Dear Almond Families,

Please join me in congratulating Almond’s Teacher of the Year: Ms. Kelsey Greene and Support Staff of the Year: Mr. Marcus Coleman! Both recipients were nominated and honored by their peers yesterday in our district-wide Employee of the year celebration, along with recipients from all 9 LASD school sites. Both Ms. Greene and Mr. Coleman are true representatives of the core values of Almond staff including being caring, compassionate and committed to the educational and social growth of ALL students.

We are so excited that the Almond student drama production of The Lion King kicks off this afternoon at 4pm! Both casts of students have been working hard and are excited to perform for our community. If you haven’t yet purchased your tickets, there are some still available and are being sold before every show. Here are the showtimes and dates:

• Thursday, May 9th - 4:00 Cast A
• Friday, May 10th - 7:00 Cast B
• Saturday, May 11th - 2:00 Cast B
• Saturday, May 11th - 7:00 Cast A

In addition to ticket sales, orders are also being taken if you would like to purchase a recorded DVD of the Almond show.

Here’s to committed and passionate Almond adults and students!

Raquel

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Important Dates

• 5/9, Today, Thurs, Almond Drama Club presents The Lion King, 4:00 pm
• 5/10, Fri, Almond Drama Club presents The Lion King, 7:00 pm
• 5/11, Sat, Almond Drama Club presents The Lion King, 2:00 pm
• 5/11, Sat, Almond Drama Club presents The Lion King, 7:00 pm
• 5/13-5/17, SPIRIT WEEK, details below
• 5/18, Sat, Los Altos Pet Parade, 10:00 am, details below
• 5/19, Sun, Almond Family Picnic, 4:00 pm, Almond field
• 5/22, Wed, PTA General Meeting
• 5/23, Thurs, OPEN HOUSE (6pm-7pm) and ART SHOW (5:30pm-7:30pm)
• 5/24, Fri, MINIMUM DAY, 12:15 dismissal for all students
• 5/27, Mon, HOLIDAY, No School

Almond Drama presents The Lion King!

ALMOND DRAMA PRESENTS - THE LION KING! May 9th -May 11th

• Come see our wonderful Almond actors and actresses bring the exciting tale of The Lion King to life next week!
  • Performances
• • Thursday, May 9th - 4:00 Cast A
  • Friday, May 10th - 7:00 Cast B
  • Saturday, May 11th - 2:00 Cast B, and 7:00 Cast A
• Tickets $10.00 each
• Tickets will be available for purchase at drop off and pick up this week and immediately before every performance. Cash or check only.
• For more information email Luisa at smithluisa605@gmail.com or Christi at cdcrosby@gmail.com

Lion King SNACKS & FLOWERS

The 6th graders will sell $1 snacks and drinks at each Lion King intermission and immediately after each performance. In addition, $2 flowers will be sold. The 6th graders will use the proceeds to purchase and install their class gift to the school. They are excited to give Almond School and all of the current and future students a GaGa Ball Pit! Thank you for your support.

Student Council Announces Spirit Week starting 5/13

The student council has announced Spirit Week to celebrate the end of CAASPP testing. Here is the proposed schedule:

• ​Monday, May 13th: Sports Day
• Tuesday, May 14th: Stuffed Animal Day
  • Stuffed animal must be under the size from your shoulders to the top of your head.
  • It is the teacher's discretion whether the stuffed animals can be out during class time, or if they must be stowed away.
• Wednesday, May 15th: Crazy Hair Day
• Thursday, May 16th: Inside Out Day
• Students may not show undergarments.
• Friday, May 17th: Your Choice Day
• Classes decide as a group what their theme will be for this day​.

Almond Announcements

Almond Open House and Art Docent Show 5/23!

Please join us in celebrating all the wonderful work your students have done over the course of the school year! You are welcome to visit the classrooms from 6:00-7:00. And please visit the Multi, where your students' artwork will be on display.

It’s time to order your copy of the 2018-19 Almond Yearbook!

(Yearbooks were **not** ordered during the Back-to-School Registration, so you need to do it now!)

There are 2 easy ways to purchase your copy:

(1) Order online and pay by credit card - go to this link: https://almondpta.squarespace.com/yearbook/order

(2) Fill out a Paper Form and pay by check or cash. Paper forms will be available in the school office by Wednesday 8th.

Yearbooks will be delivered to the classrooms during the last week of school and quantities are limited, so order your Yearbooks now!

Email Leon with any questions (leonyao.pta@gmail.com)

School Supplies for 2019-20!

As we are counting down the days to summer vacation, we are planning ahead as well! For your convenience, we are working with 1st Day School Supplies. If you order by the deadline, the supplies will be delivered to Almond school, making it so easy!

Below is the user-friendly link to our school store! You will notice that the headphones and earbuds are listed separately.

School Store Link

Almond Family Picnic

Back by popular demand, the Almond Family Picnic is scheduled for Sunday, May 19, from 4:00-7:00pm. Pack up your picnic blanket and join your fellow Almond Families for a fun, casual afternoon on the Almond Field.

We will have a couple of food trucks available to purchase food or you can pack your own dinner.

Worried about missing an NBA Playoff Game? We will have an outdoor screen set up in the event a game is scheduled.

We hope to see you there. Questions? Email Leslie Lee at LeslieHerbertLee@gmail.com

Congratulations, Almond Singers!

Congratulations to the Almond Singers Chorus on two great Spring Concerts! The Almond Singers performed 5 concerts during the 2018-2019 school year, learned lots of great music, and had fun! If your child will be an Almond student in grades 2-6 in the Fall of 2019, and would like to join the Almond Singers, make sure to sign up online in the PTA Back to School Registration this summer. Questions? Contact Margaret Barnett, Almond Singers Director, at margaretmbarnett@gmail.com. We hope to see you in the Fall!

