Dear Almond Families,

These past two days have been filled with many smiles, words of welcome and joy. It was a lot of fun to pull all of the students into the multi yesterday for our kick-off-the-year assemblies. We talked about our year-long theme of TEAMwork (Together Everyone Achieves More) and how we can accomplish so much more working as a team than we can alone. We reviewed playground expectations so that we all hold a consistent message of safety, proper use of equipment and fun! We watched a sweet and silly message from Kid President about "20 Things We Should Say More Often." In the spirit of teamwork, I shared that the entire student body at Almond will be participating in school-wide projects each month. We have one currently underway and are excited to share it with you next Tuesday at Back to School Night. Stay tuned! But the most important message I wanted to leave with your children was a sense of belonging and community. Almond school belongs to the students, the staff, the families and the community. Working together, we can continue to make it a place of learning and growth.

For a little family fun, you can watch this again with your child:  20 Things We Should Say More Often.

Here’s to a sense of belonging!

Raquel

UPCOMING DATES

• Aug. 24, 8:30 am - First Morning Assembly (changed back to Fridays)
• Aug. 24, 6:00 pm - New Family Orientation led by Principal
• Aug. 24, 7:00 pm - Back to School Ice Cream Social
• Aug. 28 - Back to School Night
• Aug. 29 & 30 - Pictures Days
• Aug. 31: Minimum Day: 12:15 pm dismissal
• Sept. 3: Labor Day/No School
• Sept. 21: Staff Development Day/No School For Students

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Welcome to the Thursday Word- Almond’s weekly newsletter which goes out to our families on Thursdays.   The Thursday Word contains important information so please be sure to read it weekly.

Visitor Sign-Ins: If you are going to be on campus at times other than drop-off and pick-up, you MUST sign in at the office.  Please put on a GREEN visitor tag or teal volunteer lanyard so that staff knows you have signed in.  If we don’t see a green nametag on you or a volunteer lanyard, please don’t be offended if we ask you to retrieve one at the office.  This is a safety issue so we know who is on the campus.

Arrival and departure at school: We ask that no student be on campus before 8:15am each day.  Supervision of the campus begins at 8:15.  We also ask that all students clear the campus by 3:10pm- unless working with a teacher, at an after-school club, or DIRECTLY supervised by an adult.  Directly supervised is defined as within close proximity of the student.

Playground Safety and Expectations: Staff has spent time familiarizing students with playground rules and expectations.  A list of those rules and expectations can be found here.  Since the rules are based on safety, we ask that students follow these rules before and after school as well- not just at recess and lunch.

Hot Lunch Volunteers:

We are still in need of Hot Lunch Servers.  Please consider offering your time to help us out!

Please share all of this information to any child care providers you may be using- as the Thursday Word only goes to our families enrolled at Almond.

Back to School Night is next Tuesday, August 28th. Please join us that night and listen to your child’s teacher share information about the year ahead.  The schedule is:

• 6:00pm - 6:40pm Classroom Visits (4-6)
• 6:45pm - 7:00pm School Message in Multi (standing, no seats)
• 7:05pm - 7:45pm Classroom Visits (TK-3)

Look for information from your individual teacher regarding location as some grade levels will meet in either the library or multi. Hope to see you all there!   This is an adults only evening.

SCHOOL START and END TIMES

Transitional Kinder, M/T/W/F = 8:45am – 2:45pm*, Th = 8:45am - 1:30pm*

Kindergarten, M/T/W/F = 8:30am – 2:30pm*, Th = 8:30am - 1:15pm*

Grades 1 & 2, M/T/W/F = 8:30am – 2:40pm*, Th = 8:30am - 1:25pm

Grades 3 thru 6, M/T/W/F = 8:30am – 3:00pm*, Th = 8:30am - 1:45pm

*From 8/22 – 9/17 TK and Kinder will dismiss at 12pm to allow students a transition period to extended day as well as an opportunity for teachers to assess students and collaborate with team members to ensure your child’s success.

Here is a link to a file you can download and print.

