El Rancho Charter School
January 26, 2024
Office Hours
Office hours will be as follows for the school year:
Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday: 7:30 AM to 4:00 PM
Thursday: 7:00 AM to 2:30 PM
Friday: 7:00 AM to 3:00 PM
This Week at El Rancho...
Campus Tours
On Tuesday, 6th-grade students from Anaheim Hills toured El Rancho's campus. Led by our ASB students, 6th graders were able to get a peek at our electives and campus to get an idea of what classes they may want to take next year. They also had a Q&A session with our ASB students so they could ask any questions they had about middle school.
El Rancho Robotics
On Saturday, January 20th, our El Rancho Robotics program sent two teams to the VEX IQ competition in Torrance with "The A Team" finishing in 3rd place overall and winning the SKILLS 2nd PLACE award. "The A Team" has now earned at least one award at every competion they've participated in so far this season. Congratulations Aiden, Allison, Eleanor, Hriday, Matthew and Shubhay.
On the same day, our El Rancho Robotics program also sent two different teams to the VEX IQ competition in La Verne with "The Pack" earning the TEAMWORK 2nd PLACE award, as well winning the DESIGN award. These awards now qualify "The Pack" for the State Championships later this Spring. Congratulations Alan, David, Liam, Noah, Pia, Rassa, Sarah and Zeal.
Tutorial Talks
On Thursday, Mrs. Allyson Reeds spoke with students about the importance of movement. Mrs. Reeds, the Coordinator of Health & Physical Education for the Orange County Department of Education, and a former El Rancho PE/AVID teacher. Students enjoyed a 30 minute presentation on movement and the body and put the presentation into practice. Thank you, Mrs. Reeds!
Employees of the Year
Congratulations to our Employees of the Year! We recognized Mrs. Nibarger as the Certificated Staff of the Year and Mrs. Nelson as the Classified Staff of the Year. Both Mrs. Nibarger and Mrs. Nelson are amazing staff that work for the best interest of all students. Congratulations on your well-deserved recognition!
Next Week at El Rancho...
Open Enrollment
Open Enrollment will end on Monday, January 29, 2024. Families planning on their student attending an OUSD school outside of their attendance area will need to complete Open Enrollment forms. Open Enrollment forms will close on January 29th and reopen on February 5th for those who missed the first window.
2024-2025 Enrollment
OUSD will start its Open Enrollment on January 15, 2024. Open Enrollment is for any student in OUSD boundaries who would like to attend a school outside of their attendance area. Inter-district transfers will also be accepted during this time. Open Enrollment closes on January 29th.
Current 7th-grade students will receive information about 8th-grade electives on February 27, 2024, during their history class. Students will hear about 8th-grade elective options and honors courses during the presentation.
8th-grade students will receive registration information for Canyon High School on March 5, 2024. Canyon's counselors will return on March 13th and 14th to pick registration materials up and meet with students during their PE class.
2023-2024 Yearbook
El Rancho Charter School 2023-24 yearbooks are on sale until January 31st, 2024. The cost is $40. Order now if you did not order one during Registration. Late orders will not be accepted, and we DO NOT order extra books.
Payment should be given to Ms. Garabedian in the main office. We accept cash or check (payable to ERCS). Please email Ms. Garabedian if you have any questions – ngarabedian@orangeusd.org
8th Grade Updates
Important Dates for Canyon High School
January 15th-January 29th: Open Enrollment
February 13th: Canyon CTE Fair during Science class
March 5th: Canyon Registration for students during history classes
March 13th and 14th: Canyon Registration Pick-Up during PE classes
April 1st, 3rd, & 5th: Canyon Cheer Tryouts from 4:00 pm to 6:30 pm
April 6th: Song Clinic 8:30 am to 2:00 pm
April 15th-17th: Canyon Song Tryouts
May 7th: Canyon Dance Tryouts from 4:00 pm to 8:30 pm
PTSA Information
PTSA Renovation Donations
Dear Coyote Parents,
I am reaching out to you because we need your help. The project we are putting our PTSA muscle behind this year is the bathroom renovations. There are currently 12 bathrooms at El Rancho and the cost to renovate each bathroom is about $75,000, so renovating all of them will cost about $900,000. The current bathrooms have not been renovated/updated since they were originally installed 40 years ago.
Currently, with our PTSA commitment of $5,000, the school renovated two bathrooms over the winter break and hopefully a couple more over the summer break, depending on how this round of fundraising goes. Our goal with our commitment of funds was to do something that would benefit both seventh and eighth-grade students.
We are offering a special incentive for donations above $1,000. Donors will receive four Reserved VIP seats and 1 Reserved Parking spot for the 2024 El Rancho Promotion ceremony as our Thank You.
To donate you can click the link http://spot.fund/ElRanchoRestroomRenoFund and donate online.
Additionally, you can fill out our donor form which is attached to this email, and include a check made out to El Rancho PTSA. There is also an attachment that has some pictures of what the current bathrooms look like and what they will look like after renovation.
One question we have received from parents is why this sort of project is not funded by the school. The school is funding most of this project, what we are doing is helping them accomplish the project a little quicker than they had budgeted.
