gaspar de portola middle school panther...
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Panther Pride Gaspar de Portola Middle School
Happy New Year!
I can’t believe how fast the year is moving and that we’re already approaching the end of our first semester.
I’m happy to report that the school year is going well. I’m also very proud of the
efforts made by our staff and students during the month of December in terms of
out-reach. Part of our code of ethics includes “Enriching the World by All,” and
this was demonstrated by our participation in two activities. Mobile Santa was a
project sponsored by the San Diego Fire Fighters Association and supported by
our student body. The school, led by our Latina Learning Club, collected nearly
800 new toys that were distributed to needy families last month. Faculty advisors
Amy Ericson and Alyson Ramirez did an amazing job of collecting enough toys to
fill a fire truck to the brim. In addition, our SAVE (Students Against Violence
Everywhere) club collected money for a family who lost their child due to a gang-
related shooting in Southeast San Diego. In two days they raised over $500 to
help pay the funeral expenses of Lincoln SAVE president Monique Palmer, who previously had met with our SAVE leaders to discuss future club activities. This
local tragedy demonstrates the importance of the club’s mission to help our teens
teach others that conflicts can be resolved in a peaceful manner.
I am also delighted to report about the wonderful Winter Concert our music
program gave last month. Under the direction of our new band teacher, Mr. Brad
Pulverenti, our orchestra and band students sounded better than ever. Our
music program, along with a few other electives, was saved from this year’s
budget cuts due to the direct financial support provided by the De Portola
Foundation. In addition, the YMCA is partnering with Mr. Pulverenti in January
to offer an after-school program for any student who has a musical interest they
would like to develop in a club-like setting.
January will mark the year of change as our new president takes office. To honor this event, our African American Club is partnering with our media class to
create a tribute to Barack Obama. They are designing a technology museum
highlighting his road to the White House and will present it on Inauguration Day.
Currently, we are in the process of re-authorizing for the Schools to Watch
program. Our teachers have completed a self study and a team of writers has
turned in the new application to be reviewed by the California League of Middle
Schools representatives. A visit is scheduled in January and, hopefully our
school will be re-authorized for three more years as a model middle school for the
state of California — one of about 100 model middle schools for the nation.
I hope 2009 promises to bring great things for your families and that you
continue to support the work we’re doing on behalf of your children.
Sincerely yours,
Listy Gillingham
Volume 24, Issue 2 Winter 2008-2009
A California
Distinguished School
A School to Watch
Inside This Issue 2 PTA News
3 Foundation News
3 News & Notices
4 Superintendent’s
Letter in English
5 Superintendent’s Letter in Spanish
6 School Schedule
Save the Date!
The De Portola
Foundation’s
Annual Dinner
Dance & Auction
is Scheduled for
May 30. Look for
details in the next
newsletter.
Published by Gaspar de Portola Middle School 11010 Clairemont Mesa Blvd. San Diego, CA 92124 (858)496-8080 Listy Gillingham, Principal Kimberly Meng, Vice Principal Maria Montgomery, Vice Principal Cindy Conser, Editor
Principal’s Message
PTA Recruiting Board Members and Cake Lovers
Page 2 Panther Pride
Season’s Greetings from your
DePortola PTA. I hope the first
third of the school year has been
successful and rewarding for your
child.
These past months have been busy,
as the PTA wrapped up its
membership drive. Through your
generosity and the hard work of
membership chair, Cathy Burdick,
we exceeded our goal! We
immediately put those funds to
work. We have provided grants to
our teachers, purchased supplies
for the nurse’s office, and sponsored
an assembly. The assembly,
presented by Keith Hawkins,
emphasized the characteristics of a
successful life. He challenged students to beat expectations. Mr.
Hawkins’ message was well received
by the students, parents and staff.
Donna Guevara did a great job
putting it all together.
We have a couple things on our
calendar this winter: one fun and
one not so fun. First we must begin
thinking about new board members.
Unfortunately, many of this year’s
board are moving on as our children
enter high school. The nominating
committee of Gabriel Adona, Kelley
Schmidt and Cindy Willey will be
seeking nominations for the vacant
positions. If you are interested in
volunteering for a board position, or
know someone (like the parent of an incoming sixth grader) who might
be interested, please contact any of
these committee members.
On a more fun note, our Valentine’s
cake auction will be coming up in
February and I hope a lot of
students and parents are able to
come out and support our only
winter fundraiser. Information on
this and other PTA activities can be
found on our website. Look for the
PTA link at www.sandi.net/
dePortola/, where you can also find the school store to purchase PE
uniforms, locks and yearbooks.
