Principal Brady's Blog

Couldn’t make it to the Principal’s Annual Report on Friday, January 20, 2012?

Click here to view the PowerPoint Presentation slides

Click here to view the video of the LCH Annual Report

Look for the LCH 2012 Annual Report coming home with students this week!

Thank you to those who came out to hear my full report this past Friday. It truly is a pleasure to celebrate the great work of our students, staff, parents, and volunteers. If you were unable to attend, I will be posting the PowerPoint and video for all to view.

Do you ever wonder what your students do in technology enrichment class? Did you know that the La Costa Heights Leadership Team has started publishing a school newspaper? Well now you can check both out on Miss Pastor’s Multimedia Blog. Just log onto http://lchmultimedia.wordpress.com. Happy reading!

A quick post reminding you of tomorrow’s Restaurant Night Fundraiser at Jersey Mike’s Subs – which is in the Target Center just down from the Shell station. The event runs ALL day from 10am to 9pm, and this month you don’t even have to remember a flyer! La Costa Heights PTA will earn 20% of the proceeds, so please spread the word! Why not take a friend or colleague out to lunch, or order sandwiches for your office meeting? Grab an easy dinner for the kids after practice, or take the night off from cooking? It’s easy to place an order for pick up as well and avoid any wait – just go to JerseyMikes.com. Please be sure to watch the PTA newsletter and website for details on each month’s restaurant fundraiser – it’s an easy way to earn money for the school while giving you the perfect excuse to eat out every once in a while.

Bon appétit!

Lately we have been receiving many concerns regarding our parking lot safety. Parents have described experiencing a “lack of common courtesy” and “disregard for safety” from the drive through in the mornings – especially for the people that are running late. Many people are crossing between cars and not using the crosswalk. At other times, drivers are pulling out of the line to bypass the wait.

While we recognize that the parking lot can be a frustrating experience, these actions create a dangerous situation for all of our families trying to drop off students. Therefore, when using the drive through, please remember to follow the procedures as outlined in the parent handbook:

TRAFFIC SAFETY: Please discuss with your child the importance of traffic and bicycle safety. Students are to use sidewalks and crosswalks and to cross streets at corners only. Students are not to cross at the entrance to the parking lot. No child may walk into or through the parking lot without an adult during morning and after school traffic times. Everyone walking into or through the parking lot must use the blue-painted walkways. There is no parking in the drop off/pick up lane. Student safety is seriously jeopardized when students are asked to cross Levante Street anywhere other than the crosswalk intersection. Please respect the safety of all students and those parents driving on Levante Street who will not be expecting children to cross.

Drop off time is between 7:45am and 8:00am. Pick up time is between 2:20pm and 2:40pm. Enter the parking lot from the west end and coming from a western direction. The white curbing along the front of the school allows for student drop-off and pick-up. The green curbing is reserved for Care-A-Van special education vans during the times posted. Once in the lot a single lane of traffic must be maintained with no parking. Drivers are encouraged to move their cars all the way down the curb to allow as many cars to enter the parking lot as possible. If you need to leave your car unattended for any reason, please park in a designated space in our parking lot, or on Levante Street or other nearby streets. Our parking lot is very small and is used by both staff and parents. Please do not drop off or pick up your children in the street while you are waiting in line on Levante Street.

For Drop Off – please have your child(ren) ready to exit the car before you enter the lot, i.e., backpacks, lunch money, etc. Make sure children are safely behind the red safety line on the sidewalk before you pull away from the curb in to the exit lane.

For Pick Up – your child(ren) will wait for you at the designated sidewalk area behind the red safety line. Please do not stop until you have pulled forward as far as you can go. Your child(ren) will follow you safely behind the red line until you can stop. Once your child(ren) are safely in the car and buckled up, you may pull away from the curb into the exit lane. Exit the lot only to the right (east) during drop off/pick up times.

Preferred Alternate Routes – while it may seem inconvenient at first, please keep in mind that these alternate routes are meant to reduce traffic at designated crossing areas and provide the safest possible arrival and departure for all children and drivers.
-If you are coming from LA COSTA AVENUE you can use CALLE MADERO and make a LEFT onto LEVANTE STREET to enter the school lot.
-After you exit the school lot to the right (east) you can either go LEFT on MORADA STREET continue down and go LEFT on GARBOSO STREET then go RIGHT on ROMERIA STREET to bring you to LA COSTA AVENUE.
-Go RIGHT on ESTANCIA STREET then go RIGHT on SEGOVIA WAY. This will bring you back to LEVANTE STREET.
-Continue RIGHT on LEVANTE STREET to LA COSTA AVENUE.

Please do not attempt to make a U-turn on Morada Street. This particular U-turn is unsafe. Please be courteous to our neighbors and do not park illegally in front of someone’s driveway. Your car could be cited and/or towed. By working together, we will keep children safe and traffic running smoothly.

