Dolphin Newsletter
10.22.21
Unity Day at Clifford! 2021!
Hello Dolphin families,
We are so grateful for the rain that we have had this week! It keeps us on our toes here at school, but what a joy it is to see rain falling from the sky. This year is flying by and each day students are growing, thriving and learning new things. In the next few weeks, we have a lot of events to keep on your calendar, so take note of the important dates below. Teachers will be reaching out to you soon to schedule fall parent teacher conferences. During this conference session, everyone is invited to meet with their teacher to get an update on their child’s progress this school year. As a reminder all conference meetings will be virtual.
We had an incredible show of support from our students who showed up in orange to celebrate National Unity Day in support of bullying awareness. Clifford was a sea of orange on Wednesday and the students participated in activities in their classrooms to celebrate a spirit of unity and kindness. We have such kind and supportive students and staff and I love that our students and staff stand for unity! We hope you all enjoy the rainy weekend we have ahead.
Library Books Overdue Message
Our Library Database (Alexandria) has sent overdue book notices to families in error. In some cases, the books were never checked out, or were marked as overdue when they were returned.
For your Calendar!
Thursday October 28th: School Site Council Meeting @ 4:30| Link |
Thursday October 28th: Student GSA Club at lunch in the Equity Lab next to the library.
Friday October 29th: Fall Retake and Makeup Pictures
Friday October 29th: Middle School Halloween Carnival 1:30-2:45
Thursday November 4th: Lego Club at Lunch in the Library! Meets 1st Thursday of the month!
Thursday November 11th: Veteran’s Day: NO SCHOOL
Friday November 12th: Trimester 1 Ends
Wednesday November 17th: Parent Education Event: Anti-Bias Child Raising 7:00 PM | Link | Passcode: 519999
Thursday November 18th: PTO Meeting @ 7:00 | Link |
Friday November 19th: Minimum Day (Thursday Bell Schedule)
Monday and Tuesday November 22nd and 23rd: NO SCHOOL
November 24th-28th: Thanksgiving Break: NO SCHOOL
March 11-13 Clifford School Play @ Mustang Hall, 828 Chestnut St. San Carlos
**BSU & GSA meet monthly (last Thursday GSA and last Friday BSU)
Message from our Equity Coach, Natalie...
Dear Parents & Caregivers,
Last week the Clifford JEDI’s met for the first time. JEDI stands for Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion. Each member received the book, Start Here, Start Now: A Guide to Antibias and Antiracist Work in Your School Community by Liz Kleinrock. Liz is an antibias/anti-racist educator and consultant. You can get information on her approach by watching her Ted Talk here.
In the meeting, we discussed what we believe would be beneficial to our Clifford students in terms of equity and how we could all help. Some next steps discussed were book clubs for kids and more professional development for those teachers who wanted it.
This Friday, we will have our next Black Student Union meeting and next week we will have our next GSA meeting. In both affinity groups, we are working towards building community and learning how to create a safe space where we can come together and discuss issues that are important to us. The BSU will be working on a bulletin board in the middle school hallway that will highlight a poem by Maxine Beneba Clarke. The GSA will start planning a fundraiser next week to donate money to various LGBTQ+ organizations that help youth. In both groups, I hope to build capacity in the students and let their voices be heard.
Natalie Delahunt
Equity Coach
BSU Meeting Photos & Poster Making
October is Anti Bullying Month
If your child is experiencing bullying…
When you discover your child is being bullied, you may feel a variety of emotions, from anger to fear to sadness. These reactions and emotional responses are natural for parents who want their child to feel valued, protected, and loved. To become an effective advocate for your child, it is important to acknowledge your emotions and then focus on developing an action plan to help your child.
1. Talk with your child.
When you first talk with your child about bullying, be prepared to listen without judgment, and provide a safe and supportive place where your child can work out his or her feelings. Children may not be ready to open up right away as they, too, are dealing with the emotional effects of bullying and may be feeling insecure, frightened, vulnerable, angry, or sad. When your child begins to tell their story, just listen and avoid making judgmental comments. It’s important to learn as much as possible about the situation, such as how long the behavior has been happening, who has been involved, and what steps have been taken. Encourage your child to talk, and let them know they are not alone and you are there to help.
