Bobcat Strong Tracker

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• 3/4- LAST DAY of Read-a-Thon!
• 3/21-3/25- International Week
• 4/7- STEM Expo
• 4/11- 4/15- No School- Spring Break

CALLING ALL VOLUNTEERS! THE PTA NEEDS YOU!

To continue to provide awesome opportunities to our students and staff the Santa Rita PTA needs your help!

- Have lots of time to give? We're looking for a Treasurer, Secretary, and Executive Vice President to join the executive board.

- Have a little less time to give? We're looking for Leads for events such as Hot Lunch, Family Fun Night, a Musical Producer, and more.

- Have a great NEW idea? Tell us about what YOU would like to do for the PTA and the school!

Please contact Alison Biggs at abiggs@gmail.com for more information about all these positions! Thank you!

Dear Bobcat Families,

I hope everyone was able to spend some time with family and friends last week. Tomorrow is the end of our Read-a-Thon, so tonight is the last night to read a lot and ask for pledges!

As you saw from Superintendent Baier’s message earlier this week, we are deeply troubled by the war in Ukraine. Many of our families have ties to both Ukraine and Russia, and our hearts go out to those impacted by the violence. As models for our students, we are here to offer support and continuously foster an inclusive environment where heritage, ethnicity, and national origin are honored and respected. Students may have questions that arise over the next few weeks, and our outstanding staff has been provided with an inquiry-based tool to support a student-driven conversation. If your student has been impacted and needs any support, please do not hesitate to reach out to our school.

Mr. Baier also shared this New York Times resource of information to help parents support a conversation with their child.

In addition here is something from our LASD School Psychologist team

As school-based mental health professionals, the LASD School Psychology team recognizes the traumatic impact that the crisis in Ukraine may have on our students, families, and the local community.

As Superintendent Baier said, we must remember to be models for our children, helping them understand why we should never blame or attribute the actions of foreign governments to our fellow community members based on their heritage, ethnicity, or national origin.

We have compiled some resources that may be helpful in helping our children process the tragic events unfolding in Ukraine. Please know that our schools are ready to provide support for students who have been affected by these events. If you are concerned about your child’s emotional wellbeing in response to these events, please reach out to your principal or school psychologist.

Link to NASP page for above infographic and related resources: https://www.nasponline.org/resources-and-publications/resources-and-podcasts/school-safety-and-crisis/school-violence-resources/talking-to-children-about-violence-tips-for-parents-and-teachers

Other Helpful Reads for Parents:

• National Traumatic Stress Network- Talking to Children About War. This handout offers considerations and tips for navigating conversations about war and acts of military aggression.

• National Association of School Psychologists- Promoting Compassion and Acceptance in Crisis. This resource provides tips aimed at avoiding unfair stigmatization as a result of the current crisis. Also see Supporting Youth Affected by the War in Ukraine.

• San Diego County Office of Education- Resources for Discussing the Events in Ukraine. This toolkit provides links to learning opportunities as well as links to more resources aimed at bolstering resilience.

Stay Bobcat Strong!

Mrs. Kelly Rafferty

• 3/21-3/25- International Week
  
• 3/22- MVLA Parent Education Speaker: Scott Schimmel
• 4/7- STEM Expo
• 4/11- 4/15 - Spring Break
• 4/23 - Junior Olympics 8 - 4 pm

READ READ READ all about it - our read-a-thon ends tomorrow (we extended it!) and we are only halfway to our goal.

Make sure you tell your family and friends how much you LOVE Santa Rita and how much we NEED their support!!

Don’t forget to enter your reading minutes and donations on your read a thon page. Plus, the more minutes we read and dollars we raise means these fun things are in store!

School-wide fundraising prizes:

$10k: Extra pajama day for the school - REACHED!

$15k: Principal Rafferty will dress in cone costume for school day - REACHED!

