The Graystone eLINK6982 Shearwater Drive

San Jose, CA 95120408-535-6317

Please visit our School Website: http://www.sjusd.org/graystone

For the Week Ending : March 23rd, 2012

MARCH

Mar. 23rd - Heritage Day 4pm till 7pm.

Mar. 27th - Volunteer Tea 8:45am till 10:00am in the Cafeteria

APRIL

Apr. 2nd thru Apr. 5th Spirit Week!

Apr. 3rd. - Home & School Club Mtg. in cafeteria at 9:00am

Apr. 5th - Pep Rally for the Walk-a-thon

Apr. 6th - Recycling Day

Apr. 9th till 13th - SPRING BREAK!

Message from the PrincipalDear Parents,

Last Friday was our much-anticipated California Distinguished School award visit. An as-sociate superintendent from Campbell, a principal from Evergreen and the categorical man-ager from the Santa Clara County Office of Education made up the validation team and vis-ited Graystone from 7:15 in the morning until 4:00 in the afternoon. They were very im-pressed with our students, staff and parents. During their time here, they visited every class-room on our campus and interviewed groups of teachers, students, parents, community members and representatives from our district office. At the end of the day, the validation team voted unanimously to recommend Graystone for the California Distinguished School award. What this means is that we were able to demonstrate our two “signature practices” which are Collaboration and Powerful Instructional Strategies in Math. One of my favorite comments that the visitors made is that they saw “evidence of four or five other practices in classrooms that would have qualified as exemplary signature practices”.

Many people helped to make our California Distinguished School application process and visit a success. I would like to thank the entire staff for their hard work getting ready for the visit. They are, as I am sure you know, an outstanding group of people. Parent Alene Ipsaro was a constant support throughout the process helping write the application, taking photo-graphs and creating bulletin boards of evidence of our signature practices, being on campus for the day of the visit and participating in the community meeting with the validators. Her help was invaluable during this process. Thanks also to Negin Hojabri and all the wonderful people who contributed to our International Luncheon on the day of the visit. The food was delicious and our visitors were very impressed. In addition, a group of parents, community members and our Board member met with the validators in the afternoon. While I was not present for this meeting, I have heard that many positive things were said about our school and our staff. Thanks to anyone who attended and helped the validators obtain a full picture of our school. Last, but certainly not least, I want to thank our Student Ambassadors who showed our visitors around the school all morning. They are Sela Wein, Julia Braverman, Zachary Caceres-Bautista, Preston Taylor, Jacob Flores and Jasmine Shao. They did an out-standing job and the visitors thought they were wonderful. We appreciate the combined ef-forts of everyone who was involved in some way for the Distinguished School visit. Thank you so much!

So—what happens now? The last two steps in the California Distinguished School award process is for Santa Clara County Superintendent of Schools Chuck Weis and State Superin-tendent of Schools Tom Torlaksen to sign the report of the validators and send it to Sacra-mento to be processed. An awards ceremony will be held at the County Office of Education sometime this spring. Everyone associated with Graystone should be proud that we have earned this great honor.

Warm regards, Priscilla Spencer

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MEDIA CENTER NOTES...

Our “March Madness” Hicklebees book fair was terrific!! What fun to see so many of our families walking away with great book buys. Hicklebees gives us 15% of our sales that go directly to purchasing books for our great library. Holly and I truly thank our team of intrepid volunteers--several of whom were there with us in the predawn hours to set up and then to take down and pack up the books. Graystone parents ARE the best.

I was pleased to hear that our library was admired by the Distinguished School Committee. I heard from the parents and staff that our library was mentioned several times as being warm and welcoming. I feel very proud of our library and know that it is the way it is because of all the parents that volunteer and help me make it a very special place. I want to personally thank Razan Khayo for her beautiful murals that adorn the library walls. If you have a moment, please stop by and enjoy her beautiful artwork.

Diana Dahlin and her team have recently completed a huge project of including 50 new multicultural books to our library collection. Kudos to her and her team! From the Scholastic Book Fair profits, I have pur-chased 100 new non-fiction books and 3 new fiction series for our library. I hope to have them ready for reading within the next few weeks. In addition, each grade level is purchasing classroom books that will be used to enhance their teaching in their classrooms. I have used some of the profits from our past fair as a gift for all their hard work.

To all my library volunteers, I invite you to the volunteer brunch on Tuesday, March 27th at 9:00 am and I thank you with all my heart for all the time you spend helping me in the library. I truly could not run the library as well as I do without all of your support. I will be making a couple of dishes to share at the brunch so I hope to see you all.

I wish you sunny days and happy reading!

