Pershing Happenings E-Newsletter
Vol. 2, Issue 10
February 28, 2008

 

Website Spotlight

A letter to Pershing families from Principal Sullivan…  

Dear Parents/Guardians:

I am pleased to report a change in our 2006-07 Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) status - Pershing made AYP for 2006-07! This change occurred because the district submitted corrections to the testing data that the California Department of Education (CDE) uses to calculate AYP. After using the corrected data to recalculate AYP, the CDE notified us that we met all 24 of our school's goals!

This accomplishment is due to the hard work of our students, staff, and parents who have dedicated themselves to improving achievement at our school. As a result, Pershing remains in Year 2 of Program Improvement rather than advancing to Year 3, and with continued hard work this year, we hope to exit Program Improvement in the fall.

Your support of your child's achievement is critical to our continued success. I encourage you to ensure that your child attends school every day and homework is completed on a regular basis. Do not hesitate to contact your child's teacher if you feel that he or she is in need of additional academic assistance. I trust that continued strong effort by students, parents, and the school staff will result in increased student achievement.

Sincerely,  

 

Sarah Sullivan
Principal  

___________________ 

8th Grade Announcements!

Attention East Coast Trip Parents: Mandatory 2008 East Coast Trip parent meeting on Tuesday, May 27, 2008 at 6:30 p.m. in the school auditorium.  

Patrick Henry News from the Pershing Counseling Department: Counselors and teachers from Henry will be here on Friday, February 29th to meet with 8th graders and talk to them about high school classes. The students will receive a Program Request Form (scheduling card) and the Inquire, which is the course catalog. Ms. Blodgett will be conducting follow up meetings with all 8th graders during their English classes the week of March 3.  She will answer questions and review how to complete the scheduling cards so that the best information is included to help the Henry staff schedule students for next year. Students must return their scheduling cards to their English teachers by Wednesday, March 12. 

Patrick Henry High School Volunteer  Opportunity

Your help is needed! Parents, grandparents, and other members of the community are cordially invited to sit on a Senior Exhibition panel at Patrick Henry High. This is a wonderful opportunity for 6th, 7th, and especially 8th grade parents to learn more about PHHS through the reflections of their graduating seniors. Senior Exhibitions will be held on April 24, 2008 from 11:45 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. To serve on a panel, please contact Yvonne Walden at ywalden@sandi.net. 

 School News and Activities

Pasta for Pennies from Mr. Myrick "Thank You! Pershing students ROCK! We have donated over $1,400.00 so far this year...I’m sure we will collect at least $2,000.00 total for the three weeks. Pershing students - you deserve to feel good about yourself. You are helping to make the world better for someone else." The money donated goes to support the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society’s blood cancer research and patient services. Donations will be accepted until February 29th.  

Welcome to Pershing! Thank you to all the families who attended the 5th Grade Parent Orientation on February 27th.  We enjoyed meeting you and look forward to seeing you at our upcoming tours and the May 2nd Mixer. 

Once again, over 100 Pershing students have been chosen by the GSDSEF regional screening judges to compete at the 2008 Greater San Diego Science and Engineering Fair. This amount represents approximately one third of our 8th grade class. Several of our 7th grade students were also among those selected. These students participated in our 7th Grade After School Science Fair Club and worked very hard in their after school hours to prepare for this prestigious academic event.

Pershing Students Shine in Regional Competition!

Celebrating Academic Achievement - On February 20, 2008, the San Diego Unified School District held a press conference in the Pershing Library to announce that Pershing Middle School had met all Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) targets for 2006-2007! We are also pleased to share that the San Diego Unified School District met all the federal AYP targets as well! The SDUSD is the only large school district in the state to do so. We thank Katherine Nakamura, President, SDUSD Board of Education, Sheila Jackson, Member, SDUSD Board of Education, William Kowba, Acting Superintendent, Geno Flores, Deputy Superintendent and all the district leaders who came to Pershing on February 20th to make this spectacular announcement. Thank you to our outstanding Pershing Community - Principal Sullivan, the entire administration team, faculty, staff, parents, families, and our amazing students! We are so proud to be a part of this dynamic school! Pershing families will be receiving letters from the district regarding this announcement.  

