Arroyo Eagle Eye - April 2, 2023

April 2, 2023

Principal’s Message

Dear Arroyo families,

What a great week this has been for our community! Our Multicultural Family Night was a HUGE success! It was wonderful to be together to celebrate our cultures, traditions, and food. Thanks again to Esther Wang, Lida Naydek, Kate Kassab, and a FABULOUS team of volunteers, as well as to the performers, food providers, and everyone who came, for making it such a special night. As this edition of the Eagle Eye hits your inbox, we will be gathering on the blacktop for the annual Stampede & Soar Color Run. I hope you’ll join us for another opportunity to be together as a community. I want to thank John Guinn, Alicia Silverman, Diana Herman, Maria Shih, and Sondra Harding, along with all of the volunteers who worked tirelessly to prepare for the event.

This week looks to be full of more fun and celebration. Our 5th graders will perform at our band and orchestra concert Monday evening at 5:30 in Mustang Hall. 4th graders who participated in ROPES will receive their Rope on Tuesday. Eagle Council is holding a spring-themed Spirit Week class competition throughout the week. Please encourage your child to participate!

Arroyo students have been studying opinion and argument writing over the past month or so. Be sure to ask your child what they have learned and invite them to show you some of the pieces they have worked on. This unit will culminate with our district writing benchmark. We have made changes in that process this year to align more with the professional learning we have done recently around the Instructional Core. As a staff, we have been working to define the different purposes of assignments and assessments, and looking at the difference between our standards and curriculum. Students have completed a number of curriculum-related assignments in class as they learn skills and components of opinion writing. The final assessment will be an on-demand piece completed in class and scored on a standards-based rubric.  

5th grade families received an email this week about elective selection for next year. Please review that and discuss the options with your child before Wednesday, when they will complete the selection form in class. Central Middle School administration will host a 6th grade parent orientation session on Monday, April 24, at 6:30 p.m. More information will be shared soon, but please mark your calendars.  

If you haven’t done so already, now is the time to order an Arroyo yearbook for your child. Yearbooks are distributed the last week of school, and extra copies will not be available on campus, so be sure to order by April 30 if your child would like one. We’re also looking for student artwork and photos to include in the yearbook. See the PTA section below for details.

Next week (April 10-14) is Spring Break. I want to remind you again about the importance of students being at school when school is in session. The days leading up to break is often the wrap-up of a unit of study that includes the completion of projects and assessments. The days after a break often include an introduction of new concepts and units. Students missing these days is challenging for both them and their teachers.  Please be mindful when scheduling vacation plans. Students will be bringing home a covid test this week. Please use this to test your child before they return to school on April 17.

Have a wonderful Spring Break!

Warmly,
Mindy Shelton
Principal
[email protected]

PTA News

A Big Thanks to Our Community Sponsors!

This event is made possible by PTA volunteers and your donations to SCEF.

Multicultural Family Night: Appreciation

A big thank you to our Multicultural Family Night Team: Esther Wang, Lida Naydek, and Kate Kassab for hosting an amazing event Wednesday night. We hope it will become a long-running Arroyo tradition! Here are some photos from the evening’s festivities — feel free to add to the album!

One final thank you to everyone who gave their time preparing the food and volunteering that day. All of our PTA events are made possible with your SCEF donations.

Central & Arroyo Living Campus

Wildflower Garden in Progress
Big thanks to the intrepid 4th- and 5th-graders who weeded the site of a future wildflower garden! (You’d be amazed how much kids can accomplish in 20 minutes.) As always, interested Arroyo and Central students are welcome to visit the garden during Wednesday morning recess to help out and learn new skills — tell your kids!

Each Green Corner Work Day

Saturday, April 8  •  9 a.m.-noon

Bring the whole family for a fun, hands-on morning of gardening! We’ll plant vegetable seedlings and tend to the beds so we’ll have plenty of produce to donate to Second Harvest and Samaritan House in the months to come. Register to volunteer for the April 8 work day here. 

Can’t make it this month? Mark your calendar for a future Each Green Corner work day (second Saturdays): May 13, June 10, July 8, Aug. 12.

Time Is Running Out: Order Your Yearbook Now!

Order and personalize your child’s yearbook for $17.26 (plus tax) through April 30. Arroyo is using San Mateo-based company TreeRing, which allows you to personalize two free pages. Get started by creating your free account! If you already have a TreeRing account, buy via this link (Arroyo code is 1014628525232886.​​​).​​​ 

If you have school-related photos of your child or shots you have taken during school events, the yearbook team would love to have them. We are specially looking for photos from ROPES and SCSD STEM Fair. Upload your images into TreeRing’s shared photo folders by following these instructions.

SCEF News

Sing the Anthem at the May 15 SF Giants Game

Monday, May 15  •  6:45 p.m.

Last chance to sign up! Your child still has the opportunity to be ONE of 150 San Carlos School District children to sing the national anthem before the San Francisco Giants and their fans at Oracle Park on San Carlos Night at the Giants! This once-in-a-lifetime experience will be at the game against the Philadelphia Phillies. T-shirt included. Everything you need to know is explained here (sign up by child’s shirt size).

Revel@Devil’s Raffle

Will you be the lucky winner? One winner gets to pick from these fabulous items: Taylor Swift tickets, BottleRock tickets, dinner for four at Chez Panisse, Mexico vacation for four, or a Geoffrey’s diamond necklace. More details.

Raffle ticket cost: 1 for $125, 3 for $325, 6 for $600. The winning ticket will be drawn at Revel@Devil’s, a SCEF Community Party at Devil’s Canyon brewery on May 6. Get tickets for yourself! Buy tickets for your teachers! Order here.

Community News

Safe Routes to School Parent/Caregiver Survey

Open until April 15: Please take a few minutes to share how your student travels to school. The Safe Routes to School Parent/Caregiver Survey provides valuable feedback on what programs and infrastructure projects are needed to encourage students and families to use active transportation to and from school. Access the English survey (also en español and Chinese).

Your feedback allows us to adjust Safe Routes to School (SRTS) education and encouragement program features to best meet the needs of each school. Feedback will be shared with decision-makers throughout the county who can address infrastructure issues regarding safe walking and biking, as well as with decision-makers in your school community. The survey takes about 4 minutes to complete.

Chess Wizards Spring Classes

Join Chess Wizards for tons of challenging chess lessons, exciting games, and cool prizes. Locations in San Carlos include Central Middle School, Brittan Acres, and White Oaks. Your student will improve their chess skills and work out their most powerful muscle — their brain! Our classes are geared to suit children of all skill levels; from chessling to checkmate artist, students will build upon their knowledge through lessons, variation games, and more!

Parent Education Opportunities

NEW! When should parents be concerned about disordered eating? Join Avery Carter Walker, PsyD, Child & Adolescent Eating Disorders Clinic, Stanford Children’s Health, for Eating Disorders and Body Image: What Should Parents Know? (April 6).

NEW! How can parents reframe the high school years and help their teens find joy? Irena Smith, PhD, college admissions expert, will discuss her forthcoming book, The Golden Ticket: A Life in College Admissions Essays (April 13).

NEW! The Parent Venture is proud to partner with the Parent Advisory Board of the Stanford Autism Center for In a Different Key: The Story of Autism, a conversation with Emmy Award-winning filmmakers John Donvan and Caren Zucker (April 19).

MANY WAYS TO VOLUNTEER AT ARROYO