The purpose of Back-to-School Night is to begin the important communication link between home and school. Parents will meet with teachers in their classrooms to discuss their educational programs, learn about the school day, and find out how to help their child be successful in school.

This is a very important evening designed for PARENTS ONLY. Children are not allowed to wait for parents on the playground or in the corridors as there will be no supervision, and the noise is a distraction to those listening to the presentations. Please make arrangements now for babysitters to watch your children at home. Thank you for your cooperation.

Please arrange to have your child picked up promptly. Trimester conferences are an opportunity to:

• Share information about student strengths, interests, and needs.
• Establish a caring and collaborative relationship.
• Develop mutual goals for student learning and behavior.

Teachers, parents, and students (when appropriate) set goals directly related to district standards for student learning as well as specific social, emotional, and behavioral goals appropriate to the student and the grade level. They also identify strategies to support student attainment of grade level standards. In addition, the goal setting conference held early in the year allows teachers and parents to identify students at risk of retention and design interventions to help them meet grade level standards.

Please remember to be respectful of our neighbors. Do not park in or block our neighbors? driveways. Please remember that double parking is never allowed. Be respectful of anyone supervising the parking lot and the traffic on Cascade. They are doing the best they can to keep the children safe and need your cooperation, if not your respect and admiration.

Congratulations to our newly elected student council officers. Forty-one students ran for office, and each of them made a speech in front of the entire school!

Our newly elected officers are:
President - Peleg Rand
Vice President - Roee Landesman
Secretary - Annabelle Gao
Treasurer - Jessie Shek
Historian - Noa Gal

The losing principal must wear a cone head for the whole day! Let's show West Valley what we've got! We are still in need of parents to help out during lunch (11:45-12:55), on Monday. If you are available to help, please email/call Tracy Burriss at burriss_tracy@cupertino.k12.ca.us or ph. (408) 732-4563.

n an effort to save paper and reduce duplicating costs, the Dolphin Newsletter will be emailed to parents who have signed up as part of the parent email group beginning October 9th. In addition, a paper copy of the Dolphin will be sent home with the youngest or only child of each Nimitz family. This will greatly help the school by saving over 15,000 sheets of legal-sized blue paper for the school year! Please note that all communication from teachers will continue to be sent home with each child. If you would like to be included in the parent email group, the forms are available in the office. We no longer receive a bounce message when sending to a non-existent outside email address. If you do not receive an email or a paper Dolphin newsletter on October 9th, please email nelsen_kristen@cupertino.k12.ca.us.

It's time to participate and show your talents in the PTA Reflections Competition. This year's theme is "WOW!". Competition is open to all students from grades K - 5. You can submit in any of the six art areas of Visual Arts, Photography, Literature, Musical composition, Dance Choreography and/or Film Production. Deadline for submissions is 3 pm Friday, October 17, 2008. Entry forms for each category are available in the office. For additional information, please contact Suneetha at nimitzreflection@gmail.coma.

This year we need more music docents at Nimitz. We want every child in grades K - 3 to have a chance to experience a hands-on approach to learning music including songs, games, rhythm and movement activities, basic music theory and listening to music. GOOD NEWS!!! YOU CAN BECOME A MUSIC DOCENT!!! The training is FUN and the only qualifications are that you enjoy singing, like working with groups of children and can be available to teach - hour a week throughout the school year. You are not too late to begin the training which is offered only in the fall, but you must act fast in order to begin the training next Tuesday, September 30th, which is twice a week through mid-November. If you want to make sure music is taught in your child's classroom, do consider becoming a music docent. For more information, email me, Kathleen Virmani at kvirmani@aol.com or call 408-732-9598 (press # to skip the greeting) and leave a message for me. You can also call Music for Minors directly at 650-237-9130 and say you would like to become a music docent at Nimitz. The MFM office is closed on Friday, but will be open on Monday. Ask to talk with Jean or Cici.

If your child was receiving a free or reduced lunch last year, your child will continue to receive the free or reduced lunch until Friday, September 26th. You need to reapply for the free and reduced lunch before September 26th in order to receive these lunches this year. If you do not turn in the application, your child will need to pay for their lunch. Also, if there is a situation that you may now qualify for a free or reduced lunch, please be sure to turn in an application as well. Lunch applications are printed in the back of the Opening Day Packet booklet and extra copies are available in the office.

We are in need of more reading tutors at Nimitz to help with our Barton reading program. All tutors receive training from our Barton coordinator, Rachel Abramovitz. If you are interested or would like to find out more information about the Barton reading program, you can email Rachel at Abramovitz_Rachel@cupertino.k12.ca.us

Bullying is a growing problem that families and schools must address together. Today, experts recognize the serious effects of bullying, including problems with emotions and schoolwork.

Bullying involves cruel actions or words. It can happen in person (such as at school) and from afar (such as online). If your child is bullied:

• Talk about it. Pay attention to your child?s concerns. Respond with care and love. Stay calm, even if you feel angry. Set a good example.
• Be a team. Children should not face bullying alone. Work together to solve this problem. Don?t blame your child for being bullied.
• Support your child. Consider her ideas about what to do. (Do not condone acts of revenge.) Realize that some kids need counseling to cope with bullying.
• Report concerns. Note details about the bullying. When and where does it occur? Who has seen it? Who is involved? Share the information with school staff.
• Build personal skills. Discuss possible responses to bullying. You can even role-play some of them. Your child might: ?- Turn to a safe adult for help. ?- Ignore the bully. ?- Be firm and confident. ?- Use the buddy system to avoid being alone. ?- Focus on healthy friendships.
• Stay alert. Ask your child about subjects related to bullying, such as friends and teasing. Learn about school bullying policies. Encourage positive social experiences. If bullying problems arise, be ready to take action.

      -Reprinted from Parents make the difference! ® .