Dear Ruus Parents and Guardians:

Welcome back to a new 2011-2012 school year.  As the new principal of Ruus Elementary School in the Hayward Unified School District, I am happy, excited and thrilled to be the instructional leader at this fine school.  I come to Ruus Elementary School with over 30 years educational experience as a Bilingual teacher, staff development coordinator and principal of three large (K-6) urban schools in Southern California.  My work experience has been varied and I have learned a lot from the many teachers, parents and students that I have interacted with over the years.  My educational experience has been varied as well.  I graduated from UCLA with a degree in psychology and a Masters degree in Administration from California Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks.  I recently received my Ph.D. in Urban Leadership from Claremont University.  My doctoral study focused in on Middle School Students and what students believe improve student achievement.  The results strongly indicated that “direct instruction” is the key to improved student achievement.  That means teachers teaching, working hard, and providing them with a warm loving environment.  That is one of my major objectives here at Ruus Elementary School this year.  I promise to serve to the highest good for all. 

Another personal school year goal or objective this year will be to get to know all of the new families here at school.  I would also love to get to know each and every student at our school by first and last name.   I think I know a lot of the students by first and last name already and my goal is to know all of my students by the end of the year.  The students here at Ruus Elementary School are smart, friendly, and top-notch.  We have a lot of room to grow this year as we attempt to meet our Academic Performance Index (API) and our Academic Yearly Performance (AYP) on our STAR tests.  Our current API score is 717 out of 1000.  It’s our school wide goal to improve this year as we work towards our district wide goal of 825!  We can do it!  By the way, I really love working with all of the students!  Go Ruus!  Let’s achieve our goals.  We can do it!

If you ever need to get a hold of me, please contact my office manager, Ms. Felecia Chapman at (510) 723-3885 or email me anytime:  ggalvan@husd.us.  If your child is absent from school, please contact our attendance clerk, Ms. Ashiyana Riaz at school.  We want to make sure that we follow our district wide goal—“Every child.  Every seat.  Every day on time!”  Please make sure to schedule dental or medical appointments after school or on Early Release Wednesdays.  Also, please make sure that your son/daughter arrives to school on time everyday.  We can improve our attendance.  School starts at 8:30 a.m. and ends at 3:10 p.m.  Our goal is 100%!  Let’s plan on being in school everyday. 

Ruus Elementary School is known for its fine teachers, excellent support staff and outstanding students.  Currently, there are approximately 635 students in grades Kindergarten through sixth grade.  There are 26 teachers doing a fabulous job with your children everyday.  The faculty includes the following teachers:

Kindergarten:  Ms. Joan Lopez/Ms. Linda Rayford, Ms. Gloria Sifuentes and Ms. Edith Carlson

First grade:      Ms. Roberta Suroren (1-2), Ms. Dixie Rohrman, Ms. Margo Lillig, Ms. Aracely McKimmey

Second grade:  Ms. Nak Min Oddie, Ms. Lisa Kelley, Ms. Katy Arrillaga (2-3)

Third grade:     Ms. Nicole Hiraga, Ms. Marnie Baxbaum (3-4)

Fourth grade:   Mr. Hugo Torres (4-5), Mr. Paul Garrison,

Fifth grade:      Ms. Marisa Frame-Perez,

Sixth grade:     Ms. Marilyn Maxwell, Mr. Marc Kennedy, and Mr. Jamie Mejia, and Ms. Alicia Orner

Science Prep:    Ms. Mirna Bartl

Physical Ed. Prep:  Mr. Dennis Dillie

SDC:               Ms. Kasey Light-Valrey

RSP:                Ms. Denise Carr

Music Prep:      Ms. Karen Horner

Garden:           Ms. Marie Brown

Speech and Language Pathologist:      Dr. Paul Gowack and Irit Laurie

At Ruus Elementary School we have three awesome instructional assistants working in our Special Day Class with Ms. Light-Valrey.  They are:  Ms. Maggie Anderson, Ms. Judy Cazares and Ms. Andy Munson. 

We have two support teachers:  Ms. Martins, Program Resource teacher (PRT) and Ms. Susan Shaffer, English Language Specialist.  Both of the teachers help Ruus in many ways. 

At Ruus Elementary School we also have three counselors working with some of our students.  The counselors are Ms. Jessica Barber, Ms. Jeannette, Ms. Valerie Garcia and Ms. Julie.  The counselors are doing a great job working to help students with social-emotional problems they might have that is impacting student achievement. 

Our two wonderful custodians are Ms. Joyce Paulo and Mr. Nguyen.  Thanks for keeping our school looking beautiful.  Remember, if you see a piece of paper on the ground, “Pick it up!”  Let’s keep our school looking beautiful. 

Also in our school cafeteria working hard and serving delicious foods are Ms. Kelly Goff and Ms. Laney Green.  Let’s thank them for serving warm meals everyday.  Good job ladies.  We love the delicious food. 

Our school is committed to serving the students at Ruus Elementary School in every way possible.  Our goals include:  improved student achievement, provide a safe and orderly healthy learning environment and strive for high standards of excellence.  Please support us in our school wide mission—“Building a Culture of Success: All Means All!”  This year promises to be a wonderful year.  Let’s make it an awesome year. 

Dr. Garry Galván

HUSD Webmail

OARS

Zangle

AESOP (Substitute System)

December 2011

5 - 9     Parent & Teacher Conferences

20        School Site Council 3:30 pm Rm 32

23 - 31 No School - Winter Break 

January 2012

1 - 9   No School - Winter Break

16      No School -  Dr. Martin Luther King's Birthday

17      School Site Council 3:30 pm Rm 32

February

17     No School - Abraham Lincoln's Birthday

20     No School - President's Day Observed

March

6     Trimester 2 Ends

7     Trimester 3 Begins

20   School Site Council 3:30 pm Rm 32

30   No School - Cesar Chavez's Birthday Observed

May

15    School Site Council 3:30 pm Rm 32

23    Incoming Kindergarten Parent Orientation 2:30 pm