Our StoneFire Grill Fundraiser

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A Blizzard Of Books December 3-7 At Vista Verde

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Vista Verde's annual book fair is coming and it's a great opportunity to get your holiday shopping done, without going to the mall. (It will even be open the night of the holiday dessert, December 6.) You can also contribute towards the book wish list for your child's class, and Scholastic Books makes charitable donations for every dollar you spend. A Blizzard Of Books For Everyone A huge blizzard of titles will be on sale, from easy readers to picture books to books for middle schoolers. The book fair will accept, cash, check or credit cards (Visa, Mastercard, Discover and American Express.)


Want to Learn More, Or Help Out?

Check out the Vista Verde book fair web site for more details including times and open hours. And if you would like to volunteer, see the entry in the "Calling All Volunteers" section of this newsletter.

A great chance to help our school!

Inventor Congratulations to the following student inventors, who have been selected to represent Vista Verde at the Astounding Inventions contest. The contest will be held on Saturday, January 26, from 10am-2 pm at Irvine Valley College. Each year, the Astounding Inventions contest highlights ingenious gadgets made by students in grades K-8 from the Irvine and Tustin Unified School Districts. Nearly 350 young inventors are expected to submit inventions. The awards ceremony will begin at 1 p.m. Admission and parking are free. * Sophia Bajak, Grade 4, High School Musical - Around East High * Flora Chang, Grade 5, Righty-Lefty Helmet Light * Maya Jaffe, Grade 1, The Diet Minder * Martin Lopez, Grade 4, Digital Eyesight Adjusters * Christopher Paplham, Grade 5, Full Scholarship * Lily Paplham, Grade 2, Pest - Be - Gone * Margot Revet, Grade 5, RAY RESPONDER * Anhely Triana, Grade 5, Transition Goggles A special thanks goes out to Vista Verde teachers Danielle DeFrank, August Lobato and Liane Martin for taking the time to judge our young inventors in the school competition.

Teacher Appreciation Week Is Coming
Show teachers how much you appreciate them during Vista Verde's Teacher Appreciation Week, which runs April 28-May 2. Students are encouraged to shower their teachers with appreciation by bringing in notes, flowers and sweets any day of that week. Teacher Lunches Grades are hosting teacher lunches and each class is asking for a $3-$5 donation per student to fund these activities. You can leave a monetary donation in the front office. The lunch schedule is as follows: * Monday, April 28- May day brunch hosted by grades K-1 * Tuesday, April 29- Viva Italy luncheon hosted by grades 2-3 * Wednesday, April 30- Salad Extravaganza hosted by grade 4 * Thursday, May 1- Viva La Fiesta Mexico hosted by grade 5 * Friday, May 2- Mediterranean cuisine hosted by the middle school Questions Or Want to Help Out? Contact Sydelle Tabrizy at sydellet@cox.net

Get Your Fresh Organic Produce Here At Vista Verde! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ How would you like to take home fresh, organic produce when you pick up your child from school? Starting May 1, you can! Vista Verde will be offering weekly boxes of fresh, organic vegetables. Most of the produce comes from Irvine's Tanaka Farms. It's a great way to promote fresh vegetables and a Fit For Life approach to eating! How The Program Works To participate, sign up for a term of 7 weeks which begins Thursday, May 1st and ends on June 12th. Pick up your produce on Thursdays. Cost is $25 a week or $175 for the term (which must be paid up front.) The program will also be offered when we return to school after summer break for a new 12 week session. Need More Information? Contact Charlotte Glass at ABCGlass1@aol.com. Learn How To Enhance Your Connection With Your Child