Make sure your child knows:
- It is NOT their fault. They are not to blame.
- They are NOT alone. You are here to help.
- It is the adults’ responsibility make the bullying stop.
- Bullying is never okay and they have the right to be safe.
- No one deserves to be bullied.
- They deserve to be treated with respect.
- They have the right to feel safe at school.
Other Resources
- How to Tell an Adult When youth see bullying or are being bullied, they are often given the advice, “Tell an adult.” That is great advice, but how do kids do that? You can help them!
- Help Your Child Recognize the Signs of Bullying This resource helps parents prepare themselves to talk with their child about bullying and includes tips on how to respond to their child’s questions and emotions.
- Safety in the Online Community: A conversation with your 13-year-old about Facebook and Instagram This guide helps parents talk with their teens about using the popular social networking sites Facebook and Instagram. It covers setting up a new account, safety tips, and frequently asked questions. This guide is accompanied by discussion points for talking with your child and steps for responding to harassing content.
- Reasons Teens Don’t Tell This page provides reasons why teens may not tell a parent or an adult about a bullying situation.
- Advice Gone Wrong When talking about bullying, it’s important for parents to give good advice and provide solutions that work. This page shares examples of advice that adults should avoid giving to teens.
- Speaking Up About Being Bullied Isn’t “Tattling — and Our Kids Need to Know the Difference Younger children often don’t recognize bullying behaviors, and may be afraid they’ll be called a tattletale, or worse, if they tell an adult. It’s especially important to talk openly with your young child about bullying behavior, and to explain the difference between tattling and telling.
5 Steps For Talking About Bullying With Your Child... See Video Below...
2. Support and empower your child.
After hearing your child’s story, empower them to create an action plan to help stop the bullying. Talk with your child about ways you can support them as well as intervention strategies they can use, such as working with the school or advocating on their own. Creating a plan that works with your child’s strengths and abilities can help build self-confidence and resilience. Make sure to share these agreed-upon strategies with those involved in your child’s life, such as teachers, coaches, and other adults who interact with your child on a daily basis.
Reactions to Avoid
- Telling your child to stand up to the bully. This can imply that it is your child’s responsibility to handle the situation. While there is a ring of truth to this statement (being assertive is often a good response) sending your child back into the situation without further information will probably cause more harm. A more effective response is to brainstorm options with your child about what you can do as a team to respond to the situation.
- Telling your child to ignore the bully. This is easier said than done. Your child has probably tried ignoring the situation, which is a typical response for children. If that method had been effective, however, there wouldn’t be a need for the child to seek your help. It is difficult to ignore someone who is sitting behind you on the bus or next to you in class. In addition, if the student who is bullying realizes that their target is purposefully “ignoring” them, it can actually ignite further bullying, since that response provides the sense of power and control the student seeks.
- Taking matters into your own hands. A normal gut response from parents is to try to fix the situation and remove their child from harm. For example, a parent might call the parents of the student who is bullying, or directly confront the bully. Remember, when children tell a parent about bullying, they are looking for the parent to guide them to a solution that makes them feel empowered. Involve them in the process of determining next steps. Typically, calling the other parent or directly confronting the bullying student is ineffective.
Other resources:
- Cyberbullying: What Parents Can Do to Protect Their Children Cyberbullying is a frightening experience for children and their parents. Learn how to take concrete steps to protect your child online.
Reasons Students Don't Tell an Adult- See video below...
3. Learn your rights.
Check your state’s legislation on bullying. Each state has different laws and policies on bullying, along with requirements on how schools should respond. Visit StopBullying.gov to find out the laws your state has put in place. Also, check your state’s Department of Education website for a state Safe Schools Office, which can be a great local resource to learn more about your state and school’s policy. You may also want to look up your child’s school’s policy on bullying.
