• There will be phone banks the evenings of October 27th and November 4th
• You can help distribute lawn signs on Nov 9th or pick them up on Nov 20th
• Talk up the Annual Campaign at local events!  Think soccer games, Halloween parties, etc.

We have loads of exciting After-School Enrichment (ASE) classes offered at Beach during the fall semester. It’s a great way to have fun, learn something new, make friends and, of course, support Beach. And, this year, the Beach Parent Organization is pleased to offer ASE classes to all Beach students (including Havens kindergartners) and Havens early reader first and second graders. Please join in the fun!

For more information and to register for classes, please download the ASE brochure and ASE registration form. But hurry! Registration runs from August 26th to September 4th, and students will be enrolled on a first come, first served basis. If you have any questions about ASE, please contact Teresa Stricker at stricker_teresa@yahoo.com or 653-6562.

On behalf of the Beach Parents Organization (BPO) Board, I would like to welcome you and your family to the 2009-2010 school year at Beach Elementary.  The BPO is a group of parent volunteers who support Beach by running programs and raising funds for our school.  We meet each month (see schedule below), and I encourage all Beach and Havens kindergarten parents to come and participate in these informative discussions.

During the online registration process, you were asked to join the BPO and sign up for volunteer activities at Beach (but don’t worry, it’s still not too late to do either!).  By joining BPO not only do you get a directory, but your membership dues help to fund the curricular and enrichment programs that are paid for by the BPO.  These include our science and math specialists, the library and our art programs.  If you have not yet joined BPO but wish to do so, please pick up a form in the Beach School office or contact Mark Tellegen at tellegen@pacbell.net.

Volunteers are essential to many of the activities at Beach – and with the wide variety of volunteer positions available, there is something to fit everyone’s schedule and style!  Involvement can take place in the classroom by being a room parent or helping with class projects and field trips.  You can also participate in school-wide programs from Hot Lunch to the Book Fair to volunteering time in the library.  District-wide opportunities include involvement with the Annual Campaign, Harvest Festival, and the Spring Fling Auction.  Support groups such as PAINTS, CHIME, PRAISE and the Green committee are additional ways to get involved.

Please join us at the Welcome Coffee on the first day of school, August 26^th from 8:30 am to 9:45 am in the Auditorium.  This is a wonderful opportunity to catch up with friends, meet new people, sign up for groups and volunteer opportunities (everything listed above and more) and confirm your directory information.

We also plan on continuing the tradition of grade-level Parent Socials this fall – a great way to meet and socialize with parents who have children in the same grades at Beach.  These dates will be coordinated by room parents once school begins, and then announced in the Wednesday News.

I look forward to working with you in the coming school year as we support the efforts of our administration and teachers, all of whom make Beach Elementary such a special place for our children.  If you have any questions about the Beach Parents Organization, you can contact me at 654-4610 or laura_katter@yahoo.com.

Sincerely,

Laura Katter
BPO President 2009/2010

June 5, 2009

Dear Beach Parents’ Club Board,

We can’t believe that another year is just about over! The McHugh Library’s support to our school community of motivated learners, both student and adult, is buoyed by the BPO’s continuing financial assistance and enthusiasm.  Our dedicated group of library volunteers does an amazing job of taking care of the various jobs, i.e., shelving, readying new books, staffing the circulation desk during classes and lunchtime, assisting during research projects, and the like. Our volunteers logged more than 320 hours as recorded on our library logs, and that doesn’t include the hours parents have spent on various projects implemented at home. Our student volunteers, the Beach Booksters, have provided yet another core group of book lovers to help out in our busy library.

The funds dedicated from the Tri-School Auction of 2009 will serve us well next year as we continue to augment our collection, adding many books to the non-fiction collection at a variety of reading levels, and purchasing fabulous picture books and novels, audiobooks and DVDs to continue our tradition of a well-stocked library filled with interesting and relevant reading, listening and viewing materials. We continue to subscribe to two databases for use both at home and at school. Ed1stop and Worldbook Online can be accessed via our school website, as can the library’s catalog.

As you know, Kitty Nemechek, library assistant, will be retiring after 24 years of working in the library.  Her job as a library assistant is essential to the functioning of the library and its programs.  Kitty is responsible to provide support in maintaining the library environment so that it is conducive to instruction and learning, to assist in maintaining, ordering and processing of library materials, to assist in the training and supervision of volunteers, and to work with the teacher-librarian, classroom teachers, students, parents in order to share appropriate materials and information. The funding for her position this next year is in question at present and the BPO input will be essential in finding solutions to maintain the library assistant’s position in these times of budget crisis.

We can’t thank you enough for your continuing generosity and support of the library and its programs. With our continuing partnership, our students will certainly develop into lifelong readers!

With warmest regards,

Robin Ludmer                                     Kitty Nemechek

Teacher-Librarian                                Library Assistant

Dear Parent(s)/Guardian(s),

Beach Elementary School would like to invite you to participate in a comprehensive needs assessment survey. The survey is an opportunity to share your experience of our school’s program, social climate, communications, and assessment practices.

It is an online survey that takes approximately 30 minutes to complete.

The survey is anonymous and the results will be shared with the Board of Education, School Site Councils, and the entire PUSD education community.

We are requesting one survey per household.

