Last Week of Summer School!

Hello, one last time...

I'm sure it has been a good summer and summer school for everyone!

As we wind up our stint here at Brownell, we want to make sure we have everything in it's proper place by the end of the week.  As we went through the summer there may have been times we needed to "barrow" something to keep moving forward.  So we  need to make sure we all take a minute or two to remember if we did move some equipment or furniture from one room to another so we can have it back in it's proper place.  

This week we will have a crew moving through the classrooms putting in new "Columbine" locks in all the doors.  I'm unsure as to the exact schedule that this will follow but it should not necessitate any changing of classrooms this final week of summer school.

Also, 15 of our rooms will be re-carpeted and this as well shouldn't upset any planned activities or classroom programming.

VERY IMPORTANT!  We need to make sure all keys are returned to the main office before you leave.  We are getting new outside keys but our old keys open other things as well--all must be returned, Thanks!

I want to thank the PowerSchool team for a great summer.  I certainly have not had to stick my nose in your business all summer (knock on wood for last week!).  You have been running a very organized program and I thank you for your enthusiasm and professionalism.  Thank you to Michelle, Kenneth, Mark, Maria, Andrea and Amanda and all the leaders for a great summer! 

And a hearty thank you to our Migrant Ed folk: Traci Johnson and Christina Perez for their great work this summer!

And thank you to Sonia De La Cruz, our secretary for her ability to keep everything moving while I made sure I was never at the right school at the right time!

I hope Brownell and Mrs. Mukai and I have made you feel welcomed and well taken care of!

Have a Great Week!   And a good school year ahead!

~Greg 

Week five...

We are now into Week 5/6 or... .666666... % complete!

Welcome to the 5th week of Summer School!
Special Education and The STAR program have finished their run which leaves the migrant program and Super Summer PowerSchool for two more weeks!

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Speaking of Special Education...  They ended their summer with a great BBQ.  The students enjoyed the summer program as well as the "March of the fleas" game which lead them into different classrooms throughout the summer.  One student, Jesus enjoyed the summer but said it didn't leave him with enough time to get what he needed done and asked me if I could extend summer next school year.  I promised him I would do what I can.

Speaking of PowerSchool...   I was able to be a part of a wonderful tour and presentation given by both adults and students of the summer program.  Thanks to everyone at PowerSchool!  Well done!

And.. Speaking of STAR...   I attended the Saturday performance of "Annie Jr." and it was excellent.  It amazes me what these students can do in just 4 weeks of rehearsal.  Bravo! STAR! and we look forward to having you back again next year!

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We will be having an Earthquake drill this Wednesday at 10:00 am. 
I or someone else will get on the intercom and announce "...the earthquake has begun"! 
All students and teachers are to find cover under desks etc.
After 2 min. (after shaking has ended) you are to go with your class to your evacuation site/# on the south field.
Once the "All Clear" signal has been sounded, return to your class and continue the learning process.

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Remind your students that Friday is not a national holiday for the Garlic Festival.
  
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Have a great week everyone!

~Greg 

Summer School -->> Week Four...

Hello and Welcome Back,

Monday marks the halfway point for most of us, 

though we do say au revoir to our comrades in Special Ed 
as well as our friends in the STAR program!

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Speaking of the STAR Program...   Don't miss the play this weekend!

A legacy of fun and engaging summer theater arts with youth at Brownell Middle School.

Fri.17th @ 7:00pm

Sat.18th @ 4:00pm

Call or Text

669-888-4148

Email:

star.arts.education@gmail.com

Web:

https://www.facebook.com/STAR.Arts.Education

See you at the Show!

1-weekend only!

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The Migrant Ed PASS program has two trips this week!

TECH Museum, July 15th

Pick -Up at  Brownell MS at: 8:30 am

Depart Brownell at 8:45 am and Pick up at GHS at 9:00 am

Arrive to Tech museum and check in at 10:30 am:30 am

Lunch 11:20 - 11:50 am 

IMAX 12:00 - 12:45 pm

Bus pick up at in San Jose 2:15 pm

Arrive to Brownell at 2:30 pm

Depart Brownell at and Arrive to GHS at 2:45 pm

UC Santa Cruz, July 17th

Pick -Up at  Brownell MS at: 8:30 am

Depart Brownell at 8:45 am and Pick up at GHS at 9:00 am

Arrive to UC Santa Cruz at 10:00 am

Lunch 11:00 to 11:30 am

Bus pick up at 1:00 pm at UC Santa Cruz

Arrive to Brownell at 2:00 pm

Depart Brownell at 2:15 pm and Arrive to GHS at 2:30 pm

Traffic played havoc with times last week so make sure the students tell their parents that it "might" happen again!

