Connecting Waters Charter School

Candidate for Accreditation. Approved by the Schools Commission of Western Association of Schools and Colleges.

Sherri Nelson, Director

The first day of school, August 18^th is fast approaching! I know that many of you are getting organized for the new school year. I am so glad that you have chosen Connecting Waters as the school for your students! As you know Connecting Waters is sponsored by the Waterford School District and is managed by Innovative Education Management. We are all committed to parent choice and believe that parents know what’s best for their children! Everything that we do revolves around this philosophy. Our trained staff of credentialed teachers will help you to be successful in educating your child.

We have included in this special edition newsletter important information that you will need to help the school year go smoothly. As you read through this newsletter and go to our website at www.connectingwaters.org, you will see that our school is truly unique!

Loie Varner Sherri Nelson

CWCS Secretary CWCS Director

Our first year was great but this year will be even better! We have scheduled some wonderful group educational activities, and fun small group classes to provide creativity and variety to your student’s learning experience. Please remember to become part of our parent listserve. You will receive updated information via email if you wish to be part of the listserve. Monthly newsletters can be obtained from our website or by asking your ES to bring a copy to your regular meetings.

Parent Council

Connecting Waters is governed by the Parent Council which consists of 29 parents from the school. We have an awesome group of parents who are taking an active role in improving our school! The president of our council, Dave Harris, is a resident of Waterford and brings with him many years of home-schooling experience and knowledge. Pam Lefevour is our treasurer and is responsible for the accounting of our fundraisers. The entire council attends our quarterly meetings and are also members of sub-committees. Already these sub-committees have enabled us to become more effective and efficient in achieving our goals. Our sub-committee’s are: accreditation, group educational activities (field trips), grants, yearbook, graduations, fundraiser, and curriculum.

According to our charter, council members can only serve a two-year term. Each year new council members will be voted for through a ballot system. The following are members of our 2003/2004 Parent Council: Paul Andrew, Monica Barlow, Amy Basnight, Jeff Bradshaw, Denise Davis, Lisa Davolt, Caroline Elness, April Fog, Carla Ford, Laura Harker, David Harris, Tim Harris, Grace Heron, Jeff Hessler, Julie Hilbert, Olga Kiehl, Pam Lefevour, Denise Lindvall, Denise Norton, Lori Porter, Cindy Quilici, Cindy Ripley, Debra Siam, Sheila Sisco, Cary Spradling, Darlene Strong, Michelle Terranova, Sarah Williams, and Mae Woods. Nominations for the 2004/2005 Parent Council will be due April 13, 2004. If you or someone that you know is interested in being a council member please fill out the nomination form which will be available on line or from your ES in the spring.

All are welcome to attend the Parent Council meetings. All meetings will be held in Waterford on the following dates: September 9, 2003, December 9, 2003, March 9, 2004, and May 11, 2004 at 6:30pm.

Greetings Connecting Waters Charter School Parents and Students,

As newly elected president of the Parent Council I would like to welcome you to CWCS and a new school year. I would also like to invite you … no encourage you to attend any or all of the Parent Council meetings that we have. I know that it is hard to add one more thing into your schedule, but we only have four meetings scheduled for the year, the next one being the 9^th of September. The council is made up of parents like you who are dedicated to providing an excellent education for our children. Your input is desired and I believe the input garnered this past year has improved our school. Out of about 700 families involved in the school, our average attendance at the meetings has only been about 20. However, some parents attended almost every meeting last year. If you haven’t been to a meeting yet, please come and check it out. If you are a member of the parent council I only have two words… “Be There”, we literally can’t do it without you.

The charter school is required to have this parent council body, which is required to review certain items. In addition, the group of individuals you have elected is determined as much as possible to hold staff, IEM, and ourselves accountable so that others don’t have to. The people in the council are probably as dedicated to providing a quality school as any alternative schooling group I have worked with in the last 17 years. Sherri and her staff are doing an excellent job, and I believe that as good as last year was, this year will be even better. One of the things I am looking forward to is the effect that the “sub-committees” will have. Find one that you are excited about or concerned about and join in to help make our school even better.