Melissa Powell, Literacy Events Coordinator

CASH CARDS

Cash cards are on sale in the Superdome on Mondays and Fridays before and after school. You can also turn an order form into the office or email your order to cashcards@graystonehsc.org. To download a copy of the order form or get more information about the program, please visit http://www.graystonehsc.org/support/fundraising/#cashcards.

We always have grocery and gas cards in stock, as well as a variety of other stores and restaurants, so there are many cards to choose from for your everyday shopping needs. It does not cost you any extra but really helps our school, so if you could try to purchase at least $100 per month (more is better) we can continue to earn the vital funds we need to allow the Home and School Club to keep providing to your children.

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HERITAGE DAY

POSTER CONTEST WINNERS!!

Kindergarten1st - Kristie Sue - E-25

First1st - Jasmine Jian - E-19

Second1st - Aidan Cain - E-202nd - Ansh Dhakalia - D-14

Third1st - Serena Atkinson - C-92nd - Vandya Goel - B-83rd - Purbasha Majee - B-83rd - Sean Young - D-14

Fourth1st - Dodam Yoon - D-132nd - Ryan Zhang - B-53rd - Shane Casey - B-6

Fifth1st - Sahil Dubey - D-152nd - Ashley Jian - A-4

Thank you to all of our wonderful volunteer parents who made "LANGUAGES AROUND THE WORLD" so special.  An extra special thank you to our booth coordinators:  

Alina Sargiss and Janti Doomany (Assyria), Claudia de Oliveira (Brazil), Fang Fang and Weihong Zhao (China), Tapani Otala (Finland and photographer extraordinaire), Kerstin Vallejo and Anke Michels (Ger-many), Paul Diakos (Greece), Seema Asthana, Vidhya Karthik, and Raman Dhakalia (India); Negin Hojabri (Iran and co-chair); Christina Bullard and Lorie Brooke (Italy); Sakie Belluscio, Rumi Fukami, and Eri Nakae (Japan); Tina Kim (Korea); Lara Luna (Mexico); Rajka Campbell (Montenegro); Britt Cain (Swe-den); Connie Chen (Taiwan); Lale Yurtseven and Semra Ozcolak (Turkey); Tho Nguyen (Vietnam)Thank you to Mrs. Holt for always being such a supportive teacher and great emcee.  We appreciate the en-tire staff and their support of this great event which is sponsored by the Home and School Club.Heritage Day could not be possible without everyone's help and support.  We are so fortunate to have a school which is so diverse and willing to share their heritage!

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IN OTHER NEWS...

Use of the Staff Bathrooms

The restrooms in the office area are for the use of the staff and any parents who are volunteering at school.  Please have your children use the student restrooms at all times.

Thank you!

GOLD RUSH DAY (FRIDAY, MAY 18TH)

4th Grade Parents, Gold Rush Day is on Friday, May 18th.  It is fast-approaching and we are still in need of parents to help coordinate two stations -- Saloon and Mining Camp.  We will have our next meeting on Friday, March 30th at 9am in the Superdome.  If you are interested in helping plan for the big day, you are sure to strike it rich with our fourth graders! If you are interested in helping out, please join us or you can email Carol Chiu at cichiu@pacbell.net.

COOKIE DOUGH FOR SALE

On April 4th from 11:00am till 3:00pm, in the Superdome there will be cookie dough for sale. The price is $16.00 per box. We have a limited amount and it will be sold on a first come first serve basis.

4th graders should pick up their orders on April 4th from 11:00am till 3:30pm. The product must be picked up on Weds. by 3:30 for it is frozen.

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SAVE THE DATE!

Graystone Walkathon Friday, April 27th

9am-3pm (walk with your class)

3pm-6:30pm (walk with your friends and family)

Enjoy music, snacks, drinks, silent auction, walking and more with your friends and family!

Do you have a home based business you would like to showcase? This year we will host our FIRST annual home

based business fair during the walkathon.

Go to www.graystonehsc.org/walk

to apply by 4/6/2012!

QuickSilver Swimming

Summer Swim Team Tryouts

Who: All kids ages 5-18 years

When: Saturday, March 24 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. Saturday, April 28 10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.

Where: Almaden Swim and Racquet Club 6604 Northridge Drive San Jose 95120

QuickSilver Swimming (QSS) is a conveniently located year-round competitive swim team offering exceptional coaching and technique instruction for all ages. Join us for the summer trimester and enjoy social activities and dual meet competition.

Practices start May 1st and continue through the end of July.

For more information, please email:

jkburrill@mac.com

Saturday, March 24, 2012Check-in for Registered Participants and Babysitting starts at 8:15.

