October 2008 - English

October 2008 Volume 3, Issue 2

On the first Friday of September, I brought vegetarian enchiladas. I wondered how my strange version of a standard Mexican dish would be received. After all, who puts so many sautéed veggies inside of enchiladas? But that’s what my kids like. Next time I won’t worry. Once we arrived, it was clear

First Friday Family Fiesta Filled with Fun

IndividualHighlights:

School Calandar 2

Family Spotlight 2

Director’s Note 3

Testing Report 3

NCS Guidelines 4

Afternoon Music 4

NCS Student Page 5

Academic Support Committee 6

NCS World Kitchen 6

Pine Ave. Calendar 7

Wishlists, Tips &Reminders 8

For entertainment, our children played and played some more. The trykes were out, and balls and Frisbees flew. The kids were having a great time chasing and yelling, enjoying the freedom to play. Many played soccer and some jumped rope. It was refreshing to see that they could fill unstructured time with joyful activity.

The parents enjoyed time to sit and talk. I think, like our kids, we don’t have enough time to just hang out. So the First Friday Fiesta provided us with that. We didn’t seem to need “ice breakers” or games to play in order to enjoy each other’s company. I know that some of us caught up with old friends, and were maybe too shy to meet new people, but it was really nice just being in the same space with other New City School parents. It’s

the food was flying off the tables. There were huge pots of pasta with sauce or simply tossed with garlic and parmesan. There was pizza, bowls of fresh fruit, layered dips and even Vietnamese sandwiches. Leave it to New City parents to provide variety! The dessert table was no less delicious, and I hear the lemonade was terrific. Our families sure know how to enjoy good food.

The New City School

QuickTime™ and aTIFF (Uncompressed) decompressor

are needed to see this picture.

Our Mission

We will provide a thoughtful, healthy, intimate environment in which community building is valued over competition.

Through a curriculum enriched by the arts, technology, and the natural environment, we will teach students to develop into independent critical thinkers who demonstrate expertise in reasoning and

problem solving, English and Spanish literacy, creative expression, and historical perspective.

Toward these goals, the families and staff of the New City School will work together as partners to understand the needs and interests of the students, to act in the service of justice, and to extend

learning opportunities into the home and community.

QuickTime™ and a decompressorare needed to see this picture.

QuickTime™ and a decompressorare needed to see this picture.

QuickTime™ and a decompressor

are needed to see this picture.

Day EventNovember 11 No School – Veteran’s DayNovember. 24 - 25 Student-led ConferencesNovember 26 – 28 No schoolDecember 22 – January 9 Winter VacationJanuary 19 No school- Martin Luther King DayFebruary 16 & 23 No school- U.S. Presidents &

Abraham LincolnMarch 16 & 17 Student-led ConferencesMarch 18 – April 3 Spring vacation (students)May 25 No school - Labor DayJune 2 – 4 La Tierra Camp at De Benneville PinesJune 24 – 25 June Conferences

NCS 2007 -2008 Calendar

NCS Family SpotlightTHE HERNANDEZ FAMILY

Page 2 of 8

This month’s spotlight on an NCS family tells us about a family that has been with the New City School since it’s beginning. Aquetzaly Hernandez, Oscar and Maria’s first daughter, is one of the first students to enroll in the New City High School, the Colegio New City.

Tell us the names of the members of your family and about your children here at New City School.OscarMariaAquetzaly, Carolina, 6 years old, in el mar.

Where do you live now?We live in Long Beach.

Where did you live before coming to Long Beach?Before Long Beach we lived in Mexico City. Aquetzaly was born there. Carolina was born here in Long Beach and we have lived here ever since.

How did you learn about NCS and what made you send your kids here?One of Aquetzaly’s teachers recommended the school and after looking at the results of her experience we decided to send Carolina to New City School

What does your family do on weekends?

