Dear Families,

Welcome back to school! We hope you had a wonderful, restful spring break. This week we kick off our annual EEF Direct Donation Drive campaign. Please see below for more information on how you can help keep our instructional assistant support in the classrooms!

Our PTO Meeting in March was well attended. We discussed the staffing plan for next year and our fundraising needs to keep our current level of staffing. Click Here for minutes.

The Charlemagne Science Fair is coming up on Thursday, April 19th. We need volunteers to help run this fun event, please see below for more information on signing your children up and how to volunteer.

There are a couple of great opportunities to be a host family for French exchange students. Adriane from International Cultural Exchange Services presented to PTO in March. Please see the office bulletin board or contact Adriane at 541-729-5255 for more information. There is also a separate opportunity to host a French 15 year-old the second half of July, see below under Community Events for more information.

Activities to look forward to this week are:

Tuesday: 

  •  Art Club –  3-4pm, Rm 9
  •  Library Time – 2:45-3:30pm

Wednesday: 

  •  Garden Club begins – 2:45-3:50pm
  •  Young Rembrandt’s art class –  3-4pm, Rm 9
Thursday:

 Friday:

  •  School Choice Lottery Results – 5pm
  •   Coyote Club demonstration – 9:45-10:15am playground

                            
Have a great week!                         

Your PTO Co-chairs,

Larisa Lilles and Becky Smith

 

 

EEF Direct Donation Drive
You will soon be receiving Charlemagne’s direct drive letter in your mailbox, if you haven’t already. This is a vital part of our fundraising every year, and it is where you can make a huge difference in the quality of your child’s education. As you may know, our funding from the district has continued to decline. Without support from families like yours, we stand to lose our instructional assistants next year – those critical staff members who provide literacy support in English and French. Without them, we will have less opportunity to target struggling students for additional help, or to offer challenges to advanced students. This would be a huge loss – and would sharply weaken our ability to serve students of different backgrounds and abilities. You can change this by giving to Charlemagne through the direct drive. Our goal is currently $35,000 – which amounts to about $118 per student. Many families are unable to contribute, and so if you are able, I strongly encourage you to give more. Give as much as you can so we can make sure that Charlemagne continues to be an exemplary school for your own children – and for all students. If your child has grandparents or other family members who may be willing to give, please pass this on to them. If we all pull together as a community, we can do this!

Please Click Here for a copy of the Direct Donation drive letter. All donators will be entered into the raffle, including those who have already set up ongoing monthly donations.

Wendy Jett, Charlemagne parent and Direct Drive chair

SeQuential Biofuels will donate 5 cents for every gallon of gasoline you purchase from them to Charlemagne!

Owner, Alan Twigg is very into  community support, and as such, will donate 5 cents a gallon to our school! Whenever you or your family and friends buy gas at a SeQuential Biofuels station, all you need to say is, “I would like to donate!” Then the attendant will ask for your zip code and to which organization you wish to donate.  Say “Charlemagne at Fox Hollow Elementary School please!” That is it!  At the end of each month, a check will be sent to the school.

SeQuential Biofuels has 3 locations: Two at 18th and Chambers Street, and one on 86714 McVay Hwy, out by LCC near I-5.

Yes, all SeQuential Biofuel locations have gas for regular cars.

This is an easy way to receive a business donation for our school and support a community member at the same time!

At the 18th & Chambers location’s North side fueling station, there is an espresso bar as well as yummy treats from Sweet Life and Humble Bagel available in their market.

 

 

Classified Staff Spotlight

Sara Anderson, Assistant Lunch Lady
I grew up in Roseburg. I was the second of three children. My mom worked as a Macy’s manager and my dad was an Oregon State Police officer. When I was a kid, I spent a lot of time playing outside. I moved around a lot. Something I still like (that I liked as a kid) is watching cartoons. I have lived in Eugene for seven years. My partner and I have been together for ten years. I have two children, ages: 14 and 8.
Pets: Two cats, one dog
Favorite hobby: Driving
Favorite way to spend downtime: TV
Vacation I hope to take someday: Caribbean cruise
Favorite past vacation: Great America in Santa Rosa, CA
Favorite local restaurant: Shari’s
Favorite thing to do in Eugene (that’s free): Saturday Market
Favorite outdoor place in Eugene: The river
Favorite destination in the NW: The coast
Favorite movie: The Bourne Trilogy
Favorite band: Metallica
Something you may not know about me: I can do an ultra-loud whistle!

