2006-2007 events
Lick Observatory Summer Programs 2007

Information and dates for the summer events at Lick Observatory are posted on the Web! Remember that all events including looking through the old 36" refracting telescope!

For information about the summer visitor program go to:
http://www.ucolick.org/public/sumvispro.html

The summer visitor program will have a period of time from May 8 to May 18 when you will need to go to the above web site and fill out an online form.

All of the requests that come in will be randomly sorted based on requested dates.

There are 200 tickets available for each night and I will be
contacting the winning people by email within a week or less of the end of the lottery.

The winning people will be given information on how they can contact the ticket office on-line or by phone to pay for their tickets.

This is the Yearbook 2006-2007

Forever Growing symbolizes life at San Miguel. Price is $15.
SMPA Meeting - May 1

An SMPA meeting was held Tuesday, May 1 at 6:30 pm in the Multi. There will be a Kindergarten Orientation and other Parent Association related items, such SMPA Board members, fundraising, volunteering, etc. We need parents that can help out during the next school year 2007-2008. Please attend if you can. Thank you.

Starting Arts Summer Performing Arts Camps

Keep us in mind as you plan out your summer. We have two terrific camps for your kids to enjoy. The first is for students in grades 3-12 and will run from June 25-July 21, Monday through Thursday, from 9:00am-2:30pm at Peterson Middle School, Santa Clara. Cost is $275. Students will be performing “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat”. Under the direction of Michael Boston, along with choreography by Dottie White and musical direction by Diana Torres Koss, students will have an incredible opportunity to be a part of this award winning Broadway hit.

Starting Arts is also proud to offer a Performing Arts Camp for our community’s younger performers. The camp will be held at Ponderosa Elementary for students in Kindergarten through 2nd grade. Cost is $150. Running from June 25-July 6, Monday through Friday, from 9:00am-12:00, students will take classes in all four arts disciplines (Dance, Theatre, Music & Visual Arts). 

For more information on both these camps, please visit our website or call 408-492-9022. You can print out the application form or sign up online. Flyers are also available in the school office. Don’t miss out on all the FUN!!!

Spring Recess was April 16 through 20. Have a safe and relaxing week off from school.
Thanks to all volunteers who helped during the 12th and 13th. It's always a special time for the students at the EOYP. Get ready for the End of the Year Picnic - Tuesday June 12 for K-2nd and Wednesday, June 13 for 3rd-5th. We need volunteers to help with setup, assist with game/art/field stations, and teardown.
SMPA Board Meeting was Wednesday, June 6, 6:30 pm in the Staff Lounge. We discussed the End of the Year Picnic. At 8:30 am on Friday, June 1 the Multicultural Dance Festival got underway.

We had our party on April 30 for students from each classroom who brought in the most money during the Walk-a-thon. They had small sandwiches, snacks, drinks, music, fun and board games for an hour. And they were very well behaved group of students.

Jocson: Bailey Freckmann, Kanungo: Ciera & Hope Olson

Baccash: Jacob Becker, DeAnda: Ian Catalan & Amaya Leslie,    Kramer: Siddhartha Rajeev,   Shaver: Dafne Muniz, Williamson: Alexander Torres

Berry: Tommy Gomez, Hostetler: Jahnavi Maru,  Kusuma: Alonzo Vergara,  Sibley: Haley Yates

Bravman: Kyla Bermudez, Cabael: Meshelle Rosales, Choate/Gee: Kevin Figueroa,  Dobbertin: Joshua Roylance,
Vasper: Ariana Van Scyoc & Francis Catalan

Melville: Armando Contreras,  Morgan: Joseph Tillman, Demmert: Miguel Ortiz

Rice: Roland Yambao,  Salaber: Paul Piedras

Chase: Mark Rosales, Hernandez: Stephanie Hidalgo,  Wiseth: Jessica Salazar
Thanks to all former administrators and teachers who filled in for Brenda Guy during her personal leave. Fran Johnson, Pat Santana, Don Bergstrom, and Larry Curb did a terrific job. You can still catch Larry at school as he volunteers during some lunch hours.
The Spring Catalog / Cookie Dough fundraiser began March 7 and ended March 21. You have until Wednesday, March 21 to help the school out by selling to your friends, neighbors, and family. The student bringing in the most sales total from both catalogs get a $100 Target gift card, 2nd place - $50 Target, 3rd place - $25 Target, and 4th - 10th a $15 Target gift card. Delivery is Wednesday, April 4. You must pickup your Cookie Dough order on April 4 from 2pm to 5pm.
Join the Box Tops for Education Booster Club and support Our School Buy General Mills products with the Box Tops for Education coupon. Each box top is worth 10¢. Box Tops collected through February 2007 totaled 2806 for $280.60 + 83 Super @ $0.30 each = $305.50. Even though the deadline has passed, continue collecting for the Fall deadline. Thanks.