We go for walks, eat ice cream, play and go back home to watch movies together. We often go out and dream of the things that we can accomplish in the future as a family

What languages do you speak at home?Spanish

What's your family's favorite meal?Posole and mole

What do you like to do when you are not volunteering your free time to the New City School?We have fun and make friends. We try to

spend as much time together as possible and we try to always eat our meals together..

Tell us something we don't know about your family that might be interesting?

We are a big family and we like to learn about other families and their backgrounds.

********Do you have a family that you think should be spotlighted? Drop us a note in the Newsletter suggestion envelope in the binder in the front office.

QuickTime™ and a decompressorare needed to see this picture.

Carolina (left) and her cousin, Alison, also an el mar student

Director’s Note from José Hernandez

School Tests and Assessing Your Child: A Study Guide

Page 3 of 8

What your child’s “Super reader” is all about?

In the spirit of encouraging a life-long love for reading, teachers at The New City School expose students to a wide variety of genres and book styles throughout the day. At the end of the day El Mar students take a self-selected book home from their homeroom library.

If an El Mar student is an advanced reader, s/he reads the book to her/his family that evening. Then, as a family the book is discussed. (some questions you can use: What was it about? What happened at the beginning? What happened later? What happened at the end? Would you recommend the book to your friend? Why?). The goals here are to enjoy this literacy time as a family, and for her/him to verbally discuss

Testing ... 1, 2, 3, testing! Whether we like it or not, there is no getting around standardized tests. But what do the scores mean? And how do these tests fit into the program at the New City School?

Ted Hamory, NCPS co-director, and Jose Hernandez, Pine Avenue campus director, talked about school testing and some changes this year at NCS--Pine Ave. that aim to raise our

Education is learning what you didn't even know you didn't know. 

~Daniel J. Boorstin,

and describe what s/he just read.

If an El Mar student is an intermediate or beginning reader, either read the book to her/him, or have him/her look through the book and tell you what s/he sees in it using descriptions based on the illustrations (some questions you can use: What is happening here? What do you think is going to happen next? What colors do you see in this page?). The goals are to enjoy this literacy time together, and for her/him to verbally use as much vocabulary as possible based on the pictures or short text in the book.

A “Super reader” is a writing assignment that extends the reading of the book s/he took home that afternoon. Students from El Mar have a “Super reader” once a week. Homeroom teachers give out the “Super reader” papers the afternoon prior to the students’ Super reader presentation day. The paper consist of a drawn

box on top (where students draw their favorite part or the cover of the book), a line for the title of the book, two lines for the author and illustrator of the book. The last thing a Super reader paper has is a place for the students to write about the book (What was the book about? Did you have a favorite part? What happened at the beginning of the book? What happened afterwards? How did it end? Would you recommend the book? Why or Why not?). These types of questions are the same as the ones you would ask them everyday, except that once a week s/he writes their answers down in their Super reader paper.

An advanced writer in El Mar will write her/his Super reader with little or no help making some grammatical errors that do not prevent her/his writing from being read. An intermediate writer in El Mar will write her/his Super reader with some help making some grammatical errors that

standardized test scores, and provide more and detailed feedback to parents and teachers on the progress of each child. These changes were made carefully and with the goal of not giving up what makes us special -- field trips, daily arts, music, electives. The changes were made with great effort to continue serving the school's mission, staying true to the constructivist philosophy and educating each child. At the meeting, parents learned about four new ways their children will be assessed

as they go through NCS.

(1) California State TestThe CST is the big one. This test is taken in the spring, starting in the 2nd grade. It's also how the school's API score is determined. API scores are often the number people use to determine whether a school is good or not. In recent years, the NCS API has steadily risen. The year before last, it was even above the LBUSD and state average and just short of

QuickTime™ and a decompressorare needed to see this picture.

Has it been awhile since your child started attending the New City School? Maybe you've forgotten some of the policies and guidelines over the years. Or maybe you didn't catch them the first time around.

