Bobcat Strong Tracker

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Aug 31 - Back to School Night - Parents Only

• - 5:30pm TSDC

• - 6:00-6:30 TK - 3rd grade

• - 6:30-6:45 On blacktop for a school-wide welcome from PTA and LAEF

• - 6:45-7:15 4th-6th grade

Sept 1 - Minimum Day dismissal K 12:00, TK, 1st-6th 12:15

Sept 4 - Labor Day, No School

Sept 8 - Grandfriends' Day

Oct 21- Witches' Delight

LASD 2023-2024 Calendar

Reporting Attendance: To report a student's absence, please fill out this form or call

Dear Bobcat Families!

We are thankful for you being part of our school community! The world is changing quickly and we want to do everything we can to help students be successful in school and life.

We are excited to tell you that we will be using a program called PurposeFull People (Character Strong) this year. This program teaches skills that will help students be successful in school and in life.

We believe that students should have safe, predictable places to learn where they feel included. Students should have healthy and helpful connections with teachers and classmates. They should also experience learning that will help them tackle challenges inside and outside of school. PurposeFull People is more than a set of lessons - it is a partnership between schools and families to create a place where students feel like they belong and learn skills that will help them be the best they can be!

Purposefull People has three main goals for students: Be Kind, Be Strong, and Be Well.

● Be Kind: Social skills like listening, friendship, solving conflicts, and leadership. ○ These skills are taught alongside Empathy, Respect, & Cooperation

● Be Strong: Skills that help students focus, stay organized, and set goals. ○ These skills are taught alongside Responsibility, Courage, & Perseverance

● Be Well: Skills that help students handle their emotions and deal with stress. ○ These skills are taught alongside Gratitude, Honesty, & Creativity

This year, you’ll be invited to join the fun! We will send letters home about the skills and strengths being taught each month. Each letter will include some ways to build these skills at home, discussion starters, and fun challenges you can try with your family.

The path forward is full of growth! We cannot wait to partner with you in this work…

● To teach students how to build strong friendships

● To work together to solve problems, big and small

● To grow skills for life

● To become PurposeFull People

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A quick reminder too about Back To School Night nest Thursday. This even is an ADULTS ONLY event. If you need child care for free, please see below.

Aug 31 - Back to School Night - Parents Only

• - 5:30pm TSDC

• - 6:00-6:30 TK - 3rd grade

• - 6:30-6:45 On blacktop for a school-wide welcome from PTA and LAEF

• - 6:45-7:15 4th-6th grade

Sept 1 - Minimum Day dismissal K 12:00

TK, 1st-6th 12:15

Be Kind, Be Strong, Be Well and Stay Bobcat Strong!

Kelly Rafferty, Principal

Next Thursday, August 31 is Back to School Night, which is an adults only event. Golden Eagle Summer Sports Camp, run by Almond parents Stefaan & Carly Lodge is offering FREE child care at Los Altos High School to allow parents to attend child free without having to worry about childcare.

Who: All Santa Rita students (TK-6 only-no younger siblings)

When: 5:15-7:15

What: Engaging camp activities (ball games, arts & crafts, board games, etc.)

Registration required: https://forms.gle/unB5uDJ3FRPKXzKt9

Contact carly@goldeneaglecamp.org with questions!

We are excited to announce a variety of enriching After School Programs will be running on campus at Santa Rita this Fall 2023! Below is a list of the programs available. Visit sanataritaschool.org for more details including dates, costs, and registration information.

MONDAY:

• LASD Flag Football (Mon & Fri) Grades: 3-6
• High Touch High Tech Grades:TK-3
• Mathletes-in-Training. Grades:1-3
• One on One Basketball Grades:TK-2
• One on One Basketball Grades:3-6

TUESDAY:

• Easy Spanish Grades: TK-6
• Coach Ken Soccer Grades: TK-6
• Run for Fun Grades:K-6
• Art Buzz Kids Grades:K-6

WEDNESDAY:

• Kodely: Behind the Scenes of Game Design Grades:K-4
• Mathletes-in-Training Grades:1-3
• Mathletes Grades:4-5

THURSDAY:

• Chess Club (lunch) K-5

FRIDAY:

• Snapology Robotics Grades:3-6
• Euro School of Tennis Grades:K-3

Grandfriends’ day is a great tradition at Santa Rita that builds a bridge across generations. On Grandfriends' Day, students invite their grandparents and other grandfriends to school to celebrate how multigenerational communities enrich our lives. Our goal is to make sure school connects with students' lives, and encourage students to bring their full selves—their lives and experiences—into the classrooms. This year, Grandfriends’ Day will take place on:

Friday, September 8th!

8:30-10:30am

RSVP by filling this form (1 week prior to the event).