6 to 6 and the Drama Club are currently holding auditions for the upcoming spring musical. If you would like to be a part of this much anticipated production, there is still time to audition. The upcoming dates are:  

6th Grade Auditions

Tuesday, March 4, A-I
Wednesday, March 5, J-R
Thursday, March 6, S-Z  

From Mrs. Miller: Anyone in the Pershing Community wishing free tickets to “Fiddler on the Roof” at Patrick Henry High School, please see Mrs. Miller ASAP.  The running time of the show is approximately 2 1/2 hours including intermission. We are proud that four current Pershing students will be performing in it.  The remaining performances are as follows: Thursday, February 28--7 p.m. and Friday, February, 29--7 p.m.

Principal’s Honor Roll

Congratulations to the Pershing students who were honored at the Principal’s Honor Roll Luncheon and Assembly on February 26th! These students maintained a 4.0 grade point average (Straight A's) in all their classes for the first semester. Thank you to everyone at Pershing for making the 2007-2008 school year so successful!!!!

Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss! March 3, 2008 is Read Across America Day. This is a day to read to a child and celebrate Dr. Seuss' birthday.

The California Young Reader Medal Program is sponsored by the Pershing Library every year. Participating students read all three books nominated in a category. This year’s voting is on March 12. For more details, please see Ms. Spicer or Mr. Fedder.  

Ms. Wheeler’s (Math, Team 7A) homework is posted each week on ParentConnect. Please note, in order to see her latest assignments, when you log onto ParentConnect and access your child's account information for Mrs. Wheeler, click on “Class News” not “Assignments.”  

Mr. Mark Anderson and his talented 6th, 7th, and 8th grade bands will be participating in the SDUSD Lewis Band Festival on March 7 & 8, 2008. Parent volunteers are also needed! For more information about the festival and volunteer opportunities, please click here and/or contact Mr. Anderson.

Lewis Band  Festival

 

Community Event

Fire Dance!  

Put on by Rachel Beck; To help San Diego’s hardest hit fire victims  

 Where: Pershing Middle School Auditorium
When: March 13, 2008
Time: 2:10 p.m. – 3:40p.m.
 Late bus available after.  

• All donations made from the dance will go directly to Habitat for Humanity to build houses for two uninsured fire victims of San Diego.

• Dance tickets will be a donation of $3.00 each.

• Tickets will be available - Tuesday, March 11th: Before school, lunch, after school, Wednesday, March 12th: Before school, lunch, after school, and Thursday, March 13th: Before school and lunch.  

There will be a raffle for a gift basket worth over $75.00 at the dance.  

• Raffle tickets will be available at the dance for $1.00 each!

Help me Help them! Volunteer Donations needed before March 10th!!  

• Chips- cookie bags - Single variety packs

• Juice/ sports drinks - (no soda) in non-glass containers - (We have H20)

• All leftovers will be donated to the Habitat for Humanity job site volunteers!

• Gift cards - or items to go into the gift basket to be raffled off during the dance.

• Sponsorships.  I am building a Habitat for Humanity house made entirely of "popsicle" sticks that can be purchased for $1.00 each. All proceeds will also be donated to Habitat for Humanity. If you’d like to help or your company would like to be a sponsor - Your company name/logo/business card will be put on the house and displayed at HABITAT FOR HUMANITY. You will also receive a “Thank You” card and Habitat for Humanity’s tax ID #.

We are grateful for all donations and will pick them up promptly.  

Email:  freesialuv@cox.net
Attn: Rachel  

Contact Parent - Carol Beck.  

THANK YOU!  

Parent Involvement Corner  

Congratulations to Debra Dupree who was named Pershing’s parent representative to the San Diego Unified School District’s GATE District Area Council!  

Thank you to Mrs. Groff and Mrs. Pomaskin for volunteering at the 5th Grade Parent Orientation Night!  

Thank you’s are also sent to all our parents who support Pershing every day! Your involvement helps make Pershing such a special place to learn and grow.  

Our next Booster meeting is on March 26th at 6:30 p.m. in the Pershing Library.

 

Upcoming Events!

Mark Your Calendars!

February 29, 2008
Henry High Articulation  

March 3, 2008
Read Across America Day
Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss!  

March 4, 2008
Spring Musical Auditions
School Site Council Meeting  

March 5, 2008
Spring Musical Auditions

March 6, 2008
Spring Musical Auditions
East Coast Trip Student Meeting  

March 7, 2008
Lewis Band Festival

March 8, 2008
Lewis Band Festival

March 10, 2008
Drama Club’s Cast List Posted  

March 11, 2008
Drama Club’s First Rehearsal
 San Diego Countywide Spelling Bee  

March 17-21, 2008
Spring Vacation