Bobcat Strong Tracker

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Aug 18 - Friday Assembly: Meet at 8:30am on the blacktop. Spirit Day- Wear red or Santa Rita spirit wear! Parents are welcome to join.

Aug 19 - Bobcat Chase 8am-Noon - see details 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

Sept 4 - Labor Day, No School

Sept 8 - Grandfriends' Day

LASD 2023-2024 Calendar

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

I hope this finds you well and hope your child(ren)had a wonderful first few days of school. The days have been full of positive energy, excitement and kindness. It has made my heart happy seeing all of the smiling faces.

As we move through the 2023-24 school year, I kindly ask that you commit to reading this weekly newsletter as it will contain important information. Please do your best to stay connected with all things Santa Rita.

Below you will find some very important information. Please take a moment to read carefully.

I hope to see you Saturday at the Bobcat Chase or tomorrow morning at assembly.

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

Kelly Rafferty, Principal

I am pleased to announce our District has adopted, Character Strong, our new Social/Emotional Learning Curriculum. We are very excited to begin implementing this program and are inviting you to join us in promoting healthy social and emotional well-being here at our school . We will be beginning the year with our Kindness Kick-Off for the first two weeks and then focusing on Respect for the month of September. I was able to get into each class this week to talk about our Kindness Kickoff and read the book Kindness Grows. We have also started with a ‘catching kindness’ campaign where adults and students who catch others being kind can write the name on a Catching Kindness card. They cards are put in bucket and we will watch our Kindness grow each week.

• To Kelly Sanders Lo and Herb Marshall for the wonderful Back to School Picnic and Back to School Coffee. Thank you for always going above and beyond.

• To Katelyn Fishpaw and Michelle Bossie for organizing our playdates this summer.

• To Douglas Thieu and Marlo Kohn for connecting with new families. We are so grateful!

• And to all our parents who have offered their time already this year, it truly takes a village to run a school!

Beginning tomorrow, Friday, August 18th, we will continue our tradition of Friday Assemblies. They begin at 8:30am and take place on the blacktop. Families are invited and encouraged to attend. Hope to see you there!

Join your Santa Rita community on Saturday, August 19 for our annual Bobcat Chase Fun Run. Meet new friends and connect with old ones. The kids can participate in fun grade-level races around the Santa Rita track! Coffee and juice are free and will be available starting at 8 a.m. Please bring change and small bills as donuts will be for sale for $2, popsicles for $1 and refreshments for $1.

The opening ceremony is at 8:30, and the first race will begin at 8:45.

After the races, Mrs. Rafferty and Mrs. Garvin will be in dunk tanks. Buy a ticket and throw a ball, bet you can't get us wet! :)

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!

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.

To participate, please RSVP by filling this form (1 week prior to the event).

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!!

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.

Living Classroom Informational Coffee

Monday, August 21

10-11:30am

Los Altos School District iLearn Studio

201 Covington Road, Los Altos

Living Classroom is seeking volunteers to teach our fun nature-based lessons and help care for our school gardens. No experience necessary as we teach you everything you need to know. Please join us from 10-11:30am on Monday 8/21 at the LASD iLearn Studio to learn more about volunteering. Questions? Please contact us at livingclassroom@lasdschools.org or call (650) 947-1103. Check us out at LivingClassroomLASD.org!

We are looking for volunteers who would like to teach art in the Los Altos School District, TK-6th grade. Come join us for treats and beverages and learn more about our program! You'll also get to do a fun mini-art lesson too.

Informational Coffee:

Thursday, August 24

10-11:30am

First Training:

Join us for our first of weekly training sessions

Thursday, September 7

9-11:30am

LASD iLearn Studio

201 Covington Road, Los Altos

RSVP by August 23 to anns97@gmail.com

Contact the Los Altos Art Docents office for more information:

(650) 947-1195

kdickerson@lasdschools.org

http://www.losaltosartdocents.org/

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