The Mustang Messenger

First quarter officially ends today. We had a short but busy week at Rancho Pico. ASB hosted a successful Club Day at lunch on Wednesday where students found out about serveral clubs where like-minded students can gather at lunch and share common interests. The library hosted a chess tournament and ASB held our first afterschool dance.

October is also Anti-Bully month and our wellness team has activities planned to help student cultivate our caring, inclusive culture. Students signed a pledge against bullying and wore blue to "band against bullying."

Have a great weekend!

Catherine Nicholas, Ed.D.

If you would like to read our newsletter in a different language, you may translate it to your home language:

Step 1 - Click on the Translate button

This button can be found at the top of the emailed newsletter.

Step 2 - Access the Translation and ADA bar

On the right side of the newsletter, you'll see the ADA and Translation features. To translate your newsletter, click on the Translate button and choose your desired language.

Attention 7th and 8th grade students who are interested in competition in math: Sign up for the AMC (American Mathematics Competition) 8 on the Google form:

https://forms.gle/KVcTPw3wcWPjjvyS6

Students must sign up by October 10th. The competition is January 19th, at 10:15 am in Rancho Pico's MPR.

President: Mandy O'Connor

Vice President: Tina Sexton

Treasurer: Ryan McGee

Volunteer Coordinator and Secretary: Amy McKenna

Secretary: Heather Covarrubias

It's going to be an incredible school year! We are honored to be members of the Rancho Pico PAC Board. We are here to serve as "Key Communicators & Ambassadors" to the students, staff, and parents -- the Rancho Pico Community as a whole. We promote and support the students, staff, and any Rancho Pico PAC activities. We serve as an advisory group to the Principal and give financial support to Rancho Pico for any educational needs, improvements and/or school priorities.

We Celebrate the Success of Our Students and Staff! On-Campus Events:

• Gratitude Month - November

• Holiday Cheer - December

• School Recognitions/Awards - Throughout the Year

• CAASPP - April/May

• Staff Appreciation Week - May

• End of Year Fun - May

Ways to Give - There are two ways to give to the Rancho Pico PAC:

1. By volunteering your time at the on-campus PAC events OR
2. Donating money/funds for these on-campus activities and any educational needs, improvements, and/or priorities the Rancho Pico Community is in need of during the 2022-2023 school year.

***Please note all funds donated to the Rancho Pico PAC go directly to the Rancho Pico Community. We are still in need of more financial support to cover the costs of the on-campus events scheduled and a few educational needs for this school year. Every dollar is appreciated!

Donations are made through PAC’s PayPal account: Rancho Pico Parent Advisory Committee at

Rancho Pico Parent Advisory Committee or the QR Code above.

We hope to see you at the next Rancho Pico PAC Meeting on 10/27/22 at 6:O0 PM in Rancho Pico's library.

Following Rancho Pico's PAC meeting in the library, the Principals from West Ranch, Rancho Pico, Stevenson Ranch, Pico Canyon, & Oak Hills will present: Students, Social Media & the World Wide Web in Rancho Pico's MPR. You won't want to miss this meeting and presentation! (More information about PAC is available on our website.)

With much gratitude,

The Rancho Pico PAC Board

Hello Rancho Pico Families,

Yearbook is selling tribute ads for 8th graders only! They are $30. This is your chance to put a special message in the yearbook for your 8th grade student. As space is limited, you may only purchase one tribute per student/group. Click the link here or posted on the school website and select Create a Personal Ad. There are only 96 spots available and are on a first come, first serve basis, so be sure to get yours in by the November 18th deadline! Thank you and have a wonderful day.

Rancho Pico's and West Ranch's choirs, under the direction of Molly Peters, performed in the West Ranch High School Theater on Wednesday night. Students were dressed in Halloween costumes and did an amazing job singing a variety of spooky-themed songs.

Attention all 8th grade parents- the SCVBG (Santa Clarita Valley Business Group) is holding their Speech Competition at Rancho Pico this year. Please encourage your students to write a speech with the potential to represent Rancho Pico at the final competition.

Students need to sign up to participate with Mrs. Mumford in room 614 by October 17th. Round one, in which we will choose the speakers who will move on to the formal event on November 9th, will take place after school at 3:15pm on October 24th.

Please see the attached flyer with the speech prompt: What do you think is your strongest character trait and how will this trait assist you in reaching your personal goals?

Rancho Pico offers Speech and Debate Enrichment in room 615 on Mondays from 3:00 to 4:00 where West Ranch students support Rancho Pico students interested in improving their speech and debate skills.

