Principal's Message
February 25th
On February 11th I wrote about Brene Brown’s work on the Power of Vulnerability. Towards the end of her Ted talk, she began talking about parenting and raising children. She said something that I had never heard before, “Children are hardwired for struggle when they get here. When you hold those perfect little babies in your hands, our job is not to say, ‘Look at her, she is perfect. My job is to keep her perfect --make sure she makes the tennis team by 5th grade and Yale by 7th grade.’ That is not our job! Our job is to look and say, you know what? ‘You are imperfect and you are wired for struggle, but you are worthy of love and belonging.’ That is our job.” This quote brings up a lot for me. I have always known that children are meant to make mistakes in order to learn and grow, but I have never thought of it in terms of “struggle”. Our struggles in life are part of what shapes us into the people we are today. This is how we build determination, perseverance and grit. But adults are hardwired to protect children, and very often we try to shield our children from adversity. It is hard to watch our children struggle. Our instincts are to swoop in and make it right.
I have included this article, Allowing Your Children Opportunities to Persevere because it does a good job drawing the connection between struggling and learning. We have all seen our children learn something new, so it is not surprising that children learn by doing. When a person tries something new, she or he is building brain connections. But trying new things can be very difficult, and very often children give up when things get hard. This is the time adults need to step up and encourage kids to keep going.
I often think about how anybody could be successful as an adult without having struggled as a child. The Native American parable in the article above about the butterfly rings so true. I appreciate how it framed struggle as a missed opportunity. Adversity in a young person’s life is always an opportunity for growth. If we are always stepping in to make things easy for our children, or trying to solve their problems for them, they are missing out on opportunities to learn.
At Central, we receive a lot of email communication from parents who are trying to resolve an issue that may have come up. It always presents a challenge for educators because parents are not in the classroom and often have incomplete information. The point I’m trying to make is that it is best to give our students the opportunity to solve their problems themselves. Middle schoolers are old enough to begin to learn how to work through the challenges that arise in their education. Initially our children will be pretty bad at problem solving for themselves. But how will they ever get better without trying? If adults are always stepping in as fixers, they are robbing their children the opportunity to struggle, which is limiting their growth. As Brene Brown said, our job is to acknowledge that our kids are imperfect and are going to struggle and to love them through it all.
Tom Domer
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San Mateo Office of Education invites you to join them for The Next Big Think, a STEM fair celebrating learning and innovations. Please see the link below for more details.
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8th Grade Grad Shirts
Show your 8th grade pride and order your child a graduation shirt and/or sweatshirt today. All orders are due to Ms. Williams by Thursday, March 7th at the end of the day. Checks or cash are accepted (exact amount only please) and checks can be made out to Central Middle School. An electronic order form can be found here: 8th Grade Grad Shirt Order Form 2019. Please contact Mr. Domer for scholarships.
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DC/NY Trip
This Wednesday, February 27th is the final deadline to enroll your child on the 8th grade Washington, DC and NYC trip from June 17, 2019 to June 21, 2019. You won't want your student to miss this once in a lifetime opportunity. Learn more about the trip and sign up at www.efexploreamerica.com/2101599md.
The DC/NY trip is not school sponsored or affiliated with the San Carlos School District, but led by an individual through EF Explore America. If you have any questions about this trip, please contact Jennifer Williams at [email protected].
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Mustang Roundup
Instructional Materials Adoption for History in Grades 6-8
The SCSD Middle School Social Science Adoption Committee is recommending the adoption of the Teacher Curriculum Institute (TCI) History Alive program for grades 6-8.
Staff presented to the School Board on Feb 14, 2019 regarding the adoption process and highlights of the program. Please see the school board agenda for Feb 14, 2019 if you would like to see a copy of the presentation.
The Board will then take action by approving this adoption at the meeting of the board on February 28. In addition, parents may also view the history materials at the school district office from February 25-28, from 8am-4pm.
An overview of the program is also available at: https://www.teachtci.com/. Please contact SCSD Curriculum Coordinator, Sarah Orton, at [email protected] with any questions you may have.
Parent Ed: Preventing Drug and Alcohol Use
Join the professionals from Being Adept, along with their teen panelists on March 12 from 6:30-8:30pm at the SCSD District Office to learn the latest research-based practices for preventing drug and alcohol use among teenagers and young adults. There will be an opportunity for Q &A and interactive role play to help the adults understand how best to incorporate fruitful discussion with your family about this important safety topic.
