Both school sites now have the ability to test students for the purpose of modifying quarantine for close contacts or when students return from being out sick. If your child is out sick they can return to school after 24 hours of being fever/symptom-free. With a signed consent form, students can complete a rapid antigen test, get Covid test results, and return to class within 15 minutes! This will reduce or eliminate the time students need to stay off campus while waiting for a negative test result.

For families that do not want to sign the consent form, we will continue to follow CDPH guidance on quarantine for unvaccinated individuals. THIS ARTICLE specifies the procedures we will continue to follow. Thanks for your understanding and assistance with keeping our campuses as safe as possible and students learning in person!

Pine Hill's picture day will take place this Friday, October 8! Order forms were sent home recently. You can also order your pictures online by visiting the Lifetouch website and entering the following code: EVTS2D8XK

Please contact the school's office at 443-4596 if you have any questions.

The Humboldt County Children's Author Festival is excited to present the FREE 2021 Virtual Challenge! Students and their families are invited to join the Challenge on an interactive software app called Beanstack, which can be downloaded onto your phone from Google Play or the Apple App Store. You may also go to the Beanstack website: https://humlib.beanstack.org. Sign up for a free account and register for the Challenge! You may also pick up a paper Challenge Log from the Humboldt County Library in Eureka.

The Virtual Challenge includes reading, learning about authors and their books, and writing, drawing, or making video book reviews. The Challenge is open to readers of all ages and EVERYONE will win a small prize for completing the Challenge by October 23! Students who participate will also be entered into prize drawings for books by Festival authors and Author Kits to encourage their own writing.

All the information you need about the Virtual Challenge will go home with students this week. For questions, please contact Allison Bronkall, South Bay Librarian, at abronkall@southbayusd.org or 267-9170. Good luck with the Challenge and have lots of fun reading!

Each year, Americans observe National Hispanic Heritage Month from September 15 to October 15, by celebrating the histories, cultures, and contributions of American citizens whose ancestors came from Spain, Mexico, the Caribbean, and Central and South America.

The observation started in 1968 as Hispanic Heritage Week under President Lyndon Johnson and was expanded by President Ronald Reagan in 1988 to cover a 30-day period starting on September 15 and ending on October 15. It was enacted into law on August 17, 1988, on the approval of Public Law 100-402.

The day of September 15 is significant because it is the anniversary of independence for Latin American countries Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua. In addition, Mexico and Chile celebrate their independence days on September 16 and September 18, respectively. Also, Columbus Day or Día de la Raza, which is October 12, falls within this 30 day period.

Please click THIS LINK for more information and links to lessons you can do with your child.

The Box Tops for Education Program, which earns money for new books in the library, is still running! If you still have paper Box Tops that haven't expired, please have your students turn them in to their teacher by Friday, October 29.

The program has switched to electronic so scanning your receipts is the way to go now to earn our school credits. The Box Tops app can be downloaded on your cell phone from the Apple App Store for iPhones or from Google Play Store for Android phones. It is easy to scan a receipt and takes only a minute or so.

If you don't have time to scan receipts, please send them in with your students to give to the teacher and they will put them in my mailbox for me to scan.

Thank you for your support of the Box Tops Program and please let me know if you have any questions! - Allison Bronkall, South Bay Librarian

The Family Resource Center (FRC) is available to assist families in a variety of ways, including housing, food, and health. If you need assistance with anything, please reach out to FRC coordinator Cassi Lehue at 707-296-0083.