Please reply by June 1st.

Your participation in this survey helps promote our culture of continuous improvement.

The survey can be reached at:

http://www.surveymonkey.com/ElementaryNeedsAssessment

The ballots are here – Vote YES by mail today!

Why vote YES on both B & E?

Measure B

• California underfunds schools – we rank 46th in the nation on spending per pupil.
• Piedmont’s response for the last 24 years has been to invest locally controlled funds from a School parcel Tax that gets has been renewed every four since 1985.
• Measure B is a consolidation and simple renewal of existing taxes – Measure B will NOT increase your taxes

Measure E

• Due the current California State budget crisis school funding has been cut even more.
• These cuts will &ct the classroom.
• Measure E is a temporary (3 year) measure designed to only partially offset the latest cuts.
• Measure E will add less than $20/month to the average household’s tax bill.

Did you realize that even if B & E pass, there will be cuts?

Assuming that B&E pass and the State budget situation does not worsen, the equivalent of 55 full
time teachers and 5 full time support staff will be eliminated by:

• Increasing class sizes in grades 6-12
• cutting back on administrative staff services
• Reducing counseling time
• Reducing classroom aides and occupational therapist time
• Cutting back on ground services and facilities maintenance

If Measure E doesn’t pass, cuts will be more drastic

In addition to the above cutbacks, the equivalent of 3.5 full time teachers and 6 MI time support
staff members will also be eliminated by reduction of:

• Classroom aides in Grades K-3
• Library services and library assistants and for K-12
• K-12 counseling services
• Positions such as high school department chairs, activities coaches, music accompanists
• PMS/PHS administrative support
• Custodial staff K-12

The Challenge

1. Approve Measures B & E by the required 2/3 majority of voters [66.7%), when nearly 70% of Piedmonters don’t have kids in school.

Concerned? What you can do!

1. Get Out the vote -yours, every voter in your family and your neighbors -for both B & E in the June 2 election
   Help combat the low expected turnout for single issue June 2 B&E election
   Last day to register to vote May 18
   http://www.sos.gov/elections/elections_vr.htm
2. Vote by mail TODAY! Ballots arrived this week
   If you vote by mail, your ballot anived this week Send it in ASAP!
   Otherwise, request an absentee ballot ASAP
   Last day to register for absentee ballot is May 26
3. Register as an Endorserhttp://www.yesonbande.org/how-you-can-help/endorse_email
4. Register for a Yes on B & E Lawn Signhttp://www.yesonbande.org/how-you-can-help/lawnsign_email

Want more info or to help?

Visit our website at www.YESonBandE.org

Family was coming in this weekend, it was Saturday and I had ten minutes and two dirty cars. My son and I each grabbed an old towel; he went inside with some green window cleaner. I took the hose with the sprayer in one hand, and the towel in the other. I’d spray for a second on a section, then wipe everything down with the towel, then quick rinse -just the water. Two minutes and very little water later, the car looked no different than if I had spent fifteen minutes soaping everything down. When you wash a car in the sun with soap, you spray it down, soap it up, then the soap dries on the car before you get to the hose to rinse, so you need to wipe that area again – a lot of  time and a lot of water.

From now on, I’m just using water and a towel. I’m not going to eat off the hood – what’s the soap really doing anyway? Adding a lot of chemical run-off to the storm drain. Even if you use biodegradable soap, you should have the run-off go into your own yard. But, save yourself all that – try this method, at least once. Hose in one hand towel in the other – fast and clean.

Dear Beach Parents,

Please consider a show of support for our teachers and staff by wearing pink TOMORROW (Friday, March 13th). Ask your child if he/she wants to wear pink, too. As you may have read in the 3/11/09 issue of the Wednesday News, this Friday, March 13, is “Pink Friday”, a State-wide Day of Action that is being organized by the California Teachers Association (CTA).

Wearing pink that day is one of the ways CTA hopes to draw attention to the education budget issue. CTA is asking the public to join in by wearing pink to support the teachers. Many Piedmont staff will be wearing pink on Friday, March 13 as this is the date that state law requires lay-off notices or “pink slips” be handed to teachers.

Last night, the Piedmont Board of Education, authorized the release of temporary teachers and lay-off notices for tenured teachers, administrators, counselors and librarians, affecting at least 50 of PUSD staff. This action was necessary for the District to balance its budget shortfall of up to $1.5 million for 2009-10 school year. Other lay-off notices and budget reductions are anticipated over the next several months. Throughout the State, it is anticipated that more than 25,000 teachers will receive “pink slips.”

Joe Loduca, BPO President

Beach Parent Organization Agenda

Monday, March 2^nd

Library, Beach School

Call to Order and Introductions 7:00 pm

Discussion will be limited to no more than 15 minutes per agenda item.

Secretary’s Report                                           Mark Tellegen

Principal’s Message                                          Julie Valdez

BPO President’s Report                                   Joe Loduca

T-shirt order status

BPO Treasurer’s Report                                   Eddie Ngo

Committee Reports:

Hot Lunch                                            Laura/Joe/Susan

Parcel Tax                                            Terry

Linda crossing (CIP)                             Esther

Ed Foundation                                      Nancy McHugh

Others

Adjourn at 9:00PM if we are lucky.