Bus iness Name

I hope that everyone

had a restful holiday

with their families! We

are so glad to have

the students back on

campus and are

looking forward to a

fun five and a half

more months to-

gether!

On January 11th, stu-

dents will receive

their practice spelling

lists for our county-

wide Spelling Bee

competition. The first

written test will be on

January 18th and

there are no make-

ups. Round 2 will take

place on January

25th and the final

school round will be

February 1st.

January 17th and

31st will be our col-

laboration days for

the month of Janu-

ary, with dismissal

time of 1:30pm.

We will also be taking

our panoramic pic-

ture on January

22nd. If your student

would like to be in

the picture it’s very

important that they

are on campus at

12:30 that day (right

after lunch).

Fourth grade stu-

dents will be attend-

ing their mission field

trip to San Juan

Bautista on Feb. 23rd

(Rooms 1 & 4) and

Feb. 27th (Rooms 2 &

3). Please look for a

note from your child’s

teacher regarding

this trip.

Finally, on January

23rd we will have an

assembly for all stu-

dents called the NED

Show. This assembly

focus on Never giving

up, Encouraging oth-

ers, and Doing your

best.

January 2018

WH A T ’S HA P P E NI N G A T WUS I N

JA N UA RY ?

2018

We lose $56 per day

that every student is

absent. Since the start

of the year, we have

lost $14,280! Please

do not send your child

to school sick, but

please try to keep ap-

pointments and vaca-

tions outside of school

hours. After three un-

excused absences,

truancy notices are

sent home. If you are

unclear on excused

vs. unexcused, please

contact Mrs. Silva.

I N S I D E T H I S I S S U E :

Music Program 2

Library Corner 2

Computer Lab 2

WUEF 3

Parent’s Club 3

Art News 4

In Other News… 4

J ANUARY 2018 N EWSLETTER

A T T E N D A N C E C O M P E T I T I O N

In January, we will

also begin our

monthly classroom atten-

dance contest! The class-

room with the highest

percentage of students

on campus each month

will receive a free ice

cream (or snack) and will

get extra recess. We

want to make sure

that students are in

school every day (as

long as they are not

sick), so please sched-

ule vacations so that

they are not ex-

tended.

S LEEPY HOLLOW N EWS

Attendance

Matters!

Happy New Year every-

body! We’re glad to be con-

tinuing our study of music in

the new year and we have a

lot in store for the students in

the music room.

Our Winter Concert was a

huge success! It was great

seeing all the 4th Grade stu-

dents showing off their re-

corder skills. Everybody did a

super awesome job! I’m

really glad that the 4th

Grade students got to watch

the San Benancio Jazz Band

perform because it was a

good experience for them to

watch an advanced music

ensemble. Music apprecia-

tion is learned by experi-

ence.

In January, the 4th Grade

students will be beginning a

new unit on European Music

History where we will discover

music and composers from

the different eras of classical

music. The 5th Grade stu-

dents will be continuing their

study of Caribbean Music

and will get to experience

different kinds of cultural mu-

sic. Both grades will also be

continuing their music theory

studies.

Our instrumental music

classes are going great and

it is amazing how fast the

students learn. As we ad-

vance in our music skills, the

class starts to move a lot

faster so attendance is very

important if students are to

keep up. We will be per-

forming in the Spring time

and we want everybody to

be prepared to showcase

their skills. Consistency and

practice is the road to suc-

cess on a music instrument.

Thanks for Reading,

Mr. Barry Capiaux

and putting all in-

formation into a

slide show using

Google slides

and/or Google

docs along with

photos, videos, and

other information

In January the

computer lab will

be working on

multimedia and

presentation

tools! Research-

ing a topic

(animal, car, etc)

needed to help with

presentation. After all

research is com-

pleted, presenting to

class to

show

their

work!

Page 2

L I B R A R Y C O R N E R . . .

MUS IC PROGRAM . . .

C O M P U T E R L A B N E W S . . .

of learning about fic-

tion books. Now we

are going to turn our

attention toward

learning about non-

fiction. The Dewey

Decimal System is

probably not the

most exciting subject,

but we’re going to try

to make it fun with

some games.

