Charter Chatter
A weekly newsletter written to parents of the TLC
Jan. 20, 2017 Vol.22
| Virginia’s Voice |
This next week is National School Choice Week. While we agree that all schools do not fit all students, we strongly believe in the ability for parents and students to have a choice in the schools they attend. Our charter first started in 2001. We opened our doors to students in grades 5 and 6 and began at the middle school level. We enrolled 125 students for our first year.
We have grown to three schools, (Primary TK to 4, Discovery 5-8, Millennium High School 9-12). That growth took place slowly and it was well planned. Today we enroll over 1200 students. Last year, we opened our preschool program for 2.5 to 4 year olds.
When new schools of choice open, they experience many concerns. The first one to face is the economic fears of existing outside of the established public school setting. I remember as a new director for our first school worrying if I could pay the PG&E bill. As a previous school administrator, I never had to worry about such things…the district took care of it. The next worry is whether or not parents will want to send their children to a newly established school. Once, those worries cease though, those of us who have begun charter schools realize what a special gift it is to establish a school that has freedom to design programs that truly meet the needs of the students enrolled.
Our charter schools are proud to say that we place the needs of our students first, We are student centered when developing our schedules and classroom programs. We have the freedom to make changes without the obstacles others bigger school districts have to face.
We always remain grateful to the parents who decide to enroll their children in our schools. We take the education and progress of each student seriously. We are pleased that we are able to offer a choice to the parents in Tracy. Our only regret is that we have long waiting lists that never seem to move and that we have parents who wait long years to receive a phone call that their child has reached the top of the waiting list and is being asked to enroll.
| Misc. Announcements |
Crab Feed
Mrs. Stewart has purchased Two 2017 Crab Feed Tickets which we will be raffling off as an additional fund raiser for this year’s Crab Feed.
Tickets can be purchased in the office for $10 or 3 tickets for $20. We will sell these tickets until Jan. 26th and will draw the winning ticket on Friday Jan. 27, 2017. A minimum of 10 tickets must be sold or raffle will be canceled and money returned to purchaser.
One ticket will be drawn and the winner will receive these Two Crab Feed Tickets for this year’s event.
6th Annual TLC’s Got Talent Show Auditions
Audition Forms are available now through January 26th. Auditions will be held the week of January 30 beginning at 4PM. Pick up your form in the Counseling Office, Front Office or from your homeroom teacher. Show Date & Location: Grand Theatre Center for the Arts Thursday, March 30, 2017 from 6:30 PM to 8:30 PM
We look forward to seeing all of our talented students!
**Proceeds from the show benefit the class of 2017**
Stephanie Arganbright
Counseling Assistant/ Community Service Coordinator
Millennium High School
51 E. Beverly Place
Tracy, CA 95376
Annual Jog-A-Thon
The jog-a-thon is going school wide this year! With that said, I am in need of more sponsors. If you are a business owner and would like to advertise your company on our race day shirts, please contact me at kvigil@tracylc.net. I will get you more information on how you can become a proud sponsor of this great fundraiser! Thank you in advance for your support!
Crab Feed
Happy Friday!
Hoping you are keeping dry.
We are just 2 weeks from our 11th Annual Tracy Learning Center Crab Feed.
Tickets are going fast. Don’t miss out on yummy crab, pasta, salad and rolls.
Amazing raffles, silent auction and dancing. Dessert Auction.
Tickets are $50 each or you can reserve a table for 8.
Please call or email Donna Baker at (209) 832-1940 or donna@donnabaker.com.
Thanks a bunch for supporting this super fun event.
As chairperson of this event it’s always important to recognize ROCK STARS!! Tiffany Alexander who runs our raffle committee has already been working hard since August on our amazing donations. We already, have our donation for Disneyland tickets!
| PCS/DCS Lunch Menu Week Jan. 23-27
Mon. – Pizza Tues. – Beef or Vegi Burger Wed – Beef Enchiladas Thurs –Chicken Taquitos Fri. – Chicken Corn Dogs |
Pre K
Our preschool welcomed parents and siblings for a cozy pajama party movie night last Friday and it was a wonderful success!
T K
This week TK celebrated our 100th day! We were so excited to see how much the students have learned in the first 100 days of school. We explored the number 100 in many ways this week. Students practiced skip counting, building with 100 items, drawing 100 things, and using ten frames to count to 100, just to name a few. The students enjoyed exploring how people change from birth to 100. We had fun math centers on the 100th day. The students seemed especially excited about eating 100 snacks! We can’t wait to continue learning with them for the next 100 days!
Primary Charter
This week in Initial Phase students have been working on a engineering challenge. Students re-read the familiar text The Three Little Pigs. We had a class discussion of how we can protect the little pigs from the Big Bad Wolf using 3-D shapes. After our discussion, students were placed into groups to come up with a plan. Then, students had the opportunity to create their building using toothpicks and Dots candies! Finally, the Big Bad Wolf (teacher blowdryer) came and huffed and puffed and tried to blow down the houses! Ask your student what happened to the houses.
This activity has so many opportunities for collaboration, critical thinking, planning, and problem solving that helps our students prepare for the rigor of the real world. We are always so impressed with what they come up with and how they really think outside the box! Here are some pictures of what they came up with!
