This Week at Camarena December 15-19

The final school week of 2014 has arrived and our calender is packed with student performances and Gallery of Experts displays.  Here’s what you can expect this week starting with the dates and times for the Gallery of Experts:

Here are other events of note for this week:

Tuesday, Dec 16 – 6:00: PTA Boot Camp

Wednesday, Dec 17 – Report Cards sent home (details to follow in separate post)

Thursday, Dec 18 – 6:00: PTA Zumba

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If events of last week are any indication, there will be plenty of excitement and learning during our last week of school.  Here’s just a small portion of the events that captured our students’ attention at Camarena last week.

Our Robotics team is gathering a nice collection of hardware in just two years of existence.  Congratulations once again to Coaches Stentiford and Lahlum and our Robotics teams from 2013 and 2014.

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Please say hello to Chompers who is on loan to Ms. Hackett’s 3rd grade class.  This Bearded Lizard earns his name by the way he decisively eats cockroaches as a tasty snack – the only appropriate end to the life of a cockroach, in my humble opinion.

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5th grade had their day at Biztown this week and learned about the world of business and commerce.  Here is their Newspaper published by students during their day of work.  They definitely came to appreciate the responsibility of careers during this eventful field trip.

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Many thanks to the parents who cooperate so wonderfully during drop-off and pickup.  Here you see the perfect example of folks who move all the way forward in the yellow to make room for everyone.  Thanks again for not leaving cars unattended in the loading zone … EVER…  Use those parking spots if you need to walk your child inside.  Also, can I remind everyone that Camarena was built for walkers?  Join the many families who enjoy a brisk morning walk to school and avoid the parking lot altogether.

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Just love this young man’s commitment to reading.  He is literally doing a handstand to read his narrative.  I’m sure the extra blood flow only helps comprehension!

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Snowball Fight!  Here is one of our scenes from the Wonderful Winter Wonderland this past Friday.  A big shout out to the PTA leadership, parent volunteers, teachers and staff who ALL contributed to a successful evening of fun and fundraising.  We got the perfect window of weather to enjoy the activities and the silent auction was a huge success.   What a caring and supportive community Camarena is!

Report Cards Explanation

Teachers will be sending home report cards on Wednesday and here are a few things that are important to know about these NEW report cards.

Purpose

The purpose of the report cards is to provide a written record of your child’s progress towards grade level standards.  Our goal is to make sure you get a clear picture of strengths and areas of need to encourage and support continuous learning.

Marking Categories

Your child will receive marking in several areas that are pertinent to their learning.

Behavior

C = Consistently Demonstrates

U = Usually Demonstrates

I = Inconsistently Demonstrates

Academics

Teachers will mark only those areas where they have both taught and assessed the specific standards, so you will not see marks on every area of the report card.  For those that you do see marks, here are the definitions.

1 – Minimal Mastery of Standards

2 – Progressing Toward Mastery of Standards

3 – Proficient Mastery of Standards

4 – Exceeds Mastery of Standards

NA – Not Assessed

Blank  – Not taught this quarter

Mastery is based on the assessments and observations at this point in time.  Grades can either go up or down later in the year depending on the student’s response to instruction and subsequent performance.

Comments

You will receive comments that focus on your child’s strengths and  areas where they need to give attention.   The purpose of these comments is to validate strengths and provide some suggestions for parents to support learning at home.

English Learner ELD Report Card

Students who are designated as English Learners will receive additional information through an ELD report card.  The attached brochure explains how that addendum will be marked.

ELD Report Card Brochure

ELD Report Card Brochure

In summary, our purpose is to provide clear and explicit communication between the classroom teacher and parent to benefit the learning journey of every child.  That communication should be two-way, so please don’t hesitate to contact your classroom teacher if you have any questions or concerns.

Winter Wonderland Performances

There are a lot of things happening at the Winter Wonderland Festival this Friday. Your child has been practicing some musical numbers with their music teacher all year, and they will be performing these numbers at Winter Wonderland.

The performance times are:

This Week at Camarena December 8 – 12

Two weeks to go before Winter Break when we shut down the learning here at Camarena for  a few weeks.  These will be action packed and fun-filled weeks for sure.  Here’s a run down of the events this week.

Monday, Dec 8 – Hour of Code is a nationwide event to encourage students of all ages to dabble and experiment with basic coding languages.  Select the link above and give it a go, especially if you are a fan of Elsa, from Frozen.

Tuesday, Dec 9 – 6:00 PTA Boot Camp

Wednesday, Dec 10 – 4:30 School Site Council Meeting

Thursday, Dec 11 – 6:00 PTA Zumba

Friday, Dec 12 – 4:00 Winter Wonderland – Come join the fun.

Here is some of the learning action from last week at Camarena Elementary.

Several classes start their day off with exercise to get those endorphins firing.

Our 4th graders are learning what many of us know about most historical events, like the building of the California Missions, they bring both positive and negative consequences.

Our first graders are building unique timelines on historical events to learn that long ago doesn’t just mean when their parents – or teachers – were children!

TK making use of cotton ball snowmen to do some addition.  That kinesthetic practice helps solidify the learning.

Invented Spelling never ceases to make me smile.  Whoever decided the rules of spelling for English should get a little analysis

Here’s a look at your Southern California Research Champions one more time, right before heading in for their final presentation.  Bunny ears never get old.

Robotics Take Home The Hardware

Our Camarena Robotics team competed in the Southern California Lego League Championship Saturday at Legoland and took first place in the Research Project.  Their project was devoted to coming up with new and unique ways to learn about the brain – a very ambitious idea – that was rewarded as the best project from 56 teams from throughout Southern California.  Go Robos!

Garden Club

Last call for Garden Club’s “We Dig Worms” t-shirts! Please bring $20 cash to Miss Norma in the front office and fill out the order form by 2pm on Friday, Dec 12.

Save the date for Garden Club Intro Night on Wednesday, January 14, 2015 in the Camarena library from 6-7pm. If your child is interested in Garden Club, this is the meeting to attend to get info on what will be happening this spring. For updates and photos, please check outcamarenagarden.wordpress.com

Thanks!

The Garden Club

Looking for Work?

The Chula Vista Elementary School District is on the lookout for bus drivers and substitute teachers.  Please see below for more details:

SSC Meeting Agenda for December 10

Camarena Needs Noon Duty Supervisors

Interested in becoming a noon duty supervisor for Camarena? Camarena is in need of noon duty supervisors to start in January. If you are interested, please Call Chula Vista Elementary School District 619 425-9600.

Education and Testing Requirements:

1. U.S. High School Diploma, GED (or foreign equivalency or higher), or Military (DD214), or U.S. A.A. Degree or higher with official transcripts reflecting degree
2. AND Passing CVESD Noon Duty Test

Current application requirements and other application information including testing dates can also be found on our website at www.cvesd.org under “Employment”