Happy reading!

Mrs. Zimmerman

Welcome back

everyone! I hope

you all enjoyed time

with family and

friends over the holi-

day break.

During the first tri-

mester we did a lot

January 2018 Newsle t ter

January 2018 Newslet ter

WUEF would like to wish each

and every district family and

all staff/faculty members a

very Happy New Year!

We hope you all had a won-

derful Holiday Season!

WUEF is excited to report that,

so far this school year, just

over $100,000 has been

raised to fund the art and mu-

sic programs, and support the

technology program in your

children’s schools. A huge

thank you to all who’ve par-

ticipated and contributed to

make this possible. While this is

an impressive amount, there’s

still quite a way to go to

achieve the necessary

$190,000. With that in mind,

please save the date for the

34th Annual Dinner-Dance

Fundraiser - Saturday, March

3rd, 2018! Let’s come to-

gether to celebrate and

support our essential and

award-winning art and mu-

sic programs in WUSD at the

beautiful, newly remodeled

Embassy Suites!

This is the largest fundraiser

of the year…. And this year,

the auction will feature some

amazing new items, like

European vacations and

one-of-a-kind sporting ex-

periences.

Invitations will be going out

soon – Look for yours in your

child’s folder or backpack.

The Auction Committee is

hard at work now!! If you are

able to donate an item, a gift

certificate, or know someone

who can, please contact:

Jenny McAfee @ 209.769.2879

or Jennifer McVay @

831.595.4533

Auction donation forms will

also be available in all three

school offices.

If you or anyone you know are

interested in corporate spon-

sorship, please let us know.

Contact Carli Chasen @

831.578.2717 or Allie Szaszy @

831.269.9630

day lives; helping them learn how

to use it appropriately is essential

to keeping them happy and

healthy.

Over the break I will be updating

my school counselor webpage to

share some of the resources that

we reviewed and the great ideas

you generated. In case you

missed it, see the back of the

newsletter for some helpful tips

for keeping your kids safe online.

Thank you to everybody

who came to the coffee

and conversation session

on the 19th. We had a

great turnout and cov-

ered some very impor-

tant topics related to

internet safety and digital

citizenship. Our students

are growing up in a time

when technology is a

huge part of their every-

Based on feedback from the

first session we will be having

another coffee and conversa-

tion event to continue the dis-

cussion. Stay tuned for the

date!

Welcome Back! I hope every-

one had a restful break!

Katy

Page 3

WUEF UPDATE

From the Counselor...

following Tuesdays- 1/16, 1/23, 2/6, and 2/20 at

lunch time. Kona cups range from $3-$6 and

20% of proceeds come back to our schools.

They are also smart snack approved!

WUSD Spirit Wear: Does your child want to show

some school spirit? Would you like to support

Washington Union School District? Then head on

over to the Spirit Wear Website! It’s up and run-

ning with items shipping directly to you within 3-4

days and proceeds benefit Parents’ Club! Click

on the link below to get shopping!

https://wusdparentsclub.com/

** NOTE: DATE CHANGE!!!!** We have changed

the date of our next Parents’ Club Meeting. It will

be held on Thursday, January 18th at

6pm in Room 10 at San Benancio Mid-

dle School. All are invited and encour-

aged to attend! There should be a

Parents’ Club Representative from

each class present at the meeting.

Please check out Parents’ Club on the

district website for more info, and

make sure to like us on Facebook for

updates, reminders, information, and

more!

Happy New Year Washington Union

Families!! Our first Family Paint Night

Fundraiser was a huge success! Thank

you to all who participated in this fun

event. We would also like to thank Pro-

gress Not Perfection Paint Parties who

donated $1,000 of the proceeds from

this event back to Parents’ Club and

our schools! We have a few more fun

events coming up in the Spring and can

always use extra help! Feel free to con-

tact us if you are able to lend a helping

hand!

Be on the lookout for the Kona Ice

Truck! He is scheduled to come on the

P A R E N T ’ S C L U B U P D A T E

Please feel free to contact me

with any questions about our

fundraisers or if you would like to

volunteer!

cchasen@sbcglobal.net

Like us on Facebook. Go to

Washington Union Educational

Foundation. We will keep you

updated on Facebook! The

WUEF Board Meeting will be held

on January 16th @ 6:00p.m., Toro

MPR room. Please feel free to

attend.