We appreciate your cooperation.

Please read the message below that I received from an LCH parent:

“I just wanted to let you know (in case you weren’t already aware) about a new change in the carseat laws. Effective Jan 1st, 2012, the CA car seat law is changing from 6 years or 60lbs to 8 years or 4′ 9″ (57 inches). Most of the parents I talk to at the school are unaware of the change, so I think it would be really helpful to parents if the school sent out a special notice about this. Many kids are no longer in booster seats, but the change in the law would put them back in to boosters for another 2 years or so. This will also be important for field trips as almost all the kids in grades K-3 would legally need to ride in boosters.”

Here’s a link to the California Highway Patrol website stating the
change.

http://www.chp.ca.gov/community/safeseat.html

This week I will be meeting with all students to review our school-wide behavior expectations. Please take a moment to reinforce this effort to discuss the following expectations with your student:

• Be Safe• Be Scholarly• Be Sincere

Assembly Expectations:
Enter MPR quietly
Sit as directed
Whisper
Respond appropriately
Listen to all adults
Leave calmly with our classes

Classroom Expectations:
• Be on time
• Have completed work and supplies
• Listen when teachers and peers speak
• Follow directions
• Wait to be recognized by teacher before talking
• Keep hands and feet to self
• Keep area neat and organized
• Take care of school property

Media Center Expectations:
• Enter quietly
• Keep area free of food and drink
• Be attentive 
• Keep volume at appropriate level
• Sit in designated areas
• Tidy before leaving
• Protect books while in your possession
• Return books on time

Office/Nurse Expectations:
• Enter with a pass/note from teacher
• See the secretary and wait to be helped
• Be respectful of office/nurse property
• Follow staff directions

Playground Expectations:
• Stay on the playground area at all times
• Use playground equipment properly
• Follow the school’s game rules
• Demonstrate good sportsmanship at all times
• Be respectful… no bullying

Lunch Expectations:
• Stay seated until excused by aide
• Pick up trash
• No running
• Stay in designated areas
• Reduce, reuse, recycle
• Feed the worms!

Bathroom Expectations:
• Use the bathroom during recess and breaks
• Do not play in the bathroom area
• Respect the privacy of others in the bathrooms
• Do not destroy anything in the bathrooms
• No texting in the bathroom
• Maintain the bathroom in a clean condition
• FLUSH! (And WASH your hands)

The following items are not allowed OUT at school:
• Toys
• Skateboards
• MP3 Players/iPods
• Cell Phones (ONLY after school on the front sidewalk)

Please Refrain From…
• Booing, whistling, yelling or talking at inappropriate times
• Defacing or vandalizing school property or the property of others
• Taking things from others without their permission
• Gum Chewing
• Spitting
• Using profane or abusive language

Zero Tolerance:
• Weapons or imitation weapons
• Drugs and drug paraphernalia
• Threats to a school employee
• Serious injury to another student
• Ongoing disruptive behavior

Thank you for the ongoing support in the education of our children!

Have you picked up a copy of the Coast News recently? If you have, no doubt you have seen LCH students featured three weeks in a row now! A special thanks to Jean Gillette,our lovely media specialist and Coast News columnist, for always keeping LCH in the spotlight.

Look for stories on the following LCH accomplishments:
• Our 6th Grade Walk Through the Ancient World
• 6th Grade Amazing Race Winners at Mrs. Bram’s Amazing Race party
• The LCH Robotics Team, The Mad Cowboys

If you can’t get your hands on a copy of the newspaper, stop by our Wall of Fame in the media center to check out the articles.

Happy New Year La Costa Heights!

Just a quick reminder that school resumes tomorrow January 3, 2012. I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season and are all making the most of the last hours of winter break.

Yet, although our break from school is ending, finding time to relax doesn’t have to. Stay stress free in 2012 by making it your New Years’ resolution to keep life simple. Try to find time each day to sit quietly or enjoy a nice walk on our beautiful Carlsbad beaches. Be sure to cherish time as a family… in fact why not start right now?

Remember to set your alarms and we’ll see you all tomorrow at 8:00AM.

Thank you to all of the students that participated in our Campus Clean up right before winter break. The winners of the Campus Cleanup raffle were:

First Lunch:

Sarah in Mrs. Shulz’s class

Jojo in Mrs. Gilligan’s class

Kersee in Mrs. Gilligan’s class

Second Lunch:

Chance in Mrs. Woolf’s class

Sophia in Mrs. Penwarden’s class

Fiona in Mrs. Power’s class

Each winner will receive a $5 Golden Spoon gift certificate and “green” reusable snack bag.

A special thank you to our Green Team Volunteers for organizing this event. Congratulations to all!