No problem, we've got a summary of them right here. Keeping these in mind brings our diverse and special school closer to its mission of community building while creating a learning environment that benefits everybody (including your Pokemon loving child!).

For a more detailed explanation of these policies -- and also for a year-in-a-glance calendar and list of annual festivals and performances -- please stop by the office and

Quick Reminder on NCS Policies and Guidelines

Next meeting: Tuesday October 13th, 6 PM in the Community Room of NCS Pine Ave.

Last Wednesday, September 24, we had two meetings to discuss how we could work together to continue having music classes after school. A total of 12 parents came to the meetings and brainstormed on ways to collaborate with work, promotion in the community, administration and financial resources, to bring

Page 4 of 8

request a green packet.

Dress code: Kids should where clothes that are safe (no open-toed shoes or high-heeled sandals or big dangling earrings), allow for freedom of movement (nothing too tight, nothing too baggy), nothing that includes violent, offensive or disrespectful words or images. Clothes and accessories should be modest and not distracting -- hide those bellies, pull up those pants, and leave the acrylic nails and make-up for weekends. Also, no hats!

Stuff from home: Please leave electronic items and toys at home, including cell phones, iPods, hand-held video games and trading cards, like Pokemon or Yu-Gi-Oh. While it's fine to bring no more than $5 on

Thursdays for purchases at La Tiendita, money should otherwise stay at home. Also, valuable items are safer if kept home from school -- this includes favorite lunch boxes, lucky hats and books from the public library.

Meals and Snacks: Children should, of course, have a delicious lunch they will not only enjoy but will help them get through the rest of the day. It is the school's hope and mission that parents will pack nutritious items for their children to eat and drink. For this reason, the school asks that students not bring chips, soda, candy, fast food or instant soups in their lunches. For pre-packaged lunches, such as Lunchables, we request parents remove the candy and save it at

Música por la Tarde/Music in the Afternoon back.

Some ideas from the meeting: Have an actual operating

budget, so families know how much money we need to gather

Families can contribute either monetarily or with work: administration, visual design for flyers and banners, registration announcements, registration forms, diffusion on My Space and Craig’s List, etc.

Parents offered to promote our classes throughout the community, to increase enrollment.

Contact CSULB to find students in Music Education that would be interested in having teaching practice in our program.

These were some of the ideas going around last Wednesday, and it was the first time we met! Please join the wonderful group of parents to help us bring Music in the Afternoon back.

Music Classes After SchoolAre you interested in more Music or instrument classes for your child in both

campuses?Lets meet to find ways to work together to help offer more opportunities for our

students and children from the community to engage in music making. 

Maniac Magee is a great book by Jerry Spinelli. It has a very interesting story, which you can get

Book Review by Niko Buck. La Tierra Student

Natalia: How long have you been teaching?

Samuel: I have been teaching for one year.

Natalia: Where did you go to college and do your student teaching?

Samuel: I graduated from UCLA with a BA in History. Currently I am going to Claremont Graduate School for my Masters in Education.

By Trixie Wright with Jazmin Bush, el mar students

What we saw at Bolsa Chica was mostly birds. We saw a snowy egret and a sand shark and an anemone.

La Tierra Student, Natalia Vasquez, Gets the Scoop on New Teacher, Samuel

El Mar Students Visit Bolsa Chica Wetlands

Page 5 of 8

Smiling Samuel Salazar!

into for hours. When you finish it, you will be thinking: “Hey, why isn’t there a sequel?” It is a perfect book for all ages, and one of my favorites. The first time I

heard it was when Brenda read it to the class. After that, I wanted to read it again, but the school year ended too soon, and I had been looking for it since.

Natalia: Why did you want to work at New City School?

Samuel: This school offers the teacher the opportunity to really work individually with each student.

Natalia: How did you learn to speak Spanish?

Samuel: I was born in México and went to school in México and it’s my first language.

Natalia: What do you think of the program? The students?

Samuel: I love working with my team. I completely agree with the idea of constructivist teaching. I enjoy my time with the students.