Sincerely,

Carli Chasen, WUEF President

2017-18

340 Corral de Tierra Road

Salinas, CA 93908

Business Name

Grade 5 - Students further explore the possibili-

ties of watercolor with “Watercolor Trees”.

They observe photographs of trees to create

two different paintings - an imaginary birch

forest and a cluster of tropical palm trees.

The techniques they learn include masking,

layered washes, wet-into-wet painting, colors

mixed on the brush, and textures made with a

sponge. They

discover the ef-

fects of trans-

parent layers,

color mixing,

and varied

brush strokes,

which create

two very differ-

ent but richly

colored and

textured paint-

ings.

Grade 4 – We are intro-

ducing a painting unit

called “ Watercolor

Landscape”. Students

learn to layer size, space and atmospheric per-

spective to create the illusion of a landscape.

They will use size and placement of objects to

create perspective and unity. Students are en-

couraged to mix creative colors and try new

watercolor techniques. They learn about the

transparent properties of watercolor and how

they can be used

to create the irides-

cence and

blended color tran-

sitions observed in

nature.

4 T H A N D 5 T H G R A D E A R T D O C E N T . . .

Phone: 555-555-5555

Fax: 555-555-5555

E-mail: someone@example.com

Hope all of you had wonderful holidays. In January, the Art Docent

program begins the New Year with giving lessons in painting. Painting

is the practice of applying color to a surface such as paper, canvas,

wood, glass, lacquer or concrete. However, when used in an artistic

sense, the term “painting” means the use of color in combination with

drawing and composition. Children’s paintings are closely linked with

art appreciation. A child who is exposed to painting is more apt to

produce expressive work itself.

January is Painting Month

Throughout the grades, we will expose our students to several brush

techniques, different paints - watercolor and tempura, and focusing

on them learning color and painting terms.

Picture of the Month

In January, the Picture of the Month selections are from the Post Im-

pressionist artists Van Gogh and Gauguin who started painting with

the Impressionists in Paris, but developed stronger colors and more

personal styles. The experiments of the Post Impressionist painters de-

veloped into many art movements that form the basis of Modern Art

in the 20th Century.

We’re on the Web!

www.washingtonusd.org

A R T D O C E N T N E W S I N JA N U A R Y . . .

Page 5 January 2018 Newsletter

Kids & Tech: Tips for Parents in the Digital Age

In a world where children are "growing up digital," it's important to help them learn healthy concepts of

digital use and citizenship. Parents play an important role in teaching these skills.

Tips AAP to Help Families Manage the Ever Changing Digital Landscape:

Make your own family media use plan. Media should work for you and within your family values and par-

enting style. When used thoughtfully and appropriately, media can enhance daily life. But when used

inappropriately or without thought, media can displace many important activities such as face-to-

face interaction, family-time, outdoor-play, exercise, unplugged downtime and sleep. Make your

plan at HealthyChildren.org/MediaUsePlan.

Treat media as you would any other environment in your child's life. The same parenting guidelines apply

in both real and virtual environments. Set limits; kids need and expect them. Know your children's friends,

both online and off. Know what platforms, software, and apps your children are using, what sites they are

visiting on the web, and what they are doing online.

Set limits and encourage playtime. Media use, like all other activities, should have reasonable limits. Un-

structured and offline play stimulates creativity. Make unplugged playtime a daily priority, especially for

very young children. And—don't forget to join your children in unplugged play whenever possible.

Families who play together, learn together. Family participation is also great for media activities—it en-

courages social interactions, bonding, and learning. Play a video game with your kids. It's a good way to

demonstrate good sportsmanship and gaming etiquette. You will have the opportunity to introduce and

share your own life experiences and perspectives—and guidance—as you play the game.

Be a good role model. Teach and model kindness and good manners online. Because children are

great mimics, limit your own media use. In fact, you'll be more available for and connected with your

children if you're interacting, hugging and playing with them rather than simply staring at a screen.

