In an effort to raise participation of the ESF Annual Giving Campaign participation at Ridgeview I am offering to complete a Principal's Challenge.

First, if you have already donated this year THANK YOU! Your donation already counts toward saving the enrichment programs in EUSD (and it counts toward my challenge).

All students are support by ESF: librarians, classroom music programs, 5th-8th grade band programs, technology and technicians to support the technology, athletics, and K-6 Spanish. Did you know that you can do Directed Giving this year?  You can designate a program for your donation, or it can go to the general fund.

Parents get the fundraising information, BUT, I do want to do something fun for and with students if we are able to meet our participation goal.

So here's my Challenge:

If we reach 90% participation, I will spend a day completing a fun task of the students' choosing.

1. Now through April 15th students may submit Challenge ideas to the bear jar in the school office.

2. April 26 I will announce the top 3 choices.

3. April 29 Students in the class(es) reaching the highest participation vote on the Challenge.

4. Last week of school: I will perform the Challenge!  What will it be?

But wait, there's more......

As an added BONUS, the classroom with the greatest amount collected (average per pupil) will win an after school movie and snacks in the MPR!

You may donate online at eurekaschoolsfoundaton.org or bring your donation to the school office.

That means there are 14 weeks remaining in this school year (that is only 66 school days!).

Parent-Teacher conferences are March 9th and 10th. These are adjusted days for students, which means they are dismissed at 12:35pm. This allows for teachers to have a lunch break and then start their conferences. Spring Unlike fall conferences, spring conferences are primarily for parents of students who are receiving deficient grades and/or are in jeopardy of not being promoted to the next grade. If you have concerns about your child's progress, please follow the directions on the RV homepage to schedule a conference with your child's teacher.

Spring Break is April 18-25.

STAR Testing is May 2-6. Please do all you can to insure your child(ren) attends school on time, every day especially during STAR testing week. I am really hoping that vacations do not extend from Spring Break into STAR week.

Thank you to all the numerous parents who support the Ridgeview staff and students. Your time and energy is priceless to the safety and well-being of all students.

Now that the weather is warming up (I hope I am not writing that too soon) I hope more parents are able to help with Jr. PAWS.  For more information  click here.

In the first ten school days since Winter Break, Ridgeview School has had:

• 64 students tardy
• 233 students absent (x $28 ADA per student = -$6,524)
• 68 students taken out of school between 1:00pm and 3:30pm. 

If your child is truly ill, thank you for keeping them home so they recuperate and are not at school with a communicable condition. However a great number of these incidences are not due to illness.

Often times, homework is requested for an absent child. Receiving the assignments has benefit but there is no way to recreate a missed classroom presentation or discussion. Often times during a direct lesson, students and teachers engage in dialogue that cannot be replicated. Students collaborate with each other during class time to exchange ideas and experiences. These interactions are crucial to the learning experience.

If a child is taken from class early, they often miss completing their planner and last minute reminders or announcements.

Excused absences are only those that are due to illness, a medical or dental appointment, a death in the family or quarantine situation. One common misperception is that when a parent reports the absence as excused, the schools receive ADA.

Even with excused absences, schools do not receive ADA. But let me reiterate; do not send sick children to school.

Beyond the ADA though, my concern lies with the loss of instructional time and educational experience, as well as the message it sends that school is not important.

As role models, it is our duty to teach our children the responsibility and discipline of showing up for work. That begins in elementary school. The work ethic of coming to school, prepared to do one's job each and every day is a life skill they learn now, but will apply their whole life: high school, college, and the in the workplace.

I appreciate your support and for taking time to consider my message.

What: An evening for parents to learn more about ways to support your child at home with reading.

Where: Excelsior School library 2701 Eureka Road Roseville, CA 95662

When: Thursday, February 3rd from 6:30-8:00

This is a free evening brought to you by Eureka Reading Specialists.

Topics will include:

• Six Keys to Comprehension
• Reading with your upper grade child 
• Book selection 
• Helping your child with textbook reading strategies. 

There will be great raffle prizes too!

RSVP: Please RSVP by email to one of the Reading Specialists listed below by Thursday, January 27th.

Be sure to include in your email the number of adults who will be attending.

