Victoria Students Dare to S.O.A.R.

The Victoria Staff knows that it is important for students to participate in structured activities outside of the regular school day. Therefore, this year we have created our own after school program for our students, titled “S.O.A.R.” (Structured Opportunities for Academics and Recreation)

Not only does our SOAR Program provide structured activities, but it also helps to foster a stronger connection between students and the school. SOAR is currently offered 3 days a week (Monday – Wednesday) until 4:00 pm. Busing is available to students who qualify. Students apply for or are invited to attend any or all days.

Mondays and Wednesdays are devoted to “Academics”. Tuesdays are the “Recreation” days. With enough student interest and volunteers to help us, we would like to extend our program to 4 days a week (adding Fridays).

We’ve divided the school year into five 6-week sessions. Session 1 began on September 20^th and end on October 27^th. Victoria staff and community volunteers have joined together to offer the following opportunities during this session: English Language Arts Intervention, Math Intervention, Science Club, Creative Writing – Poetry, Book Club (reading Eragon by Christopher Paolini), Cub Scouts, Kids’ Quilting Club (will make quilts and donate them to local hospitals), Green Team (gardening and recycling), Eagles’ Glee Club (choir), and Victoria Road Runners (physical exercise/conditioning for the upcoming Mission Inn 5K). We have almost 150 students participating in one or more activity!

Our next SOAR session will begin November 1 and will go for another 6 weeks, ending on December 16^th.

We are looking for enthusiastic people to contribute to our SOAR Program. Do you have an interest or hobby that you’d like to share with Victoria’s students? Do you know of any parents, friends, family, or community members that would be interested in helping us (time, talent, or materials)?

If you said yes to any of the above questions, please contact me via email lanelson@rusd.k12.ca.us or by phone 951-788-7441.

(Please note: All volunteers must get TB and fingerprint clearance.)

Welcome New Kindergarten Students

This year, for the first time, Victoria has full day Kindergarten!

To help our incoming kinders to transition to kindergarten ... and a long day at school... we offered a Summer Kinder Academy! Our academy was held the week of August 9th - 13th for two hours a day. Students practiced various school procedures (i.e. walking in line, playground rules, sitting on the carpet, etc.), teachers were able to complete pre-assessments/ observations of participating students, and students were reassured that their parents would come pick them up after school and they would not be stuck at school forever. While our new kinders completed activities in class, parents of each incoming student participated in the “Parent School/Home Connection” component of the academy. These informative workshops were designed to build parents' knowledge to support their kindergartener’s academic success. Workshops included:

• Building Your Kindergartner's Social and Language Skills
• Understanding the RUSD Kindergarten Standards in Language Arts
• Understanding the RUSD Kindergarten Standards in Mathematics
• Unlocking the California English Language Development Test (CELDT)
• English as a Second Language-Improving Your English to Support Your Child
• RUSD-Opportunities for Parent Involvement

A thank you to the students, parents, teachers, and presenters that made our first Kinder Academy a huge success.

Victoria Families Come Back-to-School

Tonight was our annual Back-to-School Night. Despite the 100+ degree weather outside, we had a great night!

Again this year we began the night with a family BBQ/Picnic. Our fabulous PTA slaved over the hot grill and cooked up hamburgers for us. However, rather than eating outside in real picnic fashion, we moved indoors and enjoyed our food in the comfort of the air conditioned cafeteria!

We also had several booths set up inside the cafeteria. The PTA recruited new members and sold Victoria Spiritwear. There was also information describing opportunities for parent involvement, i.e. School Site Council, English Learner Advisory Committee, and Parent Wednesday Workshops. We advertised our after school program that we will start in September and asked parents if they'd like to volunteer to share their talents and hobbies with our kids. (I'll blog more on our After School S.O.A.R. Program in a new post!) RUSD Nutritional Services was there to assist families in completing lunch applications and offered samples from our "Farm Fresh Salad Bar". The YMCA also shared information about their program that meets across the street at the church.

Teachers prepared wonderful presentations to share with families about their classrooms and the grade level standards that they will teach their students this year. They repeated their presentation for families who had more than one classroom to visit tonight.

As many families left to go home, they stopped by the 6th Grade Outdoor Ed. Bake Sale for a sweet treat.

Thank you to all of the teachers for their hard work and dedication to make Victoria an outstanding school. Thank you to all the parents/grandparents/guardians for your continued support. This is going to be another extraordinary school year!

Eagle Scout "Elf" Visits Victoria

I remember a fairytale story from my childhood with the title The Elves and the Shoemaker. As you may recall from this story, while the shoemaker was fast asleep in bed at night, little elves visited his shop and sewed beautiful shoes and slippers for him. When the shoemaker awoke the next morning, he was surprised and pleased at this nice surprise!

Well, Victoria had a similar experience this weekend. While all of the teachers and students were away for the weekend, Victoria was visited by some "elves" who completed a surprise for us! Andrew Pettit, a former Victoria student (class of 2009), completed his Eagle Scout project at Victoria. Andrew has spent the last year planning and raising money to fund his project – reading benches for us!

With cement, screwdrivers, and shovels in hand, Andrew and his crew of "elves" met here early Saturday morning to begin working their magic! Together they assembled, mounted, and cemented in six sturdy benches – two each under the shady trees in front of rooms 3, 7, and 9.

Students for many years to come will be able to enjoy sitting on these benches while reading in the shade or working outside the classroom while still being under the watchful supervision of their teachers. A huge THANK YOU to Andrew for selecting Victoria to be the recipient of his Eagle Scout Project and to his family and crew of "elves" who helped him!

