Message from the Director

I hope all parents know that my door is literally always open – if you have visited the office you are aware that I do not even have a door! Parent participation is in integral part of Kavod’s success and I want to hear from you. Whether it be with suggestions or concerns, I welcome parent meetings and hope you feel that you can always reach out to me for whatever reason. 

Over the past year, Kavod has implemented: Kavod Families, the Pledge of Allegiance, Guest PE Coaches, improved upon our values curriculum, hosted assemblies and school events, and included many other activities, which all derived from parent feedback. Just today, thanks to a parent suggestion, we had a firetruck and policeman visit the Kindergarten class.  At the Kavod Parent Committee level, the fundraising efforts and social events are designed by and implemented by parents.  Without parent support, feedback and recommendations these programs and activities would not have come to fruition.  

If you have a suggestion, feedback or a concern, I want to hear from you. I welcome individual parent meetings, but I am also around at drop off/pick up, the KPC meetings and the board meetings, and I host informal opportunities to “chat with the director over coffee.” These “chats” will begin occurring more frequently. Chats over Coffee will also be hosted by the Board President, Tamar Caspi, the Kavod Parent Representative to the Board, Svetlana Sowers, and the Kavod faculty!

The next “chats” with the Director are set for December 17th at 7:30am, after the KPC meeting on January 6th and then January 8th at 7:30.

The faculty have the following dates for you to join them in an informal Coffee Chat forum, I will be at these as my schedule permits: 

• Kindergarten -December 15th at 2:45pm 
• First Grade – January 13th at 2:45pm  
• Second Grade – December 16th at 2:45pm
• Third Grade – January 13th at 7:30am
• Ronit for the Hebrew team – January 27th at 2:45pm

Tamar and Svetlana will be setting their date/time soon. We always welcome parents at the board meeting, too! The next board meeting is this Friday. December 12th at 1pm.  Board meeting dates/times are updated on the Kavod Event Calendar: https://kavodelementary.org/kavod-event-calendar/

There are a plethora of ways to get involved and to have your voice heard.  Feel free to email myself at alexa.greenland@kavodelementary.org, join the parent committee at parentcommittee@kavodelementary.org or reach out to your parent representative Svetlana Sowers at Svetlana_Sowers@vwr.com.   

I sincerely love our Kavod community. Together we are building an amazing program! 

I hope to hear from you – my door is always open,

– Alexa Greenland, Director

Kavod Parent Committee 

Upcoming Meeting Dates 

January 6th at 8am and 5:30pm – If you plan on attending an evening meeting, please RSVP to parentcommittee@kavodelementary.org by January 4th. Due to low evening attendance, the evening meeting may be canceled if there is a lack of interest. 

Stay after the morning KPC meetings for coffee with the Director!

Social Events

Save-the-Dates:

• Israeli Documentary for Parent Discussion ISRAEL INSIDE, How a Small Nation Makes a Big Difference: January 12th at 6pm. Stand With Us, a non-profit organization dedicated to informing the public about Israel, will be leading the discussion after the viewing.  Preview the trailer clip – you won’t want to miss this!: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TDqo8mu5u8U
• Family Movie Night on Campus: January 24th – Evening Event – Details to Follow

In other movie news…. Zero Motivation, an Israeli film and winner of Best Narrative Feature at the Tribeca Film Festival will be showing in San Diego the week of January 16th.  Zero Motivation is a portrait of everyday life for a unit of young female soldiers in a remote Israeli desert outpost.  More information can be found at Landmarktheaters.com.

Mesiba

Auction Items Needed: Please begin reaching out to your contacts, local stores and places you visit frequently for Mesiba auction items. For our major fundraiser event to be a success, we need everyone’s assistance. All donations are tax- deductible.  Questions? Email – Mesiba@KavodElementary.org

Erica Sparks, Mesiba Chair, will also be in the Kavod office each Friday until 9am to work on Mesiba. Feel free to join her!

