Sep. 4th-7th

Recently I came across this website http://learningtogive.org/parents/helping/1_what_you_can_do.asp and thought there was some great information we can all learn from.

What You Can Do at Home to Help Your Child Succeed at School

Research shows that children are more likely to succeed in school if parents or caregivers take an active part in their education.  Most parents want to get more involved in their child’s education, but may not be sure how to begin. A great starting point is sharing a positive attitude about school with your child.

Be careful not to pass on negative attitudes about school that may be a part of your own past experience. Without realizing it, you could start your child off on the wrong foot by recalling bad memories from your own school days. Giving children the idea that school is too difficult, that teachers are unfair, or that school isn’t important will discourage them from doing well. Instead, talk about your friends from school, your favorite teachers or your best subject. If school was a bad experience for you, you might tell them you made the mistake of not liking school and you don’t want them to do the same.

Talk to your child about what they are learning at school. From kindergartner to high school senior, it’s important to ask students about their school subjects. Ask open-ended questions about their class work —questions that can’t be answered with a “yes” or ‘no.” Share any knowledge you have, and if you are curious, read the textbook!

Help your child get organized to do homework. Create a study area or corner for homework. You can start this as early as Kindergarten, and it becomes more important as homework is assigned. Have a table and chair in a quiet place away from the TV, perhaps in the corner of a bedroom. Add a lamp, if needed. Add a box for books and supplies. Make a special trip to the store to buy supplies such as paper, pencils, and colored pens. As your child gets older, add a clock. Help keep this area tidy and ready for use.

Reminder that Monday Sept 3 is Labor Day, so there will be no school. Enjoy the three day weekend!!

Aug 27-31

Hello McMillin Beagles!

First I’d like to congratulate all of our students that participated in this years Student Council elections. Its great to see our students taking the initiative to get invloved and make a difference. We have a great new council ready to get started with thier plans to make our school better than ever!

I’d also like to take a moment to thank our wonderful PTA for organizing our first assembly of the year. Students had the opportunity to learn more about the prevention of bullying through a great presentation put on by the local Pride Martial Arts group. They shared important tips on how to deal with bullying as well as promoting the prevention of it. In addition, students had an opportunity to learn a little about the discipline of martial arts and how having respect and discipline are key factors in dealing with bullying.

Parents a quick reminder that Tuesday Aug 28th is Picture Day for the students! Also looking ahead, please look for information from your child’s teacher regarding Parent/Teacher conferences which will run from Sept 13-20. In the weeks ahead I’ll be blogging some important tips for you to keep in mind when speaking to your teacher.

I hope everybody has a great week, I know we will as we work our way towards pushing our API to 940!!

Aug 20-27

Happy Monday Everyone!! Well this past week was filled with excitement and anticipation of our 2011-2012 CST scores. In case you did not know, our previous API score was 884 (very respectable). To put it in perspective we were the 9th highest performing school in our District of 44 schools. Now, I am proud to say we blew by the 900 mark to a score of 916!! This achievement is the result of incredible teachers and students working hard to teach and learn the California Standards. Thanks to their hard work and the amazing support of the community and support staff we made a tremendous leap to the 3rd highest performing school in the District.

To share a little more of the details, we can now proudly say that 79% of all students at McMillin are proficient in Language Arts and a whopping 87% are proficient in Math! In terms of growth, we had the 3rd highest levels of language arts growth in the District (8.4%) and the 6th highest in math (6.4%) In addition, our 5th grade science scores were 3rd highest in the District (85.7% proficient) and the 11th highest proficient in Writing (94.7%).

Proud of the school would only barely describe how I feel! Thank you to all the families, students, support staff and most importantly the teachers for all of your efforts. I am blessed to work alongside such an amazing group! Look forward to a school wide celebration, we deserve it! Information for this will be going home soon.

And now back to the drawing board!! In case you were wondering Heritage School is still on top with an API of 936, so of course that means McMillin’s new goal will be at least 940…lol! Thanks again everyone I hope you have a great week!

Volunteers and GATE

Volunteers are in high demand at McMillin! If you would like to volunteer at our schools we have plenty of opportunities. Currently our most pressing needs are:

  • Kinder bathroom monitor
  • Kinder lunch support
  • Library support
  • Copy and laminating
  • Office administrative support

If any of these opportunities interest you please stop by the school and let us know. Thank you in advance for your support.

GATE
This past Tuesday we had our first GATE parent meeting and I hope it was very informative for all that attended. We are excited to announce a new GATE program where our GATE students will have the opportunity to learn more about Math, Art, Science, and Law (writing). The curriculum will have a heavy focus on critical thinking and we anticipate them having a bit of fun as well. For more information take a look at the short PowerPoint presentation  McMillin Gate Program presented at the meeting. If you have any questions please feel free to contact the school.

Aug 13-17

I want to thank all of our fantastic Moms and Dads for joining us last week during our Donuts with Dads and Muffins with Moms event! We had a great turnout and appreciate the support you gave during our book fair fundraiser. Having you on the campus makes our school even more special than usual!

This week looks like it’ll be pretty quite as far as events go, but many more are right around the corner!

I’d like to remind parents to please follow all traffic rules when dropping off and picking up students. At this time we only have one designated drop off/pick-up zone and that is directly in front of the school. You’ll be able to identify the area by the “white” painted curb. We also want to encourage you to avoid backing up traffic on Santa Cora by entering our parking lot. When a spot becomes available we’d like you to park and then pick up your child. Please do not have your child enter the parking lot alone as this area becomes very congested and is a very dangerous lot for children. Remember all red painted curbs are not for pick up or drop off and you risk a very expensive fine if ticketed.

We continue to look for ways to improve traffic flow, but the best piece of advice is to be patient, flexible, and respectful. Everyone wants the same thing and that is to have a safe environment for the kids and you are a key component in that goal 🙂

Aug 6-Aug 10

This will be a busy week at McMillin! We hope all parents can join us for our Back to School Night. Teachers will give you a detailed overview on what you can expect for the year. Although this won’t be the time to conference about specific students this will give parents a chance to learn how they can support their children.

Due to our large numbers we will split up the event over two days:

Grades 4th-6th August 7th
4:00-4:30    Book Fair
4:30-4:45    PTA Address (Quad)
4:45-5:45    4th & 5th Grade
5:45-6:45    6th Grade
Grades TK-3rd  August 8th
4:00-4:30: Book Fair Open
4:30-4:45: PTA Association Meeting
4:45-5:45: TK, Kinder & First Grades
5:45-6:45: Second & Third Grades
6:45-8:00: Book Fair Open
While you’re at the Back to School Night you may want to stop by our PTA sponsored Book Fair. Proceeds go back to the school for supplies, assemblies, and support for the students. Thank you!
Also this week we’ll be having our Donuts with Dads (Thursday) and Muffins with Moms (Friday)! This is a great event to spend a little part of the morning with your child and maybe stop by the Book Fair!