November 6, 2007

Pennekamp Families,

            As parents, we always want our children to do well in all of their endeavors, with school usually being right at the top of the list. The Pennekamp staff is keenly aware of parental expectations for providing the high-quality school program that your children deserve. Over the years, Pennekamp has excelled in virtually every measurement of academic performance, from California Sate testing to district assessments. Nonetheless, we continue to strive to improve.

            Pennekamp’s current Academic Performance Index (API) of 954 on a scale of 100-999 far surpasses the state’s target of 800 as the desired standard for a quality program. Our 954 API ranks Pennekamp in the top 1% of schools in California, and top the 1.1% of schools in Los Angeles County, which places us in very distinguished company.

            Every year, the Pennekamp School Site Council administers a School Improvement Survey in an endeavor to ascertain how are customers (parents) feel about the effectiveness of their children’s school, and to provide us with information for on-going school improvement. The survey provides opportunities to indicate “satisfied” or “dissatisfied”, and also allows for written comments. We received feedback from 194 families (up from 183 the previous year), which is slightly below a 50% response rate. Once again, we had the data tabulated by Market Research Data Co., who “crunched the numbers” providing us with a thorough report.

            As the results of the survey indicated, our community is generally quite satisfied with Pennekamp. The overall level of satisfaction with the “Quality of Education at Pennekamp” was 98.9%, up slightly from 97.3% the previous year. For most areas, our percentage levels remained in the mid to high 90s, which is comparable to previous years. It was gratifying to see noticeable increases in the areas of PE, Arts & Music, Communication, and Facilities/Environment.

As in previous years, we will examine the areas which are comparatively low on the survey or have been identified as focal areas by the staff, and we will strive to concentrate our improvement efforts in those areas. This year, one area that we will be focusing on is Science. We have hired a science teacher with funds donated by The Manhattan Beach Education Foundation. We have also converted Room 26 into a Science Lab, and our PTA has committed to provide funds for equipment and materials to provide enriched science experiences for students. 

            Other areas which we will continue to focus on are Reading/Language Arts and Writing. At Pennekamp we have embraced the Step-Up to Writing program, which provides a very clear and understandable methodology for teaching children how to construct paragraphs, and multi-paragraph stories and compositions.  In addition we are continually looking into ways of improving in spelling, grammar, and vocabulary.

One area that received a number of written comments was “Security”, which seems to be an area of growing concern not only in our community, but also throughout the nation. Both at Pennekamp and throughout MBUSD this is a major focal area. Recent Green Sheets have alluded to a variety of safety matters and our district is instituting including tighter sign-in / sign-out measures at schools, volunteer regulations, and our Wellness Policy, etc. We will continue to work diligently in this area, as the safety of your children is our highest priority.

As you can see, we are not satisfied to rest on our laurels at Pennekamp. We are committed to enhancing our strengths and to improving our areas of relative weakness in order to provide a safe and academically-stimulating school environment for your children. We truly appreciate your feedback, as well as the support of PTA, School Site Council and our parent community in this vitally important enterprise. Have a great week, and remember to vote today.     

Sincerely,

 Dale Keldrauk

 

Family PE Time Change – This Thursday, Nov. 8^th, starting at 4:30 p.m. (not 5:00) on the PK Field. As a result of last weekend’s time change, Theresa Tower needs to start earlier than initially scheduled. It will be a fun event for the entire family. Hope you can make it from 4:30-5:15 p.m. this Thursday. Please RSVP at (310) 798-6223 ext. 5862.

PK Day at Manhattan Bread & Bagel Co. - Wed., Nov. 7^th. Pennekamp gets 10% of the sales for that day. You can get bagels and scones for breakfast, and sandwiches and salads for lunch and dinner. Have some great eats and support PK at the same time!

Veterans Day Holiday – No school on Monday, November 12^th. EDP is also closed, as it is a federal holiday on Monday.