A final thought as we look back on
2008. We all know that our schools
are asked to do more than teach
“reading, writing and arithmetic,”
and to do so with decreasing
budgets. The teachers and staff at
De Portola do an incredible job. I
would like to thank them and thank
all the parents who help provide our
children with such a great learning
environment through your financial support, but especially for the time
so many of you volunteer to help
our children succeed.
Best wishes for a great 2009.
Beckie Ryan PTA President
recommended by former Site
Supervisor, Santiago Gurule. We
welcome Mary to our community and foresee great leadership in the
near future.
Spelling Bee The annual spelling bee will take
place 1:30 p.m., January 30 in the
Media Center. (Sixth graders will
compete separately at 9 a.m.) The
winner of the seventh and eighth
grade competition will go on to the
county-wide spelling bee. Interested
students should ask Ms. Cindee in
the Media Center for a study booklet. Parents are invited!
Sixth-Grade Camp Sixth-graders whose camp
experience was postponed earlier
Mid-Year Miscellaneous News and Notices
Two-for-One Book Sale Our annual "Buy One Get One Free"
book fair is running January 12
through 15 in the Media Center.
Flyers were sent home with
students on Friday, January 9.
After-School Tutoring De Portola Middle School’s YMCA
Critical Hours After-School Program
would like to formally introduce
Mary Anatalio as the new Site
Supervisor. As a youth leader,
Mary quickly illustrated her ability
to lead young people by serving as
an engaged tutor and dance instructor. With great consistency,
Mary has upheld a high level of
professionalism, dedication, and
enthusiasm while working with De
Portola students. She is highly
this year are headed to camp on
January 20 for four days. Camp is
one of the most memorable occasions of middle school. San
Diego Unified School District has
operated a terrific program for many
years, and unlike most other
districts in the county, it is provided
at no cost.
Spirit Week One of the craziest weeks in the
school calendar is happening
February 2 through 6. Get your
outfits ready!
Monday is Crazy Hair/Clash Day.
Tuesday is Twin Day.
Wednesday is Backwards Day.
Thursday is PJ Day.
Friday is Class Color Day (6th is
green, 7th is red, and 8th is blue).
Spring Dinner Dance & Auction Scheduled for
Saturday, May 30 "Save the Date" and be sure to
join us for our annual Spring
Dinner Dance Fundraiser on Saturday May 30th right around
the corner at the Chinese
Community Church. Proceeds will
be used to benefit classroom
needs includng our children's science, art and technology
enrichment.
eWaste Recycle Day Coming Up January 24
Bring your old or unwanted
Computers, Monitors, Laptops,
TVs, Printers, Cell Phones, FAX,
VCR, DVD, Stereos, Cameras,
Scanners, etc. (No Appliances or batteries please). Free and Easy
Drop-Off at the school from 10am-
4pm. Proceeds benefit the De
Portola Middle School and Mother
Earth!
A Note from the San Diego
Fire Fighters About Mobile Santa
Thank you for making the San Diego Fire Fighters Mobile Santa
project a huge success! Hundreds
of toys filled the back of a large
box truck thanks to the efforts of
the De Portola students and staff. The amount of donations was
overwhelming, and we are so
happy to have partnered with De
Portola on such a worthy project.
While the rainy day made the
delivery of gifts to needy homes a little more challenging, Santa and
the Fire Fighters were able to
make hundreds of children happy in the Barrio Logan area of San
Diego. Thanks so much for all of
the hard work and the support of
the Latino Club in making this go
so well! We look forward to future endeavors with De Portola. Denise
Pendleton, Director of Operations,
San Diego City Fire Fighters,
Local 145.
Gift Cards for Valentine’s Day? So far this year, we've sold
thousands of dollars of gift cards
from the De Portola office with up
to 18
percent commissions
going
directly to
the school!
Please keep
buying your gift cards at
school
instead of at the supermarket.
They’re great for grocery shopping,
birthdays, using to pay for business expenses, and gifts/
(Valentine’s Day is coming up!)
Thanks for choosing De Portola as
your gift card outlet. To check out
our extensive selection, stop by
the office.
eScrip = Free $$$
for De Portola! Sign up at www.escrip.com
Group ID # 4861757
Group Name: De Portola Middle School Foundation
It only takes a few minutes to sign up online. Please sign up today!
We Want You! The De Portola Foundation meets
every 1st Tuesday of the month
from 6:00-7:00pm in the De
Portola Middle School - Staff Lounge. Come share your ideas!