Opportunities!

Almond Activities to be Cancelled Unless Parent Volunteers Available!

There are a few activities our kids are in jeopardy of losing for next year because we do not have parent volunteers to run them. If you have enjoyed any of these activities or would like to ensure we have them for next year, please consider helping out. Contact Andrea Bocking (andreabocking@gmail.com), PTA President 2019-2020. Thank you!

Community Service - this committee helps inspire Almond students and families to give back through participating in nonprofit events. We need someone who can manage our participation in these events. More info about Almond Community Service can be found at https://almondschool.org/Almondes/Portal/almond-community-service. Without someone to lead this group, we will need to cancel community service opportunities.

Almond Directory - the PTA produces the Almond directory that gets distributed yearly to each family. We need someone who can create this printed directory using past templates or printing capabilities from our online directory. Without someone to produce the directory, we will be considering not having a printed directory.

Yearbook - this is a fun project that involves helping student council make the yearbook and distributing it to students. Let your creative side shine and keep a wonderful Almond tradition alive. Without someone to oversee and help produce the yearbook, we will not be able to offer this to our students.

Drama Club - if your child is currently enrolled or interested in Almond's Drama Club, then consider helping out! We need a co-chair for next year's Drama Club that can help and learn from our expert returning chairs.

6th Grade Events - we need a 6th Grade Events Committee (typically 2-6 parent volunteers) to plan and coordinate activities that are unique to 6th graders, such as graduation, a pool party, class gift to the school and fundraising to support these events. If you will have a 6th grade student next year, please consider volunteering or these fun and special events will not be able to take place.

Volunteers needed for Hot Lunch for 2019-2020 School Year

We are currently seeking volunteers to help with serving hot lunch during the 2019-20 school year. Time commitment on scheduled days is approximately 11:40am-12:40pm. You may specify how often and what weekdays you are available. Main responsibilities are helping to hand out food and ensuring children in the lunch line are moving through quickly.

If you are able to volunteer, please email Laura Gao at lauvid@gmail.com or you may sign up on this spreadsheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1TjluEZuTIOZb13mg7SW95of5oFMerts9KPr9T2Vao9o/edit#gid=1896942969

Living Classroom Info Meeting & Garden Tour

Thursday, May 23, 2019, at 10am

Los Altos School District – Board Room

201 Covington Road, Los Altos

Click here for a flyer for this event!

RSVP/Questions? Email livingclassroom@lasdschools.org or call (650) 947-1103.

Check us out at www.living-classroom.org!

Who we are:

We are a dedicated group of trained volunteers who teach hands-on garden-based lessons to students in grades K-8.

Why volunteer?

Living Classroom is more than just teaching students how to plant in the garden. It’s about using the edible and native plant gardens at each school as living laboratories and engaging student learning in fun and relevant ways. Most of our standard-aligned lessons are interdisciplinary and tie into science, social studies and math curriculum. Our hands-on lessons also get kids outside (green time vs. screen time), encourage healthy eating habits, and promote environmental literacy and stewardship.

Volunteering with Living Classroom offers a way for docents to act locally to help protect our environment and nurture our future environmental stewards!

You don’t have to have a green thumb to be an amazing Living Classroom docent. In fact, our program is a great way to learn how to turn that black thumb into a green one!

Living Classroom docents enjoy ongoing educational programs, hikes, field trips, social activities and a wonderful sense of community. Just seeing the students smile and get excited when a docent arrives to give a lesson is rewarding and priceless!

The commitment is only 6 hours (3 lessons) a month and you can tailor the program to fit your interests and availability.

Thanks, and we hope to see you in the gardens soon!

Living Classroom Staff

Egan Viking Showcase

The Viking Showcase will be held this year on Thursday, June 6, 2019. Over 200 parent and community volunteers will be needed for this extraordinary event. Please sign up!

For over 20 years, the Viking Showcase Day has been a rite of passage for Egan 8th graders. This is a special event for 8th grade students, faculty, and adult volunteers. Details are available on the Viking Showcase page on Egan Web site:

https://eganschool.org/egan/6696-PD.html

Any questions, please contact Lauren Hasenhuttl lhasenhu@gmail.com

Co-chair of Viking Showcase

Los Altos Pet Parade

The 72nd ANNUAL LOS ALTOS PET PARADE will be held on Saturday, May 18th at 10 a.m.

Please join your fellow Almond families and their pets (dogs, cats, birds, goats, reptiles, stuffed animals or no animals at all) to meet at 9:30am in the parking lot behind The Post (formally First & Main) restaurant.

Look for the Almond balloons and the Almond Eagle mascot!

Please RSVP at http://evite.me/CMnsd7t6rp if can so we can get a preliminary head count. -- Come Join the Fun!

Los Altos Educational Foundation

Help us raise the final $49K to meet our goal of $3.5M this school year.

We have a $5K challenge match! Your donation can be doubled.

Donate online or drop off a check in your school office.

Donations to LAEF are making a difference for every student!

This spring, contributions to LAEF are funding

• PE teachers, helping students develop physical skills and training students for Junior Olympics
• Music teachers, preparing students for spring concerts
• Computer science teachers and STEM ISTs, making STEM and cSTEM Expos possible
• Librarians, helping students to enjoy reading and teaching online research skills
• Art Docents, introducing students to art appreciation and hands-on learning
• And so much more!

Follow us on Facebook and Twitter @LAEFonline