Wednesday, September 29, 2010

"Roaring News"

Hello Baldwin Community,

I wanted to express my most sincere appreciation to all of you for the wonderful luncheon you provided today to the Baldwin Staff!! The parents that helped out today transformed our teachers' lounge into a beautiful cafe with purple and gold tablecloths and fresh flowers. Every dish that was prepared looked delicious and I have to admit, I think I tasted almost everything. Most importantly, you made every staff member feel very special! On behalf of the staff, I thank you for your kindness and generosity!!


Today, when I visited classrooms, I was so impressed with our students' work products. In the PreKindergarten class, the students were counting and graphing. They created some bar graphs that showed the number of members in their families. They began with a picture and then were able to create a bar graph. In one Kindergarten class, I noticed the students were writing words that began with the letter T as they searched around the room. Some of the words the students wrote were:  teacher, treasures, trust, tiger, Tuesday and turtle. In first grade, I noticed that the students are using graphic organizers to help them write the sequence of events of a story.  I am so proud of our littlest Bobcats!

In a second grade classroom, I had the pleasure of seeing children work with their teacher as the class reviewed the process for writing a "personal narrative." The students shared their ideas orally and then were able to begin working on their own writing independently. In one of our fourth grade classrooms, I observed the teacher holding writing conferences with the students. The students were editing their compositions and working on their next writing draft. In this same class, I had the opportunity to hear four young ladies share an idea they had with their class. The girls are going to start a class newspaper and they explained to their peers how they would gather their ideas to get the newspaper completed. I was very impressed with their ideas and organizational skills. I told them I would share some of their newspaper stories with you on my blog when they were ready.

During lunch time, the classes with "Purrfect" behavior, (those that follow the cafeteria expectations), earn a paw. When a class earns their 10th paw, the class will get to eat at a special table on the stage. Ask your child, how many paws his or her class has earned thus far. You will be surprised!!

I also want to thank our numerous parent volunteers that have been coming to Baldwin to help us laminate, cut , copy and even read with children.  I have seen parent volunteers in our parent workroom every day helping us out! Thank you!!

Don't forget we are having our first Principal-Parent coffee hour this Friday from 8:00-9:00 in the Bobcat Den, (some of you know it as our Baldwin Cafeteria).  I hope to see you then!

Roaring with Pride,
Dr. Peña