 

 

Young Rembrandts Art Class Spring Session

Greetings! It’s spring time and that can only mean one thing: SPRINGTIME FUN WITH YOUNG REMBRANDTS! If you think your student is a budding vehicle designer, he or she will love our motorcycle lesson. Learning to draw organic shapes and adding color patterns will be the focus as our artists create an eye-catching humming bird illustration. And our students will be challenged as they draw and shade a seemingly realistic portrait using color pencils.
Sign up on our website today, or call us at 541-357-7578.
Free Sample Class!
Young Rembrandts will be offering a free sample class to kick off our Spring session. This is a great way to invite friends and help other children experience a fun and fulfilling way to learn through drawing!
Visit our website to enroll for the session, and your first class is free. OR you can call us to sign up for the sample class only, and enroll later if you choose. Registration is required for the free class, and space is limited.

 

 

Restaurant of the Month

Save the Date: Thursday evening, April 12th at the Charlemagne Café!

Our own chef-in-residence, Kinder parent Artie Leider will be the host for a family-oriented pasta dinner. More details to come!

 

Charlemagne Science Fair 2012

 

Thursday, April 19th — Sign your kids up soon!
The Charlemagne Science Fair is open to all grades. This is a fun opportunity for kids to explore areas of interest in the sciences, learn scientific methods, and prepare and organize a project.
For more information, Click Here.

For info about the tri-fold display board, Click Here.
For a sign-up sheet to reserve your child’s place at the Fair, Click Here.

Charlemagne Science Fairneeds volunteers!
Your help is sincerely appreciated. These events are successful because of your volunteerism. Please e-mail charlemagnesacience@gmail.com  or call if interested in helping with the school’s science fair this year.
Volunteer Opportunities:
Fair Day, Thursday, April 19th:
Set Up: Following school lunch Thursday, the day of the fair, tables will need to be set up. Exact time will be determined shortly. The more volunteers there are, the better. Ask a couple of friends to help too!  (30 to 60 minutes to get the job done depending on volunteers available).
 Interviewers:  10 or so volunteers to arrive promptly at the start of the fair to interview students about their project and write comments in the Booklets that they receive in recognition of their participation. This is a fairly easy, fun task. The more volunteers there are for this, the less time it will take – approx. 30 minutes or less. There were 80 or so entrants last year.  Volunteers meet at the main table before starting.  These volunteers also need to check to see that each entrant has a booklet. If a student does not have a booklet, there will be extras, and the volunteer can hand write the student’s name on it. This process is a source of pride for the kids. They get a chance to talk about what they did.  A handout will be provided to interviewers that explains their role.

Main Table:  Volunteers to staff the main sign-in table as students get their certificate booklet and set up their projects.

Photography:  If someone knows of anyone who would be willing to take some photos at the fair, this would help for yearbook (20 to 30 minutes of time).
Thursday Clean-up:  There will need to be some volunteers to straighten up and remove clutter once the Fair is finished Thursday night in preparation for Friday walk-thru for students.  (30 minutes or so of time)
Friday, April 20th:
Friday Clean-up:  All tables remain in tact with projects thru Friday such that classes can walk thru during school.  Tables are taken down Friday after school. (30 to 60 minutes of time depending on volunteers)
Please e-mail charlemagnesacience@gmail.com  or call if interested in helping with the school’s science fair this year.
Sincerely,
Carey Norgaard
Amy Villaseñor

 

 

Camp Rigolo 2012!
July 16 – 20
French camp for grades K-5 in the summer at Charlemagne. Come join the “Enchanted World of Merlin”! Click here for flyer. Applications will be available in the office after Spring Break, starting April 3rd.  Camp fills up quickly! Do not wait…

Target Red Card Donates to Charlemagne!
If you have a Target Red Card, you can link it to our school and Target will donate 1% of all your red card purchases to Charlemagne! It’s easy and quick to link your card. You can go to their website, search for “Fox Hollow French Immersion”, select our school, enter your name and card number, and you’re done! You can also register your card easily at any Target store kiosk near the customer service area. After registering, you don’t have to do anything else other than use your red card when shopping at Target.