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Power School Super Summer Camp

will have a special super summer rally on 

Thursday the 16th... 

Get your rally voice in shape!

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Valete! 

Third Week of Summer School!

WELCOME BACK!

I hope your 4th was wonderful with family and friends!

II

Now back at it!
It is looking like a warm but not hot week ahead... may even dip into the 70's. (brings up memories of tie dye...) 

The Fire Drill last week was great!  In a week or two we will have our Earthquake Drill.  There won't be an alarm, but we will let you know the day and time and get on the loudspeaker to announce the "...shaking goin' on."  Everyone will duck and cover best they can and then after a 2 min. or so time period we will make our way to the south field and to our class number.

III

PowerSchool had to postpone their trip to Henry Coe State Park last week because of the fire and heat and will reschedule soon.

The Migrant Ed program has a full slate of trips scheduled:

CSU Monterey Bay -July 8, 2015

Pick -Up at  Brownell MS at: 8:30 am

Depart Brownell at 8:45 am and Pick up at GHS at 9:00 am

Arrive to CSUMB at 10:00 am

Lunch 11:00 - 11:30 pm  

Bus pick up at 1:00 at CSUMB

Arrive to Brownell at  2:00

Depart Brownell at 2:15 and Arrive to GHS at 2:30 pm

TECH Museum, July 15, 2015

Pick -Up at  Brownell MS at: 8:30 am

Depart Brownell at 8:45 am and Pick up at GHS at 9:00 am

Arrive to Tech museum and check in at 10:30 am

Lunch 11:20 - 11:50 pm  

IMAX 12:00 - 12:45 pm

Bus pick up at 1:15 in San Jose

Arrive to Brownell at 2:15

Depart Brownell at 2:30 and Arrive to GHS at 2:45

UC Santa Cruz, July 17, 2015

Pick -Up at  Brownell MS at: 8:30 am

Depart Brownell at 8:45 am and Pick up at GHS at 9:00 am

Arrive to UC Santa Cruz at 10:00 am

Lunch 11:00 - 11:30 pm  

Bus pick up at 1:00 at UC Santa Cruz

Arrive to Brownell at  2:00

Depart Brownell at 2:15 and Arrive to GHS at 2:30 pm

Facebook Headquarters - July 22, 2015

Pick -Up at  Brownell MS at: 8:30 am

Depart Brownell at 8:40 am and Pick up at GHS at 9:00 am

Arrive to Facebook Headquarters at 10:00 am

Panel Presentation 10:00-11:00 am

Tour 11:00-12:00 pm

Bus pick up at 12:00 pm at Facebook Headquarters

12:00 - 1:00 pm Lunch **Tentative**

Depart at 1:00 pm to Gilroy

Arrive to Brownell at  2:00

Depart Brownell at 2:15 and Arrive to GHS at 2:30 pm

IV

Here is a bit to bite on intellectually concerning education in America, if you have time...

Sir Ken Robinson has a lot to say about 

U.S. school reform... --Washington Post

V

That is all for now!  ~Greg 

The Week of Week II

Hello all, 
Week two will be a shorter week of course with Independence Day on the horizon.  We will have no school on Friday the 3rd in commemoration.

Supplies:
All programs should have their own supplies process, but if not... let me know so I can help you figure it out.

Attendance:
Hopefully, attendance is working now for all?   Let me know if not...

Events, of sort...
We will be having a fire drill this week, Thursday morning at 10 am!
... So make sure all students are in your classrooms so we can let er' rip!   So, 10:00 am Thursday July 2nd will be a  drill.  
There should be a map for escape by the door of the classrooms...  But I will send out an email with the map...just-in-case... 

 

Is the use of the Computer Labs going okay? Make sure we keep track of who is using what computer... this is so if there is a problem we can trace back and figure out what happen.  We wouldn't want any...

    

uncomfortable moments....  

And make sure we keep the labs locked!

Field Trips

I know that different programs have field trips this summer... let me know who, when, and where so we can work together on this.  --Thanks!

And here is your weekly reader... 

an article on the brain and technology and how the "app" does or doesn't help creativity?  

Is the 'App Mentality' Killing Students' Creativity?

The Journal 

Week ONE of Summer School

Okay, not actually week one for all of us, but most of us will be starting on Monday the 22nd!

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I will add a video or thought or pod cast here and there that I bump into that may or may not be of interest to you but if you have time... view, read and listen when you can and if we bump into each other you can let me know what you think.  Or comment on the blog... I like new, somewhat controversial thinking and not just out of the box but sometimes just precariously edgy thinking... say, on the edge of the box. Technology, education, brain science, new world issues, thoughts and problems....  

