Killian Cougar Chronicle
Killian Elementary
January / February 2009
A National Blue Ribbon School
A California Distinguished School
Susan Halliday, Principal
Mary Jane Peterson, Vice Principal
News from 1st Grade
Santa Visits Killian
Happy New Year! There are many
exciting things going on in first
grade. We have been learning
about penguins, polar bears, and writing about
snowmen. In writing, we are continuing to
work on using adjectives, commas in a series,
and sequencing events. We have started to
study long vowels in reading. We are
continuing to work on retelling story elements.
In math, our first graders are mastering
addition and subtraction facts using different
strategies. First grade has learned about Dr.
Martin Luther King, Jr and his contributions
to society. We all watched and discussed the
historic presidential inauguration. In Social
Studies, we are studying mapping and
American symbols. For Science, we are
learning about matter and plants. Our students
have successfully learned the new Accelerated
Reader program and are having fun taking
quizzes that test and reflect their growing
comprehension skills. First grade welcomes
Ms. Mejia, a student teacher in Ms. Abe’s class,
from California University State Fullerton.
Apparently Killian
students and staff had
been good throughout
the year, because the
jolly ole elf again took
time and came down
from the north to see
all the folks here. The
activities began on
Wed. Dec. 10th, with
the exceptionally
talented Rowland
High School Choir
entertaining the large gathering on the playground. We like to schedule pictures with
Santa, just in case he is able to drop by in Dec. We just are never sure if he will
actually arrive, or HOW he will arrive.
CALENDAR
February 3 Multicultural Day
February 4 KSCA Meeting 2:55pm
February 5 Student of the Month
assemblies - 2nd, 5th, & 6th
Grades
February 6 Student of the Month
assemblies - Kinder, 1st, 3rd
& 4th Grades
February 16 Lincoln’s Birthday
NO SCHOOL
February 23 President’s Day
NO SCHOOL
February 25 SSC Meeting 2:55pm
March 13
Jog-a-thon Fundraiser
March 16-20 Parent Conference Week
April 13-17 Spring Break NO SCHOOL
After the excellent
performance from RHS choir,
Mrs. Halliday addressed the
students, parents, and staff
that she had not heard from
Santa. As 650 students and
approximately 50+ staff
members and parents
anxiously awaited, a beautiful
Mustang convertible cruised
onto the school playground.
The first vehicle, upon
inspection, was empty.
However, shortly after inspecting the car, a loud honking school bus arrived. Again,
upon inspection, it was empty. The driver stated that she thought Santa had been in
the back of the bus. The crowd showed genuine disappointment. Then, what to their
wondering eyes should appear?... but a huge motor home, which parked alongside
the bus! Mrs. Halliday carried the microphone with her throughout the motor home,
and could not find Santa. As she was exiting the place, a long white stretch limo
pulled up. The anxiously awaiting students and staff could hardly contain themselves
because they just knew that Santa was inside the darkened - windowed vehicle.
When Santa again did not appear, Mrs. Halliday
attempted to help the crowd understand that
perhaps they could have their picture taken
beside a large picture of Santa instead of the live
person. Some of the kindergarteners actually had
tears in their eyes. The crowd sang a few
Christmas songs and were ready to dismiss when
the loud sirens of a fire engine pulled everyone’s
attention back to the double gated area. As the
huge red sparkling engine whirred onto the
playground, who was hanging on the back? Why
it was Santa!
Killian School’s common vision is: Commitment to excellence for all and by all students and staff, through our dedication to provide a strong support system for students;
provide a rigorous instructional program delivered with high expectations for academic achievement; provide parent training and encourage parent participation.
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Make Sure You Know The Ways
to Keep In Contact With School
Encourage Your Family To Meet
New Goals in Four Simple Ways
Parents and schools must communicate
about countless issues, from grades to
discipline to illness. Sometimes it's hard to
know when, who or if you should call! In
fact, some staff prefer using email when
possible. To get the most out of contact with
your school:
January is a time for taking stock and setting goals. Most people make
some type of New Year's resolution. Then two weeks later, they
realize they haven't followed through.

List people you may need to reach. For example, your child's
teacher, the school secretary, the principal and PTA leaders.
Phone numbers and email addresses may be on the school
website or in a school directory.
1. Pay attention. Suppose your child has decided she wants to do her
homework without nagging. The first time she sits down without
being reminded, pay attention. A short, "Grace, you're meeting your
goal for the day. Good work!" is all it will take.
Read paperwork the school sends home. Memos and
newsletters contain key information, such as staff changes,
when the school must be contacted (if a child is sick, for
instance), and how to communicate in an emergency.
2. Don't wait. We all get caught up in
what we're doing. But there is nothing
that works as well as immediate
feedback. "Kylie, thanks so much for
taking the dog for a walk," you'll say.
Kylie will be much more likely to take
the dog for a walk tomorrow.

Learn about new ways that schools stay in touch. Many use
special phone systems to receive and send out messages.
Teachers, the PTA and others may use email to reach big
groups. Make sure your email address is included.

Be patient when problems arise. It's tempting
to make a call or send an email right away when
you're upset about something. If possible, take
time to calm down. Then make your contact as
productive as possible.

Consider a general rule: Start with the person closest to a
problem. If your child has trouble in math, talk with his math
teacher. That may be all you need to do. If that doesn't work,
however, move on to other staff.