Counselors and administrators completed their Mindful Mustang talks to talk about Mustang behavior, expectations, conflict resolution, and our PBIS motto, DASH (Do the right thing, Act responsibly, Show respect and Have integrity) this week. All teams participated. For the most part, students are doing a great job. Some of the behaviors we continue to see and address on a regular basis are:

Dress code - shirts not covering front

Gum chewing

Lunch/brunch line cutting

Please encourage your students to DASH and when you see DASH tickets, ask what they did to earn them. We appreciate your partnership and support!

Rancho Pico's wellness center has many activities planned for October and Anti-bullying month! All Mustangs are encouraged to participate.

ASB held Club Day at lunch on Wednesday where students learned about clubs that were available on campus.

Here is information on the City Transit tripper that goes to Rancho Pico. It looks like the schedule changed in October:

Here's the link to the schedules in general: https://santaclaritatransit.com/routes-schedules/supplemental-school-day-schedules/

or here's' the link to Rancho Pico schedules: https://santaclaritatransit.com/files/2022/09/Rancho-Pico-2022-2023-10.3.22.pdf

It looks like the change is to the pick up times on Route 634 on Wednesdays only:

Calgrove & Creekside - 7:40 a.m.

Pico Canyon & Constitution - 7:50 a.m.

Hemmingway & Stevenson Ranch - 7:56 a.m.

Poe & Franklin Pkwy - 8:09 a.m.

Rancho Pico Jr. High - 8:35 a.m.

We are the students of Academy of the Canyons Nonprofit Ventures class and the staff of the Santa Clarita Project Linus Chapter. We would like to inform you, your students, and staff of our upcoming event, Make a Blanket Day on Saturday, October 22 from 10 am to 4 pm at the COC East Gym and ask that you help us spread the word. Nonprofit Ventures - Project Linus is a chapter of a non-profit organization that specializes in making and delivering handmade blankets all across the valley to provide love, security, and comfort to children who are seriously ill and traumatized. It is also our mission to provide a rewarding and fun service opportunity for interested individuals, students, and groups in our local communities, for the benefit of children.

Our event this year is on October 22nd! We will be located at College of the Canyon’s East Gym at 26455 Rockwell Canyon Rd, Santa Clarita, CA 91355. There will be food trucks at the event if you would like to purchase food!

Furthermore, if you are unable to participate in our Make-A-Blanket Day Event or cannot attend the event for the full amount of time, you can drop off blankets on the day of the event from 10 am-2 pm! We ask that ALL participants fill out this form to sign up and receive instructions on how much fleece to bring and the amount of service hours participants can earn. Participants will be emailed a service hour confirmation form at completion of the event. To learn how to make the tied fleece edge blankets, please check out our website @scvprojectlinus.org.

We have included a digital flier, the sign up sheet, an instructional video for how to make blankets, and a promotional video for your student announcements or Google Classroom. If you have any questions regarding the event, please feel free to contact us events.svcpl@gmail.com.

If your student is interested in participating in the bookmark competition, please have them go to our library and get the entry form from Mrs. McCleary.

Halloween is coming fast so we wanted to put Rancho Pico guidelines out there for students who are preparing their costumes.

Students have been earning DASH tickets all year when they:

Do the Right Thing

Act Responsibly

Show Respect

Have Integrity

Students can cash their tickets in for small toys, a shout out on the marquee or instagram, Rancho Pico spirit wear, a Rancho Pico blanket, a yearbook, a Rancho Pico water bottle, a front of the line pass or a free school event ticket.

Rancho Pico students are Opportunity Ready!

Students are encouraged to wear a college shirt or a shirt that represents a future career goal on Thursdays. It is great to see all of the college and industry shirts out on campus. Students from RPTV will be interviewing people and asking them about their careers and what training and education was necessary for their career. It is our goal to expose our Mustangs to many future options.

Fridays are Spirit Days and students are encouraged to wear Rancho Pico Spirit wear.

The William S. Hart Union High School District prohibits unlawful discrimination against and/or harassment of any student, employee or job applicant on the basis of actual or perceived race, color, ethnicity, national origin, immigration status, ancestry, religion, age, marital status, pregnancy, parental status, physical or mental disability, medical condition, military or veteran status, political affiliation, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, genetic information, sexual orientation, or any other basis prohibited by state and federal nondiscrimination laws respectively at any District site and/or activity. The William S. Hart Union High School District also provides equal access to the Boy Scouts and other designated youth groups. All inquiries regarding discrimination, civil rights, 504 complaints, Title II, and/or Title IX should be directed to Mark Crawford, Director of Human Resources, William S. Hart Union High School District, 21380 Centre Pointe Pkwy, Santa Clarita, CA 91350, or by phone (661) 259-0033, or by email: UCP@hartdistrict.org.