Hot Lunch – Our vendor is Pasta Market.  All entrees are in compliance with California SB12 and the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) regulations, regarding portion sizes, calories, fat content, and sugar content for elementary schools.  Registration and ordering is open at this link [https://pastamarket.boonli.com]. The school password is “AES181”.

New Family Orientation - Friday, August 24th, 6:00pm – 6:30pm

All families new to Almond (kindergarten and others) are invited to join Principal Matteroli and the PTA for a brief presentation, Q&A session in the multi.

Back to School Ice Cream Social - Friday, August 24th, 7:00pm

All Almond families are invited to the Almond playground for FREE ice cream sundaes served by the Almond PTA.

PTA Back To School system now available

Please register for the Almond Back To School System.  During this process you can provide family contact information, sign up for volunteer opportunities, and complete PTA and LAEF donations. Every little bit counts! This is a great way to stay connected with the Almond community and support all of the wonderful programs your children enjoy.

Please complete your family’s registration any time between now and September 14th. This is a different registration system than the infosnap process that registers your child for school.

Log in via this link.

Los Altos Educational Foundations (LAEF) welcomes you to the 2018-19 School Year!

We are proud to support Almond and to provide a well-rounded education for your student this school year.  This school year, with your support, LAEF will fund teachers and staff for STEM, Wellness, Literacy, and Arts.​​​​​  Whether your student’s favorite part of the day is PE, art, music, STEM, computer science or library, your donations to LAEF help make it possible.  

Parents are encouraged to donate $1,200 per student to LAEF this school year.  We welcome and encourage donations of any amount.  Our goal is 100% participation from our parent community.  Visit LAEFonline.org to learn more about LAEF and Donate Today!

Become a LIVING CLASSROOM docent... share your love of nature with kids!

Do you like connecting kids with nature and teaching them where our food comes from?  Want to make a difference for our planet and promote environmental stewardship?  If so, please consider becoming a Living Classroom docent!  Living Classroom is looking for docents to help deliver hands-on garden-based lessons to the students of the Los Altos School District.  No experience necessary as we provide all the training needed!  Our Docent Training will take place at the Los Altos School District iLearn Studio on Monday mornings from 9-Noon starting September 10th (apprentice-style training also available for those who cannot attend Monday morning trainings).  Want to learn more about our program?  Please consider attending our upcoming Informational Meeting from 10-11am on Monday 8/27 at the LASD iLearn Studio located at 201 Covington Road, Los Altos.  Please spread the word and bring a friend!  Click HERE to view our docent training flyer.  Questions? Email us at livingclassroom@lasdschools.org or call (650) 947-1103.  For more information about Living Classroom, please visit our website at www.living-classroom.org.

Post an Announcement in the Thursday Word? If you have an announcement to include in the Thursday Word, please send it to AlmondThursdayWord@lasdschools.org  Keep your announcements brief and, if applicable, send a PDF version of any flyer or additional information to be posted on the website. Announcements must be received by 12:00pm on Friday in order to be considered for the Thursday Word scheduled for the following Thursday.

Community Announcements:

Your Kids Can Thrive in aFast-Changing World

A workshop presented by Ashoka, a global non-profit organization dedicated to helping society develop the next generation oF changemakers. 

• How do you instill empathy, hope, and possibility in your child?

• How can we help the young people we care about find their power?

At Ashoka, we believe that the experience of changemaking, or working empathetically with a team to solve a problem, is the answer to these questions. When children and adults master the skills of empathy, leadership, teamwork and changemaking, they are realizing their own power to catalyze change; learning that the status quo can be challenged; and discovering that our collective success increasingly depends on our ability to be changemakers.

    Join with people throughout our community to further explore how to create a community culture that supports children and adults to be changemakers. We will also be exploring the need to re-imagine parenting for the 21st Century.

WHEN: Friday, August 24, 2018

            6pm Appetizers

            6:30-8:30 Event

WHERE: Los Altos United Methodist Church, Creekside Center

               655 Magdalena Ave

               Los Altos, CA 94024

Childcare provided

Please register at http://bit.ly/reimagineparenting