Minding The Calendar For Next Year
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Vista Verde families often enjoy the benefits of a year-round school but are also faced with challenges when trying to coordinate vacations and travel when other children in the same family are in traditional-calendar schools. The school encourages families to make every effort to have their children be present when school is in session. Taking Vista Verde students out for extended numbers of days creates hardships for teachers, who must create customized independent study plans, and for students, who miss out on key classroom interaction. Planning For The Next Year Here are key dates for the coming school year:
* First Day of School: July 23, 2008
* Fall Recess: Sept. 22 - Oct. 10, 2008
* Winter Recess: Dec. 22 - Jan. 9, 2009
* Spring Recess: March 30 - April 17, 2009
* Last Day of School: June 18, 2009

Help Vista Verde By Shopping At Target (And Not Just By Buying School Supplies)

Vista Verde is part of the Target Take Charge of Education Program. The school can receive 1/2 to 1% of purchases. It gets 1% of Target Visa and Target Card purchases made at Target stores and Target.com. It receives 1/2% of Target Visa purchases made outside of Target wherever Visa credit cards are accepted.

Sign Up To Designate Vista Verde

Parents can either designate Vista Verde online at www.target.com/tcoe, or by calling 1 (800) 316-6142 and designate School #36807.

Make The Coffee Connection Next Friday, November 30
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Make tiem for a cup of coffee and chat with Vista Verde friends before getting started on your day. From 8am to 9am, fourth grade parents host a Coffee Connection in front of the school.

Thanks to your generous support, Vista Verde is able to fund cultural assemblies. The next scheduled assembly is the Puppets and Players group, performing "Puff, the Magic Dragon" on Tuesday, November 6. Performance times are 9:00-9:50 for grades 3-5 and 10:30-11:20 for grades K-2. Parents and caregivers are always welcome to attend these events.

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Cultural Assembly: The Truth About Bullying November 14 Thanks to your generous support, Vista Verde is able to bring diverse cultural assemblies and programs to our students. The next assembly is Will and Company's presentation, "The Truth About Bullying," on Wednesday, November 14. K-2 will attend a performance from 10:10-11 and grades 3-5 will attend from 9:00-9:50 pm. As always, parents are welcome to attend these events.

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Save The Date For Vista Verde's Annual Holiday Dessert December 6 This year's event will be held the evening Thursday, December 6. Classes will dismiss at 1:30 that day. The book fair will be open that evening as well.

Quarterly PTA General Association Meeting Thursday, November 15 This meeting is for all parents and caregivers of Vista Verde students. In addition to other PTA business, Vista Verde parent Teresa LePage will present, "Connect with Respect: An Introduction to Compassionate Communication for Parenting."

Book Fair December 3-7 Get your holiday shopping done at the annual Book Fair. Vista Verde's annual book fair runs December 3-7. Skip the mall and shop at school!

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Please bring in empty water bottles or aluminum cans (rinsed if possible) for recycling. Our Library collection absolutely "shine" with all the possiblilities.

Vista Verde Middle school advisements will begin a unit on name-calling, bullying, teasing and harassment. Students will see the video, Let's Get Real, in which middle school and junior high school students speak frankly about their experiences as people who bully, people who are targeted by bullies and people who are empowered to intervene. Anticipated Student Response Students may have strong emotional responses. This film may remind them of personal experiences with name-calling or harassment. The students in the film use their own language to describe their experiences, which sometimes includes words that would otherwise be inappropriate in our classrooms. The inclusion of these words in the film will facilitate discussion about why those words exist, their impact and how to minimize the use on our campus and in our community. Additional Programming A team has previewed the film and thoughtfully chosen support activities for this six-week series. Dr. Jean Mylen, Jan Wroblicky and Sally Rae lead this effort. Middle school staff will present topics and set aside time for discussions during advisements in February and March. The school will offer local counseling resources and websites for your student and you as needed. Last, a special live drama, Healthy Relationships, offered by Irvine's Human Options staff will be presented to 7th and 8th graders in assembly format. How You Can Get Involved You are invited to come to school on Thursday January 31, 2008 from 7-8 pm to preview the film that will be shown to all middle school students on Tuesday February 5. The curriculum provides strategies on how to deal with bullying and encourages families to be part of the solution. At home and at school, the intention is to treat all people with respect. More Information For more information, contact Jan Wroblicky at jwroblick@iusd.org.