4. Think through who else should be involved.
In addition to being supportive and empowering your child to write down a plan, it can be very helpful to document the steps that you plan to take or have already implemented. Written records provide a history of incidences and responses, which can be very helpful when addressing the issue with school administrators or law enforcement. You should also create a strategy for how to involve others that can help your child. This might include determining who you will contact at school, what you plan to ask them, and how you will be involved. Other options include contacting a school counselor or other health professionals for advice. If the situation doesn’t change, your plan might include steps to contact local law enforcement or legal counsel.
Other resources:
- Record Keeping and Bullying When a child is a target of bullying, parents need to document the events and develop a record (or history) of what is happening to their child. This record is useful when talking with school educators, law enforcement personnel, or other individuals who may need to assist parents in intervening against bullying. Data is important. Remember – if it is not in writing, it does not exist.
5. Get involved in the community.
Bullying touches many lives and it might be happening to others in your child’s school or community. You can help by raising awareness through community events, attending workshops or trainings in your community, or sharing information with others.
Bullying Prevention 101- Quick Guide for Families- Download Link Below
Water Bottles
Please remember to send your students to school with a water bottle. They do not have access to water fountains right now at school. We go through our disposal water bottles very quickly when students don’t bring their own. Please continue to help us with this effort.
Lunch and Nutrition Services
We want to remind our families that federal programs have made food and nutrition available, for free, to all students at Clifford. Students do not need to reserve a meal and they have access to these meals on a daily basis. If you do not want your student to eat lunch at school, please reinforce this with your children at home. Because these meals are free, the nutrition staff only tracks the amount of meals that are provided, but not who receives them. Please talk with your children at home about whether they should be taking food while they are at school.
Traffic Reminders
Translation will be Available
Rainy Day Recess
We have been dealing with rain and wet weather this week, which has made it difficult to eat outside. This means that we have transitioned to eating inside the MUB on days where students cannot eat outside on the wet grass or tables. Here are the measures we have put in place to help protect our students as they eat inside:
All doors in MUB are open to provide for maximum ventilation while students are inside eating.
We have all tables available so students can spread out from each other.
Students have been instructed to have their mask on anytime they are inside, but are not eating.
Reminder about Domestic Travel
COVID-19 Vaccination for Youth
Do you have questions about the COVID-19 vaccination for children? A discussion with public health experts will be held later this month as it is expected that the vaccine for 5-11 year olds will be available soon. You are invited to join the discussion with San Mateo County Health and the San Mateo County Office of Education.
Covid Testing Schedule
We have a team of medical staff who come on Mondays and Thursdays to test our students at Clifford whose parents have registered with Primary Health and have also indicated that they would like their children tested that week. In order to have your child tested at school, you need to do two things.
Please register your child at Primary Health at this link here. You only need to complete this process one time and provide your consent.
Please make sure to complete the form that the district sends out on Friday afternoon at 3:00. This form is your way of telling us that you would like your child tested the following week. You will need to complete this form every week on Friday if you want your child tested the next week.
Join Team RCSD!
Substitute Teachers: Work in our schools when you are available or when your children are in school! Being a substitute teacher means you only work when your schedule allows and you determine your schedule.. We are looking for TK-8th grade substitute teachers. A Bachelor’s Degree is needed.
Instructional Assistants (and substitutes): This position is ideal for working parents as the schedule closely mirrors the student schedule. Most positions are 6 hours a day, allowing for parents to work when their student is in school! If you aren’t available full-time, consider substituting and only work on the days you are available! High school diploma or equivalent is needed along with 1 year of working with students.
Crossing Guards: Do you only have a few hours to work? Help our students get to and from school safely by working as a crossing guard. High school diploma or equivalent is needed.
3 hours per day /5 days per week: 7 am - 8:30 am & 2 pm - 3:30 pm
Bus Driver: Do you have a Class A or B Driver’s License with a “Passenger Endorsement” and a designation to operate a “Type I” school bus? Join us today! Our bus drivers help ensure students make it to and from school promptly and safely. The part time split shift hours are 6:10 am to 4:30 pm with varying start and end times according to the route.
Application Resources:
Clifford School
Email: jnoyes@rcsdk8.net
Website: https://www.rcsdk8.net/clifford
Location: 225 Clifford Avenue, Redwood City, CA, USA
Phone: 650-482-2402
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CliffordElementary