Arroyo Eagle Eye - January 22, 2023

January 22, 2023

IN THIS ISSUE

Principal’s Message: Arroyo Named Distinguished School, Great Kindness Challenge and Spirit Week, Lunar New Year Assembly, Project-Based Learning, English Learner Advisor Needed
Glow Party: Register and Volunteer
Yearbook: Share Photos and Buy Book
DEIB: Lunar New Year
Plus SCEF, District and Community News

IMPORTANT DATES

Through 1/28: San Carlos Week of the Family events

Mon 1/23: Arroyo Lunar New Year celebration

Mon-Fri 1/23-1/27: The Great Kindness Challenge + Kindness Spirit Week

Mon 1/30: 5th Grade puberty talk info session, 5:30 p.m.

Fri 2/3: Glow Party

Wed 2/8: PTA meeting via Zoom, 7 p.m.

Wed 2/15: Ruby Bridges Walk to School Day for Arroyo, 8 a.m.

Thu 2/16: School Board meeting, 6:30 p.m.

Mon-Fri 2/20-2/24: Mid-Winter Break

Principal’s Message

Dear Arroyo families,

I hope you’ve seen one of the recent press releases announcing the selection of Arroyo as a California Distinguished School. We are so proud to receive this distinction, awarded to only 6% of California elementary schools this year. We believe it is a testament not only to the talents and hard work of our staff, but also to the way our San Carlos families and educators worked together to support students as we resumed full-time in-person instruction last year. Thank you for all you do to partner with our schools. We couldn’t be more grateful for your support! I will be traveling to Anaheim in a few weeks with a district cohort to receive the award on behalf of Arroyo.

This week is one of my favorite weeks of the school year: It’s the Great Kindness Challenge! During this week, students are encouraged to go out of their way to demonstrate kindness at school. Students are provided with a checklist of challenges and encouraged to complete as many as possible. Our Eagle Council put together a Kindness Spirit Week, with a different theme each day:

MONDAY
Kindness Shines: Wear anything shiny or bright, and/or sunglasses.

TUESDAY
Be Kind to Yourself: Wear PJs or cozy clothes.

WEDNESDAY
Be Kind to Your Peers: Wear sports or team-logo clothes.

THURSDAY
Be Kind to the Earth: Wear Earth colors!

FRIDAY
Be Kind to Your School: Wear Arroyo spirit wear or purple.

If you want to get in on the action, too, there’s a Family Kindness Challenge Checklist! I encourage you to work together as a family to see how many challenges you can accomplish over the next week!

Arroyo will be celebrating the Lunar New Year this week with a Lion Dance assembly on Monday morning. Thank you to Esther Chen and the PTA (with partnership from SCEF) for organizing the assembly and other activities for the holiday. See below to learn about Lunar New Year.

This week at Arroyo, our 4th graders will be showcasing their PBL (Project-Based Learning) work. The students have been learning about natural disasters through driving questions like “What can we create that will reduce the impact of natural disasters in our community?” or “How can we make our community more resilient to natural disasters?” Our 4th grade classes had the opportunity to meet with a civil engineer to learn from his work and ask him questions to help guide their thinking. They worked in groups to research problems and brainstorm solutions. This was especially relevant to students after our recent round of storms that brought flooding, sinkholes, and more. From there, groups had to collaborate to create scientific diagrams or 3D prototypes of their ideas. They fused this with our nonfiction writing unit, learning to cite reputable sources within their writing and including text structures and features such as quotes from experts, exact detailed facts, etc.

Hopefully you’ve been hearing your 4th and 5th graders talk about their experiences with PBL. It’s incredible to watch the excitement and learning happening around campus. On top of the knowledge students build, it’s a great way to infuse reading and writing skills, as well as the “5 Cs” I have shared with you in the past, PBL has been a big focus of our professional learning this year, and I wanted to highlight some of the work that goes into these projects. My favorite quote of the year has been a student proclaiming “PBL is my favorite subject!” Watch for information about 5th grade’s PBL in next week’s newsletter.

Arroyo is in need of a parent representative for our District English Learner Advisory Committee (DELAC). If you are interested in representing Arroyo at these meetings, please email me. There are only a few meetings left, and they occur on Wednesdays from 9 to 10 a.m. via Zoom. The next one is this Wednesday, Jan. 25. More information can be found here.

Be sure to sign up for our upcoming family Glow Party, coming up on Feb. 3. See details below. It’s a fun night for the whole family, and I hope to see you there.

Warmly,
Mindy Shelton
Principal
[email protected]

PTA News

Glow Party: Register Your Child + Volunteer

Friday, Feb. 3 • 7-9 p.m. • Mustang Hall

Have you registered yet for the Glow Party yet? Tell your classmates, your carpool, your after-school buddies! There’s no fee to attend, but we need an accurate count as soon as possible so we can plan for all the fun activities and refreshments. Plus, registering guarantees your student a swag bag upon arrival! Register here.