This free event is funded by our SCSD PTA Coordinating Council with support from the Sequoia Healthcare District and SCEF.
RSVP: http://evite.me/cyW9TzAwyu
San Carlos Bicycle & Pedestrian Master Plan
The City of San Carlos is starting the process of developing a Bicycle & Pedestrian Master Plan and they need our input, especially because our SCSD students will be impacted by this plan. Please check out this website for more information www.cityofsancarlos.org/bikepedmasterplan, and attend the open house on February 21, 2019 from 6-8pm at the San Carlos Library to provide your input. Share this information with neighbors and friends who may also be interested.
5th Grade Basketball Begins in March
Boys and Girls at Mariposa, SCCLC, and Arroyo are welcome to join us for our 5th basketball season this spring. Girls and boys will be placed onto even teams that will compete against other local 5th grade teams. This is a semi-competitive program aimed to introduce students to school sports and develop students into better basketball players. Score and rankings will be kept, but only to assist with the players' development.
The school athletics program is managed by Legarza, who conducts the tryouts, trains and staffs all the coaches, and coordinates all gym space and referees for the season. My role is to provide communication between SCSD and the athletic directors.
Use this link to register: https://www.scsdsports.org/scsd-registration-1
All players must read the Concussion Information and fill out an Athletic Clearance Form that requires a doctor's authorization every 16 months.
Tryouts:
- Girls: March 27, 2:00-2:45pm & March 28, 4:15-5:00pm
- Boys: March 27, 2:45-3:30pm & March 28, 3:30-4:15pm
Practices: 1-2 times per week and games will be 1-2 times per week. All events will take place between school letting out and 7pm Monday-Thursday. We try to schedule as much as possible right after school lets out, but cannot accommodate all teams all the time.
Season: The season will run for approximately six weeks with 6-8 games played between Mariposa/SCC and Arroyo, in addition to other local 5th grade teams.
Please contact Minday Hill at [email protected] if you have any questions.
SCSD Athletics
Please use the DISTRICT LINK https://www.scsdsports.org for information on SCSD Athletics. Call 415-334-3333 or email [email protected] with any questions.
SCEF
The SCEF GALA is Just Around the Corner!
Join your friends across the district at the annual SCEF Starlight Gala.
It is a fabulous night of dinner and dancing with live and silent auctions.
March 9, 2019 at Sharon Heights Country Club
Get your Gala tickets now! Ticket sales close February 26th. www.scefkids.org/events
Get Your Lucky on Live Tickets!
Can’t attend the Gala? Have family and friends who would like one of our spectacular Gala auction items?
Purchase a Lucky on Live raffle ticket. For the purchase of a ticket the lucky winner can choose from a selection of valuable Starlight Gala live auction items. See all eligible itemsat www.scefkids.org/lol2019
Only 275 tickets will be sold!
If you would like to purchase raffle tickets send an email to [email protected]noting how many you would like and which auction item you would select if you are the winner. Tickets are $100 each or 6 for $500
Thank You Teachers & Staff
A HUGE thank you to our amazing teachers and staff for their generosity and creativity for this year’s SCEF online auction. And a big THANK YOU to YOU for purchasing the auction items and supporting SCEF.
High School Happenings
Sequoia High School
Open House
Thursday, March 28, 2019 -7:00-8:30 PM
Open to Current and Prospective Students
Sequoia Day/Sequoia Stampede
Saturday, April 13, 2019 (9:00 AM)
Freshman Welcome Night
Wednesday, April 25 @ MPR 6:30-8:30 PM
Also, for more information about Sequoia and all of our programs, please visit our website at http://www.sequoiahs.org/index.html
Carlmont High School
Attached please find the October Carlmont Corner & a detailed flyer about Shadowing at Carlmont. Shadow registration will be available through our website beginning on October 8th.
http://www.carlmonths.org/Parents/8th-Grade-Transition/index.html
INFORMATION
• Carlmont High School website: http://carlmonths.org/
• Sequoia Union High School District website: http://www.seq.org/
MIDDLE SCHOOL LIAISONS
• Central, Charter, & Tierra Linda: Chris Cook [email protected]
• Nesbit, Ralston & Non-Feeder: Carol Castro [email protected]
• For non-feeder school ONLY: email [email protected] to join mailing list
Summit/Everest High School
For more information go to summitps.org
Design Tech High School
http://www.designtechhighschool.org/