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Dear School Force Supporter,
Welcome to the 5th School-Force eNewsletter of the school
year! With the launch of the restructured
website, there was an opportunity to shorten this
newsletter by linking to the S-F
blog. Please click through and let us know what you
think.
Email communications@schoolforce.org
if you wish to add or update an email address. If you missed
the previous issues you can find them in the archives.
If you do not have an ongoing relationship with the
Belmont-Redwood Shores School District, please feel free to
unsubscribe using the link at the end.
 Like School-Force on Facebook
for timely reminders about events and links to interesting
information about education funding in California and our
district.
Does uncertain bad news
count as good news?
We see no chairs showing pictures of
pink-slipped teachers this March. No rallies calling for
volunteers. No heated conversations around the sports
fields debating the value of small class sizes or the
importance of a full-time Dean of students for an ever-growing
population of middle-school kids. Things must be okay
because there are no lead stories about cuts to education in
Belmont and Redwood Shores. Right?
For at least the
past six years, March has brought bad news about the
educational quality for the kids of Belmont and Redwood
Shores, but less so this year. But there is
in fact no good news. There is only uncertainty about the
extent of the bad news. In fact, pink slips for
nine full time positions were distributed to teachers this
month.
We don't know when our moment of truth
will come. It could be this week, if the state
legislature does not place tax extensions on the ballot for
June. In that case, the voters of California
won't even have a chance to decide on extending current taxes
to avert additional cuts to K-12
education.
Even if revenue extensions do make it on the ballot, there is
still high uncertainty. In that case, it won't be until
the last week of school that we will learn the economic
fate of our district.
What we as a community need to do
now is raise money. Every dollar raised by School-Force
is spent on Belmont-Redwood Shores kids. The more we
raise, the more we insulate our kids from potential cuts in
the future. Without tax extensions, the hit to the BRSSD will
be devastating.
Whatever your political view, you
as a parent want only the best for your child: securing
the brightest future and ensuring that your child has the best
opportunities. Answer the call, the email, the smoke signal
... whatever way your fellow parent volunteers reach you
during School-Force’s March Annual Giving campaign. Your gift
to School-Force will stay with your district and your child
even in these times of uncertainty. The only thing I
know for certain is that every donation, no matter how large
or small, makes a difference. It is better to have given that
not to have tried at all.
.
President, School-Force Education
Foundation
Parent, Central Elementary School
& Ralston Middle School
IMPORTANT NOTE: It is
critical that we, the citizens of California, be given the
chance to vote on extending current taxes that will help stem
some of the devastating budget cuts to education.
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Ask School-Force a
Question
How much
did the redesign of the School-Force website
cost?
The fast answer? Zero dollars.
The real
answer? Zero dollars and hours upon hours of work by
generous School-Force volunteers.
What is the School-Force perspective on
the library reopenings?
School-Force is very pleased that the recommendations
that it made last year to the BRSSD Budget Advisory Committee
have been implemented for the remainder of this school
year.
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Beyond the "Mozart Effect"
Active engagement
with music affects brain development and helps develop
listening skills.
You've probably heard of the
“Mozart Effect,” the theory that listening to classical music
even briefly can increase certain types of intelligence.
Although researchers ultimately found that the concept had
been oversold, newer studies indicate that studying and
practicing music over time can have profound effects on the
brain.
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Casino Royale! It's
Time to Buy Tickets!
Friday, April 8th, 7:30 -
11:30 PM
Hotel Sofitel, Redwood
Shores
Volunteers still needed on each campus!
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School-Force Community Garage
Sale
Saturday, April 9th, 8 am -
5pm
Sunday April 10th, 8 am -
5pm
Are you ready for spring cleaning? Host a garage sale at
your home or in your neighborhood! This event is sponsored by
School-Force and the City of Belmont with all proceeds
supporting the Belmont-Redwood Shores Education
Foundation. A list of garage sale locations will be
posted just before the event. Even if you don’t host one
yourself, set aside Saturday or Sunday morning to pick up some
bargains at School-Force garage sales throughout the
community! Click
here to sign up for a garage sale! |
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The Power of
Reading!