For the period ending February 28, 2006, the school received a check for $345.10 in early May. Thanks to all for the great participation. Please cut the Box Top outside the dotted line, leaving the date on. Also it saves time and postage if you would trim them to size also. General Mills does not give credit when the date is cut off or when they are expired.

Box Tops are mailed to General Mills at the end of October and February and SMPA gets a check a few weeks later.
Bring in the Loot! was the theme for Coin Drive 2007. Proceeds fund the End of the Year Picnic. The winning classes* from SDC, K/1st, 2nd/3rd, 4th/5th get Popcorn and Movie parties.

The Coin Drive netted $4335.37 during the two weeks. That's over $9 per student! A big thank you to everybody.

*Highest $ brought in per student.

Star One Credit Union in Sunnyvale once again waived the 8.9% fee for the Coinstar machine. Thanks again.

Feb. 6 - A few hangups occurred today. Actually, Star One Credit Union called CoinStar to empty out the machine at 4 pm the day before. It wasn't serviced and ready until 1:20 pm today. I needed to pick up Chris from school, so the coin count started at about 2:40 pm. It was slow as I let customers run their coins in between bags.

When the still wet coins in Mrs. Chase's (Menicucci) were being counted, the machine struggled, made some repetitive churning noises, and then quit with a message about getting employee help. It took about 20 minutes, but in the end, it was a triangular piece of metal, as in a badge holder, slightly opened that had jammed the mechanism. My daughter called, but I told her to walk home from Columbia . Good thing - I got home at 4:50 pm.
Feb. 12 - Ms. De Anda’s class turned in 3076 pennies today. Wednesday, February 7 was great, except that someone in Mr. Salaber's class washed their coins in soda pop or something that left a sticky residue.
Feb. 9 - Thanks to Jeanette for doing the coin counting at the Coinstar machine. We are about 7% or $140 above last year at the midway point. All went smoothly on Thursday the 8th as the coins were easily counted. Yesterday I reworked the spreadsheet and webpage to allow results to be generated more easily.

graph and table revised March 1, 2007 (Sibley +$2.00, Hostetler +$1.70)

SDC

Feb. 16

total   

average

students

2-3

Feb. 16

total   

average

students
Kanungo
$ 1.87
$ 82.47
$ 6.87
12

Morgan
$ 89.71
$ 297.91
$ 15.68
19
Jocson
$ 0.63
$ 46.46
$ 3.87
12

Bravman
$ 33.50
$ 253.87
$ 12.69
20

K-1

Choate/Gee
$ 43.55
$ 213.49
$ 11.86
18
Sibley
$ 75.94
$ 249.10
$ 12.46
20

Melville
$ 59.49
$ 213.20
$ 11.22
19
Kusuma
$ 47.08
$ 215.93
$ 11.36
19

Dobbertin
$ 12.12
$ 140.48
$ 7.39
19
Berry
$ 103.37
$ 200.54
$ 10.03
20

Cabael
$ 1.94
$ 124.59
$ 6.56
19
Kramer
$ 58.70
$ 140.45
$ 8.26
17

Vasper
$ 5.59
$ 116.64
$ 6.48
18
Hostetler
$ 62.07
$ 151.39
$ 7.57
20

4-5
De Anda
$ 14.39
$ 100.44
$ 5.29
19

Wiseth
$ 135.18
$ 491.66
$ 18.91
26
Williamson
$ 7.73
$ 71.74
$ 4.22
17

Chase
$ 17.38
$ 423.69
$ 16.95
25
Shaver
$ 1.40
$ 57.85
$ 3.40
17

Salaber
$ 83.95
$ 255.14
$ 8.80
29
Baccash
$ 0.92
$ 58.50
$ 3.25
18

Rice
$ 12.95
$ 201.96
$ 6.51
31

Hernandez
$ 2.81
$ 128.70
$ 5.15
25
totals
$ 903.63
$ 4,335.37
$ 9.05
479
 Demmert
$ 31.36
$ 99.17
$ 4.96
20

SMPA Meetings
Tuesday, June 5 was changed to Wednesday, June 6
Tuesday, February 6 was cancelled.
Wednesday, December 6 Family Fun Night was cancelled.
SMPA Board Meeting was Tuesday, January 23 at 6:30 pm in the Staff Lounge.
SMPA Board meeting on Wednesday, November 8 at 6:30 in the Staff Lounge.

Sixth Annual Star Party

There was a very good turnout of 3rd to 5th graders and their families on Thursday, January 25 on the San Miguel blacktop. The half moon was visible, as well as the Orion Nebula and the Pleiades. Saturn will be rising but be very low in the sky. Jim Van Nuland and a San Jose Astronomical Association member, Dotty Calabrese, and I will setup telescopes to view. It was a hazy night. Mr. & Mrs. Berry and Mrs. Bravman dropped by to look through the telescopes.

