cusdk8.org ATTENDANCE: If your child will be absent, please call 252-5414. Ext. 6, by 8:30 a.m. to report the absence. HOMEWORK: Homework may be requested for illness absences of three days or more. Please call the office before 9:00 a.m. to request the homework for pickup after 3:00 p.m.

FROM OUR PRINCIPAL....MS. HUCKO!

Welcome New and Returning Gators!
The beginning of a new school year is such a magical time! It's full of anticipation and hope as we look forward to new learning experiences and achieving our goals. It's a time to reconnect with old friends and make new ones. You can almost feel the excitement in the air! I want to thank the Garden Gate Staff and our wonderful PTA for all of the careful planning and hard work they did in preparation for the start of school. Our first day was one of the smoothest I've ever experienced. At drop-off time, we enjoyed breakfast treats in front of the school as part of our PTA sponsored "Welcome Back Breakfast". What a great way to start the day! As the day progressed, Mr. Wright, our Assistant Principal, and I visited every classroom! We saw children happily engaging in fun, get-to-know-you activities. What a great start to a new school year!

PAGE

Open House

Join us for our Open House on Thursday, August 29. This is your opportunity to meet your child's teacher and hear about the curriculum and activities planned for this school year. Since the evening follows a presentation-style format, with the teacher talking to the group of parents, this is not the time to ask the teacher about your child's performance. Parent-Teacher Conferences will be scheduled for October 3 through 11, and your child's teacher will contact you for an appointment time. Please note that Open House is a parents-only event. The schedule for the evening is as follows: 6:00-6:45 Grades 3-5 in Classrooms 6:45-7:00 All Parents in GLC for Principal's Message and Introduction of Staff 7:00-7:45 Grades K-2 in Classrooms

Propellers
Do you wonder how to connect better with your children? Do you wonder what matters to them, and how you can assist them to grow up to be healthy, caring and responsible citizens? I encourage you to try a "propeller" - a question intended to spark conversations with your children. Try it around the dinner table tonight! This week's Propeller: What is your highest expectation for yourself? Parking Lot Procedures: A reminder from Mr. Wright

Dear Parents and Families, We would like to remind all drivers to please enter and approach the student drop off zones in our parking lot at a safe rate of speed. When entering the parking lot, please pull as far forward as possible to enable a smooth flow of traffic and to allow all vehicles access into the parking lot. Vehicles should never be left unattended under any circumstances, all drivers must remain in their vehicles. Additionally, please remember to observe all crosswalk areas and intersections carefully for pedestrian foot traffic as students and families enter and exit campus. As traffic can be very busy during drop off and pick up times, please plan to leave a few minutes early to allow for driving time. Thank you everyone for your cooperation with these procedures in the interest of student safety. Sincerely,

Mr. Wright

Garden Gate Elementary School 10500 Ann Arbor Ave., Cupertino CA 95125

PTA CORNER

PARENT TEACHER ASSOCIATION (PTA) NEWS & RESOURCES

PAGE

!!!!!!!!!!!!Welcome Garden Gate Families,

I cant believe the first week of school is almost over! I hope the children are excited about their class, seeing old friends and meeting new ones. For me, the Welcome Back to School Breakfast was great as I had a chance to briefly catch up with returning parents and meet many wonderful new parents. I look forward to working with many of you. Hope you were able to attend the Coffee with the Principal in the GLC this morning at 8:15 a.m. and you had a chance to hear our Principal, Brandi Hucko and Grady Wright, Assistant Principal speak. It is always a wonderful opportunity to hear them talk about Garden Gate and the things to come. Spirit Wear order forms will be available and will come home next week in your childs green folder. This is your chance to order your own Gator wear for you and your child and show your school spirit. We have Gator Sprit Day on the first Friday of each month, so there is plenty of opportunities to wear your Gator shirt. The Garden Gate PTA has two fundraisers a year and the Direct Donation event is our biggest to kick start our year. We hope you will contribute generously to this effort. The orange flyer that came home on Monday should provide all the information you need. However, if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me. Finally, Ive been very fortunate to attend many of the before school starts prep work and I am amazed at the dedication of the teachers, staff and volunteers* in getting everything done. Thank you for all that you do! I wish you all a restful weekend and a wonderful school year! Best regards, Sophia Chan, PTA President sophia_y_chan@yahoo.com

* I would like to acknowledge the volunteers that helped with sorting and distributing office supplies to classrooms, prepared the Green Folders, organized the Welcome Back Luncheon for the teachers, prepared, set up, greeted/informed and/or did clean up at the Welcome Back to School Breakfast: Carolyn Y, Jyoti H, Sravya K, Sarika, Arushi G, Neel B, Amey M, Arhan M, Araav M, Tanya B, Ethan Z, Neha, Sandhya, Leena, Sue K, Benjamin, Rohan S, Sahana N, Marie S, Viha S, Nandhana S, Saanvi, Henry, Natalie, Annie L, Shivani V, Manish, Manushri, Niklas, Jacky, Jahnavi, Saravana, Sreeya, Raghav, Vishal, Manu, Ananat, Surya, Srikar, Wenzhen, Tejaswi, Santhosh, Vaibhav, Nirvan, Lori, Rekha, Debbie, Aravinda, Meena, Sreejaya T, Poonam, Shawn, Olga, Robert, Chanchal, Vidiya S, Alma, Anita and Reshma.