Reprinted with permission from the January 2009 issue of Parents make the
difference!® (Elementary School Edition) newsletter. Copyright © 2009 The
Parent Institute®, a division of NIS, Inc. Source: GreatSchools.net Staff,
"Communicating With Your Child's School," Great Schools.net,
www.greatschools.net/cgi-bin/showarticle/64.
Kids are no different. Why not try to make this the January that
everyone in the family takes action to meet some new goal? Here are
four ways to encourage that change:
3. Reinforce the small steps. She wants to pull her spelling grade up to
an A. This week she's not quite there--but she made some
improvement. Remind her of the fable of the tortoise and the hare.
Slow but steady really does win the race.
4. Be specific. Your child is trying to bring up her math grade. So
after she does her homework, she takes time to check her answers.
Don't just say, "Good job." Tell her, "You checked your work. That's
a good way to catch little mistakes that can lower your grade."
Reprinted with permission from the January 2009 issue of Parents make the difference!®
(Elementary School Edition) newsletter. Copyright © 2009 The Parent Institute®, a
division of NIS, Inc. Source: Susan B. Wilson & Michael S. Dobson, Goal Setting: How to
Create an Action Plan and Achieve Your Goals, ISBN: 10-8144-0169-4 (American
Management Association, 1-877-566-9441, www.amacombooks.org).
A Special Thank You to Killian’s Community Partners
Acapulco Restaurant
Benihanas Restaurant
Black Angus Restaurant
California Arbonist
Chick-fil-A
Chili’s Restaurant
Costco
Design Plus Signs
Elephant Bar Restaurant
Hot Dog on a Stick
IHOP
In N Out
Mimi’s Café
Page 2
Nolan’s Aquarium
Office Depot
Pizza Hut
Rainforest Café
Red Robin Restaurant
Sam’s Club
Speed Zone
Superior Chrysler
T.G.I. Fridays
Target
Topline Services
Washington Mutual
Round Up an Excellent Year!
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News from 2nd Grade...
As we begin 2009, Second
Grade is busily learning many
new skills and concepts in The
M.I.N.D Institute. We have
been practicing and learning
our piano skills on keyboards two times a week. Learning
how to count quarter notes, half notes, and whole notes while
playing on the keyboard can be a bit of a challenge. In fact,
Second Grade is even working on playing both hands at the
same time! We have learned what harmony, melody and
intervals are in music. Just ask your Second Grader to show
you a fifth, third or even a second on their fingers. Learning
to read notes and music can be a bit of a challenge, but luckily
Killian has Mrs. Kim, our own piano instructor, teaching
keyboarding skills to all students in grades 2-4.
Kindergartners LOVE their
New Playground Equipment
When Killian kindergartners returned to school in January they
could barely contain themselves as they viewed their new
playground climbing wall. More than 20 students immediately
began climbing up, down, around, through, between and under the
exciting apparatus. Ever seen ants on a cube of sugar??
Our students and staff THANK ALL OF YOU for your fundraising
efforts throughout the year. It is through your efforts that KSCA was
able to purchase the equipment. The cost of the equipment was
slightly over $5,000 and the installation, concrete curbs, and
padded surface was just over $18,000. As you can see, playgrounds
are quite expensive and must meet California criteria and safety
requirements, but they do last a long time and provide lots of fun
and skill building for our students.
Besides all the music training going on in Second Grade, we
also have Jiji math games to learn math skills and concepts
twice a week. Jiji is a penguin in all the games
that wants to cross from one side to the other
and the only way to do that is to have the
player correctly solve the math problem.
Luckily, the computer games have lots of
picture clues to help us learn the concept along
the way before having to solve the problem
with only numbers. Learning to add, subtract, count coins,
and make 3-digit numbers are only some of the concepts that
Jiji teaches in Second Grade.
In November, Second Grade was fortunate to attend a theater
production of Amber Brown Is Definitely Not A Crayon at
Haugh Performing Arts Center in Glendora. Thanks to KSCA
for providing funds for all the 2nd and 3rd grade students to
see a book brought to life on stage. Another highlight of the
day was being able to go to a local park in Glendora and join
other kids climbing and playing on the equipment.
Finally, as we get further into the school year, Second
Graders will be busily learning how to write a friendly letter
for our second district writing assessment. We will not only
learn the form of a friendly letter, but also
continue to work on adding details to our
writing to make it more exciting and
interesting for the reader. Learning to
write synonyms, adjectives, and to begin
and end each sentence correctly can be a
bit difficult. Luckily, we have lots of weeks
to practice with these writing skills so that
our writing will become more interesting
and exciting for our reading audience.
Are You Teaching Your
Child How to Handle Failure?
Some parents want to wrap their children in a protective bubble so
they never experience failure. Others know the positive lessons that
can be learned from overcoming disappointments.
Are you helping your child learn from failure?
Answer yes or no to each question below:
____1. I don't jump in right away if my child has a
problem. I give him a chance to solve it on his own.
____2. I try to be a good role model. If I have failed
at something, I talk about it and about how I plan to fix it.
____3. I try to help my child keep things in perspective. "You didn't
win the game. But you got a hit."
____4. I know that my child will learn from failure.
____5. I encourage good sportsmanship. Whether we are playing a
board game or a sport, I help my child be a gracious winner and a
good loser.
How well are you doing?
Each yes means you're helping your child learn to bounce back from
defeat and disappointment. For each no, try that idea in the quiz.
Reprinted with permission from the January 2009 issue of Parents make the
difference!® (Elementary School Edition) newsletter. Copyright © 2009 The
Parent Institute®, a division of NIS, Inc.
Volume 7, Issue 3
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