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

GATORAIDBoard of Education

Superintendent: Dr. Wendy Gudalewicz

Board Members:

Anjali Kausar, Ben Liao,

Josephine Lucey, Gary McCue,

Phyllis Vogel

GARDEN GATE ELEMENTARY

CUPERTINO UNION SCHOOL DISTRICT

10500 ANN ARBOR AVENUE

CUPERTINO, CA 95014

Brandi Hucko - Principal

Azmeh Malik - PTA President

SCHOOL CALENDAR MARCH 28, 2013

3/28 6:00 p.m. MILLER MIDDLE SCHOOL INCOMING 6TH GR. PARENTS (ONLY) NIGHT3/28 6:30 p.m. GR. 4 MUSIC PERFORMANCE - GLC4/3 YEARBOOK ORDERING DEADLINE4/4 7:15 p.m. PTA MEETING4/5 WALK- A-ROUND EVENT4/8-4/12 GRADE 5 TO MARIN HEADLANDS - SCIENCE CAMP4/10 3:45 p.m. SCHOOL SITE COUNCIL MEETING4/11 6:30 p.m. KINDERGARTEN MUSIC PERFORMANCE - GLC4/15-19 NO SCHOOL - SPRING RECESS4/25 6:30 p.m. PROJECT CORNERSTONE RECOGNITION EVENING4/26 WALK-A-ROUND PLEDGE DEADLINE4/26 SCHOOL SPIRIT- “COLOR DAY” - COLORS DETERMINED BY GRADE LEVEL4/29-5/10 STAR TESTING

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.orgATTENDANCE: 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! PAGE2

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

Congratulations to Mrs. Smart, Garden Gate's 2013-2014 Teacher of the Year!For those of you who know Mrs. Smart, you know she is a gifted and dedicated teacher who is skilled in educating children in the most nurturing and engaging ways. She knows the curriculum and how to reach young learners. She has caring relationships with parents, staff, and students. Making this honor even more special? Michelle was selected as our Teacher of the Year by her fellow teachers! You are gator-iffic, Mrs. Smart!

An Enlightening Discovery Day for our GatorsThank you to Azmeh Malik and the PTA for sponsoring our fun and educational Discovery Day on Tuesday, March 26! Teachers opened their classrooms to community members who presented to children. Just a sampling of these presentations includes: dentistry, fire-fighting, wildlife, kung fu, baseball pitching, tae kwon do, rock climbing, nursing, Sheriff's Department, vehicles for the disabled, cardiology, sea turtles, NASA, online video games…and that's not all! Our students were full of wonder, and asked great questions – ask them about the day! Thanks to everyone for making this day one our Gators will never forget!

CUSD/CEEF Books For a Better Future CampaignAs we begin implementing the Common Core State Standards, it is evident that schools need more informational, or non-fiction books, in our classrooms and libraries. The Cupertino Union School District has asked the Cupertino Educational Endowment Foundation (CEEF) to support our schools with funds to provide informational texts for our students. CEEF is CUSD's funding partner. The goal of this campaign is to provide classroom sets of informational texts, as well as read aloud texts for classrooms and grade levels. This is a need our Garden Gate staff identified last school year and we are thrilled to learn that CUSD and CEEF are working together to address the need!Campaign website address: www.ceefcares.org/greatschools

Family Science Night a Huge Success!A very special thanks to Patti Wolf for coordinating, and to our PTA for sponsoring, a very successful Family Science Night on March 14. Our students and families enjoyed the Children's Discovery Museum's chemistry experiments and activities. Thanks to our Garden Gate staff and parent volunteers who volunteered their time to make this event possible.

Review Sheets Help Your Child Prepare for TestsYour child has a math test on Chapter 13, but his math assignments are crumpled up in his book bag ... or somewhere in his room. How can you help a disorganized child get organized to do well on a test?Have him:

•Create a review sheet. Ask him what the teacher emphasized during math class. He should look through thechapter and write down the things that are most important. He should also look over some of his homework mathproblems.•Make his own test using the information on his review sheet. What problems would he ask?•Take the test he created. Actually doing the problems again will help him remember how to solve them. This willgive him confidence when he gets to school on test day.

Reprinted with permission from the March 2013 issue of Parents make the difference!® (Elementary School Edition) newsletter. Copyright © 2013 The Parent Institute®, a division of NIS, Inc. Source: A. Homayoun, That Crumpled Paper Was Due Last Week, Perigree Books. 

PropellersDo 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: How does trust get broken? Can trust be repaired? If so, how?

Brandi HuckoPrincipal, Garden Gate Elementary 408-252-5414

PTA CORNER PARENT TEACHER ASSOCIATION (PTA) NEWS & RESOURCES ! PAGE3

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

Dear “Gator Families,”

FAMILY SCIENCE NIGHTOn March 14th, we had our Family Science Night “Adventures with Chemistry” presented by the Children’s Discovery Museum. The GLC was packed with Garden Gate families who had a great time trying various fun activities! I’d like to thank the following volunteers who helped supervise the stations: Satya Tota, Arun Varshney, Calvin Wei and Ann Jefferson. Also, our wonderful staff members whose presence at the event made it all the more fun for our students: Mrs. Swaminathan, Ms. Che, Mrs. Higgins, Mrs. Lanza, Mrs. Lawson, Mr. Grady Wright, Mrs. Patti Wolf and Ms. Hucko. Thank you everyone!

