Arroyo Eagle Eye - March 17, 2024

March 17, 2024

Principal’s Message

Dear Arroyo families,

We have a lot to look forward to in the coming weeks, including the Trimester 2 report cards being emailed home by midweek. As in Trimester 1, you will receive two emails, one with a link and one with a unique password to access your child’s report card. Please take the time to download the report card when you receive the message, as the link expires after a few weeks.  

A reminder that the content of the 4th and 5th Grade report card is intended to promote student ownership over their learning. In keeping with that goal, we hope you will have a conversation with your child about their progress and their goals for the final trimester. I also want to remind you that the four-point rubric (beginning, developing, approaching, mastery) is on the last page of the report card. Learning is a process, and skills students learn are not isolated, but build on one another throughout the year. The report card should be a fluid document that reflects students’ consistent movement toward mastery of skills and concepts by the end of the year. 

As you and your child review the report card, it is important to keep things short and supportive. If you feel that your child should or could be doing better, talk to them about it and encourage them to take ownership by talking to their teacher themselves, asking for help, and developing a plan. If you feel your child is doing exceptionally well, be specific with your praise, but also ask them where they might push themselves to move to the next level. This is a great opportunity to build a healthy relationship around academic and social-emotional development. 

We are working to improve our monitoring of absences this year and will be contacting families with excessive absences or tardies. Currently about 22% of our students have missed three or more days of school for reasons that are not considered excused (the state considers this truant), and about 10% have missed 10 or more days, both excused and unexcused. The state considers any student who has missed at least 10% of the school year for any reason (excused or unexcused) to be chronically absent. Please know that our goal is to ensure your child attends school regularly and to partner with you when issues arise. Working together, we can improve attendance and ensure that all students thrive. If you need support with attendance, don’t feel you need to wait for us to reach out. Feel free to email me, and we can work together to brainstorm ways to ensure your child has the support they need. 

In addition to report cards, we have a number of special events and celebrations this month:

• Ability Awareness Week, March 18-22, aims to promote understanding, acceptance, and appreciation of individual learning and ability differences through fun, experiential activities. This week gives students a chance to experience that everyone learns differently and that it is okay to be different. Teachers have access to a variety of lessons to help students develop greater empathy and understanding. Thanks to SEDAC for coordinating this important week.

• March is also a great time to celebrate literacy as we launch our annual March Madness Book Bracket. This year our theme is tied to Ability Awareness Week. Classes will read books that represent different abilities and will vote on their favorites as we narrow down our bracket to a final winning book.  

• This month we celebrate Women’s History Month as we highlight the contributions and accomplishments of women.

• Our upcoming field trips will be a lot of fun for students. Our first two groups of 4th Graders will visit the Cantor Arts Center and Anderson Collection on the Stanford campus this week. Our third group will visit next week, and our 5th Graders will visit the Exploratorium. Thank you to our parent chaperones for helping to supervise these trips!

If you haven’t already done so, it’s not too late to give your feedback on Arroyo through our CA Healthy Kids Parent Survey. You can access the survey through this link until March 22. Please also be sure to submit the permission form for your child to participate in our student survey by Monday, March 18.  

Warmly,
Mindy Shelton
Principal
[email protected]

Breakfast and Lunch This Week

Please take time to review the menu for next week with your child. If they do not see a breakfast and/or lunch option that they will eat, then please plan to help them pack their own lunch from home (or a hearty snack on Wednesday), and please send your child with a snack for morning recess regardless.

PTA News

Stampede & Soar: Register and Grab Your Volunteer Spot!

Sunday, April 21  •  9-11 a.m.

It’s not too late to register for the 2024 Stampede & Soar Color Run! The deadline is March 26 to guarantee a T-shirt.

And now is the time to pick a volunteer assignment! This massive event runs on the power of our kids’ legs and our parents’ support. From handing out T-shirts to helping set up and take down the course, photographing the fun, managing games, and more, there’s a job for everyone! Central students are also invited to help out — a great way to get some volunteer hours and give back to the school community. Slots are short and fun; find yours here today. 

PTA Board Nominees for 2024-25

The Central-Arroyo PTA’s Executive Board for the next school year will be voted on at our April PTA meeting. There are still open positions on the board and in other areas such as the Book Fair, website, membership, online store, and more. Learn about these open positions in the PTA Job Descriptions document. Please contact Brie MacDonald for more info. Here is the list of board nominees so far:

BECOME A MEMBER, VOLUNTEER, AND CONNECT!

San Carlos Education Foundation News

Get Your Raffle Tickets for a Live Auction Item!

