WELCOME BACK!

Welcome back to a new and exciting school year! We have a lot going on. First of all we have a new Principal, her name is Ms. Kwong and is very excited to be joining our school.

This is her message:

I am so excited to serve as your principal this year. Ms. Chin’s retirement was a surprise to everyone. She shared with me that she will miss all of you, especially the children. We wish her the very best. I would like to welcome everyone back to our newly renovated school. You will find that there are quite a few changes in the way the school looks. We have new stairs, a new play structure and even a new security system to keep our students safe. What is not new is that our wonderful group of dedicated teachers will continue to give your children the best education they deserve. Spring Valley is unique because we are the only elementary school in San Francisco that focuses on science education and critical thinking skills, skills that your children will need in order to stay competitive in the work force of the 21st century. We want to thank you for continuing to trust us with your children. We will do our best to make sure that they are well cared for and that they are excited about learning. I look forward to getting to know all of you this year.

We also have a new building, with new floors, paint and even a new structure for kids to play on. We hope you are all ready to do a lot of learning this year.

First Grade Weather Forecasting

First graders created their own anemometers as final project to wrap up their unit on weather. These adorable scientific devices measure wind speed. This class made their anemometers out of dixie cups, plaster of Paris, straws, cardboard, tape, and more dixie cups. This video shows one student testing her anemometer to measure the speed of the "wind" coming out of a fan, please note that the video has no sound.

Learning from visitors

Spring Valley students have been learning about the customs and traditions surrounding Chinese New Year. Recently an artist, Edward Smalarz, visited Spring Valley to share his passion for Chinese Brush Painting with a class of first graders.

Totally Awesome Tie-Dyed Tea Towels, brought to you by the letter "T"

Last week the letter of the kindergartners' week was "T" and that could only mean they were tie-dying with tea, English Breakfast Tea to be precise. They took fabric remnants that had been pre-soaked in an alum-baking soda solution, tied them up with rubber bands, and dunked them in a lukewarm and fragrant tea bath. The result- some pretty groovy designs made by even groovier scientists/artists.

Spring Valley is Invaded by Creeping Crawling 2nd Grade Creations!!!

To compliment their unit on insects, the second graders were invited up to the science lab to participate in an Insect Scavenger Hunt! They were given a paper with written descriptions of certain insects, arachnids, and arthropods; and had to use these these descriptions as clues to find the correct species from the lab's extensive collection of specimens. After completing their scavenger hunts students were allowed to display their knowledge of insect anatomy and unleash their creativity by assembling their very own awesome insects from egg cartons, pipe cleaners, and black beans.

Shadow and Sound, brought to you by the letter S

The letter of the week was "S" for the Spring Valley kindergartners, and that meant that their science activity had to begin with S, and it did. They began by cutting out shapes from black construction paper, taped them to sheets of waxed paper, and fixed them behind the screen of a shadow puppet theatre, made from a recycled FOSS kit box. With the help of two 6V batteries they had an instant Shadow Puppet Theatre! But that's not all, alongside the theatre was an assortment of percussion instruments that students could choose to add sound to their dramatizations.

Planting seeds of inquiry, responsibility, and problem solving

Welcome to the Spring Valley Science School blog. We are a K-5 public school in San Francisco. Here visitors will have an opportunity to explore the various activities that engage Spring Valley students and help them become scholars. In addition to being a science school we have a rich curriculum that also focuses on thinking skills, visual arts, music, dance, motor skills, conflict resolution, drama, developing talents, and opera. Please check back often to see what our students are up to.