In another successful fundraiser, the annual
Reading Power Read-a-thon raises over $217,000 for
School-Force.
From January 14 to 28, the district's six elementary
schools got fired up with reading. Together, students read
more than 1.5 million minutes, and more than 600 students
received Certificates of Achievement and were inducted the
1000 Minute Club at their schools. Students earned one dragon
scale for every 100 minutes read and used the scales to build
their schools' dragons, some of which grew as long as 25 feet.
All told, students earned more than 10,000 dragon
scales.
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Electronic Waste
Recycling Builds
Community
18,051 pounds of eWaste
collected!
Huge thanks to everyone who helped out with the ewaste
collection on February 5th.
It was a serious group effort!
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Recent Press about
the Belmont-Redwood Shores School District
Check out Patch.com
the new source for online local Belmont
news!
Teacher Feature: George Metropulos of Central
Elementary
By
Nikki Bazzani, March 14, 2011,
Belmont-Ca-Patch.com
Whether it's his infectious smile, his ever
recognizable license plate “GTMETRO” or his Greek last name
that rings a bell from his former days as mayor, George
Metropulos has left a lasting impression in the hearts of many
Belmont residents . Read
more...
Students Read to
Raise $217,000 for Belmont School
District
By Austin Walsh March 10, 2011,
Belmont-Ca-Patch.com
The Read-A-Thon
collected $12,000 more than last year. Read
more...
Belmont School
Libraries to Reopen
By
Laura Dudnick March 9, 2011, Belmont-Ca-Patch.com
Three
library media specialists have returned to work today after
the Belmont-Redwood Shores Elementary School District board
voted to reinstate library services earlier this month. Read
more...
Peninsula school
districts, educational groups win more than $1 million in math
grants
By Neil
Gonzales, 03/07/2011, San Mateo County Times
Among the
awardees are the Belmont-Redwood Shores, Bayshore and Brisbane
districts, which each received a third-year grant of $100,000
for the ACCESS Program. The program seeks to improve
instruction for about 1,700 students in the three districts
who have scored low on the state standards test. Read
more...
Preliminary teacher
layoff talks begin
By Heather Murtagh,
February
17, 2011, San Mateo Daily
Journal
Nine teachers in the Belmont-Redwood
Shores Elementary School District could soon be receiving a
preliminary pink slip — the first legal step to a possible
layoff. .
Read more...
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This
Issue
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Quick
Links
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Exclusive School-Force
Deal: Bella Nails in
Belmont! Book a facial or pedicure and get a free manicure!
You must present this flier
for the deal. Tell your friends!
Shop for Schools:
Earn money for School-Force by using the
button below to access your favorite online shopping sites
including Amazon.com and more!
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Upcoming
Events
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Friday
April 8th, 7:30 pm - 11:30
pm
Hotel
Sofitel
Saturday, April 9th, 8 am -
Sunday April 10th, 5
pm
Individual garages in Belmont and
RWS
Belmont-Redwood Shores School
District Budget Workshop
All Staff and
Community Members Welcome
Thursday, April 14, 2011, 7
pm
Multi-Purpose Room,
Nesbit Elementary School
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Mission
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The mission of School-Force is to raise
money for teachers and programs to ensure an exceptional
education for the children of the Belmont-Redwood Shores
School District.
School-Force was founded in 2001 by a
group of parents looking to save key educational programs that
were slated to disappear from the district due to budget
shortfalls. Over the past 9 years, School-Force has raised
over 4.2 million dollars to keep quality education programs
across the seven schools of the Belmont-Redwood Shores school
district.
Many thanks to The School-Force
Education Foundation's Platinum Business Donors:
The School-Force eNewsletter
Editor in Chief:
Martha Simmons, Cipriani
Parent
Editor:
Louise Lee, Central
Parent
School-Force Communication Chair:
Ulla Foehr, Central
Parent
Have a question or comment?
Please email
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