THE CHALKBOARD: Miwok Valley celebrates back to school

What’s happening in Petaluma schools.|

Miwok Valley Elementary Charter School celebrated an amazing and highly attended Back to School Night on Aug. 22, according to new principal Mary Reynolds. Parents and guardians were excited to meet their child’s teacher and learn about upcoming events that have been planned for the 2018-2019 school year. The Miwok community is set to embark on a meaningful journey to foster student successes inside and outside of the classroom.

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McDowell’s Monarch are sharing that same enthusiasm as the school year kicks off. “We are off to a great start at McDowell this year. Our community will be living our vision this year by getting A.H.E.A.D,” shares principal Lauri Anderson. “With our focus on academic conversations, our teachers are setting a strong foundation of listening and speaking skills. All our McDowell Monarchs will become expert communicators this year, which means we start early supporting speaking and listening skills. Here, students practice presentation and active listening skills while they get to know each other through five beloved objects from home.” McDowell also is proud to present its new sixth-graders. “For the first time in many years, McDowell Elementary has a class of sixth-graders who are already demonstrating wonderful leadership,” said Anderson. Look out for students in the community this year raising funds for their sixth-grade Outdoor Education trip, and demonstrating compassion and responsibility in our community.

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Students at St. Vincent de Paul Elementary celebrated their first full week of school by gathering in their new P.E.A.K. Family groups. The groups, made up of students from kindergarten through eighth-grade, join together for fun activities, games and events throughout the school year. P.E.A.K stands for People Engaged in Acts of Kindness. During the first event of the school year, students played games, took their first family picture, and pledged to engage in acts of kindness at school, home and in their communities. The newest SVES students were busy last week getting to know each other and their new school. The kindergarten class enjoyed listening to stories, STEM building time, and learning to spell the color words. The highlight was baking a gingerbread man and chasing him all over the campus. Mrs. Sarlatte shared that after running all around the school, the students were thrilled to find their gingerbread man back in the pan. This creative activity is a long-standing tradition for the school, and helps the kindergarteners learn where things are on campus.

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Casa Receives “A” in National High School Ranking! Casa Grande High School’s overall Niche grade makes it a highly rated public school. It has 1,683 students in grades 9-12 with a student-teacher ratio of 23 to 1. According to state test scores, 51 percent of its students are at least proficient in math and 73 percent in reading, according to the Niche website (https://www.niche.com/k12/casa-grande-high-school-petaluma-ca/). Principal Eric Backman is very proud to have the school acknowledged in this way, and looks forward to many more opportunities to showcase the many programs the school is offering to support student learning this year.

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As part of Valley Vista’s work in acquiring International Baccalaureate authorization, principal Catina Haugen explained that students and staff work on 10 Learner Profile attributes through the year. At Friday’s assembly, Haugen kicked off this year’s program with the focus on “Caring.” Five students were recognized for demonstrating that attribute by helping transitional kindergarteners with a shape activity during recess and another for helping a sad classmate. Two other students were acknowledged for being “Thinkers” as they untangled the flags high up on the flagpole last week. “It’s a great start to the year when students are putting their best foot forward,” commented Haugen.

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The Art Docent Program of the Petaluma City School District is looking for new volunteers. The program is looking for volunteers to teach art in classrooms from transitional kindergarten through sixth grade. Docent Coordinator Alyse Breece said the lessons explore art history, technique and curriculum-based art as well as exposing students to a variety of mediums. No art experience is necessary. “We provide training, step-by-step directions, and supplies. Volunteer time is flexible and training time is minimal,” she said. For more information, contact Breece at abreece@petk12.org or 778-4958.

(Maureen Highland is a Petaluma mother and executive director for the Petaluma Educational Foundation. She can be reached at schools@arguscourier.com)

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