Bobcat Strong Tracker
March 30, 2023 Santa Rita Elementary
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SANTA RITA - SAVE THE DATE!
March 31- Bobcat Strong- PTA General Meeting 9am- Staff Room
March 31 - Pajama Day- Wear your favorite PJs to school!
April 7 - Color Run at lunch- Parents are welcome to join and help out!
April 10-14 - No School- Spring Break
April 17- May 6 - CAASPP Testing
April 21 - STEM Challenge at lunch
April 22- Junior Olympics 4-6th Grade- More details to come!
Santa Rita International Festival!
LETTER FROM YOUR PRINCIPAL
Thank you to everyone who made last week absolutely wonderful.
Thank you to the parents who spent weeks teaching dances, those who helped students with presentations and every other parent volunteer that made this week's controlled chaos a success. I thank you from the bottom of my heart.
Last Friday, my day started out a little low and sad but seeing everyone come together and the smiles on the kids faces, the amount of food people brought to share, the kids who don’t join much or are too cool to do most things and yet we’re there, happy and dancing, everyone showed up. And they smiled and clapped and danced and talked and joked around and in the end, I feel we became a stronger community.
This is the reason I love Santa Rita, the reason I feel so lucky to help guide this ship!
Tomorrow I hope to see many of you at our PTA Coffee in the staff room after Assembly. Assembly will be a lot of fun and a bit long. We will be pulling from the raffle for Teacher of the Day, I will get silly stringed by the 2 classes that won Read-a-thon, and the Read-a-thon awards also.
Next Friday, April 7th, we will hold our 2nd Annual Color Fun Run at lunch on our upper field. It is very casual event that students can choose to join in at lunch. Parents, if you would like to come help spread color, please volunteer! No sign up needed, just come and have fun.
- 11:00-11:30 set up
- 11:45-12:00 TK and K
- 12:10-12:40 1st-6th grades
- 12:45-1:00 Clean up
Opt in for Text Messages in Case of an Emergency
In the event of a major earthquake or windstorm or even more rain..... we can assume that electricity and wifi may go down as it did a few weeks ago. Therefore, we will use our SMS system to communicate with the community. Essentially a text messaging system that goes directly to your cell phone, SMS requires parents to opt into it to receive texts from the school. We also use the SMS system to send occasional reminders (like on minimum-day dismissals).
You can participate in this free service (standard message and data rates may apply) just by sending a text message of “Y” or “Yes” to our school’s short code number, 67587. You can also opt out of these messages at any time by simply replying to one of our messages with “Stop”.
State Testing for 3rd-6th graders is approaching!
The California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress, also known as CAASPP testing, is scheduled to take place between April 17th through May 12th. This state mandated, annual test is given to all 3rd through 6th grade students. The tests are in the areas of English/Language Arts and Mathematics. 5th graders also take a test in Science.
Please keep in mind the following regarding the CAASPPs:
Our grade level teams build a testing schedule that utilizes the morning hours- when students are most rested and cognitively awake. For this reason, we ask that your family schedule appointments outside of the testing window, or at the very least, towards the end of the day.
There is no “prep” that students need to do for these tests. Historically, Santa Rita students do very well on these tests and, in essence, our students “prep” by their daily learning experiences at school.
As a staff, we de-emphasize any pressure on the students in taking these tests. We want them to do their best, to put forth their best effort- but that’s really the extent of the messaging we give the kids. These tests are a way to show what Santa Rita students know and can be able to do- as a whole. The results are used by our staff to determine changes to our instruction across the grade levels. The results do not factor into your child’s report card marks. They are simply one measure of progress; we view the day-to-day performance of our students as a much better, and accurate, metric of success.
Have a wonderful weekend and stay Bobcat Strong!
Kelly Rafferty
Principal, Santa Rita
4th Grade Field Trip to Sacramento!
Panning for gold!
Visiting the State Capitol
Exploring the California State Railroad Museum
Mrs. Raffasaurus celebrates Santa Rita and the amazing minutes read during the read-a-thon!
International Week-Thank You!
We want to express our sincere appreciation for your support and participation in our school's International Week Evening Festival.
We would like to thank all parent volunteers who taught dances, coached students' presentations and helped with various tasks before, during and after the evening festival! We appreciate all the parents who brought delicious food for the potluck. The variety of dishes from different cultures was truly amazing! We feel truly blessed to be at a school that celebrates and recognizes our diverse Santa Rita community.
Finally, if you LOVE international week as much as we do, please consider joining our planning committee. To continue this great tradition and make it better every year, we need YOUR help! Email Yang at daisy_ly99@hotmail.com if you have any feedback, suggestions, would like to help or learn more!
P.S. Please check out this week's Los Altos Town Crier featuring our international week celebration!!
Social Media Presentation
You’re Invited!
Mark your calendar and join us at the LASD Community Festival on Sunday, May 7th at 4 pm on the Covington blacktop and play area. Bring your family and friends. Come enjoy food trucks, games, and activities. Let’s celebrate our 9 outstanding schools and 40 years of community support through LAEF!
Interested in helping our team coordinate festival volunteers? To learn more, email LAEF at admin@laefonline.org or call (650) 559-0445.
We still need to raise $240K to fully fund teachers and staff for art, music, PE, library, STEM, computer science, junior high electives, and mental health counseling services this school year. Donate today. Your gift of any amount will help us reach our goal of $2.8M. Thank you to those who have already given this year!
MVLA Parent Education Speaker Series
The Emotional Lives of Teenagers: Raising Connected, Capable, and Compassionate Adolescents.
Thursday, March 30, 2023 | 7pm | LAHS Eagle Theater ⧫ 201 Almond Avenue
Audience: Grade 5 - 12 parents, caretakers, teachers, and counselors
Register: Register for this free event
Book: The Emotional Lives of Teenagers
Join us as Dr. Lisa Damour, psychologist and New York Times best-selling author of Untangled and Under Pressure, provides insights from her newly released book into teenagers’ emotional highs and lows, and inspires us to listen and connect through more open and honest conversations.
In teenagers, powerful emotions come with the territory. And with so many of today’s teens contending with academic pressure, social media stress, worries about the future, and concerns about their own mental health, it’s easy for them—and their parents—to feel anxious and overwhelmed. But it doesn’t have to be that way. With clear, research-informed explanations alongside illuminating, real-life examples, Dr. Damour gives parents the concrete, practical information they need to steady their teens through the bumpy yet transformational journey into adulthood.
Universal Meals Program: April Menus
Our new Universal Meals program will be available for a Grab and Go breakfast between 8:10-8:25, from our new Servery Window (By the lunch tables near the Multi) and eat at the tables. If they do not finish, they can save it until recess time.
Monthly Menus will be published on the Santa Rita school website
If you have a special diet please email santaritasecretary@lasdschools.org and ask for a form to fill out. Please review the menu with your student. NUTRITION SERVICES FAQ - If you have questions, please add them to this document.
Santa Rita School
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