Dear Parents,

As part of the BTA levy passed by the voters in 2004, Sanislo will be receiving some upgrades over the summer.

These upgrades include the following five items:

1. A new concrete pathway from the building to the lower playground.

2. Re-roof portions of the building.

3. Clean exterior brick and repair and paint exterior sheet metal flashing.

4. Replace five existing roof top air handling units with new, more modernized units which should result in improved air quality for the building.

5. Replace the carpet in the performance center.

Because of this project, the campus will be closed from June 25 to August 18. CDSA has been relocated to Highland Park for the summer session.

Dear Parents,

After three months of analysis and community engagement opportunities, the Seattle School Board approved Superintendent Goodloe-Johnson’s capacity management proposal on January 29. The question I’m asked most is how will this affect Sanislo? Although the majority of Cooper students are expected to be assigned to Highland Park, Arbor Heights, and Gatewood, I anticipate that our enrollment will increase by approximately 25 students. 46 students would put us at full capacity (full capacity being 28 per classroom at K-3 and 32 per classroom at 4-5). Although higher class sizes aren’t always desired, the additional students will help us financially as we look toward a much leaner year in 2009/2010. Next month we’ll receive our initial enrollment and budget information and will beginning our staffing process.

Tours – We have begun kindergarten tours and would love to have some parents help out as we share how great Sanislo is. The tours begin with a 15 minute overview, followed by a tour through the building. Prospective parents always want to ask current parents “what Sanislo is really like” and it also helps us to break our larger groups down for the building tour. We have scheduled tours on February 11 and 25, and March 12 and 19 from 9:30 – 10:30. Also, we are looking for volunteers who can provide coffee, juice and a small treat (muffins, etc.) for each of the tours. If you’re able to assist in either way, please call and let the main office know.

We have recently received an Ackerley Grant that will provide us with $3,000 for enhancing literacy instruction. The Ackerely Partnership is between the U.W. and various schools in the Puget Sound area with a focus on supporting the collaboration of P-12 and university educators to improve teaching and learning in public schools and universities. We wrote this grant in conjunction with Cooper and Roxhill (each school receives $3,000) and will participate in some activities with them. The Sanislo funds will be used for three things:

1) Two Writer’s Workshop labs where we will plan lessons and teach them collaboratively

2) Purchase additional books for guided reading (especially non-fiction)

3) Site visits to other schools in the area to observe writing and guided reading.

We’re excited about these opportunities as we continue our work to provide a strong literacy program for your children.

Last Thursday we started our new technology classes. Each classroom will receive instruction every other week and focus on learning Kid Pix (a drawing program aimed at children) and Kidspiration (a visual way to explore words, numbers, and concepts). Maryann Horsley will be joining us at the February 10th PTA meeting to describe these programs in more detail.

Snow makeup days: June 17, 18 and 19. Unless additional closure makeup days are needed, the last dayof school for students will be on Friday, June 19.

Dear Parents,
Next week we begin parent/teacher conferences and we’re aiming for 100% participation. Teachers spend a great amount of time reassessing students and gathering work samples in preparation for your conference. This is all done to provide you, the parent, with an accurate picture of your child’s current performance level and appropriate next steps. Teachers will also be sharing “Student Learning Plans” with you if your child did not show proficiency on a section of the WASL, or is not at standard for reading in 1st, 2nd or 3rd grade. These plans will help
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Last week we sent home a curriculum night survey. The survey provided us with some valuable information that will help inform our future plans. We had around 30 responses and everyone who attended said they would definitely attend again. Everyone felt that the classrooms presentations were clear and helpful, and nearly everyone felt that the time allocated was sufficient. 80% of the parents responding also indicated that they would have liked a presentation by the Principal the same evening, so we will make sure that happens next year. We appreciate the time that many of you who took to return the questionnaire — thank you!

Dear Parents,
We were happy to see so many families attending Curriculum Night last Thursday. The teachers spent a great deal of time planning and we hope that the information you received was helpful. In order to assure that this yearly event continues to best meet your needs, we are including a survey in this week’s packet. Please complete this survey and return by November 3rd.

Sanislo Parent Involvement Policy – We appreciate the diversity of our families and community and welcome and encourage all to become involved in classrooms, extracurricular activities, and participate in decision making. We are committed to creating a culturally inclusive family partnership in order to maximize the success of every student.

Dear Parents,

Tonight is Curriculum Night! This is the best opportunity of the year to hear all about what is happening in your child’s classroom and see the environment they live in for six hours every day. The K-2nd grade classrooms will be presenting between 6:30 and 7:10 and the 3rd–5th grade classrooms between 7:15 and 8:00. Child care is available, although we expect 3rd-5th grade students to join their parents in the classroom. We decided to focus on
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We ended last week with our monthly spirit day and lots of yellow and Sanislo shirts around. At our assembly we had four shining star performances by Zahra Noor, Tairra Sowers, Kiana Jackson, and Isaac Bermes. My principal awards for outstanding effort and achievement went to
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It was wonderful to see all of you last week at the Multi-Ethnic Potluck. The food was fantastic and we were happy to see so many families having a good time!

Tardies / Attendance – although we’re only into the fifth week of school we are already noticing that many students are arriving late
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