Thank you,

David P. Harris

Legal/Legislative Update –

Bill Documents Subscription Service and SB979

The purpose of this legal/legislative update is twofold: 1) to become familiar with the subscription service for the Bill Documents page on the legislative information section of the California State Legislature’s Website; 2) to become aware of an interesting bill, SB 979, currently in committee, that would allow, in certain instances, students over the age of 19 to enroll in charter schools at current K-12 funding levels.

To access the Bill Information page, go to: http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/bilinfo.html

To access SB979, follow these steps:

Session: leave at default, “Current” setting

House: select “Senate”

Limit to: leave at default “50” hits

Search By: select “Bill Number” and in the white space enter 979

Click on “Search”

You will now be on the Bill Documents page for SB979

You can now view the bill’s status, history, text, analyses and votes.

By clicking on HTML or PDF, you will be able to read the text of SB979.

To automatically receive notification of activity related to this bill, click on “”Subscribe” then enter your email address. You will receive an email each time there is any action on this bill!

This subscription service is available for any “active” bills and is an excellent way to stay informed on any legislation in which you have an interest. This is also good information for a student to use in his/her government, social studies, or civics class.

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Legal and Legislative Updates are provided by Innovative Education Management (IEM) as a service to the parents, students and employees of IEM’s client schools. To request a topic to be addressed in future Updates and/or to provide feedback regarding this or other Updates, email Rolff Christensen, Executive Director at: trolff@ieminc.org

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IEM Staff from left to right: Gail Holley, Jenifer Freymond, Kristen Schmidt, Randy Gaschler,

Leita Barlow, Nancy Perkins, Cary Sharp, Gary Clark, Janet Marsh, John Wilberger, & Susie Self

PARENT SUPPORT

Marsha Silva (800) 762-1888

Parent Monthly Curriculum Training

Parent Support continues to try to find ways to support you and meet your needs. Some of you asked for training, so last year we started our PMCT meetings. We have also been sending out messages by email periodically. Many of you are signed up on our Parent List Serve but some still need to email me at msilva@ieminc.org to request that your email address be added to the list! Don’t be left out of the loop email or call me ASAP to request that we put you on the list!!

What is a PMCT? It is a Parent Monthly Curriculum Training session. We are inviting our various vendors to meet with us and give us some training as well as some question-answer time! Generally the schedule is as follows:

6:30 – 7:00 Introduction and overview of curriculum

7:00 – 7:30 Training Session

7:30 – 8:00 Questions for the vendors

8:00 – 8:30 Open Forum and Refreshments

Often the vendors also bring a display of materials to browse.

Coming up this Fall we will have:

August 26th at orientation in Waterford -

PCS Edventures – Lego Learning Labs
www.edventures.com

Pathway Publishers' will share their OdysseyWare with us. 

It is powered by Swiched-On Schoolhouse. 

www.pathwaypublishers.com.

Marsha Silva

Parent Support

September in Waterford

College Night

October in Waterford

Pearson Learning

Connecting Waters Parents:

If you are not currently subscribed to the Parent ListServe, please send an email to listserve@ieminc.org requesting to be signed up. The Parent ListServe is an email service that keeps you abreast of the happenings at Connecting Waters as well as providing information about curriculum, educational activities and other items of interest. The following is an example of one type of informational piece that is sent out on the Parent ListServe.

Contract Program Classes

I SIGNED UP, PLEASE LET ME IN!!!

By Marsha Silva

Some of the advantages of being in Connecting Waters Charter School are the classes, which we call Contract Program (CP) classes, that are offered to our students. We want to remind you of a few important policies that will be carefully enforced. You may go to the link below to see the entire policy in writing.

First of all, remember to ask your ES what classes are available and appropriate for your students, and if the funds are available for the class that you are interested in taking. When you and your ES agree on appropriate classes for your student, ask your ES to sign you up for the class. Your ES will email or send you the approval to attend the class in writing on the CP approval form. Please do not try to attend a course without the CP approval form from your ES that states you have approval to be in that course! The instructors have been told to allow no one into their class without a form. We have found that we must do this in order to assure that the students who registered appropriately through their ES will get their space in the class and that the instructor is paid appropriately as we have verified that funding is indeed available.

