As Willow Creek students sharpen their #2 pencils, gnaw on the erasers and scrutinize this year's standardized tests, lots of special days and celebrations lie ahead once the testing is concluded on May 18th.

The evening of May 19th is our Annual Open House.  From 6:30 to 8:00 PM excited students will share their year's work with proud parents.  If you are able to join us, please come and celebrate the year's achievements with us.  There will be musical presentations, student written plays, art projects to admire and much, much more. 

On May 20th, our 8th Annual Lapathon will be held at the MLK field.  This wonderful event is a day long field day for the entire school.  We walk over to the field and students raise money for our PE Programs by running laps on the track.  Once they have finished running, there are a variety of games to play, lunch to eat and just enjoying being outdoors for an entire day. 

On June 3rd at 6:30 PM, we will enjoy our spring choral concert.  This year's concert will be held at St. Patrick's Church in Larkspur.  Kindergarten through 8th grade students will be presenting a variety of music for everyone's enjoyment.

June 8th at 10:30 AM, our 8th grade graduation will be held at the Bay Model.   For these young people, this is a most important step to young adulthood.  All but 3 of our students are going  on to Tam High; the others will be attending Redwood High School.

Our last day of school is Thursday, June 11th which will be marked by our "Crossing the Bridge" ceremony as students move symbollically from this year to next.

Next year, we are delighted that we will have two kindergarten classes due to the enthusiastic support of our local community.  We are currently interviewing prospective teachers for this additional class.  Keep checking and we will soon be announcing our staff for the coming year.

Next year's first day of school is Wednesday, August 19th.  There will be a mandatory parent meeting, Tuesday, August 18th at 6:30 PM.   This meeting will review a variety of changes from the past year and also answer the many questions that new families may have.

Willow Creek is the recipient of a $25,000 award from State Farm Insurance to help determine the location of the real Willow Creek and initiate a creek restoration program.   Our school is located in the Willow Creek watershed.  It is believed that the creek starts somewhere above the Rodeo Drive freeway exit.  Students are busy studying old maps as well as current information that has been made available to them from the County Planning Department.  This group of 6th through 8th grade students are busy planning several events prior to the close of school:  there will be an initial clean up of the known creek at the corner of Bridgeway and Nevada Street; several incoming 6th grade students will be welcomed to the group in order that the outgoing 8th graders will mentor the new students; and an application to "adopt" the Creek will be presented to the Sausalito City Council.  Students decided to adopt the Creek in order to prevent pesticide spraying.  By adopting the Creek, they will keep the non-native and invasive vegetation under control in hopes that some native wildlife might return (they are especially hopeful that pond turtles might find their way back into the creek). 

The research and knowledge that these students are gaining about the importance of a watershed is of great value; but perhaps even more important is the development of leadership skills and commitment to community service.  Stay tuned as this project will continue through the 2009-10 school year.