So, to that point... here is an interesting podcast I listened to this morning on the WNYU's "NOTE TO SELF" podcast...  "The Bi-literate Brain." 
Question(s)... why does digital reading seem so different then paper reading to a lot of us?  And...  should we be concerned or is it just us "old fogies" that have the problem...

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Okay, back to Summer School...  

Technology:  
Any issues?  Let me know by replying to this Blog or emailing me at gregory.camacholight@gilroyunified.org

Maintenance:  
Any issues?  I think we got the refrigeration issue for PowerSchool worked out (kitchen) and Mrs. Mukai has found some materials for PS as well.     

Supplies:  
For Migrant Ed and SPED...  I was instructed to have you look online with Palace Arts,  (I believe this is the site... I'm going to double check on Monday) to see what your needs are to order up to $50.00 per teacher. If you are close but over, let me know so we can discuss.   Write out a list with item number, quantity and price and send an email to Sheri Lynch at:  sheri.lynch@gilroyunified.org and you should receive your order within a couple days. 

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I will be going to every class/group on  Monday and talking to the kids and saying hello.  Please do as much in-class discipline before you send a student to the office.   I may give them the "one-on-one" talk once, depending on the egregiousness of the offence before I suspend.  Because we are working with four separate programs at Brownell this year, most if not all, can and should be taken care of at the program level....  BUT, if necessary I'm here, or not too far away (GHS).  And the student may just need to sit out for a time to get their priorities straight!  

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That is all for now...    I'm sure I forgot something, so if you know this or have a question anyway, let me know!   Thanks, Greg 

Pre-Summer School

Hello all!

I will periodically be writing a Blog post for your information; if I have anything you need to know about!  This summer at Brownell, we will not have the High School students as they will be attending Gilroy High School summer school.   So... it should be a bit less noisy... I think...   

But, we do have a number of programs and a couple hundred students attending!   

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Lunches will be served at different times for different programs between 11:30 and 1:00 and we would like the students to eat outside.  When it gets hot we will have some tables set up in the MPR.  Because we are sharing the MPR we will need to be flexible so that we are all served and taken care of!

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Special Education will be utilizing four classrooms:   
Severe Autistic, Non-Severe SDC (2) and Severe.  They will be in Rooms 1-4

Migrant Education will be in classrooms 10, 11 and 12  With Math, ELA and Science

PowerSchool will be occupying the "Village" as we at Brownell like to call our 6th grade area of campus on the south east side of the campus.   All classrooms except a couple will be used by PowerSchool this summer as well as the Gym.

Also on campus we are honored to have for the second time in two years, STAR ARTS Education!  STAR will be occupying the stage, some classrooms and most of the MPR room for their summer programs-"Gilroy STAR" and "Video STAR".  This year's play is "Annie Jr."  There will be an opportunity for our summer school students to see the play! STAR runs from June 22nd --July 18th!  Performances are July 17th, and 18th.  

Program	Dates	Student Start Time	Student End Time	Bus Drop Off at School	Bus Pick Up at School	Lunch Time	Community Lunch Time
Brownell MS
ESY-SPED 6-8 gr (4 wks)	6/19- 7/17	8:30 am	1:00 pm	8:15	12:30	11:30-12:00
Super Power Summer Camp 6-9	6/22– 7/31	8:30 am	2:30 pm	7:45/7:50/   7:55	2:30/2:45/    2:50	12:00-1:00	serve for 30-45 minutes only
Migrant Ed gr. 6-8	6/22– 7/31	8:30 am	12:00 pm (dual enrolled = 2:30 pm)	7:45/7:50/   7:55	2:30/2:45/    2:50	11:45-12:30 optional
STAR ART EDUCATION	6/22-7/18	9:00 am	4:00 pm	Students will be dropped off by parents in bus turn around	Students will be picked up by parents In the bus turn around	Will work around others –have lunch

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HEADS UP! 

 
During the summer two maintenance projects will be taken care of at Brownell.  

1.  All outside doors will have new door handle/lock mechanisms replaced.   As this work is being accomplished, every room, room by room will need to be flexible and work with our crews.  Each door will not take too long, but it can get a bit noisy and we will need to switch classrooms here and there to accommodate the work. I'll let you know when the work begins and the rooms that will be worked on that week/day.  

2.  We are getting WiFi this summer!  this is not too much of a job either (per room) but it will mean that every other classroom or so will be installed with a wifi device and connected to our Ethernet. So, flexibility once again and I will keep you posted.  

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That is all for now!  ~Greg