If the course is paid for by a purchase order (PO) then your ES will be responsible for submitting the PO in a timely manner, before the course begins! If the instructor has not received a school PO in the mail prior to the start of the course, then the child should not attend the class. If the child does go ahead and attend the class then please understand that the parent is responsible for payment for those sessions they choose to attend without a school PO. If you have a question your ES is not answering satisfactorily for you, please contact your ES Advisor for help.

The policy reads as included below:

9. Under no circumstances may a contract program course begin or will an instructor be paid for any courses taken prior to a signed contract with the school. A contract between the school and the instructor of a course will be in effect after:

a. the course has been educationally approved by the ES who set up the course.

b. the service contract has been signed and returned to Contract Programs.

3. the ES for each student has approved enrollment and funds encumbrance in ES WEB files.

11. After enrolling in a course in Webfiles, the ES must print a copy of their ES Webfiles screen showing their approval. The student will give this paper approval to the instructor of the course, who will then allow the student to attend the course.

For more information go to http://www.ieminc.org/handbook/cprograms/cppolicy.htm

ART WEBSITES

Are you looking for something educational and fun to do with the children while you wait for school to start in the Fall? Here are some art websites with ideas that you all might enjoy!! They are from the book, THE BEST WEB SITES FOR TEACHERS.

Virtual Museum for Children presents links to children’s museums throughout the world.

http://www.museums.reading.ac.uk/children/#museums

AskERIC Lesson Plans provides more than 25 lesson plans for students in grades K-12

http://www.ericir.syr.edu/Virtual/Lessons/Arts/Art_Actitivies/

“ART/CRAFTS for Kids contains a treasury of lesson plans, art activities, crafts, art

history, museums, galleries, drawing, cartooning, visual arts, multicultural, architecture,

crafty recipes, and much more.”

http://www.kidsartscrafts.about.com/kids/kidsartscrafts/

“Coloring.com is an interactive coloring book for primary school pupils. Kids can color

pictures online from a variety of categories and e-0mail their pictures to family and friends.”

http://www.coloring.com

“Craft Finder, by Family Fun Magazine, is an interactive Web site offering elementary school kids the chance to select materials from a list which Craft Finder then puts together and suggests ideas for great projects.”

http://www.family.go.com/crafts

“Art Safari allows kids to explore painting and sculptures from the Museum of Modern Art accompanied by a series of questions where they are encouraged to write about what they observe. They can also submit their own art work.”

http://www.artsafari.moma.org/

Kinder Art, provided by the Jarea Art Studio, features more than 100 free art lesson plans of every kind for kids ages 4-12. Topics include drawing, painting, printmaking, sculpture, multicultural art, cross-curricular art lessons, and coloring pages. The site also offers seasonal activities and art recipes in the Kinder Art Littles section.

http://www.kinderart.com/lessons.htm

DTLK’s Crafts for Kids features a variety of fun children’s crafts and coloring pages, including projects for holidays, educational themes, and children’s favorite cartoon characters. There are lots of crafts to make for space study and science and printable templates suitable for preschoolers and elementary school children. For each craft, you’ll find a detailed materials list, mostly everyday household items, and instructions.

http://dltk-kids.com/

But Mom, I don’t know what to read.

By Marsha Silva

Did you know that the First Lady of the United States of America has a special page with a recommended reading list? You will find it on the official White House web page at

http://www.whitehouse.gov choose First Lady at the top of the page, then choose Recommended Reading from the menu on the left side of the page. Or if it is easier for you, go to the link below:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/firstlady/initiatives/education/recommendedreading.html

ENJOY!!!

CWCS Waterford Resource Room

When looking for curriculum and other educational items to check out, don’t forget the CWCS Waterford office. Yes, we do have a resource room in Waterford. Throughout the school year we have many interesting and useful items checked into our resource room. We currently have an almost complete set of 1^st grade Houghton Mifflin Reading. This curriculum is aligned to the state standard. We also have a nearly complete 7^th grade Glencoe language art set aligned to the state standards. Items available change almost daily. Why don’t you come and visit the CWCS Waterford office and while you’re here check out our resource library!