Grandfriends' Day gives students the opportunity to share their school experience with someone special in their life. Anyone in a child's life can be a grandfriend. This can be a neighbor, an aunt or an uncle, a babysitter, a grandparent, a dear friend—a grandfriend is someone special to your Santa Rita student.

Also, to make this event successful, we need help from volunteers! If you have a spare hour the afternoon before or the morning of the event and would like to help us keep this great tradition going, sign up to help here. We can’t do it without you!!

We are very excited to announce the Santa Rita PTA Silent Auction will be kicking off very soon - October 9, 2023.

The Santa Rita PTA Silent Auction is one of our fundraising events and will be held in conjunction with Witches' Delight (October 21, 2023). The auction offers unique parties for everyone to participate in, builds our community at Santa Rita, and gets you access to some great auction items from local businesses. It is a ton of fun and makes lots of great memories for all.

You Can Help!

There are lots of ways to be involved. To get you started on thinking about this, here are some ways you can be involved:

1. Throw (host) a party!

Santa Rita PTA Silent Auction parties are the stuff of legend. Parents, classrooms, or teachers host or co-host events for kids, adults or families, with hosts covering the cost of the party as a donation. Spots to attend your party are sold at the auction. All proceeds go to Santa Rita PTA.

Examples of past parties to get you thinking:

Kid Parties: Have a soccer party at the park with ice cream, fairy tea party for 8, lead a nature hike and picnic.

Adult Parties: Wine tasting party for 10, themed dinner party, Zumba party

Family Parties: Pool party for 20, organize a camp out

For inspiration, here are some parties that have done very well both here at Santa Rita and also at other LASD schools. Sign up at this form here.

2. Help solicit donations from local businesses!

We have a small team working to get gift certificates and items from local businesses to be donated for the auction. Help us by asking YOUR favorite restaurant or business for a gift card, class pass or product donation.

3. Go online when the auction is live and buy spots for parties and donated goods!

This is the fun and easy one - you'll have time to prepare your wish list so you'll be ready to buy when the online auction begins in October.

Stay tuned for more details! Would love to hear from you on ideas and your offers to help make it happen - get in touch:

Kelly Sanders Lo kelly@santaritapta.org

Kanika Chawla kanika@santaritapta.org

Auction Co-Chairs

Our Free Universal Meals Program will start on the first day of school. A 'Grab and Go' breakfast will be served before school and lunch from Revolution foods. Here are the menus for August.

NUTRITION SERVICES FAQ - If you have questions, please add them to this document.

Our students are back on campus, ready to meet new friends and teachers! Let's get them off to a strong start. You are invited to partner with the Los Altos Educational Foundation (LAEF) to help the Los Altos School District (LASD) deliver a high-quality, well-rounded learning experience to all our TK-8 students this year. LAEF fills the gap in school funding from federal, state, and local sources and is the only way for parents to fund LASD teaching staff at Santa Rita.

It’s for the Students! Our school district is counting on us to raise $2.9 million to fund teachers and essential programs for STEM, Wellness, Literacy, and Arts this school year. Donations to LAEF from parents like you will benefit your students and every student in our seven elementary schools and two junior high schools. Find out exactly what your donation to LAEF will fund this school year.

Let’s Get Started. Your generosity will make a difference! Donate or Pledge to LAEF today. Parents are encouraged to give $1,400 or $140/month per student this school year. Gifts of any amount are appreciated. If you can submit for a corporate match, we would be grateful. Both parents can apply.

Check out LASD Superintendent Sandra McGonagle’s Back to School video to learn how LASD, LAEF, and your school’s PTA work together to support our schools.

The Computer Engineers of the Next Generation Team is excited to welcome you and your kids to the 2023-24 school year! We expanded our game design curriculum to multiple levels of Minecraft and Roblox and updated our core Scratch, JavaScript, and Python curriculum during the summer. All our coding classes are taught by high school students and culminate in a final game project. Our goal is to offer more coding choices for your children and make coding fun and accessible.

Our Fall Wednesday and Saturday free coding classes are open. Please register now at cengclass.org. Registration closes on August 25. Questions? Please email Alice Lee at cengclass@gmail.com

The MVLA Parent Education Speaker Series is excited to announce our speaker line-up for the 2023 - 2024 school year. Nationally and internationally recognized experts will join us to discuss important topics on child and adolescent well-being, as well as our own - including how to help kids face the unique challenges of growing up surrounded by computers, how to raise successful adults and break free of the traps of overparenting, exploring why puberty is so different for today’s kids than past generations and figuring out how to beat the college admissions system.

For more information, visit mvlaspeakerseries.org. Events are free thanks to our generous sponsors: MVLA High School Foundation, Los Altos Educational Foundation, Mountain View Educational Foundation, and the Los Altos-Mountain View PTA Council.

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