Principal's Newsletter #16

3/8/2023

Important Events

Trimester 2 Report Cards Published

Friday, March 10

Districtwide Safety Drill

Thursday, March 16

Bel Aire PTA Play (The Little Mermaid Jr.)

March 22 - 26

Walk and Roll Day 2 of Jedi Challenge

Wednesday, March 15

No School - Staff PD Day

Monday, March 20

RUSD Equity & Inclusion Committee Meeting

Wednesday, March 30

Dear Bel Aire Families,

We are getting close to the premier of the 2023 Bel Aire PTA Play, The Little Mermaid Jr., and students couldn't be more excited. 

The Bel Aire school play is a true marvel, unlike any I have seen in other elementary schools. It's an extraordinary school community event--all possible due to the volunteer efforts of PTA parents and the Play Chairs--Megan Pirsch, Carli Hamilton, and Lana Bark. We have tremendous gratitude for you taking this on--thank you!

The play producers are volunteers; theirs is a labor of love that brings so much joy and empowerment to students. Parents can support this heroic undertaking by volunteering to help with student supervision and then following through on the commitment. There is a bit of downtime between rehearsals, and students will need extra support with being engaged in activities during the inevitable downtime. This is where you can help make a difference for students. Thank you!

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Another big shout-out to parent Eddie Madril for his impromptu coverage of the PM crossing guard duty down at the bottom of the driveway earlier this week. We see you, Eddie! Thank you for helping keep kids safe!

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Speaking of safety, thank you to Marin County Safe Routes to School and PE Teacher Mr. Sievert for leading the Bike Rodeo this week. Students practiced safely riding bikes and scooters while having fun. Great job!

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Reminder: Report Cards will be emailed out and published in Alma this Friday afternoon. 

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The rest of the week looks to be rainy--please send your kiddos to school in rain boots, jackets, and warm layers.  If kids are warm, they can stay healthy and come to school to learn and have fun.

Thank you!

John DiCosmo

Principal, Bel Aire School

2nd Trimester 2022-23

Scroll Down to Read All the Wonderful Updates!

Library with Ms. Brigulio:

All of our students have settled into the routine of weekly library time. We begin with a lesson, whether it has to do with library skills, a current event or holiday, or just a great read aloud. I love to see the excitement and interest in 3rd,4th, and 5th graders when I have a great read aloud book. 

I’ve also spent time labeling the bookshelves by topic and call number so students can start to search and find books of interest to them. We’ve just started using Alexandria to search for books within the Bel Aire library. Next up I will teach students and staff how to use the Sora app. This app not only lets you access ebooks from Bel Aire, but also connects you to the Bel Tib library. It is a wonderful online resource for everyone. 

Music with Mr. Gist:

Third Grade

I’ve noticed a significant growth in third graders xylophone playing skills. Here is a song we did in connection with black history month. Third graders also learned xylophone arrangements of “Bright Leaves Have Wings”, ”Simple Simon”, and “Fudge, Fudge”. Music classes also include movement, stories, and singing.

Fourth Grade

In connection with black history month, 4th graders did a call and response song called “Step Back, Baby”. First we added body percussion, then learned this xylophone arrangement. For the Lunar New Year, we learned this song containing Mandarin words. Students used various percussion instruments to create a B section.

Fifth Grade

Students have been working on more sophisticated rhythms of late, using half, quarter, eighth, and sixteen notes in various rhythmic combinations. Here is a piece which focuses on sixteenth notes. Just this past week we read a story, titled “Rap a Tap Tap”, about the legendary tap dancer Bill “Bojangles” Robinson. We then learned a xylophone arrangement of the story, and finally students paired up and wrote their own verses, in the same format as “Rap a Tp Tap”, about a famous African-American figure of their choosing. I have been enjoying reading them. 

P.E. with Mr. Sievert:

Reminder! I know that nothing is easier than slipping into a pair of foam sandals but they are prohibited in my class. Athletic footwear is required for participation in PE.

PE has been fantastic this winter and here are a couple highlights.

• New Year’s Resolution lesson on setting and achieving personal goals

• Toxic Clean-Up was a super fun team-building challenge.

• Bicycle Rodeo for 4th graders coming up on March 7th

Thank you for reading. Thank you for supporting the Foundation for Reed Schools. Contact me anytime!  jsievert@reedschools.org

Art with Madam Caldwell:

3rd grade: Classes having been finishing up a project on tint. Next up is a project that is inspired by Van Gogh’s Wheat fields with Crows. Students will make their own version of this painting using tempera paint and cut out construction paper for the crows.

4th grade: Classes have been finishing up their Wildflowers at Sunset. Next up is Mexican Landscape using chalk pastels. This is one of my favorite projects because I love desert colors and desert landscape.

5th grade: Classes have been finishing up their 21st century Pop Art. Students choose with current subject that they want to create. I’m very impressed with the level of sophistication and creative that the students have been showing. Next up is our annual homage to Black History Month and students will be making a mono print of their Black Hero of their choice. Students will be using block printing ink and may work independently or with a group.