Mercury Transit

I setup my 3.5” Celestron C90 after school on November 8 to give the many interested students a peek at the transit of Mercury. It's always gratifying to have students learning. The next transit will occur on May 9, 2016. Thanks to Dotty Calabrese for alerting me to this rare event. Click here for an image (87kB). Click again when the image shows to enlarge when using Firefox.
Foothill College's Public Observatory Reopens with New Telescope and Upgraded Facilities

Foothill College is proud to announce the grand reopening of its college and public observatory, Saturday evening, April 21, 2007 from 8 to 11 pm.

The public is invited to take a look through the new telescope that has been donated to the college, and enjoy other telescopes to be provided by members of the Peninsula Astronomical Society, the amateur astronomy club that operates the observatory for the college.  The ceremonies to celebrate the opening of the refurbished observatory will take place around 8:45 pm.

Foothill's Observatory has been an astronomical landmark and a fixture in the science education scene since its opening in the mid 1960's.  Recently, Rob Ferber of Hillsborough has given a modern, 16-inch computer-automated telescope to the observatory,
which will allow better sky images, permit a larger number of people to use the observatory, and provide a much quicker movement of the telescope between different objects in the sky.

Also, a new high-capability telescope has been purchased by the college for observing the Sun safely during the day.
Members of the Peninsula Astronomical Society and the public are donating other equipment to the new observatory, including a video monitor for showing what the telescope is observing for those who can't climb the stairway to the telescope mount.

On opening night, which happens to fall on National Astronomy Day, the Society will sponsor a full "star party", with smaller telescopes set up outside the observatory to supplement the bigger instrument inside. The evening is free and open to the public; however, everyone must purchase a permit in a nearby lot for $2.00 (in quarters) to park on campus. The college asks that no pets accompany the human observers during the party and that everyone respect the need for lowering lights near the observatory and the telescopes.

As darkness descends, the telescopes will be pointed at Saturn, Venus, and objects in the deep sky beyond our solar system. Please dress warmly, and expect some waiting during the busiest times.  Andrew Fraknoi, the Chair of the Astronomy Program at the college, suggests that people "bring a thermos of hot chocolate and someone with whom they like to spend time in the dark."

Foothill College is located on the Peninsula, in Los Altos Hills, just off Freeway 280. Take the El Monte Avenue off ramp, and turn west.  The first right turn beyond the Freeway is the college entrance road.  Follow this one-way road around until you see signs for the Krause Center and the Observatory. If there is room, you can part in Lot 4 (taking care not to shine your car lights on the telescopes) or proceed to Lot 5 and walk back to the observatory.

After the week of the opening, the observatory will be open to the public on clear Friday evenings, from 9 to 11pm and on Saturday mornings, for observing the Sun, from 10 am to noon.

The Observatory hot-line is 650-949-7334. The website is here.
The Holiday Gift Shop took place Monday, December 4 through Friday, December 8 after school until 4:00pm. Students got to shop for gifts for loved ones. The SMPA netted $577 from this event. Thanks to all the volunteers for helping.
Author of the Year: David M. Schwartz was at San Miguel on Monday, October 30th and gave 2 assemblies, a Writers' Workshop, and autographed books after school. A packet was sent home for purchasing his books. Check out his website. Wednesday, November 1 is Staff Development Day. There will be no school for students.
The Walkathon, Carnival, and Silent Auction were held Friday, October 27. It was a fun day for everyone! Julia Williamson, Jill Morgan, Debbie Wiseth, and Liz Hernandez were dunked many times into the tank. We raised $6350 - not as much as we had hoped. Thanks to all the volunteers and the Columbia Middle School WEB students who helped during the Walk-a-thon / Carnival on Friday, October 27 .
Teacher Learning Day: Tuesday, October 10

All Grades dismissed at 12:30pm

 Clothes Closet - The Uniform Exchange will be selling and exchanging serviceable uniform items on Wednesday, October 11 from 7:30-8:30 am in front of the office.
During our Family Fun Night Ice Cream Social on Tuesday, October 5, the SMPA dished out free ice cream for parents, students, and staff. Come by to ask how you can help out by volunteering your time and talent. Your child will receive Project Pride stamps for your attendance. We had a great turnout. Hopkins Marine Station had an Open House this Saturday, October 14. Learn about sharks, whales, and tuna. This is near Monterey. More info.
SMPA Board Meeting was held on Tuesday, September 6 at 6:30 p.m. in the Staff Lounge. All are invited to attend as we start the school year to discuss fundraisers, events, and how we can improve what we do. Teacher Learning Day: Tuesday, September 12

Dismissal for Kindergarten 11:20am
Grades 1-5 dismissal is 12:30pm
Back to School Night was Tuesday, September 19 at 6:30-7:15pm or 7:20-8:05pm. Attend either session in your child's classroom to learn about policies and volunteering. School started Thursday, August 24 at 8:00 am. Principal Brenda Guy is on personal leave. Don Bergstrom is the interim principal. Pat Santana held a Parent meeting in the Multi starting at 8 am. Fran Johnson was principal for the duration with Mrs. Santana filling in.

8/28/2007