Connecting Waters ES Advisors

By Catherine Miller

Have you ever wished that there was someone that you could talk to about your Education Specialist? Was there ever something that you wanted to communicate to your ES but you didn’t feel comfortable telling him or her personally? Perhaps there were questions that you had about the school or about the education of your student, that you didn’t feel that your ES addressed adequately? If so, we have an answer to your need!

Each ES with Connecting Waters has an ES Advisor. They are all ESs with excellent performance records. Part of the role of the ES Advisor is to address concerns and needs of parents when either the ES or the parent asks for assistance. Each full-time advisor works with up to 30 ESs and handles many job duties that surround the educational realm of our school.

They instruct and coach the ESs in the application of school policies and procedures, provide training for the ES group meetings, meet individually with ESs as needed, review and evaluate the performance and work of the ESs, act as the ESs’ professional growth advisor, provide curriculum counseling, and train any new ESs as they are hired. They work mainly from their homes, using their computers to navigate the school’s files in the database and to respond to e-mails, and they are constantly talking on their telephones. You can imagine how busy they are when you think of the structure of our school. Each full-time advisor has a maximum of 30 ESs, and each ES has a classroom of students. Being an advisor is similar to being a principal of a school with 30 teachers!

Don’t let their busyness thwart you from contacting them. Your first source for information should always be your Education Specialist. The school’s website has an abundance of information available to you also. But, for those needs that exceed these resources, an advisor is always ready and waiting to serve you. You should receive a General Information Sheet from your ES at the beginning of each school year. Your ES Advisor’s name, e-mail, and phone number should be on that sheet. If you aren’t sure who your advisor is, you may contact the ES Support Department Manager, Catherine Miller, at 800-458-7050 #9, and she will direct you to the correct person. Please don’t hesitate to call or e-mail, and you are sure to receive a response within 24 hours. You are our #1 priority!

Whether you are a returning family or new to our school, you will not want to miss our Parent Orientation/Back to School Night on Tuesday, August 26, 2003 beginning at 6:30 p.m.! Beginning at 6:30 there will be a talk from our guidance department to families with high school student or those who are interested in knowing the options available to these students. At 7:00 p.m. you will be able to meet Randy Gaschler, the president of IEM, along with our staff and learn more about our school.

We will have PCS Edventures – Lego Learning Labs www.edventures.com and Pathway Publishers’ sharing their Odyssey Ware www.calvs.com Powered by "Switched-On Schoolhouse". You will be able to meet other families in the school and some of our small group instructors. Make sure that you mark your calendar for this event and bring the entire family!

We have an exciting year planned for the students of Connecting Waters Charter School!  We believe there are many opportunities for children to learn outside of the curriculum, and we hope you will join us as we explore and discover the wonder of the world around us.  

There will be a sign-up sheet at the Modesto/Ceres Learning Center and the Manteca Learning Center for each event.  

Mixers will be held at the Modesto/Ceres Learning Center and are designed for the students to get to know each other with themed activities every month.  Payment for all events must be included with sign-up at least one week before the event.

If you have questions, please feel free to call us:
Denise @ 874-5675
Julie @ 531-9838
Carrie @ 634-7660
Cindy @ 578-0616

Educational Group Activities

The following activities are school sponsored. Student funding may be used for these activities. Please contact your ES to obtain permission slips and to have you child enrolled in these activities. You will also need to call the contact person for the activity and let them know your student has been enrolled. No student will be considered officially enrolled without signed permission slips.

November TBA – IMAX in San Francisco (contact: Carrie) December 5- Nutcracker Ballet (contact: Denise)

January TBA – Dodge Ridge Ski/Snow Trip (contact: Julie) May 10- Marine World (contact: Denise)

Parent Organized Activities

These activities are not sponsored or endorsed by CWCS or IEM. The following activities are provided as informational opportunities to you and are either free or low cost. These fees are not covered by CWCS, and must be submitted to the contact person before the activity date.