$25k: Class who raises the most gets to silly string Principal Rafferty

$30k: Bucket of ice water dumped on Principal Rafferty given by the class teacher that raised the most

International Week Country Flags

We will be displaying the country flags of our Santa Rita families on Friday, March 25 during the International Day Dance. The PowerSchool system based on the language surveys shows that 33 countries are represented by our Santa Rita families. They are Argentina, Australia, Canada, Chile, China, France, Germany, Guatemala, India, Indonesia, Iran, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Korea, Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, Pakistan, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Peru, Puerto Rico, Russia, Switzerland, Sweden, Singapore, Ukraine, United Kingdom, Vietnam, and USA. We want to ensure that all our families are represented in the country flag display. If your country is not on the list, please contact Alice Lee at joy268@hotmail.com by Friday, March 18th.

MVLA Parent Education Speaker Series

Join us for an evening with Scott Schimmel – President and Chief Guide of The YouSchool

Critical Foundations: The questions every kid must answer to build a meaningful life.
When: Tuesday, March 22, 2022 - 7:00 - 9:00pm

Where: MVHS Spartan Theater ⧫ 3535 Truman Avenue

Audience: Parents of K - 12 Grades

Register: Register for this free event

More Information: English ⧫ Spanish

Previous recordings:

• 01/13/2022 - Jessica Lahey - The Addiction Inoculation: Raising Healthy Kids in a Culture of Dependence
• 11/16/2021 - Colin Seale - The Question is the Answer Practical Strategies to Unleash Critical Thinking at Home
• 10/21/2021 - Dr. Michael Bradley - Yes, Your Teen Is Crazy! Loving Your Kid Without Losing Your Mind

SELPA 1 CAC and the Learning Challenge Committee are your groups for special education and broader learning challenge needs. If you have questions about learning challenges and special education needs, email selpa1cacinfo@gmail.com or check out www.selpa1cac.org

3/7 Monday 9 am- General Parent/Community Meeting

Join Special Ed. Directors & Staff on Zoom at 9:00 am for LCC and 9:10 am for CAC. We will be planning for the year, discussing upcoming programs and discussing distance learning and learning challenges. For our agenda, please join our Google group, https://groups.google.com/g/selpa1cac. For the Zoom link for this meeting, Register: HERE

3/8 Tuesday 10 am - Parent Chat

Support for parents of teens with mental health challenges.

A great place for help and support for challenges with your teens. Please contact trudy.palmer@me.com for Google Meet invite.

3/16 Wednesday 7:00-8:30 p.m- Parent Education Event

“FINDING SUCCESS WHEN NAVIGATING CHALLENGING CONVERSATIONS" - this is an

alternative dispute resolution training with help from the county SELPA

Register in advance for this meeting: https://sccoe.to/SELPA1CAC_ChallengingConversations

3/30 Wednesday 17-8:30 pm Evening Let’s Talk

IEP/504 support group. Have questions about the process to get help for your child? Have an IEP but are not sure how to make changes? Need to vent? This is your confidential group. Register HERE

Santa Rita STEM Expo invites students in grades TK-6 to participate! While engaging in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) projects, students will have an opportunity to design hands-on projects while exploring just how fun STEM can be! This event lends itself to a myriad of learning experiences: within the class or at home, working individually or collaboratively with peers or with adults, and amongst a wide range of STEM categories including: Rube Goldberg, Invention, Engineering (Reverse), Engineering (Robotics), Scientific Inquiry, and Wearable Designs. Ultimately, students will get a chance to showcase their STEM work in a fun and unique venue, with learning opportunities for the entire family. Santa Rita will be hosting the STEM Expo evening showcase on April 7 from 5:00pm - 7:00pm.

Intent to Register:

The STEM Expo “Intent to Participate” is just around the corner. If your child is interested in submitting a project for the Expo, make sure they sit down with you and fill out the form found on the STEM Expo site - be sure to click on Santa Rita to fill out the form by March 11th

Participation is not mandatory but it sure is a fun event!

Every student's wellness is a priority for our school district. Your student's physical and mental health is nurtured through caring teachers and staff at your school, as well as parent education speakers, PE classes with health and wellness-focused lessons, school psychologists, mental health counselors, social-emotional learning, and more.

Check out our Focus on Student Wellness to learn more, including information about teacher training and LASD’s mental health resources.

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