We also appreciate — and rely on — the generous support of parent volunteers. There are still openings for lending extension cords, setup (4:30-6:30 p.m.), games supervision (8-8:30), and take-down (9-9:30). Please sign up here.

Share Photos to the Yearbook + Order Your Child’s Copy

Be part of creating a memorable Arroyo yearbook for our kids by sharing your photos! Upload images of your child or shots you have taken during school events into TreeRing’s shared photo folders (First Day of School, Art-in-Action, ROPES/STEAM projects, Spirit Days, Student Clubs, Field Trips, classroom photos, etc.). Follow these instructions to share.

Arroyo School is using San Mateo-based TreeRing to build the yearbook, and your child’s book includes two free pages to personalize with their photos and memories (optional). Get started by creating your free account! You can personalize and order your book for $17.26 (plus tax) until April 12. If you already have a TreeRing account, buy via this link.

SCEF News

Here Comes Our Event Season!

While we are always raising funds to meet our goal this year of $3.7 million (the suggested per student donation is $1,850, which includes funding for your PTA). We are swiftly moving into our robust event season. Please plan to attend, participate or volunteer — we are ALL SCEF!

Feb. 6-13: Summer Camps and Teacher Outings Auction
Grab great deals on summer camps and fun outings with your child’s teacher.

March 10-21: Online Silent Auction
Entertainment, getaways, dining, wine and spirits, sports, Taylor Swift tickets, and more!

Sunday, March 12: Virtual Live Auction: Salute to Educators
SCEF’s annual virtual gala featuring a live auction with Chad Carvey, Fund-A-Need, and a tribute to San Carlos educators.

Saturday, May 6: Revel at Devil’s Canyon
Gather with friends to support our schools and dance to the tunes of Mustache Harbor.

Check out our website to donate and for more information.

Call for Auction Items
Do you have access to a vacation home, sports tickets, fine wines, local restaurants, or theater tickets? We depend on donations from local businesses and families to curate a fun and interesting auction for our community. Contact Christopher Kashap if you would like to help make our auction a success. Thank you!

Focus on Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging

Lunar New Year Begins Jan. 22

Lunar New Year, Chinese Chunjie, Vietnamese Tet, Korean Solnal, Tibetan Losar, also called Spring Festival, is a holiday typically celebrated in China and other East Asian countries that begins with the first new moon of the lunar calendar and ends on the first full moon of the lunar calendar, 15 days later.

Traditionally, New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day are reserved for family celebrations, including ceremonies honoring ancestors. Also on New Year’s Day, family members receive red envelopes (hong bao or lai see) containing money. Dances and fireworks are prevalent throughout the holidays.

The origins of the Lunar New Year festival are thousands of years old and are steeped in legends. One Chinese legend is that of Nian, a beast believed to terrorize the villages on New Year’s Day. Because Nian feared the color red, loud noises, and fire, red paper decorations were pasted to doors, lanterns were lit all night, and firecrackers were set off to frighten the beast away. Today, popular traditions still include red decorations, lanterns, lion dances and firecrackers.

Here are a few ways to learn more about Lunar New Year with your family:

Read a story (or two) with them.
Make a fun craft.
Draw a rabbit (pictured) or dragon together.

Watch a video about the legend of Nian or other facts about Lunar New Year. Learn about the Chinese Zodiac.
Listen to author Grace Lin read her short story The Legend of the Fortune Gods.
Attend a local Lunar New Year event in Redwood City, San Mateo or San Francisco.
Make a new year’s dish or check out these sites for inspiration: woonheng.com, maangchi.com, thewoksoflife.com.

District News

ROPES Volunteers Needed

We’re searching for parents, staff, and members of the community to become panelists for ROPES presentations March 7, 8, and 9. Sign up to become a member of our panelist group today! Select one or more slots:

Tuesday, March 7, 4-6:30 p.m. (in person)
Wednesday, March 8, 2:30-5:30 p.m. (Zoom and in person)
Thursday, March 9, 6-8:30 p.m. (in person)

The training session for all (new and seasoned) panelists will be Wednesday, March 1, 7-7:45 p.m. on Zoom. The training will be recorded and available on our website. Email for more information.

What is ROPES?
The Rite Of Passage ExperienceS program is an optional enrichment activity for students in SCSD. 4th, 6th, and 8th graders choose a self-directed project that incorporates the 21st-century learning skills of initiative, inquiry, creativity, communication, cooperation, and leadership. The students present their projects to a panel of community members to receive their rope, to be worn at 8th grade graduation.

It’s Time to Register NEW Students for the 2023-24 School Year!

If you have a student who will be NEW to the district next year, be sure to register them for school during our Priority Registration window, open now through Feb. 10.

