Not brand new news...

•Fun Runners~ Fun Runners would like to recognize the top three students in each grade. We have one Student Evelyn Preston that has crossed the marathon mark with 26.53 miles. Two other students close behind - Bridgette Gordon at 25.41 and Aiden Mc Gaughey at 25.30 all in the 4th grade! The top students will also be rewarded at the end of the year.

1st Thelen, Olivia~Crittenden 20.65 miles

1st Carscadden, Hudson~Crittenden 19.57 miles

1st Tofinelli, Maxton~Cross 17.95 miles

2nd Sanchez, Hudson~Hendrick 12.86 miles

2nd Pise, Adi~Furtado 12.54 miles

2nd Nevil, Seeley~Furtado 11.35 miles

3rd Brown, Oliver~Shepard 21.84 miles

3rd Sears, Mays~Costello 18.16 miles

3rd Boddy, Wyatt~Costello 17.51 miles

4th Preston, Evelyn~Knoles 26.38 miles

4th Gordon, Bridgette~Borjon 25.41 miles

4th Mc Gaughey, Aiden~Aub 25.30 miles

5th Brown, Genevieve~Hendrick 21.84 miles

5th Krishnan, Adithi~Linney 20.65 miles

5th Thangavel, Narun~Hendrick 18.16 miles

TK/Kinder Preston, Verona~O'Rourke 17.19 miles

TK/Kinder Gordon, Scarlett~O'Rourke 10.70 miles

TK/Kinder Vieira, Harrison~O'Neill 7.89 miles

•Turkish Earthquakes~ As you may know, there were two massive earthquakes that rattled Turkey recently and a few of our Sunset Community members have connection to Turkey. If you would be interested in helping out, I've included the following.

We believe the easiest and fastest support would be donating money through a trustworthy, reputable organization and supporting local fundraiser events. Considering the Dollar-Turkish lira exchange rates (1 Dollar is almost 19 Turkish Liras), even a tiny amount would make a huge impact.

Here are some trustworthy sites:

https://bridgetoturkiye.org/ (You can track where the funds go daily on this site.)

https://www.tpfund.org/ (You can track where the funds go daily on this site.)

https://etacusa.org/ ( This one is USA based, founded by Turkish Americans, and has been actively helping our people since day one. Their current project is collecting money for generators to be used at the sites in Turkey. They already found a company in Tennessee to produce generators and arranged logistics.)

There will be a fundraising event on March 1st at a local restaurant. I will share the flier as soon as I get a copy. The Coca-Cola Company will match the donations at a rate of %200.

•School Calendar~ See next year's 23/24 calendar is here!

•Yearbook anyone?~ Yearbooks on sale now! Yearbooks are now for sale through our new vendor!

Use this link to order: https://buytheyearbook.pictavo.com/

School Code: 712150

https://buytheyearbook.pictavo.com/PictavoSchool/FindSchool

•Upcoming Youth Mental Health First Aid (YMHFA) Trainings~ YMHFA certification training includes 2 hours of online self-paced pre-work and completion of a virtual class held on the following days (select one):

• Wednesday, March 15, 2023 from 2-6:30pm (virtual)

Email Liisa Hanninen-Danner to sign up!

YMHFA teaches adults how to recognize and respond to signs of a mental health challenge in children and youth. More information on our YMHFA webpage!

•Phonics Instruction/Sonday~ Sunset has adopted a school wide reading curriculum entitled Sonday. (Pronounced Sunday) It was created by Orton-Gillingham expert Arlene Sonday who carefully crafted the lessons to teach the essential components of reading (phonemic awareness, phonological awareness, fluency, vocabulary, comprehension) and it also includes a systematic spelling component.

As I have been observing Sonday lessons in classrooms, I am absolutely blown away by the level of growth and knowledge the students have of the English Language. In a 1st grade classroom this week students were correctly identifying digraphs and identifying consonant, vowel, consonant patterns. 3rd graders were explaining the difference between open and closed syllables and they also reminded me that the "g" and "c" sounds were soft when followed by an "i" an "e" or a "y".

There were example after example of high level phonological awareness that will absolutely translate to better spellers and higher reading fluency. It was exciting and if you know anyone who volunteers in the classroom, ask them what they have witnessed. It is encouraging. It actually can be a little discouraging as I realize how little I know about the English language. lol

If any of you are interested in looking into the Sonday program for some activities to do at home, I've attached some "Parent Empowerment Kits". Please know these are not required for you to use, but they are helpful for me. (A High School Civics teacher who did not teach reading)

LVJUSD Menus~

•March Menus

•Sunray Archive...See below

News that's been around a while...

•Amazon~ Support Sunset with Amazon Smile. Did you know that Amazon Smile offers the same prices and selection as Amazon, BUT when you shop using Amazon Smile your purchases can benefit Sunset? How simple is that? You do your usual Amazon orders, but use the Amazon Smile program, and Amazon Smile will donate a percentage of your purchase to Sunset's PTO! Just follow the quick steps below:

From the Amazon Shopping app:

- Tap the Main Menu

- Tap Settings

- Tap AmazonSmile

- Follow the instructions on the screen to turn on AmazonSmile.

- Select "Sunset PTO"

From your browser, visit: "smile.amazon.com," login to using your amazon.com information, then select "Sunset PTO"

We use these three statements to reinforce our positive behavior with our students and would love for your help and support as we teach our students how to behave in all situations.

•PLEASE label your child's water bottle and/or lunch box with a first and last name. We have had several misplaced items with no name.

•The Sunset office is open Monday-Friday 8:00 am-4:00 pm. If you have questions please do not hesitate to call us or stop by and speak to Julie, Colleen or Tara.

In accordance with security guidance, IT has updated student passwords to 9-digits. That means students with 8-digit student IDs will need to add a leading zero and students with 7-digit student IDs will need to add two leading zeros to be able to log in. Students with 9-digit student IDs or who had previously changed their password to a personal password were not affected.

If students need help, they can get help from their teachers when school starts.

Latest PTO Newsletter

Frequently Asked Questions

When is the Sunset Gala?

March 24th

Where is the Sunset Gala?

@ The Palm Event Center

What is this year's theme?

Rodeo!

Where shall I pick up my child? It would be wise to have a plan for pick up and drop off. Grades 1-5 get out at the same time this year.

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