Know the value of face-to-face communication. Very young children learn best through two-way com-

munication. Engaging in back-and-forth "talk time" is critical for language development. Conversations

can be face-to-face or, if necessary, by video chat with a traveling parent or far-away grandparent. Re-

search has shown that it's that "back-and-forth conversation" that improves language skills—much more

so than "passive" listening or one-way interaction with a screen.

Limit digital media for your youngest family members. Avoid digital media for toddlers younger than 18

to 24 months other than video chatting. For children 18 to 24 months, watch digital media with them be-

cause they learn from watching and talking with you. Limit screen use for preschool children, ages 2 to 5,

to just 1 hour a day of high-quality programing, and watch it with them so you can help them learn from

what they're seeing. See Healthy Digital Media Use Habits for Babies, Toddlers & Preschoolers.

Create tech-free zones. Keep family mealtimes, other family and social gatherings, and children's bed-

rooms screen free. Turn off televisions that you aren't watching, because background TV can get in the

way of face-to-face time with kids. Recharge devices overnight—outside your child's bedroom to help

children avoid the temptation to use them when they should be sleeping. These changes encourage

more family time, healthier eating habits, and better sleep, all critical for children's wellness.

CONTINUED ON THE BACK...

January 2018 Newsletter Page 6

Don't use technology as an emotional pacifier. Media can be very effective in keeping kids calm and

quiet, but it should not be the only way they learn to calm down. Children need to be taught how to identify

and handle strong emotions, come up with activities to manage boredom, or calm down through breathing,

talking about ways to solve the problem, and finding other strategies for channeling emotions.

Apps for kids – do your homework. More than 80,000 apps are labeled as educational, but little research

has demonstrated their actual quality. Products pitched as "interactive" should require more than "pushing

and swiping." Look to organizations like Common Sense Media for reviews about age-appropriate apps,

games and programs to guide you in making the best choices for your children.

It's OK for your teen to be online. Online relationships are part of typical adolescent development. Social

media can support teens as they explore and discover more about themselves and their place in the grown-

up world. Just be sure your teen is behaving appropriately in both the real and online worlds. Many teens

need to be reminded that a platform's privacy settings do not make things actually "private" and that images,

thoughts, and behaviors teens share online will instantly become a part of their digital footprint indefi-

nitely. Keep lines of communication open and let them know you're there if they have questions or concerns.

Warn children about the importance of privacy and the dangers of predators and sexting. Teens need to

know that once content is shared with others, they will not be able to delete or remove it completely, and in-

cludes texting of inappropriate pictures. They may also not know about or choose not to use privacy settings,

and they need to be warned that sex offenders often use social networking, chat rooms, e-mail, and online

gaming to contact and exploit children.

Remember: Kids will be kids. Kids will make mistakes using media. Try to handle errors with empathy and turn a

mistake into a teachable moment. But some indiscretions, such as sexting, bullying, or posting self-harm im-

ages, may be a red flag that hints at trouble ahead. Parents must observe carefully their children's behaviors

and, if needed, enlist supportive professional help, including the family pediatrician.

Media and digital devices are an integral part of our world today. The benefits of these devices, if used mod-

erately and appropriately, can be great. But, research has shown that face-to-face time with family, friends,

and teachers plays a pivotal and even more important role in promoting children's learning and healthy de-

velopment. Keep the face-to-face up front, and don't let it get lost behind a stream of media and tech.

Editor's Note: The tips above were written from two AAP policies, "Media Use in School-Aged Children and

Adolescents" and "Media and Young Minds," and the technical report entitled "Children and Adolescents and

Digital Media," which were published in the November 2016 edition of Pediatrics. They were also drawn from

the proceedings of the AAP Sponsored Growing Up Digital: Media Research Symposium, a gathering of me-

dia experts, researchers and pediatricians held in 2015 to address new developments in research and media

and their impact on children. Last Updated 10/21/2016 Source American Academy of Pediatrics

(Copyright © 2016)

Source: www.healthychildren.org/English/family-life/Media/Pages/Tips-for-Parents-Digital-Age.aspx