Garden Gate Elementary School 10500 Ann Arbor Ave., Cupertino CA 95125

GATORAID!
TIST AND DEN R O T C O D MENTS APPOINT f California o The state ical/dental d e m s w cused allo nts as ex tes e tm in o p p Ga a . Garden absences ll of these a policy for companied by c a e b t s ase try mu chool or note. Ple l a ic d for after s ible, e m ts a n e tm in ppo poss to make a When this is not y a parent (or b s. Saturday ust be signed out rollment n m e n e th re d n il o a ch rized o th u er signing a ft e A n . e ic ff d o someo n e school notified a card) in th e teacher will be ffice. o th child out, nt will come to the me to the o e c d your stu re not allowed to ked up as a Students and wait to be pic time. Again, it s office to s lose valuable clas ildren. h c n e r u ft o o y y f the fety o a s e th r this is fo

PAGE

VISITING CAMPUS

All visitors on campus, whether entering classrooms as volunteers or meeting with teachers, Must Sign In at the office and obtain a visitors name tag when school is in session. For the safety of all, we need to know who is on the campus. The only exceptions are at student arrival and dismissal times. If you are taking your child out of school for any reason, ALWAYS sign your child out from school through the office and then back in when he/she returns. ABSENCES AND TARDIES Attendance and punctuality are important in establishing good behaviors and building responsibility in young children. Please ensure that your child is at school everyday and that they arrive on time. If your child will be absent, please call the attendance line promptly (252-5414, ext. 6). If your child arrives after 8:00 a.m. they must report to the school office for a late slip before entering the classroom. Under state law, three unexcused absences or tardies may be considered truancy.

SCRIP AND eSCRIP

Scrip Gift Cards and eScrip are two fundraising programs that parents (also family and friends) can participate in to raise money for the PTA at NO COST to the participant. Scrip gift cards can be purchased on Tuesday afternoons between 1:15 - 1:45 p.m. and also on Friday mornings between 7:45-8:15 a.m. Scrip is spent just like cash on everyday expenses. eScrip also provides an easy way to earn money for the PTA. Participating merchants donate a percentage of purchases to the school. Parents (also family and friends) should visit www.escrip.com to register their credit/debit cards, Safeway Card, and PW Supermarket Card. Be sure to specify Garden Gate Elementary School (eScrip number is 139188329.) For those who dont have internet access, please fill out and turn in an eScrip registration form (available during scrip sales times or in the school office.) Already Registered eScrip Participants: Please visit www.escrip.com and click on YES RENEW or turn in an eScrip registration form to renew your Safeway Club card. Questions? Email us at ggscrip.com or see us during scrip sales times. Thank you, Carolyn Young

EARN FREE CASH FOR OUR SCHOOL WITH BOX TOPS

Earning cash for our school with Box Tops for Education is simple and easy! You don't have to spend any cash to be involved in this profitable project. Most food items that you purchase for home comes with a Box Tops for Education coupon that is located directly on the box top and is worth 10c. Please look for these coupons especially on products by General Mills. Some of the product brands to look for are; Cheerios, Fruit Rollups, Betty Crocker, Pillsbury, Cottonelle, Ziploc etc.

LOST AND FOUND

Please stop by the Lost and Found cabinet that is located at the rear of the administrative building and take a few moments to check for your lost personal items. For smaller personal items such as keys, watches jewelry, etc., please check in the front office.

Garden Gate Elementary School 10500 Ann Arbor Ave., Cupertino CA 95125

DISTRICT NEWS SECTION

GATORAID!
! ! !

PAGE

District Calendar 2013-2014 (all schools except Murdock-Portal) September 2, 2013 September 20, 2013 November 1, 2013 November 11, 2013 November 25-29, 2013 December 23, 2013-January 3, 2014 January 20, 2014 February 17-21, 2014 March 31, 2014 April 14-18, 2014 May 16, 2014 May 26, 2014 June 11, 2014 Labor Day Staff Learning Day Staff Learning Day Veteran's Day (Observed) Thanksgiving Recess Winter Recess Martin Luther King Day Mid-Year Recess Staff Learning Day Spring Recess Staff Learning Day Memorial Day Last Day of School

Garden Gate Elementary School 10500 Ann Arbor Ave., Cupertino CA 95125