AMERICAN RIVER CAMPUS
V O LU M E 2 , I SS U E 3
The Current
N O V EM B ER 1 1 , 2 0 1 6
I N S ID E T H I S I S S U E :
Politics as Un-Usual in Middle School
Club M Update
2
WASC
2
Fair Oaks, CA— If you’re
anything like me, you’re
probably more than a bit
exasperated by this year’s
Presidential Election. Forget
about Trump vs. Clinton, the
real political story is Golgi
Body vs. Nucleus! You
heard correct, there is another election going on underneath our noises that
we’ve never even heard
about.
Staff In Focus
2
November Calendar
3
Fundraising Corner
3
Chipotle
4
Harvest Festival
5
ATS Testing
5
Miss Lindsay
6
Scientists at the Middle
School Science Labs made a
discovery in early October
about the existence of this
microscope electoral process. Evidently, much like the
American political system,
the cell’s organelles undergo
a process every four years
to elect a new leader. This
year the two candidates are
the Golgi Apparatus and the
Nucleus.
According to our student
researchers, this cell election
cycle is all about a conflict
between the established
nucleus and the outsider
organelles. It seems that the
Nucleus is reluctant to
change while the organelles
what to expand the boundaries of the cell wall.
between science and politics. Amazing discoveries
from amazing students.
Keep up the good work
middle school.
Looking through microscopes, Middle School
Student Researchers discovered a plethora of political campaign posters
designed to persuade voters. Some called for more
protection by the Cell
Membrane candidate. The
Mitochondrion candidate
focused on clean, available
energy sources.
O CT O B E R H I G H LIGHTS:
 The Invertebrates paraded.
 Character Trait Assemblies
 Harvest Festival Fun
 Fall Colors on Campus
It was a fascinating cross
.
It was a battle of political microscopic rivals. Nucleus vs. Golgi Apparatus.
S P E C IA L P O I N T S O F
INTEREST:
Afternoon Car Loop
Time is so precious. I hate
wasting it when I have so
little already. Unfortunately,
sometimes it is unavoidable.
One such instance is our
afternoon car loop here at
CMP American River.
Overall, the car loop lasts no
more than a total of ten minutes but it can be one of the
most stressful ten minutes of
our day. To help us all save
time and keep everyone safe
we are offering the following suggestions to facilitate
a safe and smooth transition.

Arrive between 3:10
and 3:20.

Utilize the back gate if
you are an upper elementary or middle
school family.

During times of high
volume traffic, please
make a right hand turn

into both the lower and
upper loops. If you
approach from the east
side of school, simply
circle around to get in
line.
 Fai Gardner—Upper
Elementary TA
Utilize common courtesy. Make eye contact
with other drivers and
communicate your
intentions.
 Harvest Festival
 Chipotle Burrito
 APEX Fun Run
 Club M Update
 Academic Talent Search
V O LU M E 2 , I SS U E 3
PAGE 2
Club M Update
Let me just paraphrase one of my favorite holiday songs, “The weather outside
is...[still in the upper 60s to low 70s].”
Oh well, that’s California for you. Here
at the offices of Club M, we are prepared for all kinds of interesting Fall
weather. This month our enrichment
program will feature artworks generated
with handprints as well as some fantastically physical and mind bending obstacle courses.
A reminder that we have two approaching intercessions. The first is in November, November 21st through the 23rd.
Our second will be for winter break in
December. Sign ups for the November
intersession will begin on November
As always, your children are the reason
we are here. Thank you for making
Club M so successful.
7th.
A few reminders for you. First, we have
parent/teacher conferences coming up
from October 19th—21st. Club M is
available on those days. Sign ups will
open starting the week of October 10th.
Spots fill fast so reserve early.
If you would like more information
about our Club M program please contact our Club M Coordinator, Natalie
Hansen, in the front office in person or
by phone. If you would like to contact
her by email her email is [email protected].
Club M, a place for fun, adventure and learning.
Here We Come a WASC-ing.....
As December is quickly approaching, so
does the date of our Western Association of Schools and Colleges accrediting
team visit. In preparation.
We continue to work with the
teachers and other CMP San Juan
Administration to provide a thorough self-assessment document
for the visiting team. Teachers
continue to work on beautifying
their classrooms as well as the
campus.
Soon we will be soliciting input from
the parent community to provide feedback on our self-assessment.
“Evangeline is a model of the
kind of person that CMP
American River would like to
develop.”
Let’s make CMP American River the
best school it can be.
Please
look for
further
information on
this process in
future
communications.
Staff In Focus—Fai Gardner, Teacher’s Assistant
We are so lucky here at CMP American
River to have such a loving and supportive teaching staff. This includes our
Teaching Assistants. Teaching Assistants often do not get the same credit as
a lead teachers . This month the writer/
editor of Staff In Focus, caught up with
Fai Gardner from Chagall
Good day, Ms. Fai. What do you enjoy
most about CMP American River?
I absolutely love the school community.
The staff is responsive and supportive.
Students are given the freedom to learn
at their own pace.
If you were stranded on an island with
one person, who would it be?
Iron Man. My husband is amazing but
it’s Iron Man! If I was truly stranded,
Iron Man could help me escape and
then I could go home to my awesome
family and fantastic husband. Iron Man
is great but he can’t replace my family.
Ms. Fai, a fantastic person for a fantastic school. Welcome to CMP American River!
N EWSLE TTER T ITLE
PAGE 3
SCHEDULE OF
EVENTS