Shawna Lukasko at - slukasko@eureka-usd.k12.ca.us

Caro McKillop - cmckillop@eureka-usd.k12.ca.us

Beth Furdek- bfurdek@eureka-usd.k12.ca.us

Parent-teacher conferences present an excellent opportunity to find out how your child is adjusting to the new school year and to get to know her/his teachers. Here are some general hints on how to have a successful conference:

1. Schedule your conference to be held on a district approved conference day.
2. Ask your child if there is anything that (s)he would like you to discuss with the teacher. 
3. Jot down everything that you want to talk about at the conference. 
4. Arrive promptly or a few minutes early. 
5. Keep the conversation student-centered.
6. Share important information about your child, as it relates to the educational setting, that the teacher may not know.
7. Avoid lengthy discussions of topics that are not related to the purpose of the conference. 
8. Be open-minded to suggestions from the teacher. 
9. Take notes about what has been discussed to share with your child.
10. Be courteous to those scheduled after you, do not stay beyond your allotted time.

For this Fall 2010 edition of Banana Moments: Family Business Quarterly, I selected the book The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing To Our Brains (2010) by Nicholas Carr, author of The Big Switch. Shallows explores how the technology designed by humans also manipulates and impacts us in untended ways. I read this book with an eye for managing the family. The main question Carr raises that every parent needs to answer for themselves is: What is the role of wisdom in our use of the Internet for daily life?

Joanna Jullien
Editor, Banana Moments
916-782-3528 (Desk)
916-521-7203 (Mobile)  

$10 for annual subscription

$5 is donated to your child's school

Smart Money for Smart Schools http://www.bananamoments.com/bananamoments_015.htm

Autumn. Some of us call it Fall. And the latter name is believed to have originated not because of the fall of leaves from the trees, but because it is the season when the sun falls below the equator to spring back up again six months later.

Autumn can have so many different meanings. A time of harvest and abundance; a time of storing and saving for the long winter season ahead. A time of festivity and reunion. Whatever you call it, this season brings many changes. Leaves begin to change hue.

Besides the beauty it creates, this is a real opportunity for children to learn about why this occurs. Check out http://www.sciencemadesimple.com/leaves.html for more information and activities.

November 7th begins Daylight Saving Time. Did you know there is no "s" on the end of Saving Time? I didn't. You can learn more at http://www.webexhibits.org/daylightsaving/b2.html

You don't really understand human nature unless you know why a child on a merry-go-round will wave at his parents every time around - and why his parents will always wave back. ~William D. Tammeus

This is a Spare The Air advisory

Ground-level ozone pollution is forecast to reach 161-Unhealthy on the Air Quality Index (AQI)  Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups (Ozone) Friday, Sep 3: 161 AQI - Unhealthy (Ozone) Yesterday's Regional Maximum: Wednesday, Sep 1: 90 AQI - Moderate (Ozone)

Drivers in the Sacramento region are asked to reduce driving or not drive at all during this period of unhealthy air quality.

Carpool to sports and recreation activities, bike or walk in the morning hours when pollution levels are low, postpone errands or take the bus and light rail.

Free Transit on the Following Transit Systems on Spare The Air Days: Auburn Transit, Lincoln Transit, Placer County Transit and Roseville Transit - www.pctpa.org or call (530) 823-4030 Yolobus and Unitrans - www.yolobus.com or www.UNITRANS.com El Dorado Transit - www.eldoradotransit.com North Natomas TMA Shuttle - www.northnatomastma.org

To monitor Current Conditions, visit www.SpareTheAir.com .

Learn more about recommended activity restrictions, especially for kids , when air pollution levels are high. Calculate your Air Quality To find a carpool partner, visit http://www.sacregion511.org or call 511. This Air Alert is provided by the air districts of the Sacramento, California region.

The objective of Banana Moments: Family Business Quarterly is to help parents rise above the noise and the fray of the daily, weekly, monthly press of information and life's stresses of family business with insights and inspiration to shape their thoughts and reinforce their own family values; and help parents lead children in this network culture that pressures all of us with things that don't really matter and are largely not true.

Banana Moments Quarterly is commercial free. There are no advertisements .

Important topics are selected, researched and the observations, perspectives and opinions of various educators, experts, professionals, law enforcement, fellow parents weigh in to help give parents a 360 degree view of youth trends and new demands on parents.

Joanna Jullien Editor, Banana Moments 916-782-3528 (Desk) 916-521-7203 (Mobile) 

Banana Moments No. You are not crazy. Parenting is hard. Sacramento CyberSafety Examiner