REMINDER: Band & Strings Concert THURSDAY
You are invited to attend the Christensen School Band and Strings Four Seasons concert this Thursday evening, May 1, at 6:00.
Site Council Meeting CANCELED!
MEETING CANCELED!
Public notice in accordance with A.R.S. 38-431.02:The Christensen School site-based council will meet in the Library this Tuesday afternoon, April 29, at 4:30.
Ever wonder: what's a site-based council and why does Christensen School have one? Here's the simple answer: Arizona Revised Statute (A.R.S.) 15-351.
Curious? Anyone's welcome to attend!
Want to join our site council? Send an email to Mr. Ontiveros.
THIS week at Christensen -- April 28 - May 2, 2008
Tuesday, April 29
- Site-based council meeting in the Library, 4:30
Wednesday, April 30
- ESL class for parents in the Activity Room, 8:15-11:00
- Early release for school improvement and planning, 1:00
Thursday, May 1
- Faculty meeting for staff members, 7:45
- Band & Strings Four Seasons concert, 6:00
Friday, May 2
- Parental request forms for 2008-2009 teacher assignments due, 4:00
When you grow up
Around here, we ask kids a lot, "What do you want to do when you grow up." And we like to think it's our job to give them many opportunities to get the skills they need to be ready to do those jobs someday.
But, earning a living isn't always easy. The average home price in the U.S. is still nearly $200,000 ($206,254 in Flagstaff), despite declining over 8% in recent months. Health insurance costs the average family nearly $11,000 a year. Food prices are going up all over the world. Gasoline prices should hit $4.00 a gallon this summer.
In the future it's going to take a lot for today's students to earn a living! According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the current median household salary is $48,201 a year, and nearly 60% of all workers are paid by the hour. Based on those numbers, that means the current hourly rate of pay averages just over $23.00 an hour.
Bottomline: No one's going to thrive working for minimum wage.
With that in mind, it's reasonable to wonder: What are the best jobs for the future? Which jobs will pay tomorrow's workers a real, livable wage?
This might be worth a look: CNN.com and Careerbuilder.com have compiled a list of the Top 10 jobs that pay more than $20.00 an hour, and indexed them in terms of their growth potential over the next decade or so... just about the time many Christensen students will be entering the job market.
REMINDER: Open House
Come see what we're doing!
You're invited to visit Christensen School during our annual Open House Night, Wednesday evening, April 23, to see what we've been up to, and to find out what we're planning for next year, too!
Classrooms and teachers will be open and available from 6:00-7:30.
We hope to see you then!
THIS week at Christensen -- April 21-25, 2008
Monday, April 21
- Regular School Day
- Mr. Macias' and Ms. McFall's classes to the Police Station, 8:50-1:00
Wednesday, April 23
- ESL class for parents in the Activity Room, 8:15-11:00
- Early release for school improvement and planning, 1:00
- Open House Night, 6:00
- ACES Day (K-3), 9:00
- ACES Day (4-6), 10:00
Friday, April 25
- Mrs. Lasher's class to Willow Bend and Lowell Observatory, all day
REMINDERS:
- Parent Surveys due May 1
- Friday, May 23, 2008, is a regular school day, not a holiday
Summer programs in Flagstaff
As we mentioned last week, the 2008-2009 FUSD calendar is out, and summer's shorter than ever this year. But, regardless of it's length, this time of the year every parent always begins to ask the same age-old-question: what can we have the kids do during all those weeks of summer?
FlagParents.com has come to the rescue! FlagParents.com is "your single resource to find out everything related to kids in Flagstaff!" And this year they've published an exhaustive, annotated list of all Summer Program-related events and activities in and around Flagstaff this summer.
Have fun planning!
Tax Day Data 2008
Just a friendly reminder: Your Federal Income Taxes are due [postmarked] by midnight tonight, April 15.
If you've finished yours, or if you're just a little curious about taxes and taxation in-general... and let's be honest: who isn't?.. then you're probably wondering:
How does the government use your taxes? In 2007 the U.S. Internal Revenue Service collected about $1,505,000,000,000 [that's 1.5 trillion dollars!] in taxes from all of us. That's a lot of money! Of course, the U.S. federal budget is over $3,000,000,000,000 [that's 3 trillion dollars!], so that means our government spends about twice as much money as it makes in taxes every year.