Got Clothes Your Grade Schooler Has Outgrown? If you have a younger child, you know that he or she sometimes comes home in a fresh change of clothes, courtesy of the Health Clerk. The supply of spare clothes has dwindled and our Health Clerk could use more spare clothes.She is mainly in need of sizes that will fit K through 3rd grade, with a primary need for pants, shorts, and t-shirts. Drop off donations in a bag at the nurse's office.

2008 IPSF House Raffle ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Irvine Public Schools Foundation is launching its annual house raffle. The grand prize is a beautiful new California Pacific home in the Cortile development in the award winning Irvine neighborhood of Woodbury. Why Buy A Ticket Now You can purchase raffle tickets starting today. Purchasers who buy early will have the chance at bonus drawings for cash OR a 2008 Prius automobile. And multiple ticket purchasers will be eligible for special bonus prizes. Learn More All proceeds benefit Irvine public schools. For more information, or to purchase tickets, log on to the IPSF web site. How You Can Help-And Earn Prizes You can contribute directly to IPSF online. Online contributions are tax deductible and you will be entered in a raffle to receive one of a variety of prizes.

Bottles For Books Continues

Vista Verde PTA invites parents to Connect with Respect
Compassionate Communication for Parenting. This six-week interactive parenting skills group meets either mornings (Thursdays April 24-May 29, 8:30-10:30 am ) or evenings (W/Th, 7-9 pm, 4/24, 4/30, 5/8, 5/14, 5/22,5/28). Location will be finalized next week. This class gives adults a framework to think about their actions as parents and discover what children truly need to thrive as healthy human beings. Learn methods to create the best possible connection with your children, emphasizing respect for the unique identity of your child. Learn to communicate your love powerfully, and set respectful, effective limits. Learn to become an emotional coach to your child, helping to internalize acceptance, affection, appreciation, autonomy and attention. The Approach Using Nonviolent Communication (NVC), developed by Marshall Rosenberg, learn tools that apply to any relationship. The format includes discussion, theory, role-playing and specific problem solving. Sessions are led by Terry LePage, M.Div, Ph.D., who has been trained by the Center for Nonviolent Education and Parenting, and the Center for Nonviolent Communication. She came to NVC as a mediation tool, and has taught it in a variety of settings, her most rewarding use of NVC has been in her relationship with her 13-year-old son Mark. See http://www.opendoorcommunication.org/parenting f or more information. Cost for the series is $60 (per family.) Scholarships available; do not let the money request keep you away. We have not figured out how to provide child care; you are welcome to bring very young children to the morning session. Register And More Information Contact Terry at 949-400- 3379, or terry@opendoorcommunication.org.

Teacher Appreciation Week Is Coming

******2008 IPSF House Raffle******

The following was submitted by the IUSD nurse Sally Valentine: One of the common illnesses of winter is strep throat or streptococcal pharyngitis. This is the inflammation of the pharynx, tonsils, or both, caused by beta hemolytic streptococci-a bacteria. Some typical symptoms may include severe sore throat with sudden onset, headache, difficulty in swallowing, fever, tender lymph nodes in the neck, or extreme redness/swelling of the throat. Suspected cases of strep throat are usually confirmed with a throat culture performed by medical personnel to distinguish it from mononucleosis or other viral/bacterial illnesses. Treatment typically involves a course of antibiotic therapy (usually 10-14 days) that should be fully completed. Students may be re-admitted to school if they have: * A physician's note stating they are not contagious * No fever for 24 hours * Antibiotic therapy for 24-48 hours Prevent Spread With Hand Washing A good way to prevent the spread of strep is good hand washing techniques. Please remind your children to wash their hands frequently-particularly before eating and after using the bathroom. Please advise school attendance personnel if your child is absent due to strep throat.