GATE Newsletter
September
INFORMATION
HOW CAN PARENTS SUPPORT THEIR GATE
STUDENT?
The home life of a student frequently determines
the extent and nature of a student’s learning
opportunities. An enriched home environment
often
sparks
creativity
and
intellectual
development. Some ways parents can support their
GATE student’s school program are:
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SANPASQUAL UNION SCHOOL
2011-2012
Dear families,
My name if Josh Perez and I will be in charge of
GATE programming this year. For those that do not
know me, I have been teaching at SPU for the past 7
years in various grade Levels. I love working here at
the “Little School in the Valley”, with all the
wonderful staff, families and students. As the year
progresses I hope to learn more about the students I
will be working with. I hope to have a great year!
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Ms. Mallory has done an amazing job the past three
years providing great programs for our students and
resources for our teachers. The GATE program this
year will run the same as last year with Mrs. Mallory,
with a few minor changes here and there.
The 4th and 5th graders will be pulled out every other
week for an hour. I plan to work with them on
activities which will engage thinking skills and
collaboration.
For middle school they can participate in activities
such as “Odyssey of the Mind” and “Battle for the
Books”, as well as our BYU independent Study
Program. I hope to include more as the year
progresses.
Be supportive – share ideas and thoughts
daily;
Encourage your student to wonder or
reflect about ideas or actions;
Encourage original thinking with “What if”
questions;
Foster the development of hobbies or
interests;
Discuss or analyze current events with your
student;
Help discover sources of information – but
don’t do “things” for the student;
Whenever possible, take your student to
museums, galleries, historical places, etc. in
order to expand his/her thinking;
Maintain an interest in your student’s
school and assignments, model working
together.
UP AHEAD
Parent GATE Night
9/27 @ 6:00pm-7:00pm
Odyssey of the Mind info meeting
TBA
UPCOMING 2011-2012 ACTVITIES
ODYSSEY OF THE MIND The Odyssey of the
Mind teaches students to learn creative
problem-solving methods while having fun in
the process. For more than twenty five years,
this unique program has helped teachers
generate excitement in their students. By
tapping into creativity, and through
encouraging imaginative paths to problemsolving, students learn skills that will provide
them with the ability to solve problems -great and small -- for a lifetime.
BATTLE OF THE BOOKS Students read books
and come together to demonstrate their
abilities and test their knowledge of the books
they have read
BYU NDEPENDENT STUDY PROGRAM We are
a distance education program that offers
almost 600 university, high school, junior high
school and personal enrichment courses to
people throughout the world. BYU is
accredited as an institution by the Northwest
Commission on Colleges and Universities
(NWCCU).
If you have any questions please feel
free to contact me.
Josh Perez, M.Ed
ELL/GATE Coordinator
San Pasqual Union
760-745-4931x1401
Josh. Perez@SanPasqualUnion.net