Spanish with Señora Mutilva:

5º: Our fifth graders are starting to gain confidence in their language skills. We have been studying rooms in the house, adjectives (comparative and superlatives), farm animals, and prepositions. I absolutely love it when students make a connection to another language or apply what they have learned in Spanish class to their English language knowledge.

4º: Fourth graders are developing their vocabulary with the addition of words and concepts from topics such as family, clothing, household items, and fruit. Practice and repetition through songs makes the content more concrete for each student. These students play, draw, and sing their way through their lessons!

3º: Our playful third graders are learning about parts of the body, adjectives, and feelings, and days of the week and weather. I can see the ah-ha moments when they surprise themselves with what they already know. We sing, dance, and play to reinforce language concepts.

The new Belvedere Tiburon Library Art Gallery will feature 40 masterpieces created by Del Mar Art students.  Please visit the library March 16th through April 13th. Artists are depicting their “Happy Place” and how nature in our local city and landscapes provides them with inspiration, enjoyment and peace. A reception will be held Thursday, March 16th , 5:00pm - 6:30pm. All families are welcome.

A special thank you to the Foundation for Reed Schools for their support of our electives programs and our school community. They help fund our art, library, music, Design Lab classes, and much more. We couldn’t provide these opportunities to our students without your support of our Foundation. Thank you!

• Birth to age 6 | March 2, March 9 & March 23, 2023, 6:00-7:00 PM  Registration Link | Session in English
• Elementary School Age | March 14, 2023, 6-7:30 PM
• Middle/High School Age | March 21, 2023, 6-7:30 PM

Upcoming Dates

March 20 - Staff Development Day (No School)

March 22-26 - Bel Aire Play: The Little Mermaid, Jr. (Tickets on sale NOW)

March 29 - Book Fair Family Night at Reed

April 5 - Bel Aire PTA Meeting

Bel Aire Play

The Bel Aire play is almost here! It is truly spectacular, and the kids love it. Tickets are on sale NOW!

Performance Dates and Casts

Land Cast

Wednesday, March 22nd at 6:30 pm

Friday, March 24th at 6:30 pm

Saturday, March 25th at 2:30 pm

Sea Cast

Thursday, March 23rd at 6:30 pm

Saturday, March 25th at 6:30 pm

Sunday, March 26th at 2:30 pm

The Bel Aire Play is a wonderful RUSD community event and can only happen with the help of our amazing volunteers.  Sign ups for show date volunteers will be going out soon and we would appreciate your help.  Please check the Little Mermaid website (https://www.reedschools.org/Page/2146) for ticket links and the volunteer signup sheet.

We also need Rehearsal Supervision help. Sign up HERE.

Teenage student volunteers can help too - just complete this form:

2022 Bel Aire Play Student Volunteers (Little Mermaid)

Yearbook

The 2022-2023 yearbook promises another all color, fun filled book of school day memories. Reserve your child’s copy today! If you have any questions, please contact Ory Shirazi (ory@imsspecialists.com) or Carrie Staahl (carringtonstaahl@gmail.com.

Please note: if you have multiple RUSD students, you will need separate SchoolPay transactions to purchase each student’s yearbook. If you experience an issue with SchoolPay, please log out of SchoolPay and purchase each yearbook as a GUEST. 

BUY YOUR YEARBOOK HERE

Lunch Recess Volunteers

We are looking for lunch recess volunteers daily from 12:10-12:55 p.m.  It's a fun way to volunteer on campus while watching your children run around. Sign up HERE.

Bel Aire PTA

Please join us for our next meeting on Wednesday, April 5th at 8:30 a.m.  (Bel Aire PTA meetings are generally on the first Wednesday of the month)  For more information, contact Bel Aire PTA Site Chair Laura Smith, lauracarolinesmith@gmail.com

Walk and Roll

Back by popular demand, the JEDI Challenge kicked off today, March 1st! The JEDI Challenge is a series of Walk & Roll events hosted over two months to help build excitement for walking and biking to school. Students will be given a card and will earn a stamp for each day they participate. Once the card is complete, it will serve as a raffle ticket and will be entered in the drawing for the grand prize….a custom bike from Cleary Bikes and a helmet from Mike’s Bikes!!!! One bike and helmet will be given to the winner at each participating elementary school in Marin! Here are the dates for the JEDI Challenge. Please note you must participate on at least 4 of the dates to be entered in the raffle.

March 15

April 5

April 19

May 3

PTA Nominating Committee for 2023 Officers

The Nominating Committee is currently meeting to develop a slate of PTA officers for the following open positions, each with a two year term:

• District President

• District Secretary

• Bel Aire Site Chair

• Bel Aire Treasurer

• Del Mar Treasurer

If you are interested in one of these leadership positions, or would like to nominate someone else, please contact any of the Nominating Committee members - Dana Berhoff, Rachel Berman, Jennifer Feldman, Rebecca Hermanski & Wendy Martin. 

RUSD Mission & Vision: Each student will be challenged and inspired to reach their fullest intellectual, social-emotional and creative potential to positively impact the world.