PTA SPONSORED “SPRING STAFF LUNCHEON”The 4th and 5th grade classrooms are hosting a “Spring Staff Luncheon” tomorrow, March 29th. The menu will feature Italian foods. Thank you to everyone who contributed monetarily for the luncheon.

PTA NOMINATING COMMITTEE IS RECRUITING! TREASURER NEEDED!Calling all parent volunteers! If you are interested in serving on the PTA Board, the Nominating Committee is looking for individuals interested in taking on various jobs on the Board and Committees. Garden Gate’s PTA unit consists of several Board Members and Committees. This is the time of the year when the Nominating Committee looks to find replacements for those members who are either moving on to Middle school or who have completed a two year term in office. One position that we especially need filled for next year is that of the Treasurer. This is one of the key Board positions and requires an individual with accounting background. If you are interested in playing an active role on the PTA, if you would like to help out as part of any of our Committees, or if you have any questions at all, please contact Angelia Kan: angeliakan@gmail.com or Cheryl McGraw: McGraw_Cheryl@cusdk8.org.

I hope that you will consider being more involved in your child’s school activities. I guarantee you, it is a very rewarding and enriching experience and you will not be disappointed!

GET READY FOR THE WALK-AROUND!Gators, please mark you calendars for the Walk-Around event coming up next Friday, April 5th 2013. All students have taken home a pledge sheet with details about it in their green folder. Please support your child to collect pledges from family, friends and neighbors to enable them to raise money for their school. The Walk-Around event combines collective fundraising, expending physical energy by walking, boosts school team spirit, followed by loads of excitement for numerous raffle prizes. We will need many volunteers to help on the day of the Walk-Around, so parents, please sign up to volunteer!

DISCOVERY DAY!On Tuesday we celebrated an exciting and wonderful Discovery Day event at our school! There were speakers who spoke to the students about their work and interests. The children had a wonderful time learning new facts about different professions, sports, and hobbies. I’d like to especially thank all the wonderful volunteers, without whose help Discovery Day would not have been successful and who made the event a wonderful experience for everyone! Thank you Cheryl, Angelia, Carolyn, Terri, Rakhi, Sophia, Maha, Merav, Janine, Aravinda, Shaila, Debbie, Shawn, Olga, Yaping, Jamie, Neeru and Neetu!

Hope%you%enjoy%your%week!

Azmeh%Malik

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

ORDER YOUR 2012-2013 GARDEN GATE YEARBOOK

The 2012-2013 Garden Gate Yearbooks are now on sale! Please complete the order form sent home today in your child’s green folder and return it with your payment to your child’s classroom teacher by Wednesday, April 3rd. Order the FULL-COLORED yearbook at the special rate of $20.00! All checks should be made payable to Garden Gate School. In addition to class photos and school-wide celebrations, there will be many additional pictures featured. Additional order forms are available in the school office. Late orders will not be accepted, however, a limited number of copies will be available in June for $25, so order now to ensure that your child has a copy for this school year.

FIRST AND LAST DAY OF SCHOOL - DISTRICT POLICY Students who have an unexcused absence on the first day of school in August will be dropped from the school roster(vacations are unexcused). If space is available at the school when the student returns, the student will be reinstated. If no space is available, the student will be assigned to another school in the district where space is available. Students must be in attendance on the last day of school to guarantee their place in the district for the following year.If leaving early, the student will be dropped from the roster and upon the student’s return, the parents must contact the school to re-register and the student will be placed where space is available. If you are making travel plans and have questions, contact the Student Assignment Office at 408-252-3000, ext. 110.

REMINDERS:•For the protection of students, please remember that students are not to be on the campus before 7:45 a.m. There is no adult supervision until 7:45 a.m.•Please do not congregate outside of the classrooms while school is still in session. This is very disruptive to both the teacher and the students and could be a distraction from valuable learning time. •Every Tuesday is early dismissal day. Please remember that all a.m. Kindergarten students are dismissed at 11:10 a.m. and all p.m. Kindergarten students along with students in grades 1-5 are dismissed at 1:30. Please remember to pick up your children promptly.World TB Day, falling on March 24th each year, is designed to build public awareness that Tuberculosis today remains an epidemic in much of the world, causing the deaths of nearly one-and-a-half million people each year, mostly in developing countries. It commemorates the day in 1882 when Dr. Robert Koch astounded the scientific community by announcing that he had discovered the cause of Tuberculosis, the TB bacillus. At the time of Koch's announcement in Berlin, TB was raging through Europe and the Americas, causing the death of one out of every seven people. Koch's discovery opened the way towards diagnosing and curing TB. Http://wwwstop.org/events/world_tb_day/