Natalia: What do you generally eat for lunch?

Samuel: I always eat a ham and cheese sandwich it’s the easiest to make.

Natalia: What do you do in your free time?

Samuel: Read and Play Soccer!

Jazmin saw three diving birds, a wading bird, and the kelp forest. I saw seaweed. We had journals. We saw turtles. It was fun. There was a black

skimmer and a water bird. The whole el mar went. We drew what we saw. We had printouts. There was a lot of birds.

New City Student Page

QuickTime™ and a decompressor

are needed to see this picture.

QuickTime™ and a decompressor

are needed to see this picture.

QuickTime™ and a decompressorare needed to see this picture.

Did you KNOW?That Samuel went to

UCLA!

Fine Art for $5? Enter Our Drawing and Win!

Among the many talented members of the New City Public Schools is Ramon Rodriguez. He's a renowned painter and sculptor and also father of La Tierra's Mayu and El Mar's Rumi. Ramon is a leading Latin American

How to Own Your Own Ramon Rodriguez Painting

Page 6 of 8

artist and his work has been shown around the world. Rodriguez and his wife, Debbie, director of NCS development, have donated one of his paintings for a prize drawing. Tickets are $5 each.

Once the pot has reached a minimum amount, a name will be drawn

randomly and the lucky winner will get to take this painting home.

Anybody who purchased tickets last year at the $10, be assured those tickets have been duplicated and each is entered twice. Don't miss this chance to own an original Ramon Rodriguez drawing -- a piece of fine art and a symbol of what makes our school so

This month’s New City World Kitchen brings us gleefully back to desert with a recipe from my own family. The Trefethens have spent every major holiday fighting over my grandmother’s Dark Cocoa Fudge (and now your family can too). My Nana will turn 92 years old next month, and I am pretty sure that she has been making this same fudge -- in the same 8x8 pan—for just about her whole life.

The recipe is truly delicious but it’s also tricky and even after all these years Grandma Trefethen would tell you that she has yet to perfect it.

Rich Cocoa FudgeIngredients: * 3 cups sugar * 2/3 cup HERSHEY'S SPECIAL DARK Cocoa * 1/8 teaspoon salt * 1-1/2 cups milk * 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter * 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Butter 8-or 9-inch square pan.

2. Mix sugar, cocoa and salt in heavy 4-quart saucepan; stir in milk. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture comes to full rolling boil.

3. Boil, without stirring, until mixture reaches 234°F on a candy thermometer. (Of course, my grandma does the “soft ball” test: put a drop of the mixture into very cold water to see if it forms a soft ball that flattens when you dump out the water).

4. Remove from heat. Add butter and vanilla. DO NOT STIR. Cool at room temperature to 110°F (which is lukewarm). Beat with wooden spoon until fudge thickens and just begins to lose some of its gloss.

In an effort to better serve the mission of the New City School, which provides that the families and staff of NCS “will work together as partners to understand the needs and interests of the students,” a committee has been formed to help explore the ever-evolving academic needs of today’s NCS students. The Academic Support Committee will provide the NCS Community with an opportunity to discover ways in which the school’s curriculum can best answer concerns of parents while serving the school’s fundamental commitment to constructivist learning.Are you seeking a better understanding of what it means to follow a constructivist philosophy?

Do you want to know what you can do at home to help your children become better learners?Or, do you have suggestions on how the curriculum might be improved.?Bring your ideas to the formative meeting of the Academic Support Committee on October 15th at 6:00pm. Both Spanish-speaking and English-speaking volunteers are needed to co-chair this committee. Also, if you are interested in taking part in the New City Community Council (the governing body of the Pine Avenue School), meetings will be held on October 22nd at both 9:00 and 3:45.