You’re invited to enter SCEF’s Starlight Raffle! Tickets could win you a private dinner for 20 at TOWN, dinner for four at the French Laundry, a Mexico vacation, tickets to Dead & Company at the Sphere in Las Vegas (pictured), or another item. Visit scefkids.org/starlight-raffle for a full list of Starlight Raffle prizes; the winning ticket holder gets to choose one! You need not be present to win.

The winning ticket will be drawn and announced during this Friday’s Starlight Gala. Only 300 tickets will be sold. Consider buying raffle tickets for your teachers and other staff members. Raffle ticket sales will be accepted through noon on March 22 or until they sell out. Cost: 1 ticket for $125, 3 tickets for $325, 6 tickets for $600, 10 tickets for $1,000. Order Starlight Raffle tickets HERE. They are not tax-deductible but do count toward your level on the SCEF donor roll.

Next Week: SCEF Annual Online Silent Auction

Don’t miss out on our annual online silent auction, March 25-April 2! Support your school and bid on entertainment, travel, dining, wine and spirits, museums, concerts, attraction tickets, and more. A link to the auction will be available when the it opens at scefkids.org/events.

Focus on Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging

March 19 Is Nowruz, Persian New Year

Nowruz (Persian: نوروز, pronounced [nowˈɾuːz], literally “new day”) is the Persian term for the day of the Iranian New Year, also known as the Persian New Year. It begins on the spring equinox and is celebrated worldwide by more than 300 million people from various ethnolinguistic groups. The 3,000-year-old tradition is popular in the Middle East, the Balkans, the Black Sea Basin, Central Asia and beyond. Hundreds of U.S. communities celebrate Nowruz, too. Los Angeles, home to one of the largest Persian populations outside Iran, hosts the biggest Nowruz festival in the country.

Nowruz is a largely secular holiday, meant to wish people prosperity for the new year and welcome in the future while shedding the past. Some families deep-clean their homes and closets and buy fresh clothing. It’s a month-long celebration filled with parties, craft making, street performances, and public rituals. To learn more about this holiday, check out these kids’ books:

• The New Year’s Goldfish
• Niko’s Nifty Nowruz
• Norooz A Celebration of Spring! The Persian New Year
• Soraya’s Nowruz Dance

You could also share a read-aloud of Seven Special Somethings: A Nowruz Story along with this video about a Haftseen (which means “the seven S’s”), a traditional table of symbolic items. Eid e shoma mobarak!

Ramadan and Eid al-Fitr

Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic lunar calendar and lasts 29 or 30 days, depending on when the new crescent moon is, or should be, visible. This year, Ramadan is expected to begin around March 10 and end around April 9. It is observed by Muslims worldwide as a month of fasting, reflection, and community.

Participating Muslims who are old enough and healthy enough to fast do not eat or drink from dawn to sunset each day. Once the sun sets, family and friends gather for a meal called iftar. Fasting is intended to strengthen willpower and increase empathy for those who have less; it is also intended to encourage care with words and actions. In addition to fasting, giving to charity and doing good deeds are a special part of Ramadan and done throughout this holy month. Families donate money, food, and clothing to those in need and are encouraged to give throughout the year. 

After Ramadan, families celebrate Eid al-Fitr (“the feast of breaking the fast”), which is a joyous event with elaborate meals, monetary gifts in envelopes for children (called Eidi), and time spent with family and friends!  

To learn more about Ramadan and Eid, check out some of these books:

• Lailah’s Lunchbox by Reem Faruqi

• The Gift of Ramadan by Rabiah York Lumbard

• The Night Before Eid by Aya Khalil

• Ramadan by Hannah Elliot  

• Ramadan Around the World by Ndaa Hassan

• It’s Ramadan Curious George by H.E. Rey and Hena Khan 

• Under the Ramadan Moon by Sylvia Whitman

• Fasting and Dates by Jonny Zucker

Community News

Parent Education Opportunities

How can we support introverts in a noisy world? Heidi Kasevich, PhD, founding director of Kase Leadership Method, presents The Power of Quiet: Rescuing Solitude in a Distracted, Extroverted World (March 21).

NEW! The second event in the all-new Neurodiversity Speaker Series features Sam Drazin, executive director of Changing Perspectives, for Changing Perspectives: Understanding Inclusion, Ableism, and Neurodiversity (March 26).

NEW! We welcome Bonnie Halpern-Felsher, PhD, founder of the Halpern-Felsher REACH Lab, Stanford Medicine, for Safety First and Mental Health: Empowering Teens to Prevent and Reduce Drug Use (March 27).

NEW! How can you find a college that’s right for your budget? Lynn O’Shaughnessy, college financial expert, presents The College Solution: Winning Strategies for Finding the Right School at the Right Price (March 28).