Welcome back! I hope your summer has been restful and enjoyable! As many of you have heard, I had some surgery this summer that resulted in complications. While I feel great, I do not have my stamina back but hope to return as soon as possible. I am looking forward to seeing you all!
Donna Pittman is here to hold down the fort until I return, so feel free to contact her if you have any questions or concerns (or just to say hello!). We have certainly had a rough ride this summer with the rollercoaster state budge issues. Regardless, we are looking forward to a wonderful school year packed with learning and fun.
The staff is drifting into Val though their first actual day back is August 19. The teachers will be spending their time in district-wide meetings and setting up their classrooms. We have five new additions to our staff.
Sarah Dooher will be joining the first grade team. This will be her fourth year teaching first grade as she taught at San Mateo at Meadow Heights School previously. She has already met with her team and is thrilled to be here.
Shahrzad Nahreini is excited to join the second grade team. She has been teaching for eight years, seven of those years in second grade. She feels truly connected to the community after working as a fourth grade teacher coming to us from Walnut Creek. She did a long-term sub job last year and got rave reviews.
Marilyn Harrison will be coming back full time in our four/five combo. While her strong New York accent may fool people, Marilyn has lived in the Bay Area for over 30 years. Marilyn got her credential five years ago after working many years in the garment industry.
Melissa Honig is our new Speech and Language Specialist. She has been a practicing speech therapist for over 25 years. She worked for our county office, Ross Valley School District, and most recently the Northern California Diagnostic Center.
Please welcome all our new additions, and know we are all looking forward to working with you and your children.
SCHOOL SCHEDULE: School starts at 8:14 a.m. on Tuesday, August 25, 2009. It is a minimum day dismissing at 1:25 p.m. for grades first through fifth. The kindergarten children will dismiss at 11:50. Grades 1 – 5 are scheduled from 8:14 to 1:25 on Tuesday and Wednesday. Thursday and Friday they will be released at the regular time, 2:35.
September 7 is the Labor Day holiday. Our regular schedule for Kindergarten will be an extended day with children leaving at 1:25 on all days. This extended day will start September 21. After September 21 Kindergartners may order lunch if they like. They will be eating their lunches in the kindergarten yard. Until then, they will go home at 11:50. Buses will start for them on August 31.
Parents please make alternative transportation arrangements for the first four days of school. To help us and ensure your child's safety, please do not have your student arrive to school before 8:05, as there is no supervision prior to that time. There will be a crossing guard mornings and afternoons at both Arias, Nova Albion and Monticello.
Students can visit their classrooms and meet their new teachers on Monday (August 24th) between 11:00 and 12:00. Please visit only during that time as the teachers have many other responsibilities that need to be fulfilled before the start of school. Parents new to our school and those of incoming kindergartens are invited to a picnic in the kindergarten yard beginning at 12:00 after visitation. We strongly recommend that you bring your student(s) to visitation as it helps to make children more comfortable with a new situation. Kindergarten teachers will be available at the picnic until 1:00.
The annual "Vallecito Back to School" coffee (or tea) on the first day of school is at 8:14 in the multipurpose room. We look forward to greeting many of you.
We will be having "Back To School Nights" on Wednesday Sept. 16 for Kindergarten, First and Second, while Back to School Night for Third, Fourth and Fifth will be on Thursday, Sept. 17. Please schedule these dates now. Both evenings start at 6:30 and end at 8:00.
This year we will be using a new lunch program, Children’s Choice. For the last several years a group of parents and administrators have been examining lunch programs. After moving to a new program last year we had many complaints and a drop off in kids who participated. We realized that we got what we paid for, an inexpensive program which many kids didn’t like. In the fall we reactivated our team and started looking again. After months of research and several tasting sessions we decided to move to Children’s Choice (http://www.ChoiceLunch.com). The cost will be $4.95. Below are some of the reasons we chose Children’s Choice:
There are 12 daily choices, 9 cold and 3 hot entrees. (always a vegetarian meal offered)
Fruits and vegetables are locally grown organically, 100% whole-grain bread is baked daily
Parents order the meals online (you can cancel up to 9:00 a.m. the day the meal is to be delivered)
Peanut and tree nut free: allergen sensitivity chart online
Compostable/biodegradable lunch containers, fruit bags, etc. (certified Green Business)
We’re asking all our parents to join us in our nutrition mission! You will receive information about healthy alternatives to the sugary, fat-saturated foods normally associated with classroom celebrations – please provide healthy foods/beverages for any parties or events that take place during the school day.