The conference starts at 8:45 a.m. - 12:15 p.m.855 Lenzen Ave., San José, CA 95126

Parent Engagement Conference INSPIRING AND PREPARING FOR FUTURE SUCCESS

DISTRICT:__________________________________________ SCHOOL:__________________________________

Name of Parent/Guardian: ______________________________________ Email/Address:______________________________________Cell Ph. #: _______________________________ Home Ph. #________________________________________Address: ____________________________________________________ City: _____________________ Zip Code: __________Student: _______________________________________ Grade _______ Teacher:___________________ Room #: _______________

Registration for 7th-12th grade students that are attending the conference with parents.DISTRICT:__________________________________________ SCHOOL:________________________________ Student: _______________________________________ Grade _______

REGISTRATION FORM

San José Unified Parents Only: Please return this form to your school office no later than March 1, 2012.San José Unified Office Staff: Please pony this registration form to Parent Education-Attention: Anita Contreras at the end of each day. (408) 535-6404) THANK YOU!ORGo to http://www.sjusd.org/school/district-new/info/C8064 download the registration form and email:Parent_Conference@sjusd.org no later than March 1, 2012.

See Registration Instructions Below

Interpretation services are available in Spanish & Vietnamese.Please mark your language preference: ___English____Spanish____Vietnamese

Registration Deadline: March 1, 2012

Parents NOT in San José Unified School DistrictRegister online at http://santaclara.k12oms.org/OR Fax the completed registration form to (408) 453-6888OR Mail to the attention of:Theresa Martinez – Santa Clara County Office of Education, 1290 Ridder Park Drive MC221, San Jose, CA 95131 no later than March 1, 2012.

Babysitting is available for ages 3-9 at DCP (Downtown College Prep 1460 The Alameda, San Jose, CA, 1/2 block away) Space is limited. Check-in starts at 8:15 a.m. I need childcare for _____ (Number of children ages 3-9.)

8:15-8:45 Check-in and coffee/treats at 855 Lenzen. Babysitting child check-in at 1460 The Alameda.8:45-9:30 General Session for Welcome and keynote speaker: Damian Trujillo (All participants attend the General Session.) 9:30-9:40 Passing Period

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9:40-10:35 Workshop Session #110:35-10:45 Passing Period10:45-11:40 Workshop Session #2 11:40-11:50 Passing Period11:50-12:15 Closing and Drawing

Conference Schedule

CHOOSE four Workshops in order of preference: Write #1 next to your 1st choice. Write #2 next to your 2nd choice. Write #3 next to your 3rd choice. Write #4 next to your last choice.

___Paying  for  College  Aid  Awareness  (including  California  Dream  Act:  Learn  about  different  financial  scholarships  and  funds  that  are  available,  including  timelines  &  websites.

___College  101:  This  workshop  will  explain  in  detail  the  district  graduation  requirements  and  the  classes  that  are  needed  to  ensure  that  students  are  on  track  to  graduate  from  high  school  and  are  college  ready.  The  presenter  will  also  cover  the  different  types  of  post-­‐secondary  education  institutions.

___Education:  The  Door  to  the  World:  In  this  workshop,  the  presenter  will  share  her  college  journey  that  changed  her  future.  She  was  the  first   in  her  family  to  graduate  from  a  university.  How  did  she  do  it?  Come  and  find  out  what  it  took  to  persevere.

___21st  Century  Skills  that  Support  Career  Development  and  Technology:  This  workshop  will  explore  the  skills  employers  are  looking  for  in  young  adults  when  they  enter  the  workforce.

___Developing  Academic  Skills  to  Promote  Achievement:  The  presenters  will   inform  parents  about  the  academic  skills  that  are  necessary  for  school  success.  These  skills  will  form  the  foundation  for  future  success  academically  and  in  the  workforce.

___College  Entrance  Exams:  Participants  will   learn  about  exams  like  the  SAT  and  the  ACT  that  are  used  in  both  the  admittance  and  the  financial  aid  process.The  PSAT  will  also  be  explained.  The  presenter  will  also  cover  requirements,  timelines  for  the  exams,  costs,  the  meaning  of  the  results  and  study  resources.  

___California  Community  Colleges:  Participants  will  receive  information  about  the  community  college  system,  the  types  of  certificates  and  degrees  offered  and  what  it  takes  to  transfer  to  a  4-­‐year  college.

___The  Central  County  Occupational  Center  (CCOC):  The  presenter  will  discuss  courses  within  a  variety  of   industries  where  junior  and  senior  high  school  students  can  explore  and  develop  technical  skills  that  will   lead  them  to  higher  education  or  into  the  workplace.