Forest Grove Gazette
February 2020
Message From the Principal
Chronic Absenteeism
Every year the California Department of Education publishes a “dashboard” designed to show the progress schools and districts are making toward improvement in critical areas of education.
One of the areas that is tracked on the dashboard is Chronic Absenteeism.
Chronic Absenteeism is defined as “students who were absent 10 percent or more of the days that they were enrolled in school.”
Last year, our percentage of students who were chronically absent was 8.9%, up 1.5% from the previous year.
Perhaps the biggest effort families can make to help us improve on our number this year is to plan vacations during our scheduled breaks. According to last year’s figures, 16 of our 35 chronically absent children missed school for family travel. Without these absences, our percentage will drop considerably.
If your child is ill, by all means keep your student home and remember to always bring a note when your child visits the doctor.
In the next couple of weeks, we will be contacting families whose children have 11 or more absences so far this year. Our hope is that by working together we can improve our overall attendance this year.
If you would like to see the school dashboard data for yourself, you can click on this link, https://www.caschooldashboard.org/search enter Forest Grove in the search box, and click on the magnifying glass to find a link to our school.
Working together, we believe that we will see our Chronic Absentee numbers improve.
Thank you,
Buck Roggeman, Principal
Congratulations!
and ACSA (Association of California School Administrators) colleagues and was awarded the Leadership Matters Award given to principal’s who exemplify leadership. The Leadership Mattters award was created in 2003-2004 to honor an ACSA member who typifies the qualities of leadership including a focus on quality, passion for learning, and public service.
Congratulations Mr. Roggeman!!!
Remember: There is no school Monday, February 17th -24th for President's Break. See you on Tuesday the 25th!
Falcon Fest
On Friday, May 22, 2020 students will celebrate academic success with a fun filled day of activities supported by the Forest Grove PTA. We are already hard at work making plans for another fabulous bash.
This year, the district is requiring that all Falcon Fest volunteers have fingerprint clearance through PGUSD. Contact Kimberly Ortiz at kortiz@pgusd.org 646- 6553 and/or Angela Lippert at alippert@pgusd.org 646-6593 to schedule your appointment. You can access the volunteer packet here.
Don't miss out in being a part of this fun filled day. Thank you!
Happy 100th Day of School with 100 Kindness Greeters
To celebrate the 100th day of school, we had 100 kindness greeters including Pacific Grove Police Department, Cedar Street Times, etc. joining us to cheer on each and every student who arrived to school. It was a wonderful way to start our day and brought a smile to many faces.
Lost and Found
Parent Teacher Conferences
Grades 1st-5th will be dismissed at 12:10 pm on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday only.
A parent teacher conference is a short meeting between you and your child’s teacher to talk about your child’s academic performance and experience at school. Parent teacher conferences are held two times a year.
Just Run Program
Social Media Information Night
On Tuesday, February 11th, Pacific Grove Middle School will be hosting a social media evening from 5:30-7:00pm. From 5:30-6:00, families are invited to join us for some food and drinks, and the presentation will commence in the Auditorium from 6:00 to 7:00pm.
SRO Hankes and Officer Basanese will present information on social media, with time for questions at the end of the event. We look forward to hosting as many parents as possible for this important event! Please RSVP to sroach@pgusd.org so we have enough food for all!
Crayola ColorCycle Program
Forest Grove is kicking off 2020 by participating in a marker recycling program called Crayola ColorCycle. Crayola and K-12 students across North America are banding together to help kids understand the importance of their role in protecting the environment. Since 2013 the ColorCycle program has repurposed more than 70 tons of expended markers, using the most advanced plastic conversion technologies to make wax compounds for asphalt, roofing shingles and composite lumber, and to generate electricity through waste to energy recovery. These repurposing efforts help us care for the environment by reusing products, preserving resources, and reducing the volume of used markers going to landfills.