Phase 1 students had another successful learning week, despite the weather! In Writer’s Workshop we are learning the art of procedural writing. We started with something almost everyone loves….Pizza!!! How to Make a Pizza requires materials, ingredients, steps, and directions. We also learned/reviewed all about topic sentences, closing sentences, and transitional words. In Social Studies, we learned all about Inauguration Day. Did you know that there is an Inaugural Parade and Ball? The new president has to take an oath ad be sworn in. We learned a lot of interesting facts about the President’s job and qualifications. In math we learned that fractions can be fun! You can find fractions everywhere. We continue to work on reading comprehension, vocabulary development, spelling and phonics patterns daily.
This week in Phase 2 we learned about weather, clouds, precipitation, and how extreme weather can affect us. We even saw some stormy, extreme weather in action this week! Some groups are also reading about how to stay safe in a tornado. We are also learning more about Thomas Edison. Did you know he wasn’t a good student when he was in school? Our students are doing a great job researching in language arts and we are also working on our summarizing skills.
We hope to see you at the 11th Annual Crab Feed, Saturday, February 4th. Reminder – our talent show is coming up in March! Auditions are being held the week of January 30th. Please see your students’ teacher for a form if you are interested.
Discovery Charter
NEXT WEEK….January 23 through January 27, grades 5 and 6 will celebrate National School Choice Week. Ask your child how each day was celebrated, and what they know about “Keeping Choice Alive!”
This week, in unity, we celebrated our den’s Top 5:
This year’s Academic Pentathlon theme is WWII. In 5/6 all students are learning about WWII. The curriculum surrounding WWII is very interesting. Students seem to enjoy reading about the war while learning about the lives that were changed, the geography that was affected, the music and art of the 40’s, and the way WWII continues to affect the way we live today. Students are able to compare the Axis versus the Allies. They can review a timeline from 1939 to 1945 and tell about important events of the times. In the pictures below, peers teach one another about WWII:
A look at last week…..Kids hanging out before Science Camp and Painting during Stay Camp
Grades were updated in your child’s agenda this week. Please be sure to review grades in the agenda and/or on AERIES….as always, contact your child’s teacher if you have any questions:
Mrs. Beckner: sbeckner@tracylc.net
Mrs. Hawkins: shawkins@tracylc.net
Ms. Pelaez: lpelaez@tracylc.net
Ms. Rodieck: lrodieck@tracylc.net
Ms. T: ttakeuchi@tracylc.net
Ms. Zaca: szaca@tracylc.net
Coach Lopez: blopez@tracylc.net
Coach Penirian: cpenirian@tracylc.net
Coach Williams: dwilliams@tracylc.net
DHSP
We hope everyone has a safe (and dry) weekend!
Go TIGERS!!!!
| MHS |
Charter Chatter January 20, 2017
January through March, Mrs. Stewart and the counseling staff will be meeting with all students for their annual counseling review. During this meeting fast track classes and next year’s schedule will be planned. Only 10th grade parents will be invited for an appointment. Time is extremely limited and we encourage 10th grade parents to rearrange schedules as necessary to attend their scheduled time. Appointment letters were mailed with the first semester report cards.
Did you buy your yearbook? Fill out the form and return it to the front office with payment. The deadline is February 28th so get yours TODAY!
COSMOS- California State Summer School for Mathematics and Science
Want to spend a month on a college campus exploring topics in STEM- Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics? Application period is from January 17th – February 17th, 2017. Dates for the program are July 9-August 5, 2017 *UC Irvine ends on August 4, 2017* For more information please visit https://cosmos-ucop.ucdavis.edu/app/main
Guiding Outstanding Learners to Discover (GOLD) – July 23 – August 4, 2017
College Info
College bound seniors: most colleges will be notifying applicants the status of their admission in early Spring by either mail or online via the student portal on each individual college’s web site. We anticipate hearing about the acceptance letters. All students accepted to a college or university should let the Counselors know as soon as they are notified. Best of luck to all of those who applied!
Community Service Opportunities
Snack Club Program at TK Site – Mon-Friday 3:30pm-4:30pm at the Tracy Learning Center TK Site (238 West Grant Line Rd). High school students are needed to help with snack club program Contact: Mrs. Tyler styler@tracylc.net
Moose Crab Feed Dinner – Friday, January 20, 2017 5:30 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. at the Tracy Moose Lodge (35 East 6th Street, Tracy) – ring doorbell to enter facility. Volunteers needed: 2 dish washers and 6 servers are needed – black and white server attire. Volunteers MUST contact Alex Zamora for scheduling **Contact: Alex Zamora 209-815-6408 or azamora@pacbell.net**
Portuguese Hall Crab Feed Dinner – Saturday, January 21, 2017 6:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m. at the Tracy Portuguese Hall. Volunteers: servers are needed – casual attire (something appropriate for school). Volunteers if you have not already sign up please contact Diane Silveira 209-988-5460.
Tracy Chamber of Commerce 2017 Chamber Awards Gala – Friday January 27th 4 pm – 10 pm @ the Tracy Community Center. Pizza will be provided for student volunteers that are staying later than 8 pm and community service hours will be signed off for student participation in this event. Please sign up in the counseling office for specific duties and shifts.
Poet Christian Crab Feed – Friday, Feb 3, 2017 3:30 p.m. – 11 p.m. at the Tracy Community Center. Volunteers needed: for set up (3:30pm), to serve (6:30pm) and for clean-up (10:30pm) – black and white server attire.