But, nevertheless, what do they do with our taxes? Where does all our money go? What are they spending it on?
Good questions. This pie-chart generator will show you where each of your tax-dollars went last year based on how much tax you paid.
THIS week at Christensen -- April 14-18, 2008
Tuesday, April 15
- Fourth-grade AIMS Science testing, all day
- Scoliosis screenings in the Nurse's Office, all day
- Give Kids A Smile dental screenings in the Activity Room, all day
Wednesday, April 16
- No preschool classes today due to District-wide assessments
- ESL class for parents in the Activity Room, 8:15-11:00
- Early release for school improvement and planning, 1:00
Thursday, April 17
- Faculty meeting in the Library, 7:45
Friday, April 18
- REGULAR SCHOOL DAY -- Snowday make-up day
2008-2009 FUSD Calendar
The Flagstaff Unified School District Governing Board released its approved calendar for the 2008-2009 school year last night. We've made it available for downloading as a .pdf file.
Noteworthy dates:
- August 14, 2008 -- First day of school
- December 22, 2008 - January 2, 2009 -- Winter Vacation
- March 16-20, 2009 -- Spring Break
- June 4, 2009 -- Last day of school
Chewing Gum and taking AIMS
You read the school rules handbook.
You know: chewing gum at school is a no-no... Kids + gum = messy trouble!
You're a responsible parent.
So, you've probably been wondering why your child's been asking to bring chewing gum to school during AIMS week...
Well, it turns out there's scant but apparently legitimate scientific research which indicates that "chewing on gum could improve cognitive performance." In fact, according to the one study ever done on gum chewing and test-taking, "chewing gum while performing memory tests increases long and short term memory by up to 35%." Wow!
So, with that in mind, and with every little advantage on AIMS being a plus for all of us, for this week ONLY we've rescinded our normal prohibition on chewing gum!
Bring your gum. Dispose of it appropriately.
And chew-and-chew to your heart's content, boys and girls!
THIS week at Christensen -- April 7-11, 2008
Monday, April 7
- AIMS testing
Tuesday, April 8
- AIMS testing
Wednesday, April 9
- ESL class for parents in the Activity Room, 8:15-11:00
- AIMS testing
- Early release for school improvement and planning, 1:00
- Medically fragile training in the Library, 3:30-5:30
- Parent-Teacher Involvement Organization meeting in the Library, 6:00-7:00
Thursday, April 10
- AIMS testing
Fifth-grader finds error at the Smithsonian
In fairness, it should be mentioned that the mistake fifth-grader Kenton Stufflebeam of Kalamazoo, Michigan, found had only been on display in front of millions of visitors at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History in Washington, DC, for the last 27 years!
AIMS Testing: How to be ready!
You've been working hard all year. You've done your homework, listened and participated in class, and done every project you've been assigned to the best of your ability.
Good job! You're nearly ready to move up to the next grade level!
But, no matter how well your report cards says you've done this year, you've still got to take AIMS!
You're not alone: Every public and charter school student in Arizona must take the AIMS test. For most students around the state of Arizona, AIMS happens in just a few days: next week Monday through Thursday, April 7-10, 2008.
AIMS is a very important test for you, your teachers, and your school.
- Your AIMS test scores will determine how well you are performing as a student.
- Your AIMS test scores will determine how your teacher is performing as an instructor.
- Your AIMS test scores will determine how your school is performing as a place of learning.
- Be here; everyone (and by everyone we mean everyone) has to take AIMS! You can't take it if you're not here... and if you don't take it, you've got to make it up! No excuses.
- Get some sleep; being well-rested is a scientifically proven way to be ready to perform at your best! Start sleeping well tonight! Sleep well every night during the testing week!
- Eat right; once again, science has proven that you're smarter when you're well-fed and not hungry. Eat well, eat often... and eat the right things: bananas, eggs, meat, peanut butter, even chocolate in small amounts have all been proven to help your brain think!
- Study and review; the state of Arizona has provided Parent's Guide [pdf] and a whole bunch of grade-level-specific practice items and review sheets for students to practice on.
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