SEPTEMBER
12 - Sacramento Zoo & Fairy Tale Town  (contact: Denise)

26 - Back To School Mixer, K-5, 1:00-3:00 pm, Cost:  $1 (contact: Julie)

OCTOBER

TBA-Lathrop Corn Maze (contact: Carrie)
TBA-California Caverns (contact: Carrie)
21-Harvest Mixer, K-5, 1:00-3:00 pm, Cost:  $1 (contact: Cindy)

NOVEMBER
TBA-November Mixer, K-5, 1:00-3:00 pm, Cost:  $1 (contact: Carrie)

DECEMBER
19 - Christmas Mixer, K-5, 1:00 - 3:00 pm, Cost:  $1 (contact: Julie)

JANUARY
23-Winter Mixer, K-5,1:00-3:00 pm, Cost:  $1 (contact: Cindy)

FEBRUARY

6 - Valentine Mixer, K-5, 1:00-3:00 pm, Cost: $1 (contact: Julie)
20 - Chris' Whale Watching, 48 Fisherman's Wharf, Monterey, 93940,

(831) 375-5951

Deadline:  February 13, Cost:  $8 child, $12 adult, Age:  Any, Max: 25,

Time: 11 am
Contact Person:  Julie Hilbert (209) 531-9838

MARCH

8 - Monterey Bay Aquarium, 886 Cannery Row, Monterey, CA 93940,

(831)648-4800
Deadline:  March 1st, Cost:  Free,  Age:  Any,  Max:  25,  Time:  12:00 noon
(contact: Julie)
26 - Spring Mixer, K-5, 1:00-3:00 pm, Cost: $1 (contact: Julie)

APRIL
TBA-Civil War Re-enactment (contact:  Denise)
16 - Oak Grove Nature Center, 4520 West Eight Mile Road, Stockton, 95209,
(209) 953-8814,  Deadline:  March 9,  Cost:  $1,  Age:  Any,  Max:  25,  
Time:  10am
Contact Person:  Julie Hilbert (209) 531-9838
9-Easter Mixer, K-5, 1:00-3:00 pm, Cost:  $1 (contact: Cindy)

MAY

14 - End of School Mixer, K-5, 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm  (contact: Julie)    

2003/2004

Dates to Remember

August	September	October
4 Learning Centers Open 18 First Day of School 26 Parent Orientation/ Back to School Night	9 Picture Day Modesto/Ceres Learning Center 9 Parent Council Meeting 11 Picture Day Manteca Learning Center 23 ES Luncheon & Meeting	7 Picture Retake Modesto/Ceres Learning Center 9 Picture Retake Manteca Learning Center

November	December	January
26-28 Thanksgiving Break	9 Parent Council Meeting 22 Winter Break Begins	5 School Resumes/ 2^nd Semester Begins 12 8^th & 12^th Grade Graduation Participation Information Form Due

February	March	April
2-3 CAHSEE (10^th Grade Only) 10 8^th Grade Graduation Planning Meeting 12 Senior Graduation Speeches Due 17 Senior Graduation Planning Meeting 26 Last Date to Submit pictures for the Yearbook	1 Senior Graduation Announcements Order Due 9 Parent Council Meeting 16-17 STAR Writing Test 23-25 STAR & PE Testing	2 Pictures for Senior Graduation Digital Presentation Due 5-12 Spring Break 13 Parent Council 2004/2005 Nominations Due 14-16 Star & PE Make-up Test 20 Open House 20 Senior Graduation Cap & Gown Order Due 27 Prospective Parent Orientation Manteca Learning Center

May	June	July
4 Prospective Parent Orientation Modesto/Ceres Learning Center 7 Parent council Election Ballot Due 10-14 Yearbooks Received 11 Parent Council Meeting 11-12 CAHSEE Make-ups (10^th Grade Only) 18 8^th Grade Graduation at Multipurpose Room, Waterford 20 Senior Graduation at HS Gym in Waterford 20 Last Day of School 21 Annual School Picnic	An online version of this calendar can be viewed at: http://www.connectingwaters.org/Calendar/index.cfm

A Community Service Opportunity

Moon School Volunteer’s Program

Volunteers Needed!

DURING SCHOOL HOURS – 8:05 – 2:47

DURING THE AFTER SCHOOL PROGRAM – 2:10 – 6:00 P.M.

THE MOON SCHOOL STUDENTS WOULD LOVE YOUR HELP!!

v LISTENING TO STUDENTS READ

v READING TO STUDENTS

v