New “Academic Support” Committee Created at September Community Council Meeting

Learning without thought is labor lost.  ~Confucius

Day EventOctober 3 La Tierra Beach Clean Up – Alamitos Beach

El Mar Trip to Colorado LagoonFirst Friday Family Fiesta – Movie Night

October 8 Parent Workshop #2 MathematicOctober 9 El Mar Parent Volunteer Meeting for

Harvest Mask Festival 4-5:00 pmOctober 10 La Tierra trip to Bolsa Chica

El Mar trip to Rainbow LagoonOctober 13 Music in the Afternoon Meeting 6:00 pmOctober 15 Communications Committee Meeting 3:45

pmAcademic Support Committee Meeting 6:00 pm

October 17 La Tierra trip to Colorado LagoonEl Mar to El Dorado Nature Center

October 22 Community Council Meeting 9:00 am & 3:45 pm

October 24 La Tierra to Los Angeles Pubic LibraryEl Mar Beach Clean UpIce Skating Fundraiser Night

October 28 Picture DayNovember 7 Fall Harvest Mask Festival

First Friday Family FiestaDecember 18

Peace and Human Rights Night

Pine Avenue Monthly Community Calendar

Page 7 of 8

QuickTime™ and a decompressorare needed to see this picture.Don’t forget daylight savings time ends on November 2nd. Turn

NCS Multi-Cultural

Book ClubNovember Selection

QuickTime™ and a decompressorare needed to see this picture.

Three Cups of Tea

Next MeetingNovember 5

6:00 pm

Test Scores, cont. from page 4.

While NCS has never been about teaching to the test and spending large amounts of class time prepping for the test, the school has looked for ways to get the scores back to where they were -- and even higher.So, some new strategies have been implemented this year: putting the most experienced teachers with the kids who will be required to take the most challenging tests. During summer professional development, teachers looked for ways to embed the standards -- the required knowledge to succeed on the CST -- into the core courses of reading, writing and math. Does this mean students are doing flashcards and taking pop quizzes in spelling? No. The NCS learning framework is still the same -- and Ted said the best way to improve your child's overall test scores is still reading every day! -- but classes will try to hit and reinforce more of the specific knowledge

that the assessments are looking for.(2) Another change is one that many NCS parents will wholeheartedly welcome: the Learning Record.Teachers are developing an individualized Learning Record for each student at the school. This LR is like a portfolio, which, at the end of the year, will amount to 10 to 15 pages of information and daily record-keeping about a student's classwork, participation, projects and progress. This LR will take into account not only each child's progress in core courses, but also look at those other areas that NCS feels are equally important -- creativity (art, music, dance, drama), second language and, of course, the standardized test results. Much of the information comes from teacher anecdotes -- notable happenings during each school day -- parent interviews and home visits. This LR not only gives parents and teachers

valuable feedback on a child's progress, it can help them see what additional support the student may need at home. The LR forces teachers to look closely at each child and think of specific ways to push that child forward.

Ted and Jose said that parents may check with the children's teachers anytime to see the LR and discuss how the child is doing and what help might be needed. The LR is a work in progress, but it is meant to follow the child's day-to-day learning and give a clearer picture of progress and needs throughout the year.

(3) Another set of tests that are new to the NCS--Pine Ave. program are developmental reading, writing and math assessments. These tests are developed and administered by the teachers twice a year. Test scores are marked on a scale and give an indication where the child is starting in the year (the first test) and how much progress they have

made (the second test). Parents may also ask teachers about this test, what it means, where their child is at on the scale and what can be done to improve. The results are in the child's LR and are also an important clue to teachers where each child is at in the courses. Teachers trained rigorously over the summer and continue to train in how to develop, administer and score these tests.

(4) MAP test or Measure of Academic Progress. MAP tests are given starting in the 3rd grade. And while MAP is not the standard California looks to, it is a standardized test that gives instant results and extra information about the results and one that is quite useful within the NCS framework. Third-grade students will take the MAP test once in the Fall and then again in the Spring. All older students will take the MAP in the Spring only. MAP tests the core areas (reading, writing and math), is taken on the computer, compares each test grade to the other two million students who take the test and also may predict success or failure on the CST, helpful information for everybody.

