Dear HOLA community,,

You are cordially invited to come to Holbrook this

Saturday, September 17th from 9:30am-12:30pm to help us make our school more beautiful.

We have a few project ideas that will help our campus look better. This information was shared in a flyer earlier this week. Some project need some donations and love while other need love and talent.

School Projects:

1. Spiral Garden: We would love to have a Spiral Garden at the front of the school in the flagpole area. For this project we would need a donation of soil, limestone rocks, compost and pond liner.

2. Tire Pollinator Garden: We would like to have the tires at the front of the school be painted with bright colors. We would need some colorful paint (like red, royal blue, emerald green, yellow, etc). We would love to add more succulents or any other drought resistant plants.

3. TK and K planters: We would like to have big planters near each classroom door. We need planters and drought-resistant plants.

4. Secret Garden: Our wonderful Secret Garden is in need of love and care. We would need help trimming plants, watering plants, fixing some areas of the garden (and you can harvest, too!)

I hope you can join us! Donations are welcome but not necessary to come and help! Children are welcome but cannot be left unsupervised.

Please, bring your family and let's have fun together!

In gratitude,

HOLA Staff

September 17- School Beautification Day: Green House is Here!

September 23 - Middle School Dance

September 26- School Site Council Meeting

October 12 - Walk / Bike to school day

October 21- Cafecito con la Directora

October 21 - Fall Fest

Mid October-Mid November: Transfer Process from 8th grade to High School

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 September18, respectively.”

From The American Presidency Project: Proclamation 10257—National Hispanic Heritage Month, 2021: “National Hispanic Heritage Month is an important reminder of how much strength we draw as a Nation from our immigrant roots and our values as a Nation of immigrants. I am proud to recognize my four Hispanic Cabinet Secretaries—Secretary of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra, Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas, Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona and Small Business Administrator Isabel Guzman—who are all leading executive departments that oversee critical components of American life.”

During this month, I invite all HOLA families to read Hispanic Heritage stories together, learn about traditions, celebrations and the important contributions of Hispanics to the American society. Below you have some helpful resources. We, who value cross cultural competence, have this amazing opportunity to celebrate, elevate and honor the Hispanic Heritage.

Here you have some helpful resources to help your Jet and your Jet family learn more about this special month:

Celebracion de la Herencia Hispana (bilingual)

Books for kids

Books for National Hispanic Heritage

Hispanic Heritage Month Activities for our kids

Our school goals are aligned to our district goals. They are: Equity: This is at the center of our work and everything we do is to ensure all students have what they need. Educational Equity will help us ensure our students get the foundational skills to go to college or be career ready.

Another goal is High Quality and Culturally Responsive Instruction: This school year our school and our district is committed to learn and implement Learning Acceleration as a tool to help our students reach high level of achievement in Mathematics. We are also focused on developing our partnerships with our school community so we can work together for the betterment of the students. At school, we are focused on developing Social and Emotional Learning.

Safety Plan:

Every year the School Principal puts together a Safety Committee to craft the Safety Plan for our school. For this to be effective, I would like to have representation from all stakeholders groups (teachers, parents, and support staff). I would like to have ONE parent representative from each grade level to be part of this committee, or have a TK-K, 1-3, 4-5 and Middle School representation. If you are interested, please, email me at orellanas@mdusd.org.

Our work will entail meeting two or three times (after school) for about one hour to get input and craft during the month of October.

Once the plan is complete, it will be brought to the School Site council for review and approval.

Our school district is committed to ensure safety at all sites and administrators will start a new Safety Training this month.

Collapsing classes/reassignment of teachers:

We abided by two processes to collapse classrooms: State policy and District Audit recommendation. Our Superintendent shared that our audit recommended we have full sizes classes to continue to be in the "positive" fiscally. Our State policy dictates we have 16 days to balance classes.

When we collapsed the classes, we lost one teaching position and this caused a domino effect that resulted in the reassignment of teachers. We know that change is not easy and causes some uneasiness. Our students have readjusted to the new classes and teachers well.

Feeder Pattern:

The parents suggested we should request our District to have a specific feeder pattern for our students once they complete their 8th grade education at Holbrook. This could help us grow our school population and ensure program sustainability towards earning the Seal of Biliteracy. Ms. Mason and Principal Orellana will address this.

Holbrook Excellence: I am committed to helping our school continue be a school of excellence. We are the only school in the Mount Diablo Unified School District that holds the California School Board Association Annual Golden Bell Award.

We need to help our school grow by working together for the betterment of our students.

I will hold Parent Informational Meetings for other Dual Language Schools so families learn about our wonderful school and the Middle School program we offer. Our PFC President will help by bringing a group of parents from HOLA to speak about our parent and family involvement. Let Erin know if you are interested in helping in this capacity.

I will also do Parent Informational Nights at Holbrook for incoming Kindergarten and TK families. I will need everybody's help on passing the word on this. More information to come.

Students in 8th grade: Since we do not have a feeder pattern defined, students in 8th grade will go to their school of residence. If you want to apply for a different school other than your school of residence, parents must initiate the Transfer process. This Transfer application process will take place from mid-October to Mid-November.

HOLA Jet Families!

Please, join us in our PFC meeting this coming Tuesday.

First, a few important dates to remember:

September 20 - PFC Meeting @ HOLA 6-8pm

September 23 - Middle School Dance

October 12 - Walk / Bike to school day

October 21 - Fall Fest

PFC MEETING

Our September meeting will be on campus on September 20 from 6-8pm. Please come and listen and share your ideas and see how you can participate in what is going on at HOLA!

HOLA READERS CLUB

Be apart of something FUN while you read! To learn more about it, click below!

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1H6SFZGJIL_3LnSDUOil-Psn2WCF-HF3I/edit

September is the Attendance Awareness Month. Your child has the right to an education and this opportunity is offered at school. It is important parents ensure our Jets are at school everyday and all day.

Doctor's appointments and other activities should be scheduled after school.

Gates are open at 8:02. At 8:12 students line up and head to their classrooms. Instruction begins at 8:15am.

If you need to talk to the teacher, please, do so after school or contact them via Class Dojo.

We thank you for your help on this.