The following information is important for the first day of school so please read this carefully.
EMERGENCY CARDS: Two cards are included with this letter. Please fill these cards out completely and return to your child’s teacher on the first day of school. It is important to keep these cards up to date during the school year. Please let us know when you have changes in your contact numbers.
PARENTS’ RIGHTS: On the first day of school you will receive a notice regarding parents’ rights. Please return the receipt stating that you have read the notice to your child’s teacher.
DISTRICT POLICIES BOOKLET: Each school year, every school district is required to notify parents/guardians of certain legal rights as reflected in state and federal law. Please keep this booklet, sent home on the first day of school, to refer to throughout the year.
ABSENCES: If your child is absent from school for any reason, please call the absence hotline: 492-3752 by 9:00 a.m. This is a 24-hour, seven days a week answering machine.
ARRIVAL TO SCHOOL: Because no teachers will be on duty, all students are required to arrive after 8:05 a.m. We cannot have students arriving early and waiting in the office each morning. If your child arrives late to school or needs to leave early, please have him/her check with Miss Kitty in the office. A note is necessary for early dismissal. Children are expected to be in school the entire day. Please make doctor and dentist appointments for Wednesday afternoons (early dismissal day) if possible. Children tardy 30 or more minutes three or more times in a school year are considered to be legally truant. Children are expected to be picked up promptly at dismissal time.
VACATIONS:Please plan your vacations to coincide with the scheduled school vacations. It is very difficult on your student to re-enter class after missing one or two weeks even if they have had an independent study contract. It also creates more work for the teachers to develop the independent contracts and takes time away from planning the regular curriculum. Check the school calendar and plan your trips now to take advantage of vacations.
LUNCH:
Kindergarten 11:45 (eating) playing when done (lunch ends at 12:30)
Our new vendor for hot/cold lunch is Children's Choice (see above for more information).
We will continue our commitment to recycling. If you child brings a lunch from home we are asking parents and students to pack a waste-free lunch. Here are some tips: use a cloth lunch bag or lunchbox, skip the plastic wrap and foil, bring reusable containers for sandwiches, put drinks in a thermos or recyclable container, use cloth instead of paper napkins, use silverware instead of plastic. Make sure to put names on all personal items. Please help us reduce, reuse, and recycle!
Remember to include a healthy morning snack for your child even if your child buys lunch.
VISITORS:All visitors (including parent volunteers) must sign in at the office and get a badge before entering our campus. We keep the side gates closed during school hours for your child’s safety.
IDENTIFICATION OF CLOTHING: Please label all clothing and personal belongings clearly. This facilitates returning labeled items to our students. Check the lost and found rack often as we get an amazing amount of clothing we can’t return. All unclaimed clothing is donated to charity at the end of each trimester. You will be advised before this happens and have an opportunity to see what we have found.
CLASS ASSIGNMENTS: Your child’s class placement was included with your welcome letter. The teachers and I spent many hours creating the best possible class setting for all children. We considered input from you, the child’s teacher and any support personnel who work with your child. Classes have been balanced according to gender, abilities, learning styles and academic and social needs. We believe we have created learning opportunities that will best meet the needs of all students. There will be no changes in student placement the first two weeks of school. If you have concerns, I will be happy to discuss this with you after September 7.
TRANSPORTATION; The district continues to maintain bus service in order to transport students to and from school. The district policy requires all families with students riding the bus to purchase a bus pass or individual tickets. Tickets are $2.00 each and a book of 25 tickets is $50.00. An annual pass is $450 for the first child. You will be able to purchase your yearly pass at the district office (only) with a credit card this year. Remember, riding the bus is a privilege so we expect all students to behave accordingly. The first week buses may not be on an exact schedule, so we ask for your cooperation and understanding as students and drivers become familiar with routes. Remember, kindergarteners riding the bus will have to be met at the bus stop. If an adult is not there to receive the student, the child is returned to school.
