November is a time that welcomes seasonal changes and family gatherings of giving thanks to all the wonderful aspects life has to offer.  Enjoy this wonderful time of year!

We continue to focus our instruction on raising our scores in reading comprehension and writing strategies.  These are two areas of the curriculum the teaching staff has identified as areas of need.  Our test scores continue to excel but we know our students can do better in the areas mentioned.  A child enters into the world of “loving to read” by having many opportunities to explore books.  From the infant stage to adulthood – books change and/or impact the lives of all of us.  The magic that comes from the stories told promote lifelong memories.  Instill the passion to read by reading with your child every night, having them read to you or having them share a story with the family.  The key is understanding (comprehension) what the words mean not just how to say/pronounce the words.  Writing about a family trip, weekend, a fun event, a friend or family member is a great way to encourage your child to write.  Encourage the use of quotations, capital letters, using different characters and have those characters have a conversation with each other, etc.  Encourage a variety of writing from your children, for example a letter to a friend or relative, a thank you note, an invitation, a true story (non-fiction) or a make believe story (fiction).  The more reading and writing you encourage and expect your child to do the more proficient he/she will be!

Thank you to Sarah Spear Barrett, Cindi Mitchell and Kari and Rajy Abulhosn for getting Sandburg hooked up with eScrip.  Through this program our school will benefit greatly.  Thank you to those who have signed up these past few weeks.  I appreciate Mr. and Mrs. Abulhosn for taking time to register our community – send in those yellow eScrip coupons and become eligible for a $100 gift card to Vons.  When the school reaches $5,000 from escrip I will come to school in curlers, pajamas (which is quite the thing for me to be seen in curlers and P.J..’s) and my favorite stuffed animal for the day.  I know we can attain our goal! Let’s go Sandburg!!

We had a fabulous Fall Carnival - Thank you to all the volunteers who shared your time so unselfishly that Friday.  I’d also like to thank our PTA for coordinating the event.  The Silent Auction brought in approximately $4,000 + to the school.  The staff will decide collaboratively (as we always do) what to put those dollars towards.  Every donation we collect goes towards instructional materials, books for the classrooms, technology for the classrooms and/or additional supplies for the classroom.  We thank you all for your continued support!

As you are aware we have a Traffic Alert going on outside our campus.  Please, Please, Please slow down.  We have had several instances where drivers have run the stop signs, made U-turns in the middle of the street and used rude signs/language towards our student Safety Patrol.  This kind of behavior is unacceptable and I’m sure is not appreciated by the majority of our community.  Help us stop that kind of behavior by being pro-active and alerting people to the rules and expectations of the school.  Safety First Always!  Our Police Officer cannot be out there everyday but when he is, he issues several tickets – please adhere to the law.  Also, we have people parking in neighbor’s driveways and/or blocking a driveway – that is also against the law.  Let’s all work together to provide a safe zone for all our children.

If you’re concerned about the litter around the school, on your street and/or neighborhood there is program that was shared with me called: Adopt-A-Street Mira Mesa.  If you are interested in receiving more information please send your inquiry to: tallen3134@sbcglobal.net.  Help keep our Mira Mesa community clean!

Parent Teacher Conferences are November 14-17 – all those days are minimum days, school is dismissed at 12:00 noon.  We hope all of you are able to attend these very important conferences. Thanksgiving Break is during the week of November 20-24.