Kavod Parent Facebook Page

There is a private Kavod Parent Facebook Page. This is a great way to chat among parents and to spread information about events and play dates. An email invite was sent to all new parents, but due to the school’s security firewall, navigating Facebook on campus can be tricky and sometimes causes glitches.  If you have not yet joined, or did not receive the email, you can “befriend” the director of Kavod on Facebook using her Kavod Facebook account – search the email: alexa.greenland@kavodelementary.org – or you can request an invite from any other member of the group.

School Photos – Update

We understand that parents have been waiting patiently for their school photo orders. We have reached out to Lifetouch to get more information on the delay and will notify parents when we know more.

Kavod Holiday Curriculum 

As the winter holiday seasons approach, we want to take this opportunity to make sure our families are informed about the official Kavod Holiday Curriculum.

Kavod has a designated holiday curriculum that explores US, Israeli and world holidays throughout the year.  The curriculum was developed through collaborative efforts, beginning with Mrs. Whiteside and Hamorah Ben Kish.  The purpose of the comprehensive school-wide curriculum is to ensure that the holidays are presented in a thoughtful manner and that lessons build upon each other and to create global citizens. As such, not every holiday is present at each grade level or at the time a specific holiday is celebrated in practice. The curriculum was carefully crafted to align with the California State Standards and the Kavod’s CHIIC curriculum: The Culture and History of Israeli and its Immigrant Communities.

The curriculum is being solidified throughout this year. As lessons are integrated into the curriculum they can be found at the Kavod main office. The following holidays are included in the curriculum: Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Sukkot, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, Christmas, Kwanzaa, Diwali, New Year (around the world), Tu B’Shvat, Martin Luther King Day, Valentine’s Day, Purim, St. Patrick’s Day, Earth Day, Passover, Easter, Yom Ha’atzmaut, 4th of July and Independence Days (around the world) and Shavout. Additional holidays may be included over time.  As any particular holiday approaches, feel free to reach out to your child’s teacher for more information about the specific lessons or feel free to come by the office to review the curriculum in its entirety.

Kavod Families

As a part of our Values Curriculum, this year Kavod has implemented Kavod Families. The idea of Kavod Families was presented to us by a parent – and we love it!  Almost every other week Kavod students meet with students across grade levels to partake in activities that focus on the overarching school “value of the month” or to focus on team building and collaboration. The Kavod Families help our students see themselves as a part of a larger community and to foster respect among the students. As a part of this we also host monthly Kavod school-wide meetings where we acknowledge all of the student who were spotted being super respectful and who showed exemplary practice of the value Kavod focused on for that month.

Parent Hebrew Lessons taught by

Hamorah Ben Kish!

Wednesday Nights 6:30-8:30

Every Wednesday Mrs. Ben Kish hosts adult Hebrew classes for Kavod parents using the immersion method. Now you can experience learning Hebrew the same way your children learn.

The classes are taught on campus every Wednesday from 6:30-8:30 and are $25 per class.  Contact Mrs. Ben Kish at Netta.BenKish@KavodElementary.org if you are interested in joining the class!

Important Notices and Reminders

• The lost and found box is full.  Please stop by the office to see if your child’s belongings are there.
• All parents and visitors MUST check in at the Kavod office. Do not bypass the office to your child’s classroom. Parents must sign children out at the office as well.
• Spread the cheer of Kavod by informing your friends and preschools about Kavod as our application process for Kindergarten closes in January. Interested parents should contact Kavod this month!
• Please help keep all children at Kavod healthy, if your child is sick, please have him/her stay home until he/she fully recovers. Kavod will gladly accept donations for boxes of tissues and cleaning wipes.
• Remember to check your child’s folder nightly.
• Students have been excessively tardy. Please recognize bringing your child late negatively impacts your child’s education and the general school program. Strive to be on time.
• School will be closed between December 22nd and January 2nd for Winter Break.

Kavod Board Updates 

Kol HaKavod! Kavod’s Charter Renewal was Unanimously Approved by the San Diego Unified School District for the full 5 year term!  Thank you to everyone for your support! 

Last month Kavod had a great site visit from San Diego Unified School District, who visits yearly to review the school program. 

