Pepper Drive Family News
August 19, 2022
Welcome Back, Tigers!
Welcome back, Pepper Drive, students and families! We are excited to get started with a fresh school year. My name is Summer Bradbury and this is my second year as Principal at Pepper Drive School. My name changed over the school holiday, but it's still me!
Our teachers and staff are eager to connect with you as we start this new year. We are happy to announce that parent volunteers will be welcomed on campus again after completion of the new digital volunteer packet and background checks. We will be hosting Back to School Night and Lunch on the Lawn as IN PERSON events for the first time in 2 years. You can look forward to some fun family-friendly activities hosted by the school as well as the PTA this year.
Before we return, please take a moment to read the student/family Handbook (below) and review the district's updated Covid protocols (linked here).
Meet Mr. Horner, our new Vice Principal!
Hello Pepper Drive Families!
My name is Nathan Horner, and I am very excited to serve as your new Vice Principal at Pepper Drive School. Throughout my 12 year career in education, I have worked in the South Bay community as a classroom teacher, resource teacher, and, for the last 4 years, as an Assistant Principal at 2 different High Schools. I live in East County with my wife and 2 kids, aged 7 and 5, and am ecstatic to have the opportunity to serve the students in my community.
I look forward to a great year here at Pepper Drive and can’t wait to meet all our great students and families.
Class Lists
Welcome back, Tiger Families! The District will be posting the 2022-23 school year class list online. This list will be available on Tuesday, August 23rd after 6:00 PM. To find your child’s class list for 2022-23 School Year, please visit the school or District website (
www.santeesd.net). The online class list will be password protected. The password for Pepper Drive School is
color. This password is case sensitive and only good for Pepper Drive School. We work hard to balance classes and must wait until all enrolled students are in attendance before considering necessary restructuring and changes. For that reason, there will be no class or room changes for the first two weeks of school. We appreciate your patience.
Arrivals
We are so excited to welcome your children on campus next week! In preparation for the first day, here are a couple reminders:
- Gates open at 8:15. Classes begin at 8:30. School dismissal times can be viewed on our school webpage.
- To help your child get acclimated to campus, we welcome you to walk them to their classrooms for the first three days of school. Remember to arrive early as we lock the campus gates as soon as classes begin.
- Starting Monday, August 29, please drop your child off at the gates. Please refer to our parking lot procedures for more information.
We look forward to the many opportunities your family will have this coming year to visit us on campus to see all of the wonderful things your children will be doing.
Please review the map below to know where your child will go to meet his or her teacher on the first day of school. See you next week!
School Lunches
School lunches are still FREE this year to all students.
Here is a link to the district website for Child Nutrition. There you will find directions for downloading the app to see monthly lunch menus. Sometimes younger students get confused between snacks and lunch. Please talk to your student(s) about whether or not they are getting a school lunch. Our Campus Aides are excellent at connecting with students and offering lunches to anyone needing help getting one. Lunch periods are about 40 minutes long (this includes recess). If you send a packed lunch from home, it is helpful to include only items that students can open without assistance.
First Day of School Jitters
The first day of school is an exciting day that can also bring some apprehension (for students and parents).
This article gives some tips on how to help put your child at ease before the first day back. It includes som excellent insight about how our children take cues from us adults about how to respond to the first day (and other new experiences as well). Some ways to set your child up for success are listed below:
- Be calm: In the bustle of getting a child (or multiple children) ready for school, this can be tough! Preparing backpacks, snacks, and outfits before that morning can help everyone to be less distracted and more at ease that day.
- Talk about your feelings: Make time to talk to your child about his/her feelings in the days leading up to school returning. Recognize that your child may not have the same concerns or feelings as you.
- Focus on opportunities: A new school year is an opportunity for learning, for new experiences, for academic and social development. Modeling an optimistic, not defeatist outlook has been proven to support children's development of optimistic thinking which leads to greater success in life. Here is some of that research around Growth Mindset.
Upcoming Dates
August
8/22 TK/K Orientation @ 5pm
8/23 Class Lists Posted @ 6pm
8/24 First Day of School! (Gates open at 8:15)
September
9/20 Back to School Night (TK-5)
9/21 Back to School Night (6th-8th)