If you have any questions/comments/concerns, please email Kristin at kristinmcruz@hotmail.com or me at elranchocharterptsa@gmail.com.
Thank you again for your support.
Sincerely,
Baiju Mehta
PTSA President
Tutorial Menu-January 31 & February 1st
On each Wednesday and Thursday, we have Tutorial for 30 minutes before lunch. Students should use this time to make up tests, complete missing assignments, and get help from teachers when needed.
Students who are stamped by their teacher must attend that tutorial session. If stamped by multiple teachers, the subject that has priority that day takes precedence.
Students who have C grades or better, are not stamped by a teacher, and do not have any detention stamps, can go to PE, the Little Theater, or Library to complete homework. It is the student's responsibility to check their grades prior to Tutorial.
Students have a 5-minute passing period to get to their tutorial room. Once students arrive at their Tutorial destination, they stay there for the entire 30 minutes. Please use the menu below to make a plan for this week!
Athletics
Basketball Tryouts
Boys' and girls' basketball tryouts are coming up January 29th-31st from 3:00 pm to 4:00 pm. Please meet in the gym.
Boys' and Girls' Basketball
All games begin at 3:00 PM
Girls' Schedule
Monday, February 12th: El Rancho @ Portola Middle School
Monday, February 26th: Yorba Middle School @ El Rancho
Monday, March 4th: Santiago Charter @ El Rancho
Monday, March 11th: El Rancho @ McPherson
Monday, March 18th: Cerro Villa @ El Rancho
Boys' Schedule
Monday, February 12th: Portola Middle School @ El Rancho
Monday, February 26th: El Rancho @ Yorba Middle School
Monday, March 4th: El Rancho @ Santiago Charter
Monday, March 11th: McPherson @ El Rancho
Monday, March 18th: El Rancho @ Cerro Villa
After School Programs
After-school programs are available on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays from 2:50 PM to 3:50 PM
Homework Club in the library
Math Academy in room 306
Garden Gnomes (Wednesdays)
Parents will need to provide transportation as there is no late bus.
Staff Coyote of the Month
We would love to recognize our staff who go above and beyond. So, just like Student of the Month, we have Staff of the Month! If you would like to recognize one of our staff members who exemplifies our Coyote qualities, please use the form below to recognize them.
To be eligible for a Staff of the Month Award, an employee must demonstrate one or more of the following traits:
C: Compassion, Character, and Community
O: Outlook (Positive)
Y: Yearning for Excellence
O: Outstanding insight into students
T: Team Player
E: Excites students to learn
Get Psyched!
Mental Health Newsletter
El Rancho Charter School is dedicated to supporting its students and staff during these unprecedented times. The site below serves as a means to share school-wide strategies we have in place to support mental health as well as provide resources, suggestions, and tips to help during this difficult time. Although we are apart, we are all in this together.
Important Dates...Mark Your Calendars!
Feb. 10: El Rancho Robotics Tournament in the Gym
Feb. 13: Canyon CTE Pathways Fair during Science class
Feb 16 & Feb 19: Presidents' Day Observed-No School
Feb. 27: Career Day
Feb. 27: 2024-2025 8th Grade Elective Presentation during History class
Mar. 1: Minimum Day 12:20 pm dismissal
Mar. 5: Canyon Registration Presentation during History class
Mar. 5: End of 2nd Trimester
Mar. 6: 3rd Trimester Begins
Mar. 13 & 14: Canyon Registration Pick-Up during PE
Mar. 21: Open House
Mar. 25-29: Spring Break
Apr. 24-May 24 SBAC Testing on Wednesdays-Fridays
Information and Resources
Administration and Communication
El Rancho administration works as a management team with three assistant principals, called advisors, who work alongside our Executive Director, Mrs. Walker, to help students be successful. Advisors work with students in the areas of attendance, academics, behavior, and scheduling. The student body is divided into groups by their last name and assigned to an advisor who is like the principal for that part of the alphabet. Students with Section 504 Plans will have Mrs. Beard as their advisor.
Advisors are always happy to help answer general questions regarding school programs. We encourage families to first address questions regarding the grade book, assignments, and classroom interaction to the individual teacher and advisors can be cc'd on communications at any time.
- A-G..........Mrs. Ozuna.......... kozuna@orangeusd.org
- H-P..........Mr. Kilgore........... gkilgore@orangeusd.org
- Q-Z..........Mrs. Beard........... kbeard@orangeusd.org
Attendance Hotline/Attendance Office
Mrs. Cannon, our Attendance Clerk, appreciates your phone call if your child has to miss school. Please call the Attendance Hotline 714-628-5427 on the day of your student's absence.
Please check Google Classroom for work missed up to 3 days.
Students who have a planned absence that is more than 3 days should pick-up an absence form at the attendance office.
During Tutorial, on Wednesdays and Thursdays, please avoid picking students up early, between 11:00 AM - 11:30 AM.
The Attendance Office is for signing-in students who are late to school and signing-out students who are picked-up early from school.
Bell Schedule
3 Trimester Calendar
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Link to Previous Newsletters
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