September 2019 Issue

Upcoming Dates for January/February

1/20 No School Martin Luther King Jr.

Day

1/22 Roosevelt in Motion @ 9:15

(Basketball Court)

1/28 TK/K Round-Up @ 8:00 am

(Auditorium)

1/29 Roosevelt in Motion @ 9:15

(Basketball Court)

Read a Thon Kick Off Assembly 10:10

Big Yard

2/3 Read-a-Thon begins

2/6 PTA General Mtg. @ 6:00 pm

(Auditorium)

2/11 Pajama Night TK-1 @ 6:00 pm

2/12 Roosevelt in Motion @ 9:15

(Basketball Court)

2/13 Coffee w/Principal (Library)

2/17 No School – Washington’s B-day

2/18 Super Readers Summit - 2nd/3rd

Grade @ 6pm (Aud)

2/19 Roosevelt in Motion @ 9:15

(Basketball Court)

2/20 PTA Exec. Board Mtg. @ 8:35 am

(Cafeteria)

Governance Mtg. @ 3:15 pm (Rm. 26)

2/21 Spring Family Dance (offsite

Location/Time TBD)

2/25 Super Readers Summit - 4/5th

Grade @ 6pm (Aud)

2/26 Roosevelt in Motion @ 9:15

(Basketball Court)

Roosevelt Riders

Principal’s Corner

1/16/20

I learned there was a great mix of many families relaxing and

having fun downtime at home, and others having adventurous

travels! I hope you and your child take some time this month to talk

about and jot down some of your favorite memories in a journal or

notebook. I spent this Winter Break at home sleeping in, visiting

friends and family, cooking from Julia Child’s cookbook, and taking

long walks with my dog, Olivia. She got very spoiled!

As with the start of every new year, this is a perfect time to take a

few moments to reflect on the past year and develop a few goals

that will make a difference in your life and are important to your

family. This year is so special because we’re at the beginning of a

new decade, and that may lead you to thinking about where you

want to be in five or ten years. Teaching your child about

developing personal goals (short or long term) is an important

activity that helps our children to understand that they have the

power to take initiative and be deliberate in the choices they make

from one day to the next in an effort to reach their goal(s). As your

child makes progress towards their goal(s), he/she will earn the self-

esteem and confidence to take on challenges and “think big”!

Here is a useful link to help you and your child get started:

https://biglifejournal.com/blogs/blog/goal-setting-for-kids

January is a quiet month for school events as we ease back into a

regular routine. However, this is the perfect time to attend our

amazing aerobics class every Wednesday morning at 9:15 a.m. on

the basketball court with Ms. Walls!

Dear Roosevelt Families,

Happy New Year!

It has been such a pleasure to see all of our students

eagerly returning to school with a smile on their face

and stories to tell about their Winter Break. As I spent a

bit of time catching up with our children and parents,

January/February Issue

Principal’s Corner Continued

Roosevelt Gardening Angels

Roosevelt Gardening Angels is looking for more

volunteers to help turn our community gardens

into learning opportunities for our students.

If any parents are interested in hosting a

gardening club before late start on Wednesday

morning or during lunch, we would love to hear

from you! Please contact :

Alexis Huether

4vp@gmail.com

Alexis Huether

Edie Ortenberg

Catherine Handelman

Roosevelt Green Team is looking for volunteers

and a new committee chairperson.

The group partners with the Gardening Angles

and the Wellness Committee.

Green Team focuses on district sustainability

initiatives and on teaching water conservation,

recycling, composting and energy efficiency.

Anyone interested in helping can contact:

Alexis Huether

rooseveltpta.4vp@gmail.com

310.351.8755

Her class is fun and energizing, as well as informative

about body systems, nutrition, school spirit, and a

growth mindset! All students and parents are welcome

to attend, and we now have Roosevelt in Motion T-

shirts available for the whole family! T-shirts are for sale

every Wednesday before and after our Roosevelt in

Motion class. So come a bit early, or stay a few

minutes after to buy yours! ($15.00 per shirt).

Our Read A Thon Kick Off Assembly is just around the

corner on Wednesday, January 29th at 10:10 on the

Big Yard. Families are welcome to attend! I hope to

see you there!

Cheers to all for a great start to 2020!

Warm regards,

Ms. Holeva

Principal

keep an extra eye out on your children for symptoms. The

recommendation for school is to keep students home for 24

hours after vomiting, diarrhea or a fever (over 100.0). Of

course you know your children best, so if you think they

need an extra day to recover, just let the attendance line

know. Let’s work together to keep our school & community

healthy.

Elephant Seals of San Simeon. If you’ve never seen these

amazing creatures (adult males weigh in at 5000 pounds),

plan a trip north. I spend a lot of time video-chatting with

my 7-year-old nephew (in Arizona).

We’ve just begun to read the Harry Potter

series together – a lot of fun and a great

way to keep us connected! As many

children do, he has a hard time responding to questions

about school with much beyond a yes or a no. I began to

hone my questions so that he’d give a thoughtful

response - one that would allow our interaction to be

richer and more meaningful. Here is a short list of

questions you might ask your child at the end of the day,

on the car ride or walk home, during dinner preparation

or while you are eating, or just before bedtime. Feel free

to add your own.

Tell me about the best part of your day. What challenged

you today? What was the funniest thing that happened

today? What was the nicest thing you did for anyone? Tell

me about what you presented in class. Who did you play

with today, and what did you play? Who did you sit with at

lunch? Tell me about something you learned today/this

week? If you were teacher for a day, what would the day

look like? What rule was the toughest to follow today?