Friends of Kavod Updates

Friends of Kavod is off to a roaring start in supporting our school program. We had nearly 100% of parents participate in our first parent campaign!  Every parent’s support is intregral in the success of Kavod. Thank you for those who donated.  If you still want to give – Donate Here Today! 

Kavod Parent Committee 

Upcoming Meeting Dates If you plan on attending an evening meeting, please RSVP to parentcommittee@kavodelementary.org

December 2nd at 8am and 5:30pm

January 6th at 8am and 5:30pm

Stay after the morning KPC meetings for coffee with the Director!

Social Events

Our first Kavod Dinner fundraiser was a huge success. KPC earned $400! Thank you to Julie Meltzer for organizing the event – we are looking forward to the next one!

Save-the-Dates:

• Israeli Documentary for Parent Discussion: January 12th at 6pm
• Family Movie Night on Campus: January 24th – Evening Event – Details to Follow

Mesiba

Auction Items Needed: Please begin reaching out to your contacts, local stores and places you visit frequently for Mesiba auction items. For our major fundraiser event to be a success, we need everyone’s assistance. All donations are tax- deductible.  Questions? Email – Mesiba@KavodElementary.org

Kavod Happenings 

A brief update of some of the events going on in the classes and around the school. 

Kindergarten: A Fire Truck is visiting the Kindergarten on December 9th! 

First Grade: Parents are invited to the First Grade publishing party on December 17th at 12:00. 

Second Grade: Just before Thanksgiving break our Second Grade treated their families to a presentation about Thanksgiving and followed it with a Thanksgiving feast. This month they will be giving to others by making fleece blankets for their service learning. 

Third Grade:  Third grade has had an exciting month! As a part of our CHIIC curriculum, our Third Graders are learning about the Ababe family, a family on Ha’olam Street from Ethiopia. Just before break they were treated to a visit from Ethiopians who made them a traditional Ethiopian meal.   Third grade also had a two guest parents enrich their classes. Mr. Reinstein played the saxophone for the students for music appreciation and Mr. Piran provided a special science lesson that left the students delighted with home-made ice-cream. 

Guest Physical Education Coaches: We would like to thanks all the parents who are volunteering are enhancing our PE program. Thank you to Mr. Vann, Mr. Hyatt, Mrs. Hyatt, Mr. Miner, Mr. Raehimi, Mrs. Kolakovski and Mrs. Van Frank.  If you are interested in volunteering as a guest coach, PE is held in Hebrew on Mondays and Tuesdays and in English on Thursdays and Fridays. Please sign up and notify the teacher.  http://www.signupgenius.com/go/20f0c4ca4ae23a7fc1-kavod

Important Notices

• The lost and found box is full.  Please stop by the office to see if your child’s belongings are there.
• All parents and visitors MUST check in at the Kavod office. Do not bypass the office to your child’s classroom. Parents must sign children out at the office as well.
• Spread the cheer of Kavod by informing your friends and preschools about Kavod as our application process for Kindergarten closes in January. Interested parents should contact Kavod this month!
• Please help keep all children at Kavod healthy, if your child is sick, please have them stay home until he/she fully recovers. Kavod would gladly accept donations for boxes of tissues and cleaning wipes.
• Remember to check your child’s folder nightly.
• Students have been excessively tardy. Please recognize bringing your child late negatively impacts your child’s education and the general school program. Strive to be on time.
• School will be closed between December 22nd and January 2nd for Winter Break.

Kavod Values 

Value for the month:  Culture/Diversity

Toolbox Tool: Listening Tool

The motto for the listening tool is “I listen with my eyes, ears heart, and mind.”  In order to remind students to use this tool gently tap two fingers behind the back of your ear.  Talk to your students about what that means to listen with their heart and their mind.  When would you need to do that?

Activities to promote celebrating diversity:

– Go to the library with your child and help him/her select books with diverse characters.

– Go to a new restaurant and try a cuisine that you’ve never had before.  Before you go, do some research with your child about the region and the people who live there.

Spotted Being Super Respectful 

Students who are spotted being super respectful at Kavod receive Super Spots. We would like to acknowledge the following students who received Super Spots at Kavod throughout November!