11-1-16 Marc and
Monica’s Fundraiser
for Upper Elementary

11-2-16 Early Release
Day

11-2-16 Jonathan Wolfe
Parent Night

11-11-16 Veteran’s Day
Observed

11-16-16 Early Release
Day

11-14 to 12-2 APEX
Fun Run

11-28-16 Principal’s
Café

12-2-16 Movie Night
Fundraiser
November
SUN
MON
TUE
2016
WED
THU
FRI
SAT
1
2 Early
Release
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11 No
School
12
13
14
15
16 Early
Release
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
Thanksgiving
27
28 Princi-
29
30
pal’s Cafe
Fundraising Corner
Below you will find a brief list of the
fundraising efforts happening this year:

Entertainment Books– Currently
we are looking to replace this fundraiser with an alternate due to low
sales of the books.

Art to Remember—Monies are set
aside for school wide art supplies.

Harvest Festival—Fundraising
efforts go towards field trip support and classroom materials.

Apex Fun Run—This fundraiser is
used for a yearly campus goal:
continue technology acquisition.

See’s Candy– The monies raised
from this fundraiser will go to staff
development.

Art Walk—These funds are used
for event support and campus beatification.

Scholastic Book Fair—Monies
spent here support each classroom
library.

Box Tops/E-Script—The monies
from these programs goes to staff
appreciation.

Various approved class fundraisers: Middle School Businesses,
Kona Ice—Monies go directly to
the sponsoring classrooms as discretionary funds.

Continent Party-Philanthropic
Fundraiser—Heifer Project

Read-a-thon—These funds go to
individual classrooms.
Campus Advisory Council
Our last CAC meeting was full of anticipation for the Harvest Festival. Most of
the topics we discussed were around the
back up plans for the eventual rain we
received.
With that said, we did discuss a parent
agenda item, a spring garage sale and
hoppy swap. It is an exciting event that
we look forward to discussing further.
Help us to help your children.
Our next meeting is November, 28th at
3:30. Have a topic for the CAC? Submit
that topic to RaDene Girola on or before
October 12th for the up coming meeting.
V O LU M E 2 , I SS U E 3
PAGE 4
Middle School Fundraiser—Chipotle
“Burrito”, Spanish for “little donkey.” I’m not sure as to why
this delightful, tasty food item would be named after a donkey.
After living in Ethiopia, I’ve certainly been
witness to the difficult life of the donkey. I
wouldn’t be surprised if the hard working,
noble donkey was a bit worried that we
named a delicious stuffed Latin sandwich
after him.
In October, the middle school team was at it
again attempting to raise money to off set the
cost of their field trips. The noodles of Noodles and Co. had all been eaten so they dined
on the burritos of Chipotle. I personally observed that many of the students ate so much
that they began to slightly resemble burritos
themselves.
burrito on the menu but went for something a bit more dainty,
the taco salad. The other teachers, Ms. Danika and Ms. Sarah,
wrangled up as many burritos as they
could and handed them out to the hungry masses. After consuming mass
quantities of burritos, the CMP American River Middle School raised $237.53
towards their field trip costs. It was a
fantastic event celebrating the life of the
burrito in addition to helping out our
middle school students.
Alas, ‘burrito’ is also an affectionate
name given to your favorite donkey.
That’s just odd, why would you eat your
favorite pet?
“Burrito, Spanish for, “little donkey.”
Ms. Lindsay, eating for two, eyed the largest
(No donkeys were harmed in this fundraising event.)
Principal’s Café—Parent Responsibilities in a Campus Emergency
Thank you to those parents who were able to make it to
the October 24th Principal Café. We had a small but
fantastic turnout.
Our discussion topics
centered around
safety. John Meinz,
Dean of Students,
shared CMP’s Safety
Guide for Parents and
Students brochure.
We also discussed:

