Arroyo Eagle Eye - April 23, 2023

April 23, 2023

Principal’s Message

Dear Arroyo families,

This week we have a number of things happening in preparation for next year:

• Current 4th grade parents/guardians need to finalize their child’s elective choice for next year. Even if you participated in Instrument Selection Night and chose your child’s instrument, we need the final elective placement form completed by April 24. In case you missed it, look for an email that was sent on Wednesday with the subject line “Corrected Link for Elective Form” and use the corrected form link here. Please also watch for an email soon with information about the class placement process for next year.

• Current 5th grade parents/guardians are invited to a meeting on Monday at 6:30 p.m. in Mustang Hall to meet Central’s principal and assistant principal and learn more about their program.

• All families continuing in the San Carlos School District next year need to complete the Student Information Forms that were sent out via email by April 26. See the school district section below for more information.

• This is your last opportunity to order an Arroyo yearbook in time for it to be delivered to school. 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. 

SCEF has some events coming up that I hope you’ll consider participating in. Details can be found at scefkids.org.

• Saturday, May 6, 7 p.m.: Revel@Devil’s Community Dance Party featuring Mustache Harbor

• Monday, May 15, 6:45 p.m.: San Carlos Night at the Giants (San Carlos school kids sing the national anthem). Last day to buy tickets is May 9.

• Friday, May 19, 5 p.m.: Hometown Days Music in the Park featuring SCSD middle school band and orchestra students

We’ve been seeing a slight increase in conflicts and unkind behavior related to texting and/or social media outside of school, and I want to encourage you to set up a routine for regularly checking in with your child about their use of technology. While most of our 4th and 5th graders do not yet have a phone (an approach that we strongly support as educators), they do have access to email at school, and many students also have access to texting and/or social media via an ipad or other personal device at home. Group texts bring many new situations for children to navigate, including inclusion/exclusion of other students, witnessing unkind language to or about other students, and the sharing of images or videos intended to embarrass other students. If your child has access to group texting, please make time to periodically check in about the texts, and be sure your child knows to come to you if they observe unkind behavior. You can always come to us at Arroyo (me, your child’s teacher, our school counselor) if additional support or intervention is needed. Additionally, SCSD has this Google Form that can be used to report an incident of bullying, intimidation, harassment or discrimination.

Thank you to the parents who have stepped up to lead our PTA and SCEF efforts next year. The election took place at our PTA meeting last week, and I look forward to working with our new and continuing parent leaders led by Alana Corso and Trinity Murphy. You can see the full Executive Board listed in the PTA section below. I also want to thank the parents who have been filling those roles this year. Our community is as strong as it is because of parent volunteers who are willing to help make things happen.  

Warmly,
Mindy Shelton
Principal
[email protected]

PTA News

Honorary Service Award Nominations and Planning

Every year the PTA presents Honorary Service Awards to individuals who provide significant contributions and outstanding service at CMS and Arroyo. Please take the time to nominate the people around you whose special contributions go above and beyond and deserve a big thanks! Submit your nominations via this online submission form by May 1.

We’d love your help planning the Honorary Service Celebration! Bring your creativity or just follow the plans from previous years. Sign up here!

Time Is Running Out: Order Your Yearbook Now!

Order and personalize your child’s yearbook for $17.26 (plus tax) through Sunday, 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.

PTACC Executive Board Election

The San Carlos PTA Coordinating Council (PTACC) Executive Board election will be held on May 3. The PTACC is made up of PTA council officers, PTA presidents from each school, principals, representatives from the San Carlos Education Foundation, Charter Learning Center, and San Carlos School District administration working together to support the needs of all of the children in our nine community schools. For more information on PTACC, please email Central-Arroyo PTA President Kirsten Kell. To become a PTA member, go here.

SCEF News

We Appreciate Our Volunteers and Supporters

Congratulations to Debbie Blucher, Jackie King, Jennifer Rudy and CB Showers, who were recognized on April 6 with Honorary Service Awards for their dedication to SCEF and San Carlos public schools. Jennifer and Greg Holmes were also recognized for their volunteerism and generous support with the SCEF Legacy Award.

Don’t Let Free Money Go to Waste!

Find out if you can “double your donation” to SCEF by going to doublethedonation.com/scef. Annual Fund donations, volunteer hours, Last Auction Hero donations, and Fund-A-Need donations qualify for corporate matching. Matching gifts are a meaningful contribution to SCEF’s annual fundraising goals. The earlier you give, the better, since it can take 8 to 10 weeks for SCEF to receive your donation. Every donation counts! If you don’t have access to employer matching, spreading out your intended gift over the next 3 months makes it easier to give. Sign up NOW to make a recurring monthly donation. Visit scefkids.org/donate to make a donation TODAY.

School District News

Community Meeting on Facilities Master Plan

Wednesday, April 26  •  5:30-7 p.m.

We want to hear from you! Join us for a Facilities Master Plan Community Meeting in person this Wednesday to learn more about the planning process and receive an update on recently collected input. Participate in real-time brainstorming as we think together about future opportunities for SCSD and our learning spaces. Your input will be invaluable to co-create a roadmap to inform the next steps for our facilities.

To join, RSVP on Eventbrite and select Wednesday, April 26, 5:30-7 p.m. at the San Carlos School District Office, 1200 Industrial Rd., Unit 9.

Read more about our Facilities Master Plan update process and our Strategic Plan refresh process. Questions? Email Veronica Rickson or call 650-580-7333.

The week of March 27, you should have received an email from [email protected] with the subject line: “San Carlos School District - Online Back-to-School Student Information Forms (2023-2024) Instructions” that provided directions on how to complete registration, including a link to the PowerSchool portal, as well as a special ID number (snapcode) for your student. We have extended the deadline to complete your forms to Wednesday, April 26.

If your child will not be attending school in the San Carlos School District for the 2023-24 school year, we kindly request that you notify your child’s school office or send an email to [email protected] ASAP. This will help us to keep track of our student enrollment for budgeting purposes and allow district staff to plan more effectively for the school year.

PLEASE NOTE: Your registration is not complete and your child will not be allowed to start school in the fall until you submit your Back-to-School Student Information Forms through PowerSchool Enrollment. If you do not have access to a computer or need assistance, please contact the District Office at 650-508-7333 or [email protected] to make arrangements to complete these forms. Thank you for completing this important process!

Community News

Parent Education Opportunities

How can we manage our own anxiety to raise healthy, happy, balanced kids? National best-selling authors Bill Stixrud, PhD, clinical neuropsychologist, and Ned Johnson, founder of PrepMatters, present How to Be a Non-Anxious Parent (April 25).

Join us for an important community conversation, Be SMART: Understanding Firearm Safety and Storage, hosted by the San Mateo County Office of Education, Safe and Supportive Schools, and nonprofit Be SMART (April 26).

MANY WAYS TO VOLUNTEER AT ARROYO