Registration is ONLY for students who are not currently attending our schools; students who are in TK-8th grade now do not need to re-register. However, if your child is in one of our SCSD preschool classes, they do need to register as a new student.

Mark your calendars for these key dates:

Through Feb. 10: New Student Priority Registration.
Wednesday, Feb. 1: Intradistrict Transfer Google Form opens for families who want to request a transfer to another school within SCSD, noon.
Wednesday, Feb. 1: In-person tours for incoming TK/Kindergarten families. White Oaks 8:45-9:45 a.m.; Arundel, Brittan Acres, and Heather 4-4:30 p.m.
Friday, Feb. 10: New student priority registration deadline, 4 p.m.

Please see our Frequently Asked Questions page or email us at [email protected] if you have questions.

Community News

San Carlos Week of the Family

San Carlos Week of the Family continues through Saturday, Jan. 28. Please take a look at all of the events the city has planned and consider participating. It’s a great way to spend time together as a family. Whether you choose to attend any activities, we hope you’ll set aside a little extra time to spend as a family throughout the week.

Bike Safety Fair Is Today!

10 a.m.-1 p.m., Central Middle School blacktop: Come to this fun, Lego-themed bike safety event geared toward teaching K-8 youth safe riding skills, rules of the road, and basic bike maintenance, as well as pre-ride safety checks. Includes a riding practice course with learning stations, riding with our bike sheriffs, earning prizes through learning, and doughnuts. A professional bike mechanic will be onsite for minor repairs. Please register here.
1-4 p.m., San Carlos Library: Bring bikes in need of repair to the BikeMobile’s hands-on Bike Repair Clinic, where bikes are fixed while participants are taught how to repair, care for, and maintain them. All ages welcome; first-come, first-served.

Jan. 28: Family Backyard Fruit Donation Challenge

Let’s get ready to rumble! In partnership with San Carlos Week of the Family, Each Green Corner is hosting a battle of the backyard fruit donations. It’s San Carlos North (Carlmont High, Tierra Linda boundaries) vs. South (Sequoia, CMS, Arroyo boundaries) to see which region can donate the most backyard produce — think citrus trees!

Each Green Corner will donate a new fruit tree to each SCSD public school in the winning region. All of the San Carlos community is encouraged to donate, whether or not you have a student. Donors can opt to harvest their fruit themselves and drop it off on Saturday, Jan. 28 (9 a.m.-noon) at the Central Middle School parking lot (757 Cedar St.) or sign up to have volunteers harvest for you on Jan. 28 according to pre-arranged instructions regarding access, trees to harvest, and quantity.

Donated produce will directly benefit Second Harvest of Silicon Valley and Samaritan House of San Mateo. Sign up to donate produce or help harvest. May the most bountiful region win!

Afterschool Care and Enrichment (ACE) Is Now Enrolling for 2023-24

Afterschool Care Enrichment, also known as ACE, offers a flexible, innovative, California state licensed child-care program focused on enrichment and youth development to challenge our lower and upper elementary students. Each day includes a healthy afternoon snack, our Homework Lab with staff-assisted support, STEAM activities and active outdoor enrichment programming.

ACE will offer morning and full-time or part-time afternoon programming for the 2023-24 school year. Register online for Arroyo, Brittan Acres, and White Oaks. For more information: acesancarlos.com, 650-931-4007, [email protected].

Parent Education Opportunities

Ross W. Greene, PhD, renowned child psychologist and NYT bestselling author, explains how to cultivate better parent-child relationships in Raising Human Beings: Creating a Collaborative Partnership with Your Child or Teen (Jan. 31, online).

On Feb. 9, we host Judge LaDoris Hazzard Cordell (pictured), the first female African American judge in Northern California, for a conversation on her debut book, Her Honor: My Life on the Bench ... (Feb. 9, online). Don’t miss it!

NEW! What should parents know about the emerging cannabis industry? Lynn Silver, MD, MPH, senior advisor at the Public Health Institute, presents Health Impacts and Legalities of Cannabis Use in Youth (Feb. 15, online).

MANY WAYS TO VOLUNTEER AT ARROYO

SHARE YOUR STUDENT’S ACHIEVEMENTS

We want to honor students who are doing great things outside of school and have two ways parents can help.

Submit a virtual Soar Card explaining how your child is being Responsible, Respectful and Safe at home.
Share an accomplishment from outside school with the Arroyo Spotlight form.

SCHOLARSHIPS AVAILABLE

As part of our Arroyo School program, we offer assistance to families as needed. The support can be a yearbook, grocery gift cards, or scholarships for school trips and PTA events. The recipients are kept confidential, and the principal is the only one who will know. Please complete this form to make a request.

PTA CORNER

Join the Central Arroyo PTA. Your membership matters and helps support programs and events for our students and teachers.

REWARDS PROGRAM

Participate in our eScrip rewards program and a percentage of your purchases will automatically be donated to the Central Arroyo PTA — at no cost to you!