Thanksgiving Break – Nov. 19^th -23^rd  – No school all week. EDP will be open on M,T,W, Nov. 19^th, 20^th and 21^st, but closed on Thurs. & Fri., Nov. 22^nd and 23^rd.

Successful Halloween Parade – A good time was had by all! Kudos to Jeanette Thue for coordinating the event! A big thank you to the MCHS Band, under the direction of Joel Carlson, and to the MCHS Color Guard for adding great music and spirit to the festivities.

Clothing and Toy Drives this Weekk – Please bring all donations of new or gently used clothing and toys to the drop off area by the PK Office for our adopted school. Contact Kim Friedman at jkefriedman@earthlink.com  and Lisa O’ Donoghue at lisacullenod@gmail.com  with any questions.  Thank you so much for your generosity, which will help needy families.

Pennekamp STAR News – Fall enrichment is in full swing and we are already preparing to add new classes for the winter session which will run from Jan. 14^th – March 28^th , 2008.  Registration forms will be available around mid-November.  Don’t miss out…many of our classes fill up quickly! Look out for our survey on the addition of new classes to our Enrichment Program for upcoming sessions and the possibility of creating a Spring Camp.  Any questions or comments regarding the STAR program can be directed to the STAR Director, Beverly Powell at (310) 877-9047 or pennekampstar@hotmail.com.

Trash-to-Treasure Recycling Contest – Our award winning Environmental Science Museum and Wildlife Rescue Facility, The STAR ECO Station in Culver City, is sponsoring a special contest to encourage recycling.  Create animals out of recycled materials and win CASH PRIZES! Selected entries will be displayed at the ECO Station.  Participants must be 18 years of age or under and are encouraged to work with their classrooms, families or in groups.  Judging will take place on Sunday, Nov. 18^th, 2007.  Pick up an entry form in the PK office or from the STAR staff in the cafeteria.  In addition, the ECO Station will recycle your tech waste!  Bring in your old computers, printers, digital cameras, cell phones, etc., and the ECO Station will take care of the recycling.  Your support is appreciated!

Student fundraiser – Don’t forget to log in your receipts from the Manhattan Village Mall dated Sept. 1^st, 2007 through April 30^th, 2008.  Pennekamp earns five (5) points for every dollar spent at any store.  If you can’t make it to the mall, drop off your receipts in the PK office. Receipts will not be returned.  Contact Christine Dillon for more information at cdillon7466@aol.com.

PTA “Reflections” – The theme this year is “I Can Make A Difference By…”  Students may submit an entry in any of the six areas, which include: Literature, Musical Composition, Photography, Visual Arts, Dance Choreography or Film/TV Production.  Submissions are due by Friday, November 16^th. Registration forms are in the PK office.  For more information, please contact Marjie Block, hey.yall@verizon.net.

Music Notes – Our music teacher Ms. Jordan has created a school notes page to help teachers and parents keep informed about what their students are learning.  This page can be found at www.schoolnotes.com/90266/jjordan/html. Also, if you have any classroom instruments that are not being used and would like to donate them to our music program, please contact Ms. Jordan at jjordan@mbusd.org or drop them by the music room.  Thank you!

 

IMPORTANT DATES

·          Wed. Nov. 7^th – PK Day at Manhattan Bread and Bagel

·          Thurs. Nov. 8^th – PE Family Night 4:30 – 5:15 p.m. – PK Field (note the early start

·          Mon. Nov. 12^th – Veteran’s Day – No school

·          Nov. 19^th – 21^st – Thanksgiving Week – No School

·          Nov. 27^th – Report Cards go home

·          Dec. 3^rd – Dec. 7^th Monday –Friday  Parent-Teacher Conferences Minimum Day Schedule

Kdg. = Normal Schedule

            1^{st –}5^th = 8:15 a.m. – 12:45 p.m.

·          Dec. 24^th –Jan. 4^th – Winter Recess