Coming Up: CST, Open House, & Variety Show!

Good Morning Castle View Families,
We are busily working through March to prepare for California Standards Tests for 2nd - 6th grade students which begin the last week of April. Teachers are using CST released questions to review with students. Each question has four possible answers. We are working through a strategy of Prove and Disprove where the student must address each answer with a statement, "It is correct because..." or "It is NOT correct because..." This forces the students to read carefully and analyze each possible right answer. As you are aware, RUSD is a Program Improvement District which means as a district, we have failed to meet all the achievement goals set forth in No Child Left Behind. Achievement goals are based on the percentage of students who score proficient on the CST. Castle View has made great growth over the past few years in meeting NCLB achievement goals. We hold high expectations for ALL students and work to meet their individual needs as determined through Reading Lions and Math Benchmark assessments. It is the responsibility of our entire Castle View Community to work together to support every student's achievement.
As a staff, we look across grade levels to support students and have begun vertical team planning to support student transitions from one grade to the next. This is especially important as we begin planning for next year. Castle View will look very different next year with larger classes and fewer staff. We are projected to have 17 teachers with a projected enrollment of 530. This may change as enrollment increases or decreases due to transfers and movement of students.
The district has embraced Open Enrollment which essentially eliminates borders. I have taken multiple families on tours of Castle View and related the MANY wonderful things about our school, community, and staff. We do have a great staff and program for our students and I encourage everyone to BRAG! We would love to grow and welcome more families and students into our Castle View Community.
Coming up: Open House is on March 31st. Included this year will be an Art Show displaying art from our 4th, 5th, and 6th grade students. These art projects are a compilation of the ART DOCENTS program facilitated by Mrs. Dew and taught by parent volunteers. We will have a silent auction for a 11 x 14 family portrait donated by Cottage Kids. We are fortunate to have great community support for our school and I thank Cottage Kids Portrait Studio for their donation.
Also on the calendar is our (now) Annual Variety Show!! This year it will be held May 12th. The In-n-Out truck will be here serving food from 5:30 to 7 and the Variety Show will follow. 600 Pre-Sale meal tickets will be available. More information will be forth coming. Tryouts for the Variety Show will be the last week of April.

March 4th Stand Up for Schools Event

Good Morning Castle View families,
I wanted to share information on the Stand up for Schools events scheduled for March 4th. Castle View parents have joined together to bring attention to the state budget crisis and how educational funding is effecting our schools. If you have read the Press Enterprise or follow Dr. Miller's blog at www.rusd.k12.ca.us, you are well aware of the many 'pink' slips which have been issued to RUSD personnel. A 'pink' slip or Reduction in Force (RIF) notice is notification that the teachers position may be eliminated. Final notice must be given by May 15th if the positon is indeed going to be eliminated. Eight full time Castle View teachers have received notices as well as Mrs. Manley who is a part-time teacher. Our effected teachers are Mrs. Ahsue, Mrs. Harris, Mrs. Aballi, Mrs. Parker, Mrs. Bauder, Mrs. DeGuzman, Mrs Torres, and Mrs. Wilder. It is our continued hope that the state budget will improve and educational funding will be increased.
Tomorrow, Castle View parents will be out front asking parents to sign a petition to send to state legislators urging them to support educational funding. You will also see teachers, parents, and students wearing Pink and/or Black. Pink to support our teachers who have received RIF notices and Black in protest of the state budget. Participation is optional. If your students wish to participate by wearing Black or Pink, they may do so.
The best offense we can launch is for community members to write to your local legislator and the governor to support educational funding. You can also call. The numbers of our local delegation are below. Thank you for your support!

Senators John Benoit - 916-651-4037 and Robert Dutton 916-651-4031 / Assemblymen William Emmerson 916-319-2063 , Kevin Jeffries 916-319-2066, and Brian Nestande 916-319-2064.