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Summer Student String Institute
Save These Dates: June 11-15, 2012 Times: 9:00-3:00 Daily Location: Da Vinci School for Science & the Arts
Our second annual String Music Camp is being planned. Our two very talented string teachers, Ms. Mariana Carreras and Ms. Analisa Portillo will be leading the list of talented music teachers who will join us to offer El Paso youngsters a week of music fun, learning, and play. The camp is available to students from 5-18 years. Even youngsters who never held a violin will be able to join. While the program is open to children throughout the Southwest, our students will receive a discount and priority if they register early. Check the website for online registration |
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Saturday Tutoring Has Begun
A little extra help, especially on a Saturday morning, when our children are rested and can focus easily, goes a long way to reinforcing concepts and skills that they will need to be successful at our schools.
Please make these tutorials a priority when your child is invited to attend. Remember, when a child fails the state exams, it is an indication that he/she is not ready to be promoted. It is our Charter policy to consider retention of any student who cannot pass a State Achievement Test. Let us help your child. Support our Saturday tutoring. |
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International Day
Superintendent Iris Burnham poses with Howard Burnham Elementary students as they celebrate International Day. The class studied Madagascar as part of their investigation into the customs and cultures of other countries. |
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It’s That Time Again
Registration for next year will begin shortly. All returning students and their siblings may register for next year beginning February 1, 2012. Registration cards can be picked up at the office at each school. Returning students are guaranteed a slot if they return the registration card before March 1st. Siblings will not have to participate in the lottery as long as there are openings for everyone applying. Otherwise a separate Lottery for siblings will be held on February 29, 2012.
Beginning March 1, 2012, we will open registration up to all members of the El Paso community. Anyone interested in sending a child to our schools may pick up a registration form and an enrollment packet or download these documents from our website. On Friday, March 30th, 2012 our first lottery will take place. Anyone who does not gain a slot will be placed on the waiting list. As new openings occur, (and they always do), we hold another lottery.
The School Leadership will hold Open Houses throughout the month of March and forward, in order to answer questions about the schools and offer tours. Watch for Open House dates on our website.
Please help us spread the word about the wonderful Burnham Wood family of Fine Schools. Families living on the Eastside should not pass up a chance to visit Vista del Futuro, our newest school. They will be impressed! |
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Learning About the World and How We Fit In
This past holiday season, when most students were thinking about toys and time off, the students at Howard Burnham Elementary School celebrated their study of the language, customs and cultures of other countries! Students from Kindergarten through 4th grade presented their findings to family and friends at a school-wide open house in celebration of International Day, the school’s annual event.
Students counted in Chinese, described African terrain, and discussed life in India. Each grade level developed its own themes based on challenging questions and used scientific inquiry to explore how people live, how they are impacted by their environment, what their art expresses about their values, and who their leaders were. Using Inquiry Based Learning is a critical component of Howard Burnham Elementary School’s instruction. It prepares our students to think like engineers and become reflective, problem solvers.
Students presented their findings in open classrooms and shared their knowledge by answering key questions that drove their research: What is the larger world like outside the student’s own community?
Through dance, music, art, literature, study, and discussion, students learned that they are part of something much larger and perhaps very different, but in some ways, very much the same as others. |
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Expansion Plans
The Board of Trustees has approved the expansion to the Howard Burnham campus with the construction of a new classroom building that will house two full size classrooms and a large multi-purpose room. We hope to begin this construction in the early summer and have it ready for the fall, 2012. |
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| I Have A Dream Day Celebration in honor of MLK.
One of the enriching programs offered at the Burnham Wood Schools is the Core Knowledge Celebrations. Students spend several months studying a thematic unit that applies to math, science, English and social studies. They then showcase what they learned to the school community using art, drama, music and sometimes balloons.
Each year students learn about the contributions of Dr. King, Jr. as well as other heroes who have had dreams to make the world a better place.
In turn, students are asked to express their dreams while connecting them to careers. The Academic Showcase culminates with a school wide gathering of students, teachers, parents and guests. Songs of freedom and patriotism are sung, Dr. King’s speech is recited, and each student is handed a balloon with their personal dream tied to the end of the string.
At the count of three all the balloons are released, thereby symbolizing the rising of their dreams, and the soaring of our hopes for a better future.
Each year several of the balloons are found and the school will receive a photo of the balloon or an email describing where it landed and how far it was from El Paso. This year one first grader’s balloon traveled 1517 miles -all the way to DeBary, Florida! Of course the receipt of this correspondence became a teachable moment our first grade teacher, Ms. Smith, who introduced them to maps and measurement, so the entire class could appreciate the distance a little girl’s dream traveled in order to share her humanitarian wish.
From: Brian Borgiet
Sent: Sunday, January 22, 2012 2:44 PM
To: Mary Lou Smith
Subject: Found your balloon
Ms. Smith,
My daughters and I are sending you this email because we discovered a balloon from Marcella O in our back yard on Sunday. Please let Marcella know her balloon travel 1517 miles, and landed in DeBary Florida.
Best regards,
BRIAN BORGIET Contractor on behalf of Ericsson Site Acquisition Manager II
Ericsson
LDO
Orlando, Florida, USA |
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Superintendent's Message: Getting to Know You
Anna, the famous teacher in Rogers & Hammerstein's Broadway musical The King & I, sings to her new students the well known refrain, "Getting to know you, getting to know all about you...." At this time, becoming acquainted with your children has been our teachers' primary objective.
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They have been observing youngsters' social and academic skills and abilities, and now they are prepared to benchmark their understanding in reading and math, so individual progress plans can be developed in order to help each child achieve grade level mastery and beyond.
To reach this goal, they will be testing the children using Release TAKS tests and other measurements. Once they develop a profile for each student, they will share the results with you. In some cases children will need to concentrate on specific skills that were already taught to the entire class. In those instances, teachers will offer tutoring and also send home packets of practice work for you to help your child reinforce his/her learning.
Through close communication and partnerships between our teachers and you, our parents, we will help our students have a successful school year. And, as the second verse of Anna's song states, "Getting to like you, Getting to hope you like me..." Of course, that has already happened!
Iris B. Burnham
Superintendent |
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01.2012