We encourage each of our classrooms to create a collection box for used markers. When it gets full, a student can bring the markers to the central collection box located in the waiting area of the front office. When the central box is full, one of our parents will collect the markers and send them off to Crayola. Great news…Crayola will accept ALL brands of plastic markers, including dry erase markers, highlighters and sharpies!
Thank you for your participation!
Join Us!
Are You Taking a Trip?
Forest Grove's Spring Break will be from
12:10 pm on Friday, April 3 - Friday, April 10th.
If you are planning a trip that will take your child out of school, please remember that you can apply for up to 10 Justifiable Absence days with the principal. Click here to access the form and have it turned in at least 2 weeks prior to the date(s) of absence. If approved, your child's absences will not count as "unexcused" absences and will then not count towards truancy.
Yearbook Photos
Share your Falcon Photos! Do you have pictures of Forest Grove events such as Book Fair, Ice Cream Social, Chalk Art, Falcon Football, and Beautification??? The Forest Grove yearbook relies on photo submissions from our parent and teacher community. Please share your pictures with us! Email photos to ForestGroveYB@gmail.com
How to Stay Connected to the PTA
Have you turned in your PTA Membership form yet? If not, it's not too late!
Why join PTA? The number one reason to join the Parent Teacher Association is to benefit your child. In doing so, you also help your school. But there are many more PTA advantages:
Get Connected. There’s no better way to know what’s happening in your school.
Speak Up. PTA can be a way for you to more effectively suggest change at your child’s school.
Witness Improvement. By getting involved at your child’s school you’ll be part of the solution, helping make positive changes.
Be a Role Model. By becoming a PTA member, you’ll be demonstrating to your child the importance you place on education.
Visit forestgrovepta.com to download your membership form now!
Simple ways to make EASY $$$ for the Forest Grove PTA
Box Tops for Education – Every square saved is $.10 for the school. Please cut them out, glue or tape them on to the contest sheets, drop them in the collection box in the office! OR Download the Box Tops App and start scanning receipts!
AmazonSmile-is a simple and automatic way for you to support the Friends of Forest Grove PTA. When you shop at https://smile.amazon.com/ch/94-6171945, you’ll find the exact same low prices, vast selection and convenient shopping experience as Amazon.com, with the added bonus that Amazon will donate a portion of the purchase price to the Forest Grove PTA. On your first visit to AmazonSmile (smile.amazon.com), select “Friends of Forest Grove PTA” to receive donations. Support Friends of Forest Grove PTA every time you shop at AmazonSmile.
Want to be a Chaperone or a Volunteer?
We love to have parents help out at school and join us on our field trips. Before you go, make sure you have been fingerprinted through the District office. It is district policy that all parent volunteers be fingerprinted and cleared before working in the room or chaperoning a trip. Pick up a packet in the office or click here.
Contact Angela Lippert or Kimberly Ortiz at the District Office for more information.
Kimberly Ortiz kortiz@pgusd.org 831-646-6553
Angela Lippert alippert@pgusd.org 831-646-6593
Upcoming Dates:
February 17-21: President's Holiday and Break - no school
February 24th: No School - Professional Development Day
March 2-6th: Parent Teacher conferences
Wednesday, March 18th: Kindergarten Orientation Night 6:00 - 7:00 pm
Friday, April 3: Minimum Day - dismissal at 12:10 pm
Monday, April 6 - Friday, April 10th: Spring Break - no school
Wednesday, April 22nd: Open House 5:45 - 7:00 pm
Friday, May 22nd: Falcon Fest & 5th Grade Orientation at PGMS
Monday, May 25th: Memorial Day - no school
Friday, May 29th: Last day of school - dismissal at 12:10 pm
Forest Grove Elementary School
Email: ndasilva@pgusd.org
Website: https://forestgrove.pgusd.org/
Location: 1065 Congress Avenue, Pacific Grove, CA, USA
Phone: 831-646-6560