2011-2012
September
Issue
01

A Message from our Meyerholz Elementary Principal Lisa Hickey

It’s hard to believe we are already three weeks into the school year!  Meyerholz is off to a smooth start.  Last year, there were a lot of uncertainties with the state budget situation and the primary class ratio going up to 24 students: 1 teacher.  I know I spoke at CLIPCO meetings about the possibility of having combination classes for this school year.  The district and I worked together to create a plan that avoided any combination classes this year.  This is great news for CLIP.  We have expanded our program slightly, as the majority of grade levels have 66 students, compared to 60 last year.  Students in Kindergarten and 1^st grade are in self-contained classes and all classes from 2^nd-5^th grade are team-taught.

I’d like to welcome three new teachers to CLIP.  Ms. Yin-Yin Pao is teaching 4^th grade Mandarin.  She previously taught in the Mandarin Immersion program at College Park School in the San Mateo/Foster City School District.  Ms. Pao succeeds Ling-Ling Chern who is now teaching 7^th grade CLIP at Miller Middle School.  Fei Deng is teaching 2^nd grade Mandarin.  Ms. Deng previously was a CLIP I.A. in Kindergarten.  She finished her credential courses last year and student taught with both Ms. Chern and Mrs. Chu (formerly Ms. Kuan).  Kiely Modiri is teaching 4^th grade English.  Last year, she taught 3^rd grade in the neighborhood program at Meyerholz.

In addition to the teachers, Linda Chow, Virginia Chan, and Shu-Hui Su are this year’s CLIP instructional assistants.  Wendy Chew is the CLIP technology media clerk.

Mr. Gumina and I had a wonderful experience this summer as we traveled to China in June.  It was the first time either of us had been to China.  We spent time in Beijing and Shandong Province, and had the opportunity to visit schools and learn more about Chinese culture.  We even climbed the Great Wall and visited the Forbidden City.  It was a once in a lifetime trip for both of us.

I truly appreciate the huge amount of parent support from CLIP parents.  Thank you for volunteering your time to help out in the school and be a part of your child’s education.  I look forward to a successful 2011-2012 school year.

Lisa Hickey
Principal of Meyerholz Elementary School

The Annual CLIP Direct Give Contest is happening NOW! To pay by check, download the pledge form and return it to the office with your donation. For your convenience, donations can also be made online at the CLIPCO website.

For more information on how the donated funds is used to make CLIP a great program, read about it here. The 2011-2012 approved budget is also available online.

The next Dining for Dollar will take place on Monday, September 26, 2011.

Come join us for lunch or dinner and help raise money for the Chinese Language Contest! Present this flyer to your server and 20% of your check will be donated to the Chinese Language Contest program.

For more information, check out our Dining for Dollar website.

Elephant Bar Restaurant
19780 Stevens Creek
Cupertino, CA 95014
408-865-0701

Prize one: a CLIP water bottle, just for making a donation of over $150.

Prize two: Root Beer Float party for the homeroom in each grade with the highest % of give participation rate.

Prize three: A super duper cool 100% T-shirt for everyone in the homeroom that has a 100% give participation rate. Designed by one of our 2nd grade parents!

You can keep track of how your room and grade is doing by checking the CLIPCO website here.

The CLIPCO T-shirt order forms have been sent home in the Thursday folders. If you missed it, you may download it here. Please fill out and return it with the payment to the school office by Friday, September 16, 2011. Please note that late orders will not be accepted.

We plan to distribute the T-shirts by Friday, October 7, 2011 before the first Kindergarten Pumpkin Patch field trip.

Please contact Cathy or Reeka for more information.

Donations must be received by midnight, Friday, October 28, 2011 to be counted. Only the paid amount for pledges will count toward the contest.

Only donations over $150 will count toward the contest.

Corporate matching cannot be used to meet the minimum donation amount ($150).

Families with multiple siblings in the program will have their donation divided equally among the siblings.

Look for posters, emails and signs to find out how your class and grade is doing in the competition!

We are looking for two Kindergarten representatives for CLIPCO and will be holding an election very soon. If you are interested in joining the board by representing the Kindergarten class, please send a short bio to reeka.ninomiya@cusdclipco.org.

ASEP (After School Enrichment Program) is a self-funded non-profit program open to all students attending Meyerholz Elementary School. Professional instructors, chosen for their specialties, come on site at Meyerholz Elementary to teach the classes. Having the classes after school and on school premises, allows ASEP to offer high level education that is convenient for parents and at a fraction of the cost of similar classes. The large number of parent volunteers are key in keeping the overhead low and the quality high.