MEDICATIONS: The “Authorization to Administer Medication” form will be available in the office for the limited number of students who require daily or occasional medication. Please see Ms. Kitty if you need a form to fill out. School personnel are not allowed to administer medication without proper medical authorization. We will need your child’s pediatrician’s signature on all medicine forms. Students are not allowed to self-administer any medication without proper supervision.
NOTICES:Corrected homework comes home in Friday folders. Notices and information from the district office and flyers from our community will be included in the Friday folder. The principal’s newsletter will be sent out via email and will be posted on our Web site: http://dixiesd.marin.k12.ca.us/vallecito_elementary/ on Mondays. We will print hardcopies on request for those who do not have electronic access. Please be sure to read these notices when you receive them as many times there are things that will need your immediate attention. We prefer to send out as much information as possible electronically to honor our commitment to keep Val green. We have decided to send the newsletter out on Mondays as we received numerous complaints that there is just too much to read and do over the weekend. After a trial run, let us know if you would prefer we moved the distribution day back to Fridays.
FOOD ALLERGIES: In order to provide a safe learning environment for all of our students, we are asking that all families and students are aware of the content of the food that they bring to school each day. We have several children at school with severe allergies to nuts. Each time you choose NOT to send in nut-containing products (peanuts as well as “tree nuts” such as almonds, walnuts, pecans, etc.), you are contributing to keeping the allergic children safe. For some children with a severe food allergy, strict avoidance is the only way to prevent a severe allergic reaction that for some people can be life threatening. To enable these students to participate in all class and school activities, we ask that you and your children are fully aware of the serious health implications and help us to adhere to our plan to address these concerns.
TRAFFIC RULES: for the safety of the children, we ask drivers to observe the following guidelines:
NO AUTOS are permitted to enter the curved bus lane that passes directly in front of school either before or after school when buses are expected to arrive and depart. (This is a state law.)
ONLY STAFF CARS are allowed into the staff parking lot (which is directly in front of the school) between the hours of 7:30 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. Parking permits are issued to staff and displayed on car dashes. This lot is closed to entering cars at bus arrival and departure time.
Guests and walk-ins may park in the north parking lot or on the street. The large size of our staff does not permit guest parking in the staff lot.
A DROP-OFF LANE is available for parents who do not want to park, and whose children can be let out of the passenger side of the vehicle. This lane is in front of the school, between the bus lane and the staff parking lot. Drivers should enter the drive, turn left toward the staff lot and follow the painted curved driving lane across the front of the school. Watch for the crosswalk in the middle of the drive through lane! Drive forward as far as possible to allow cars to enter behind. STOP THE CAR COMPLETELY. ALLOW THE CHILDREN TO SAFELY DISEMBARK ONTO THE SIDEWALK. Then proceed safely through the lane and out of the lot. You may only make a RIGHT TURN on to Nova Albion. Please be aware of bus traffic exiting the bus lane as you exit. ALL DROP-OFF CHILDREN SHOULD FOLLOW THE CURVED SIDEWALK TO THE OPENING IN THE FENCE AND CROSS THE BUS LANE ONLY IN THE CROSSWALK AND WHEN NO BUS IS MOVING IN THE LANE.
Please use the sidewalks and crosswalks at all times. Remind the children to wait for the crossing guards to tell them when it is safe to cross
SEX OFFENDERS: We strongly recommend that families regularly check the Megan’s Law website for information about registered sex offenders living in our community: http://www.meganslaw.ca.gov/
CODE OF CONDUCT:Students will be following a Code of Conduct again this year. Our playground citation system will assist students who are having difficulty following the Code of Conduct. A citation is a warning and a reminder to follow the school rules. We will also be implementing the 10th year of our LifeSkills program. All four Dixie schools emphasize the same LifeSkills each month.
I look forward to working collaboratively with you. I encourage you to become an active participant in your child’s education and to get involved in the life of our school, a true community. There are many jobs of all sizes that are essential to the success of our school. If you are not sure how to get involved, please let Ms. Kitty know of your interest and someone will get back to you. With close contact between school and home, together we create an optimum learning environment for your child that enables him/her to progress to the maximum of his/her capabilities. Stop in and say hello. I look forward to seeing all of you again and meeting our new families.
