Bobcat Strong Tracker

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Thursday, Dec 15 - Linden Tree Night 6-8pm

Friday, Dec 16- Last Day to Donate to Food Drive

Saturday, Dec 17- Bobcats on the Run 5k- Everyone welcome- register below

Friday, Dec 22 - PJ Day!

Dec 23- Jan 6 - Winter Break- No School

PLEASE fill out your Bobcat Strong Registration: https://santaritapta.formstack.com/forms/Bobcat_reg

Today is my 49th birthday, I don’t remember a time I felt more love from the people around me. Thank you to all the students and staff who decorated my ‘49er’ office door, wore 49er gear and sang over and over to me. What a huge smile and laugh I had when I came in this morning! You all know me very well :)

As we head further into December here a few things to note:

• We met and exceeded our LAEF Participation Challenge goal! Three cheers for Santa Rita and a tremendous thank you to all of you who were able to make that donation! Students will soon get the extra 15 minutes of lunch recess :)
• Our December holiday break this year begins on Friday, December 23rd (Thursday is the last day of class) and runs through Friday, January 6th. We return to school on Monday, January 9th. I bring this to your attention as historically, these have not been the two weeks we break for.
• Covid Tests kits will be coming home by next Friday, please adhere to the same protocol as Thanksgiving, students should take a test the night before or morning before school on the 9th.
• LOST AND FOUND: all clothes will be donated as of Thursday, Dec 22nd. Please go by and look for any forgotten items.

Hope to see everyone next Thursday, the 15th, at Linden Tree from 6:00-8:00 for hot chocolate and stories! Part of the proceeds from that night come back to Santa Rita so be sure to come out, buy some books and listen to our teachers read their favorite stories.

Finally, please be respectful of our Santa Rita neighbors during pick up and drop off. Please do not use their driveways as a turn around spot or park in front of the driveways even if it is just for a few minutes.

Thank you everyone and stay Bobcat Strong and Healthy!

Kelly Rafferty

Share Your Thoughts: the LASD Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Survey

LASD has partnered with Hanover Research to develop a Los Altos School District Equity and Inclusion Survey. In this survey, Los Altos School District (LASD) is interested in your thoughts on our schools' continuing efforts to provide equitable opportunities and a welcoming environment to students, parents, and staff from diverse backgrounds.

Diverse backgrounds include various ethnicities, races, cultures, genders, sexualities, religions, abilities, socio-economic backgrounds, and all other identities.

The purpose of this study is to gather information to help guide our continued work, and to inform our Equity Task Force that will be convening again later this year. We also look forward to analyzing these results, identifying training opportunities for all of our staff, and continuing to grow in this important area.

We value and appreciate your feedback. Your responses will remain anonymous. Please complete this survey by Wednesday, December 14, 2022. Please take the survey here. (If you are an LASD staff member, please do not take this survey, as you already have completed it before.)

A special Santa Rita only night hosted at Linden Tree with read-a-louds from teachers and hot cocoa. It will be a perfect opportunity to do some last minute holiday shopping! A portion of the proceeds comes back to Santa Rita

Linden Tree Book Store

Thursday, December 15

6-8 PM

265 State St. Los Altos

Santa Rita is holding a food drive from Monday, November 28 through Friday, December 16. We are collecting pop-top canned foods (especially soup), oatmeal packets, crackers, cookies, fruit cups, juice, bottled water, plasticware and napkins. Students should put their donations into the collection box in their classroom. Thank you for supporting our community!

Bobcats on the Run are calling all Santa Rita walkers, joggers, and runners to the Baylands. Bobcats on the Run will be participating in the Palo Alto 5k on December 17th. You do not need to be in the club to participate. We want to get as many bobcats out there as possible! Please read the information below to find out how to get signed up.

Date: December 17th, 2022

Time: 9:00 am

Location: Baylands Athletic Center

1900 Geng Rd, Palo Alto, CA 94303, USA

Who can come: Anyone!

What should I wear: Bobcats on the Run t-shirt, neon yellow, or Santa Rita red

Where do I sign up: https://doubleroadrace.com/run/christmas/signup

When signing up make sure to fill in the club name with Bobcats on the Run and use the promo code “santarita” to get $10 off. This race event is filling up quickly, so register as soon as possible to guarantee your spot!

A generous group of LASD families has offered to match every dollar donated to LAEF before December 31st, up to a total of $38,000! We're 75% of the way to our goal of $2.8M. Help us fund teachers at your school this year.

Donate now and your gift will be matched!

If your company has a matching gift program, you can even TRIPLE Your Impact by donating this month.

We are grateful to each family who has already given to LAEF school year. Your generosity is making a difference for our students every day.

Santa Rita will be hosting the AMC8 math competition on Jan 18 from 2-3 pm on campus. If your student is interested in participating in this low stress math competition, please fill out this sheet by Dec 2nd, at the moment there are 40 spots available.

If you would like to know more about this test please visit their website at https://www.maa.org/math-competitions/about-amc

CENG Free Online Coding Classes: Scratch, JavaScript, Python

Trained local high school students from the Computer Engineers of the Next Generation are hosting free coding classes on Zoom in Scratch, JavaScript, and Python for 3rd to 8th-grade students. We offer Beginning, Intermediate, and Advanced levels for Scratch, JavaScript, and Python. Students will be put into different breakout rooms according to their levels, but the Zoom link of each class remains the same.

Dates: Wednesdays Jan 11 - Feb 15, 2023, OR Saturdays Jan 14 - Feb 18, 2023

Time: 4:15 - 5:45 pm Pacific Time

No. of Classes: 6

Format: Zoom Online Classes

Cost: Free

Register now at cengclass.org Registration deadline: 11:59 pm on Thursday, December 15, 2022, or when class is full.

CENG Free Virtual Hackathon

3rd - 8th-grade-Registration Open Now

Computer Engineers of the Next Generation (CENG) will be hosting a FREE virtual hackathon for grades three to eight on Saturday, March 4, and Sunday, March 5 from 1–5 p.m. on both days. NO coding experience is needed to join! In small groups of 3–5, participants will have the opportunity to work together and learn to code in Scratch, JavaScript, or Python.

Workshops and games will be interspersed throughout the event to guide students of any experience level through the process. At the end of the hackathon, students will present their work to a panel of judges in the field based on a rubric consisting of creativity, complexity/functionality, collaboration, and presentation. After the coding portion of the hackathon is over, participants will have the opportunity to listen to our guest speaker who is in the game design field.

Sign up for the hackathon and share it with your friends and family members who might be interested today by visiting cengclass.org. Registration closes on Friday, February 24, 2023

Questions? Email Alice Lee at cengclass@gmail.com

CENG is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit whose mission is to inspire underrepresented minorities to explore and pursue an interest in computer science. Find out more at cengclass.org.

Our new Universal Meals program will be available for a Grab and Go breakfast between 8:10-8:25, from our new Servery Window (By the lunch tables near the Multi) and eat at the tables. If they do not finish, they can save it until recess time.

• Monthly Menus will be published on the Santa Rita school website and in our weekly newsletters.

If you have a special diet please email santaritasecretary@lasdschools.org and ask for a form to fill out.

Please review the menu with your student. NUTRITION SERVICES FAQ - If you have questions, please add them to this document.

Email: krafferty@lasdschools.org
Website: https://www.santaritaschool.org
Location: 700 Los Altos Avenue, Los Altos, CA, USA
Phone: (650)559-1600
Facebook: santaritaPTA
Twitter: @BobcatsSR