The classes offered have varied over the years. Each year ASEP has provided an average of eight classes each year. They range from performing arts to visual arts and from traditional techniques to modern. For 2011-2012, the classes offered are Chinese Calligraphy, Chinese Sing and Learn, Chinese Brush Painting, Cartoon Drawing, Claymation, Dance (Chinese/Modern), Lion Dance, Chinese Flute, Chinese Percussion and Wushu.

Each year, ASEP puts on two major showcase performances. The winter showcase gives all the performing classes a chance to highlight what they have worked on to family and friends. At the CLIPCO spring banquet, they perform for a wider audience and help celebrate the year’s graduating classes. The visual arts classes also get a chance to shine at these events through slide shows and displays at the events. The Winter showcase this year will take place on Wednesday, December 7, 2011 at 7:00pm in the Meyerholz GLC. For more information please visit the ASEP website at http://www.cusdclipco.org/asep.html

Northern California 30th Annual Confucius Memorial Ceremony

ANCCS is one of the four major sponsors of this event, and they would like to invite students from various Chinese schools to participate in this greatest event. All participants will receive a free t-shirt to wear during the ceremony and snack after the ceremony. If you would like your child to participate, please contact Cathy Lu at cathy.lu@cusdclipco.org. The deadline to enter the event is Sunday, September 18, 2011.

Chinese Language Contest got started five years ago by a group of parents. It was a grassroots effort that takes 6-9 months of research and planning to get the event started. The contest category varies year to year depends upon the available resources and human power.

In 2007, we had 70 contestants with two categories: Speech and Read-Aloud.

The winning students from each category will be selected by the judges to participate in the ANCCS. The ANCCS contest usually is held in April at various locations in the Bay Area in the past. The CLTAC contest is for speech category only and it is open to all students who are interested. The CLTAC contest is at Lowell High School in San Francisco.

Since Chinese Language Contest is considered as an after-school program, all expenses will have to be fundraised in some way. In 2011, we asked voluntary donation when contestant submitted their art work and at the check-in on contest day. This year, the CLIPCO Board voted to fund Chinese Language Contest through the Dining for Dollars program and QlubbGive online fundraising. The CLC Committee hopes that without charging registration fees, more students are willing to participate in the contest and practice their Chinese learning in CLIP program.

CLIP continues to be in high demand as an alternative school program, due to the great teachers, staff, parents and students working effectively. We appreciate all the CLIP parents who give their time and perspectives to interested families.  We will announce 4 tour dates that will be scheduled for the winter 2012, before Kindergarten registration week. We will need your help from 8:30-10:30am to help tour interested parents. You must have your negative TB shot result and volunteer certification, unless you are a middle school CLIP parent.

Please email Anita Yee if you’re interested in chairing the committee, or volunteering as a tour parent at clip.tour@ymail.com. Dates to be announced.

On-line fundraiser promotions are forthcoming! With the Amazon affiliate program ending for schools as additional sources of funds, CLIPCO will be announcing attractive “deals” that may be purchased on-line and redeemed by local and regional businesses that support the schools.

Please enjoy the upcoming deal promotions and know that 20% of the proceeds are coming to us.  An easy way to shop and earn funds for the program!

If you have suggestions of attractive products and services that would like to support our fund-raising efforts to our school community, please direct them to busdev@qlubbgive.com.  More info is available on www.qlubbgive.com.

We are approaching the Year of the Dragon, the most prominent zodiac year of all. The last time it was the year of the Dragon, it was the Millennium (Y2K on the solar calendar).

Meyerholz & Middle school CLIP students have represented the south bay schools for 7 years in the prestigious San Francisco Chinese New Year. With talented parent instructors, artistic parents and generous volunteers, we have been placed 2nd place several times, amongst many schools.

The most rewarding moments are observing the skill and dedication of our children who perform as an amazing team – a mixture of trained drummers, dancers and custom-made costumes symbolizing the zodiac’s significance. Our principals from Meyerholz and Miller participate to lead our banner proudly for the Cupertino Union School District.

We can only succeed with parent support in the design phase for the costumes as part of our application. This year, we will be opening more spaces to include more student participation. We need new co-chairs, costume designers, assistant drum leaders, etc. to make this possible on our committee. Please submit your interest to Anita Yee, at parade.committee@gmail.com. We will inform you of our planning meeting, which will take place in early October. Try-outs and practices will be conducted after ASEP classes end in December.

Meyerholz Elementary School

Miller/Lawson Middle School