Please feel free to stop me on campus and let me know

how your conversations go!

- Ms. Stern

It’s hard to believe that TK/K Round Up is

right around the corner and we will soon

be busy enrolling our Kindergarten class of

2025-2026 and our TK class of 2026-2027!

One of our biggest joys is welcoming all of

the new students, families and being

along for the ride as we watch them grow

throughout the years at Roosevelt. We

are very grateful to work in such a magical

place.

-Lisa, Estela & Sami

Assistant Principal’s Corner

Hello, Roosevelt families! Happy New Year to

you all. I hope your holidays were wonderful,

and that you spent time enjoying family and

friends, and some extra rest! I didn’t go far,

enjoying the beautiful California coast, and

hanging for a few hours with the amazing

Office Corner

Happy 2020, everyone! I hope you are all

staying healthy & had a restful break. We've

had many students at all sites returning from

break with colds, viruses or recovering from the

flu. This is normal for this time of year, but please

School Nurse’s Corner

The Roosevelt Office Staff Wishes you a

Happy, Healthy New Year!

REMINDER: Students wearing a

brace, cast, assistive device

(crutches, wheelchair, walker),

must have a Dr. note on file in the

Health Office. This is so we can

make sure coaches, teachers &

health staff are all on the same

page for the safety of your child.

It is also in the parent handbook.

Resources:

Flu symptoms:

https://www.cdc.gov/flu/symptoms/inde

x.html

SMMUSD Parent Handbook (pages 16-

17):

http://www.smmusd.org/StudentServices

/registration/Handbook.pdf

Have a healthy month!

-Priscilla Guzman

School Nurse’s Corner Cont.

long way to go to get to our goal of 70% school

Staff Spotlight Interview

Brandy King

1. What grade do you teach and how long

have you been teaching?

I am a looping teacher so I switch back

and forth between second and third

grade. This is my 24th year of teaching, 20th

in Santa Monica. I started my teaching

career in Arizona as a special education

teacher.

2. What are the advantages of Team

Teaching? What are some challenges?

Advantages of Team Teaching are being

able to focus on just teaching language

arts and getting to know twice as many

students. Also, having a “partner in crime”

that I can problem solve with on a daily

basis is awesome. A challenge of Team

Teaching is sticking to a schedule. Some

days, you wish you had a little more time

with a group before it was time to switch.

Team Teaching is the best!

3. What inspired you to be a teacher? My

second grade teacher inspired me to be

a teacher! She was magical. She made

learning fun and hands-on. I especially

loved read aloud time when she would

take us on a journey through different

worlds.

4. What do you love about Roosevelt? I love

the feeling of community between

students, staff, and parents.

5. Two fun facts about myself: I am from

Tennessee. I love to dance!

6. If I could learn anything what would it be?

I would learn to be fluent in another

language and learn to play the guitar.

Staff Spotlight Interview

Amy Wechselberger

1. What grade do you teach and how long have

you been teaching?

I am a looping teacher so I teach both second

and third grade. This year I teach second grade.

I have been teaching for 22 years.

2. What are the advantages of Team Teaching?

What are some challenges?

There are many advantages to Team Teaching.

One advantage is that I can really focus on the

subjects I teach and I get a chance to modify

lessons immediately with the next class. Another

advantage is that my partner teacher and I

have different strengths so we really

complement each other. The biggest

disadvantage is timing. We always feel like

there’s not enough time in the day to do

everything we have planned before we need to

switch classes.

3. What inspired you to be a teacher? I have always wanted to be a teacher. I remember

playing school as a child and having all of my dolls

and stuffed animals sitting in a row while I taught

them using my chalkboard.

4. What do you love about Roosevelt?

I love that Roosevelt is so welcoming and there

is always something fun happening at

Roosevelt.

5. Two fun facts about myself: I went to high school

in Japan. I love cupcakes!

6. If I could learn anything what would it be?

I would love to learn the ins and outs of

gardening. I’d like to have a green thumb!

Welcome to 2020!

We have a lot of great PTA events

coming up and we need your help!

The Read-a-Thon kicks off on Monday

February 3rd and runs the entire month

of February. Join us for the Kick off

Ed Foundation Update

There are less than 20 days until

the deadline to reach our 70%

school-wide participation. In

February, the Board of Education

will decide funding for classroom

Instructional Assistants, arts, STEM, and more, based

on the amount donated to the Education by the

January 31st deadline. We need 174 Roosevelt

families to contribute to reach our 70% school-wide

goal. Donate today to help fund these programs by

clicking here. Any amount is appreciated -- every

dollar you give makes a difference! Each week

throughout January, Roosevelt families who make a

contribution to the Santa Monica Education

Foundation will be entered into a raffle (prizes change

weekly).

Roosevelt Ed Foundation Co-Chairs,

Ciria Fischer & Robin Rogers

Staff Spotlight Cont.

1. What is your job at Roosevelt and how long

have you been here?

I am a Para educator 3, and I have been at

Roosevelt for nine years in April.

2. What do you love about Roosevelt?

There are many things I love about Roosevelt

but what stands out the most is how much our

school community feels like family.

3. Can you tell us two fun facts about yourself?

Hmm, two fun facts about me. I speak French,

Spanish, and a little Swedish. And I love classic

Italian scooters.

4. If you could learn anything, what would it

be?

I would love to learn how to speak Scots

Gaelic

Classified Spotlight:

Jerry Montoya

Assembly on Wednesday January 29th at 10:10am.

Looking to get involved? Email:

ptapresidentteddy@gmail.com

- Thea Cappiccille

Message from PTA President