2008-09 De Portola Foundation Officers & Committee Chairs President, John Sperrazzo 858.361.4495 [email protected] Vice President, Mark Bialock 619.846.3143 [email protected] Treasurer, Peter Inman [email protected] Secretary, Ed Schmidt [email protected] Membership Chair, Polly Feinland [email protected] eScrip & Albertsons Community Partners Chair, Heidi Inman [email protected]
Gift Card Co-Chairs, Jackie Pape [email protected] & Judy Bialock [email protected] Website Chair, Judy McIlroy [email protected] Corporate Matching Chair, Annette Maderazo Spring Dinner/Dance/Auction Chair, Mark Bialock / [email protected] Principal / Ex-Officio - Listy Gillingham / [email protected]
PTA President Welcomes Students & Families to New Year
Volume 24, Issue 2 Page 3
Page 4 Panther Pride
Volume 24, Issue 2 Page 5
Page 6 Panther Pride Page 6 Panther Pride
January 12 PTA meeting, 6 p.m. 15 Minimum Day—Dismissal at 1:07 p.m.
16 Governance meeting, 8 a.m. 19 Martin Luther King Jr. Birthday—No classes 22 Drama class play, 6:30 p.m.
28 Family Life Ed. parent meeting, 6:30 p.m. 30 Spelling bee 30 Fall semester ends
February
2 Spring semester begins 2-6 Spirit Week
3 Foundation meeting, 6 p.m. 6 Fall semester report cards 9 Lincoln Day Observance—No classes 12 Valentine Dance 16 Washington Day Observance—No classes
18 All “E”s ice cream social 19 Minimum Day—Dismissal at 1:07 p.m. Staff Development
20 Governance meeting, 8 a.m. 25 Honor Roll assembly (for Fall semester) 27 Perfect attendance ice cream social
March 3 7th-Grade STAR Writing exam 3 Foundation meeting, 6 p.m.
9 PTA meeting, 6 p.m. 20 Progress reports 20 Governance meeting, 8 a.m. 26 Minimum Day—Dismissal at 1:07 p.m. Parent Conferences
April Testing Month - More dates and
information in the next newsletter 6-10 Spring Break
13 PTA meeting, 6 p.m. 13-17 Yearbook Sales Week 17 Governance meeting, 8 a.m. 23 Minimum Day—Dismissal at 1:07 p.m.
Spring Open House 30 Minimum Day—Dismissal at 1:07 p.m.
May 5 Foundation meeting, 6 p.m. 7 Progress reports 8 Track Meet 10-16 8th-Grade Washington, DC, trip 14 Minimum Day—Dismissal at 1:07 p.m.
15 Governance meeting, 8 a.m. 25 Memorial Day - No classes 28 Drama class play, 6:30 p.m.
June 2 Perfect attendance ice cream social 3-5 Textbook return days 4 Coffee House Anthology Night
5 Volunteer Tea 8 PTA meeting, 6 p.m. 9 8th-Grade Awards Night 10 8th-Grade Yearbook Party
11 6th-Grade Ice Skating trip & yearbook distribution 11 7th-Grade Bowling trip & yearbook distribution 12 8th-Grade Picnic & Pool Party 15 8th-Grade promotion Minimum Day—Dismissal at 1:07 p.m.
Last day of school
Gaspar de Portola Middle School January 2009—June 2009
School Calendar
Bell Schedules
Starting/Rainy Day Schedule Regular Schedule (on 9/19) Minimum Day Schedule
Zero Period 7:55 a.m.—8:55 a.m.
Per. 1 9:07 a.m.—10:04 a.m.
Per. 2 10:09 a.m.—11:02 a.m.
Per. 3 11:07 a.m.—12:00 p.m.
6th-Gr. Lunch 12:00 p.m.—12:30 p.m.
6th-Gr. Per. 4 12:30 p.m.—1:33 p.m.
7th/8th Per. 4 12:05 p.m.—12:58 p.m.
7th/8th Lunch 1:03 p.m.—1:33 p.m.
Per. 5 (advisory) 1:38 p.m.—2 p.m.
Per. 6 2:00 p.m.—2:53 p.m.
Per. 7 2:58 p.m.—3:50 p.m.
Zero Period 7:55 a.m.—8:55 a.m.
Per. 1 9:07 a.m.—10:04 a.m.
Per. 2 10:09 a.m.—11:02 a.m.
Per. 3 11:07 a.m.—12:00 p.m.
Per. 4 12:05 p.m.—12:58 p.m.
Lunch 1:03 p.m.—1:33 p.m.
Per. 5 (advisory) 1:38 p.m.—2 p.m.
Per. 6 2:00 p.m.—2:53 p.m.
Per. 7 2:58 p.m.—3:50 p.m.
No Zero Period
Per. 1 9:07 a.m.—9:42 a.m.
Per. 2 9:47 a.m.—10:22 a.m.
Per. 3 10:27 a.m.—11:02 a.m.
Per. 4 11:07 a.m.—11:43 a.m.
No Period 5
Per. 6 11:48 a.m.—12:27 p.m.
Per. 7 12:32 p.m.—1:07 p.m.
(Lunch service after school)