Congratulation to our Employees of the Year

Mr. Arturo Juario, Jr. - 6th Grade Teacher

It is with great pleasure that I announce Mr. Arturo Juario as Victoria’s Teacher-of-the-Year for 2009-2010. As part of the Professional Learning Community at Victoria School, Mr. Juario meets with his team during grade level meetings to plan lessons and interventions that target the needs of each student in our sixth grade. He is valued by his colleagues, his students, and their parents.

Mr. Juario is a skilled, professional teacher. He quickly gains the confidence of the parents and students by making it a point to get to know each of them. They view him as a valuable resource and solid educator. He is an outstanding math teacher – often yielding some of the highest scores in the district. In his classroom, he brings his experience and intuition about children together by focusing on each child. Core curriculum is enriched with activities such as the Probability Carnival, the PI Scavenger Hunt, the Dragon Parade, mummifying Cornish game hens, etc. In a very natural and caring fashion, he sets about finding the natural balance of reassurance and challenge each of them need … and they respond. He doesn’t give up nor does he let the students give up on their quest for academic success. For years, he has voluntarily tutored struggling students in math twice a week before school (7-7:30 am). Students leave his classroom well-prepared to meet the challenges and rigor of middle school.

Besides his ability to supply high quality meaningful instruction to students, Mr. Juario’s expertise has allowed us to rely on him in a variety of ways. He is often the “go-to” person for questions relating to math, science, and technology. Art has taken on the challenge of publishing the school’s yearbook the past seven year; it is second to none!

Mr. Juario spends numerous hours working with students and parents in extra activities. He works tirelessly with our Outdoor Ed. Booster Club to raise money for our annual sixth grade science camp, attends all the monthly meetings, and supervises car washes, spaghetti dinners, pancake breakfasts, etc.

Mr. Juario devotes extra effort to working directly with the parents of the students he serves. He effectively communicates with parents and helps them understand how to best help their children within the context of the school environment and at home. He has invited parents into his room and takes the time to explain each child’s varying needs and the strategies that will best assist him/her. His knowledge and expertise have been invaluable in supporting his students and their parents.

Mrs. Jeri Read - Library Media Assistant

The staff at Victoria School has selected Mrs. Read as our Classified Employee-of-the-Year for 2010. Comments from the staff include the following:

“Mrs. Read helped to orchestrate our Target Library Makeover last fall. Rather than taking the easy route and closing down the library during the renovation, Mrs. Read communicated the importance of reading to our students by setting up a ‘mobile library’ so students could continue to check out books every week. Mrs. Read worked alongside the volunteers to make the transition from the old library to the new library as seamless as possible.”

“Mrs. Read goes above and beyond her duties as library media assistant to instill in students a love of learning and a passion for reading. As part of the Victoria staff, Mrs. Read assumes responsibility in increasing student achievement by working with students before and after school. She oversees our AR program – inventing fun incentives. In addition to the library, she oversees the computer lab. Mrs. Read is one of our go-to people for questions regarding technology. We love Mrs. Read!”

“Mrs. Read is amazing! She is a kind, personable, efficient staff member. She shows caring for not only the students, but parents and staff. Students love to come to the library to read with Mrs. Read.”

“Recognizing the overwhelming tasks of the teachers, Mrs. Read has volunteered to input all assessment data in to DataDirector for all grade levels. Thank you Mrs. Read.”

“Mrs. Read always has a cheerful attitude! She is well-organized in her work and great with students. She is seen around campus spreading cheer and enthusiasm for being at school to learn.”

“Mrs. Read is a very kind person who always wears a smile regardless of what is going on around her (bad day, busy day, etc.) She is helpful to the staff, parents, and students.”

Victoria Loves Our Volunteers

On Tuesday, May 25th we held our annual Volunteer Tea. Staff spruced up the Multi-purpose room with tablecothes and freshly-cut roses from our gardens displayed in china tea cups to create an atmosphere appropriate for such a special event. Staff also prepared fancy "tea-party" refreshments to accompany iced-tea and lemonade.

This year, we recognized a total of sixty-six volunteers who gave of their time to help make our school a better place. These volunteers have been seen throughout the school year helping in the classrooms, assisting students in the library or computer lab, chaparoning field trips, making copies, reading with students, organizing activities, working out (exercising/playing) with students before school and at recess (RoadRunners), and in manyother ways.

Mrs. Tammy Schipske (pictured in below, sitting on the right) was selected as Victoria's Volunteer of the Year. This is what one teacher said about Mrs. Schipske:

Tammy Schipske is an awesome volunteer who goes above and beyond the call of duty. She is seen working around Victoria 24/7 (or at least 7.5/5) doing everything and anything needed by any student or any staff members. Her volunteer 'duties' are endless - helping in classrooms and the library, actively participating in P.T.A., laminating for teachers, and doing whatever else is needed. She helps in every way possible and always with a big smile on her face.

We LOVE you Victoria Volunteers! Thank you all for helping us have another successful school year!

Reading is Healthy for Kids

Yesterday, we had the pleasure of having the Kaiser Permanente Educational Theatre Group come back to Victoria yesterday. This time a cast of actors performed the play "Jay and E and the Zig Zag Sea." Kaiser believes that reading helps keep kids healthy, so they are reaching out to students in grades K-2 with this message with this assembly.

Victoria K-2 students listened and watched attentively as Jay, her dog Libro, Bookie Book, and Ignoramus- the pirate took a journey from the local library to the Island of Palabras and back. On this journey they have fun with letters and words while learning the importance of reading.

Students enjoyed this program complete with puppets and music. The laughter of children was heard throughout this program. Thank you Kaiser for bringing this program and its message to our school!