Courtesy in the loop

Safety drills

Dress code policy
The next Principal Café will be on November 28th at
3:30 in Room 16.
“The next Principal’s Café
will be at 3:30 on November
28th.”
November—Professional Development
November is the start to one of the busiest times of year for the
school. Beginning with a handful of lengthy school closures
and ending with multiple school wide events, time just keeps
flying.
As the year progresses we look forward to offering more professional development for our fantastic teachers.
In November our teachers will be involved in multiple
professional development initiatives, some campus driven
and others personal:

Jonathan Wolfe

WASC documentation

Curriculum & Instruction
CMP Teachers Collaborate
N EWSLE TTER T ITLE
PAGE 5
Harvest Festival Fun
It rained. We ate a lot of chili. There was magic in the air.
If you attended the Harvest Festival, then you all know that we
had fun. “Fun” is an understatement. In fact, the event was held
in high regards by all whom attended. Some of the highlights
of the evening were:




The Haunted Movie Theatre
Magic Show
Cake Walk
CHILI COOK OFF
the CAC/Harvest Festival committee for putting this event
together every year. Specifically, the triple threat of Shauna
McCafferty, Lori Henderson and Rene Either. Without their
passion and support for this event, it would not take place.
Of course, our Harvest Festival wouldn’t have been a success
without you, the parents. Thank you for all the time and effort
you give to your child’s classroom and school community. Most of the fundraised dollars from the activities
goes towards supporting each classroom. A small portion of the monies set aside for school-wide projects.
Everywhere you turned there were smiling faces and bonds being built. As with
every school-wide event, it was a herculean effort to organize this fantastic
event.
The CM American River community
wants to say a HUGE ‘Thank You’ to
A good time was had by all!
Chili Cook-Off Winner—Taud Bagwill
“And the winner of the CMP American River Chili Cook-Off
is, Taud Bagwill!”
Congratulations to Taud and his fantastic chili, “Family
Tradition.” Thank you to all the other participants in the
Chili Cook-Off. All the dishes were amazing, I certainly went home with a few extra pounds from the
event.
efforts he won a $40.00 gift card to Sprouts.
“And the winner of the CMP
American River Chili Cook-
Thank you to everyone whom
participated, either by judging or
by cooking, in the event. This is
perhaps our most favorite event of
the year, not even the rain could
dampen our spirits.
Off is, Taud Bagwill!”
Taud beat 19 other chili entries to win the title of CMP
American River’s Best Chili for 2016. For his winning
Academic Talent Search
Academic Talent Search (ATS) provides academically challenging, fast-paced courses to highly able and motivated 4th
through 9th grade students in the greater Sacramento area.
ATS is a non-profit organization which receives no state or
federal funds. Sponsored by Sacramento State, ATS has an
established tradition of providing educational experiences that
are both mentally stimulating and fun. Over 1,600 students
apply for ATS classes each summer. Since its founding in
1982, ATS has inspired over 43,300 students.
CMP American River is proud to offer the qualification testing
for this program. In order to accurately meet the needs of the
student community, we would like to get an accurate count of
how many students are interested in the testing. Please stop by
the office and sign up on or before December 9th.
An assessment date will be set sometime between January and
March. Further details will be announced in an upcoming
issue of The Current.
Ms. Lindsay is Missing!
American River Campus
6838 Kermit Lane
Fair Oaks CA, 95628
Phone: 916-864-0081
Fax: 916-864-0084
E-mail: [email protected]
Dear Ms. Lindsay,
Your students were crying the other
day about how much you are
missed. Your substitute has been
fantastic but she just isn’t the same.
Your welcoming demeanor and caring nature are sorely missing from
your classroom.
From all of us in the community we
want to wish your family all the best
for the future.
Please come back soon!
Passion driven
Education
We had such a lovely time celebrating the impending birth of your next
child. The food was fantastic. The
games were fun and good times
were had by all.
Please get some rest!
Our community wants to welcome
the birth of your new son with open
arms. We know you are a fantastic
mom and an even better teacher.
Thank you so much for all you do to
make this world a better place.
Come back soon, Miss Lindsay! Enjoy your
time with your new baby.
Please come back soon!
Our Website:
ar.cacmp.org
APEX Fun Run
California Montessori
Project
We are so excited to announce
that our school will be participating in the Apex Fun Run
again for a second year in a
row as part of our annual fundraising program. The Apex
program will be with our students from November 14th—
December 1st teaching leadership and fitness as we raise
pledges to help our school.
Please look in your child’s
folder and e-mails that will be
sent to you from your teachers
as the fun run gets nearer.
Please feel free to visit
www.apexfunrun.com to learn
about this interactive program
that helps
schools all
over the country raise
money, while
promoting
leadership and
fitness. This
year's theme
is Legends
where students
will:






Learn
Engage
Give
Empower
Never Quit
Do
Please join us as we all prepare to become LEGENDary!