WHO SHOULD GET A TB TEST? All school volunteers. All new students from outside Santa Clara County. You should also be tested if there is any chance you have been exposed to someone who has TB. If you do not have health insurance you may be eligible for Medi-cal. You may download an application at www. leaderservices.com/mca Or call Medi- cal toll free at: 888. 747.1222. If you have any questions regarding Medi-cal insurance or TB, please contact your school nurse . Quinton_jodi@cusdk8.org

ALLERGY SEASON HAS BEGUNSpring is here and students are reacting with swollen eyes and other allergy symptoms. Red irritated eyes are often the sign of “pink eye” which is a contagious disease. When students come to the office complaining of sore eyes, we cannot diagnose the problem as either an allergy or “pink eye” – a doctor must do this. If a prescribed or over-the-counter medicine is needed and is to be administered at school, the office must have a parent and doctor complete our blue medical form on file before any medication can be given. These forms are available in the school office. Students may not bring any medicine to school in their backpacks. All medications need to be in the original packaging with the pharmaceutical label. All medicine is kept in the school office.

STAR TESTING

STAR Testing April 29th-May 10th

(Makeup Testing: May 13th-16th)

The multiple choice STAR Testing dates are being

published so that parents can plan ahead. STAR

testing will be held from April 29, 2013 through May

10, 2013 for grades 2-5. Your child will need to

take the entire test in order to receive complete

STAR scores. Please do not schedule family trips

or make appointments during this time. It is very

important that our students be at school during the

testing window. For any assessment, the best

preparation is a good night’s sleep and a hearty

breakfast.

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

99 Ranch Market Grocery Days Turn your grocery purchases into dollars for Great Schools! Shop at 99 Ranch Market, 10983 North Wolfe Road, Cupertino, Tuesday, April 9, 2013 9 am–9 pmStock your pantry and freezer, enjoy the hot deli, or grab lunch or dinner to go! 3% of Net Sales all day will support the “2013 Books for a Better Future” Campaign! Look for upcoming Great Schools Grocery Days at www.ceefcares.orgOrganized by the Cupertino Educational Endowment Foundation (CEEF) A Community Partner for Excellence in Local Education.

2013 Books for a Better Future CampaignFor the past 18 months the Cupertino Union School District has been working hard to plan for the implementation of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). The CCSS is a nation-wide effort to ensure that all of our students have the skills necessary to succeed in a global economy.

In order to implement these new standards effectively, beginning in Fall 2014, the District is in immediate need of additional non-fiction materials in all of our schools. To support this implementation, the District has asked the Cupertino Educational Endowment Foundation (CEEF) to raise funds for these important informational texts.

In partnership with CUSD, CEEF launched the “2013 Books for a Better Future” Campaign at its annual Gala on March 9th. The goal of this campaign is to provide all schools with full classroom sets for every grade level, small group reading sets for every grade level, and read-aloud texts for the primary grade levels. This 10-week campaign will run through CEEF’s annual Golf Tournament, to be held this year at the Golf Club of Boulder Ridge on June 3rd. For further information about how to donate or how to get involved with the “2013 Books for a Better Future” Campaign, please visit www.ceefcares.org/greatschools.

CUPERTINO CHERRY BLOSSOM FESTIVALSaturday and Sunday, April 27, and April 28, 2013 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Memorial Park in Cupertino Free AdmissionThe 30th Annual Cupertino Cherry Blossom Festival celebrates community, culture and supports Cupertino’s Sister City relationship with Toyokawa, Japan. This year’s festival features delicious Japanese and American food, outdoor entertainment by taiko drums groups, classical Japanese dancers, martial art schools and musical groups, and more. There are indoor Japanese cultural displays, workshops, and musical performances at the Quinlan Center, adjacent to Memorial Park. This year also features a special children’s play area with hands-on activities. Parking is available at DeAnza College for free. For information visit www.cupertinotoyokawa.org. This event helps to support the Cupertino-Toyokawa Sister City Exchange Program.

HEALTHY FAMILIES/MEDI-CAL INFORMATIONNeed Insurance Coverage? Did you know that thousands of children in California are without health insurance? Did you know countless school hours are lost due to dental pain, vision problems and illnesses that could be prevented or treated? There are no-cost or low-cost insurance coverage programs available for you and your child. You can give your child a better chance to learn. Our school district has always known what experts are just now realizing – that there is a direct link between children’s health and school success!

For more Medi-Cal/Healthy Families information, call toll-free 1-888-747-1222 or come by your school office for details.

DISTRICT CALENDAR 2012-2013 (ALL SCHOOLS EXCEPT MURDOCK-PORTAL)

April 15-19, 2013 Spring Recess May 24, 2013 Staff Learning Day - No School! ! ! ! ! May 27, 2013 Memorial Day! ! ! ! ! June 12, 2013 Last Day of School

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