For more information, feel free to ask Ted or Jose questions about testing. And, of course, bring any specific concerns about your children to them or your child's teachers. If you'd like more information on some of these tests, go to the following Web sites:

For MAP: NWEA.orgFor information on the middle school math curriculum, go to CPM.orgIf you'd like to know more about California State Standards and see examples of the CST questions, go to http://www.cde.ca.gov/ta/tg/sr/css05rtq.asp (or just Google "California Released Test Questions")

Also, please check out next month's newsletter. We will have more information on testing and LRs and, more importantly, what you can do at home to support your child's academic progress. (Sneak preview: read, read, read some more -- anything you like, anything your child likes! Bonus tip: comic books are totally OK!)

1230 Pine Ave.Long Beach, CA 90803

Phone:562-436-0689

E-Mail:[email protected]

Reminders, Tips and Wish lists!

Office: Band Aids.

La Tierra: Spanish books, Newspaper,

Alicia: Bird Books in English and Spanish, yarn for crochet elective. Johanna: empty bathroom

Crochet Club is Back!Come learn to crochet or

practice your skills with friends!

Starting October 15th, we’ll be meeting every Wednesday from 3:15-4:30 pm, in the library. It’s free, and you don’t need to sign-up beforehand. We have hooks and yarn to use, so come and join the fun!

tissue rolls, arts & crafts feathers (not real), newspapers, empty cereal boxes.

Debra: for class pet: romaine lettuce, carrots, broccoli, pine beddingfor elective: 15 bound sketch books, 15 large ziplock bags

for classroom: curtains and rods, hand held sharpeners (4), and indoor plants

Armando: used cameras, SD disk drives for cameras, photo paper, media readers, AA batteries.

Samuel: P.E. equipment, a soccer ball.

New growth is happening in our two garden areas at Pine Ave. You may have noticed how our downstairs garden is looking neater and more welcoming. This is thanks to the hard work our El Mar and La Tierra students have put in during their lunch breaks. During recess on Mondays and Wednesdays I am in the garden and any students who want to work on small

projects, or just dig in the dirt, are welcome to join me. Many have, and their completed projects include installing poles to hold bird feeders and a birdhouse. Keep watching for more improvements!

Where is our second garden area? On the roof! We have 16 large planters on the enclosed portion of our roof, outside the music

room. That means each class has two planters to fill with winter veggies and more! Right now we are busy painting our planters, but will soon be filling them with soil and plants. Be sure to visit at conferences to see what is coming up!

Want to help? We need:

Small shovels Buckets

News from the New City Gardens from Chris Phelps

QuickTime™ and a decompressorare needed to see this picture.Super Reader Cont. from p. 3

How can you help your son or daughter? Find some time everyday to

sit with your son or daughter and look at or read with them the book they chose to take home.

Focus on the reading experience as a family and

not on the grammatical or reading errors. Their language arts teacher will help them with the grammar and reading ability everyday. Please do not hesitate to see your child’s teachers if you have any concerns.

Send them with a small backpack or bag everyday to school. The backpack or bag should be big

enough to fit a picture book and a small paper folder, but small enough to be carried on a fieldtrip. Please do not buy oversized backpacks El Mar kids really do not need them.

On their Super reader day encourage them to prepare for their Super reader presentation.

Help them prepare for it by asking them questions

TURN IN YOUR BOX-TOPS AND SHOP ONLINE TO EARN CASH FOR THE NEW

CITY SCHOOLSHundreds of products and over 60 popular online stores provide the opportunity to help our school earn the extra cash it needs. Look for the above symbol or go to the Box Tops Marketplace to learn about qualifying purchases. What could be easier?  Shop smart, and earn cash for our school at the same time—visit www.boxtops4education.com

Page 8 of 8

QuickTime™ and a decompressorare needed to see this picture.

Wish Lists