Principal's Weekly
September 16th, 2020
Dear Families,
There will be an important school board meeting next Tuesday, September 22 that I strongly encourage all PAUSD families to attend. At that meeting will be a discussion of our district's reopening plan. There will also be opportunity for public comment. The link and agenda to this meeting will be shared in Dr. Austin's weekly communication to families this Friday.
Thank you to all the families who have already completed the PAUSD Technology Use Agreement with their children. If you haven't gotten to it just yet, please scroll down.
Thank you also to those who have sent in their contribution for student supplies to PTA. We understand that this may have slipped your mind at the start of the year, but the dollars collected go directly into a fund intended to enhance the learning experience of every student. We need your participation more than ever, as donations are significantly down this year.
We had a strong start to school, with many, many wins. Now in the 5th week of school, we face a new phase of decision-making and planning. You have my commitment that I will try to relay information to families as soon as possible.
Thank you.
Annora
Last Chance to Vote for School Site Council
School Site Council is a group of staff, parents, and community members who work to serve any school receiving federal funds. They analyze data, review plans, and assist in the decision making and goal setting for our annual School Site Plan. This year, we have one open position for a School Site Council Representative. We were fortunate to have three parent community members step up to serve as members, so that's where YOU step in. Please vote!
Many thanks to Palo Verde parents Abraham, Cody, and Laurence for offering their time and energy to serve on SSC.
Technology Use Agreement
PTA- Family Contributions to Student Supplies
Every year, Palo Verde provides every student with a set of essential school supplies, funded by the PTA. Normally those supplies remain in the classroom, but this year, as you know, we provided them to each student to use at home.
As the PTA continues to support our teachers and students, and provide notebooks, readers, markers and numerous other necessary materials, we depend on every family to contribute to our school supply fund. If you have not yet done so, please contribute via this link.
Annually, the PTA spends almost $25,000 on school supplies. This year, and considering we may go back to in person learning at school, we might need to spend even more. This money comes entirely from parent donations. The district does not pay for or contribute to our school supply fund. Without your contribution, our students will go without needed materials for learning. We ask that you contribute $50 to this fund - or whatever amount is comfortable for your family.
With thanks for your participation and generosity,
The Palo Verde PTA Board
Be in the Know About Measure O
Transportation Safety Parent Representative Needed
Our Safe Routes to School Partnership is in need of a Palo Verde voice. If you are passionate about serving your community and transportation safety, please consider filling the role of aTransportation Safety Representative (TSR). Our goal is to have representation from every school in the district to inform and participate in Safe Routes conversations.
A link to the TSR volunteer position description is available here (with a few COVID-related modifications).
NEW! Counselor's Corner
Starting next week, we will be featuring news and ideas for parents from our two in-house mental health support providers, Laura Post and Megan Miller. Read below for their introductions.
Laura Post (School Psychologist)
Laura Post has been a School Psychologist since 1988 and has served Palo Alto Unified for the past 31 years. She has served at all levels, preschool through high school, but her “sweet spot” has always been at the elementary level. She has been at Palo Verde for the past nine years. Laura strives to be an integral part of our community where teachers, children and parents can seek her out as a resource for a myriad of academic, social-emotional and mental health issues. She is privileged to be able to provide ongoing support to the school staff and community as part of her everyday responsibilities. She continues to love her work, even after three decades. She is just an email away @ lpost@pausd.org.
Please don’t hesitate to reach out to Laura or to Megan for emotional or behavioral questions or if you just need to check in with someone about your child’s socioemotional needs.
Introducing...Megan Miller (CASSY Counseling)
My name is Megan Miller and I will be the school counselor this year at Palo Verde Elementary working under CASSY. Through Counseling and Support Services for Youth I am able to provide students with support when needed. I do this through individual and group sessions. This service changed last year when the schools closed to being over Zoom. I will begin this year over Zoom and see where the future takes us. This will be my fourth year as a counseling associate and my third year at Palo Verde. I was at Beechwood School in Menlo Park my first year. I graduated from San Jose State with my BA and then moved on to Notre Dame de Namur where I got my masters in clinical psychology. I am currently working on getting my hours for licensing as an MFT. I’m excited to be a part of your community for another year. I will be working for Palo Verde three days a week and I will be in the Campbell School District on my other two days. My contact info is: mmiller@cassybayarea.org
Grab a Hug
Annora Lee, principal
Email: alee@pausd.org
Website: paloverde.pausd.org
Location: 3450 Louis Road, Palo Alto, CA, USA
Phone: 650-856-1672
Facebook: facebook.com/Smore
Twitter: @paloverdelem