Target Red Card Website

 

Garden Club/Green School News

Garden News

Preparations continue for the spring planting of the garden beds. Each class will be out there after spring break getting their spring crops in!

There are many ways you can help our school garden. Volunteers are needed to help with the spring planting, to plan and install the irrigation system, and move finished compost from the bins to the garden. We could also use donations of good quality children’s sized garden gloves. As always, contact Tabatha (tabandrews@gmail.com) or Erika (erikamarkmcfarlane@gmail.com).

There is still some space in this session of Garden Club! They meet on Wednesdays, 2:45-3:50pm. $30 per student per six week session. Space is limited to 10 students per session so sign up now. Session 1: March 14-April 25. Session 2: May 2-June 6. For more information or to sign up contact Jenny Laxton (from the School Garden Project) at sitecoord.sgp@gmail.com

Green School News
Charlemagne is an official Oregon Green School! Currently our Green School Committee consists of two members! If you have been thinking of joining, now is the time to do it! There are so many things we could do to make our school greener, but help is desperately needed. Contact Tabatha or Erika for more information.

 Volunteer Sign-up
Help us in creating the most vibrant school possible by signing up to get involved!  We have a total of 53 parents who have clicked in so far (37 of those 53 are Kinder parents-way to go Kinders!!!)  It will take less than 5 minutes of your time.  It’s easy!  Please click HERE.  We’d love to have 100% parent participation!

Stand for Children
Grassroots advocacy for excellence in public education, pre-K through 12.

Community Events

Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art
Art work by Eugene students (K-12) is on display at the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art on the U of O campus through mid-April. Congratulations to Charlemagne students, Maya Raynor, Noa Ablow-Measelle, Ella Gann, Kate Wheeler , Leila Sanghvi, Kennedy Maderos, and Zane Andrews for having their work selected to be a part of this great show!  The show is part of the museum’s annual New Art Northwest Kids program.


Khan Academy
Amazing free website with over 3,000 instructional videos ranging from simple math to complex physics, science, and history at all skill levels.
http://www.khanacademy.org/

University of Oregon 2012 Science & Invention Fair
This is a great opportunity for entrants to display their projects in the community.

Who: for K-12 residents of Lane County
When: Saturday, April 21st at 11 am to 3 pm
Where: Willamette Hall on the University Campus
Contact: http://oco.uoregon.edu/spice/ , e-mail: holloway_m@4j.lane.edu  

French Exchange Opportunity
Colette Richardson, a long-time teacher in the French Immersion program, has told me about your Fox Hollow newsletter. I am French-born and have lived in the US since 1969, practicing in Eugene since 1980. I regularly invite young family members from France to come experience America in a way that challenges stereotypes. There have been many visitors throughout the years, and the experiences were very positive.

One of my great-nephews, age 15, will come next summer. He will stay in early July with me in Eugene and with my children in Portland. I am looking for a family with whom he could spend time in the second half of July. His name is Albert; he lives in a small town in the countryside near Versailles, only 30 km from Paris, and his family spends vacation time in Normandy. He has an older brother, who came to Eugene two years ago, and a younger brother. His family would be happy to welcome a member of the Eugene host family, either in August this year, or during the summer of 2013. I would appreciate if you would tell your readership about this opportunity for an exchange. Please contact me directly.

Sincerely yours,

José (a French woman’s name) Campion McCarthy

541-484-1196

mccarthy9818@comcast.net

 UPCOMING EVENTS

4/9  School Choice:  Parents notified
4/12  Pasta Dinner at Charlemagne
4/13  No School-Professional Development
4/16-20  Volunteer Appreciation Week
4/17  PTO Meeting
4/19  Charlemagne Science and Art Club Fair
4/20  School Choice:  Deadline for parents to notify schools
4/23  Direct Drive contributions due
4/25  Administrative Professionals Day- celebrate Heather!
4/27  Talent Show sign-ups begin; Jogathon kick-off assembly
4/29  Eugene Marathon “French Quarter” cheering section

Please email us if you have any other after school activity ideas, eNews articles, or want to let us know about something your kids do that you think others would be interested in!


Please submit articles by Friday at 5:00pm for inclusion in the following week’s eNews.