BRANCIFORTE MIDDLE SCHOOL

315 Poplar Avenue

Santa Cruz, CA 95062

(831) 429-3883

August 16, 2010

Dear Branciforte Families

Welcome to a new year at Branciforte Middle School!  I hope that your summer has been relaxing and enjoyable.  As we prepare for a new school year, we have some important news and announcements we wanted to share.  We are excited about this coming year and looking forward to meeting our new families and reconnecting with returning students!

I hope that you will join me in congratulating Kris Munro on her appointment as Assistant Superintendent of Education Services at our district office.  Kris has served our school community these past five years as principal, bringing a strong vision of supporting all students. This vision has translated into resources and new programs that have provided tremendous benefit to our school. As the assistant principal, I feel privileged to have had this opportunity to work closely with such a strong and compassionate leader.   We will be celebrating Kris prior to our first parent meetings on Wednesday, Sept. 1^st at 5:00.  I hope you can join us and raise a glass of cider to Kris!

As the new principal at Branciforte, I am excited to continue my work with such an amazing community of staff, students and families.  I’ve been a student, teacher, parent and assistant principal at Branciforte.  Each role has brought different perspectives on the strengths and challenges of working with middle school students.  What remains a constant is my belief that these years are the most critical in the development of young adults.  We need to both nurture and challenge our students in an environment that celebrates learning and their diverse strengths.

One of my personal and professional goals is to maintain strong communication with our families.   We will be sending out a monthly newsletter, along with weekly communication through your child’s advisory class.  In addition, we encourage all families to sign up for the parent portal in Infinite Campus. This portal allows you to check your student’s attendance and grades throughout the year.  Our front office staff can help you with setting up your access.

Parent Involvement

I would also like to encourage you to be involved with our school in this upcoming year.  We welcome your attendance and participation in our parent groups, at school events and during the school day.  In the first day packet, please review the parent volunteer options and let us know what works best for you and your schedule.  We know that one of the best ways to stay connected with your child through these years is through school involvement and we hope you will share in our many school wide events.

Support for school

As we approach the start of school, I’d like to ask for your help with reminding your child about school expectations.  Students at Branciforte receive a daily planner where they write their assignments.  Parents and guardians can help by reviewing the assignments at home on a daily basis.  We also ask parents to remind students not to bring expensive items to school.  Ipods, cell phones, and electronic games should remain at home during the school day.  Students who ride their bikes or skateboards to school must wear a helmet.  Students must bring a lock for their bike. If you are bringing your child to school, we ask that you be mindful of the safety of all children as you drop your student off.  Please park only in the designated areas.  To alleviate traffic, please consider picking up your child a block or two away from school.

Branciforte has a dress code that is designed to keep our students safe and focused on school.  This dress code and others policies will be sent home through the first day packet.  We ask that you take time to review these policies with your child and let us know your questions or comments.

In these economically uncertain times, our school community has rallied to provide funding for classroom supplies, an Arts academy and Outdoor camp.  At the start of the year, I will send home a more detailed list of the different fundraisers throughout the year.  We hope that you will be able to support our school programs by participating in these events.  We also recognize that these are challenging fiscal times for our families.  Please remember to complete the school lunch application in the first day packet and let us know if there is anything your child may need support with during the school year.

New student orientation

Students new to Branciforte will attend an orientation that begins at 8:15 on Tuesday, August 31^st.  Lunch will be provided by the Home and School club.  The event will end at approximately 12:45.  Students will be able to purchase their p.e. shirt for $5.00.   New students will receive their schedules at orientation.  Returning students will have their schedules posted on Wednesday morning, Sept. 1^st.  Please note that the first day of school will be a full day. We will continue to have minimum days on Wednesdays beginning the second week of September.   Our Arts Academy will start up again on Wednesday, Sept. 29^th.  Information and sign up will be sent home through the advisory classes.

It is our school vision that every child’s heart and mind will be known well by at least one adult on campus.  We want you and your child to be part of an amazing learning community here.  Please don’t hesitate to contact me with any questions or concerns.  The entire team is here to support your child.  I look forward to meeting you at our Back to School night on Sept. 22^nd.

Sincerely,

Angela Meeker

Principal

Student Supplies Needed for the 2009-2010 School Year

• 2 Inch Binder  (1 binder will be used for ALL of your classes, except if you
  have Spanish)
• 2 Spiral Notebooks
• Pencil/Pen Pouch
• Pencil Sharpener that can fit into student’s pencil pouch
• Pens, Pencils, Erasers, and Lead (if you have a mechanical pencil)
  3 Hole Punched Pocket Folders
• 6 Dividers with Tabs….depending on your grade, the tabs should be
  labeled as follows:

6^th Grade Tab Labels:
*  Core
*  Math
*  Elective

7^th Grade Tab Labels:
*  History
*  Reading
*  Writing
*  Math
*  Elective

8^th Grade Tab Labels:
*  Reading/Literature
*  History
*  Writing/Spelling
*  Grammar
*  Math
*  Elective

**Additional course materials may be required
depending on teacher