November Bulldog Bulletin

O. N. Hirsch Elementary School

Office Hours: 8:00am to 3:30pm

Phone#: (510) 657-3537

Principal—Ms. Christina Arroyo carroyo@fusdk12.net

School Secretary — Mrs. LeAnne Kodama lkodama@fusdk12.net

Attendance Clerk — Mrs. Vaishali Parikh vparikh@fusdk12.net

Dear Hirsch Families,

Welcome to our newly formatted newsletter! With this model, families can select Translate at the top and read it using the Google Translate option. We hope our message reaches more families now. As a reminder, please keep your student home if they are sick or have a severe cough. We still want to protect all from this upcoming cold, flu, COVID, and RSV season as best we can.

Both students and staff had fun showing Drug Free awareness with our Red Ribbon Week school spirit days at the end of October. Welcoming back our families to our Book Character Day parade was memorable too.

During November 14 - 17, our prep teachers, counselor, and classroom teachers will be holding parent/guardian conferences to discuss report cards. We will have early dismissal Monday, 11/14 through Friday, 11/18 for grades 1 - 5 at 1:26 p.m. The Kindergarten schedule remaining unchanged. Please make sure you have signed up for either the in-person or online option and come to this very special 1:1 time with your student’s teacher to hear about strengths and areas for growth. Our school goal is to have 100% attendance at these conferences. Our Prep Specialists, Computers, Science, and P.E. are available to answer questions and address any concerns too with conferences. We will send out the sign-up sheet for our Specialists next week.

As a reminder, there will be no school November 21st - 25th . If you will be traveling, please be safe and ensure your student doesn’t miss important learning time. Thank you, everyone. I am thankful each and every day to be Hirsch’s proud principal!

Ms. Arroyo

Principal

2 - Early Release Day at 1:26pm

7 - 4th & 5th Grade Boys Basketball Tryouts at 3:30pm

8 - 4th & 5th Grade Girls Basketball Tryouts at 3:30pm

8 - PTA Meeting at 6:30pm

9 - Early Release Day at 1:26pm

11 - NO SCHOOL - Veterans Day

14 - 18 Parent Teacher Conference Week

14 - 18 Early Release Days at 1:26pm

30 - Early Release Day at 1:26pm

If your 4th or 5th grade student would like to try out for basketball, please be sure to have them bring the completed basketball permission slip and physical form to their designated try out date:

Monday, November 7th - 4th and 5th Grade Boys Basketball Tryouts

Tuesday, November 8th - 4th and 5th Grade Girls Basketball Tryouts

PLEASE NOTE: Your student will NOT be allowed to try out without the completed permission slip and physical form.

Click on the picture to order your Hirsch Spirit Wear. Lots of styles to choose from. The online store will be open until Monday, November 21st!

Thank you to all the families that attended the road safety webinar on Tuesday. In case you were unable to make it here is the link to the short 10 minute presentation. The pedestrian safety flags discussed will be available starting November 7th on Carol and Chapel Way.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1B-twEXSIdSQ_1EqUYBGfvBhGBmr7TtD9/view?usp=share_link

We will be collecting canned and non-perishable foods to donate to families in need beginning Monday, November 7th. From their website: “Viola Blythe has helped thousands of homeless, hungry men, women and children for over SIXTY years! Today, the Center continues serving people in the Tri-City area. Last year more than 10,600 people were helped by the Center with emergency food and clothing. It is only because of YOU and your continued support we are able to continue helping the community."

Donation bins are located in the school office until December 7th. Any donations will be greatly appreciated.

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! The support we received for the Literati Fall Book Fair was phenomenal! From the purchases, volunteers, and excitement that was in the air about books we were successful far and beyond what I imagined we could accomplish. Because of your generosity and support, we will have the ability to purchase a little over $2000 worth of books for our library! Can you believe that?! I plan on using these funds to update our non-fiction section in the library. I will share the exciting news with you and when these books will be available at a later date.

We will be having an exciting STEAM week November 7th-10th. Some of you may be familiar with the How to Catch Series from the creative team of Adam Wallace, Alice Walstead, Andy Elkerton, and Megan Joyce. These fun books will help serve as a template for creating our own creatures, writing our own stories, designing our own traps, and/or building our traps. I am including a design packet for you to use during this week. Students will be able to come into the library during lunch to create their creature, write the story and create a design for a trap. Students will need to design their traps at home and can bring them on Thursday to display in the library. This will give us a chance to see how creative and innovative our students are.

I am including the link to the How to Catch Club website so students can look and find more ideas and help for their creations.

Again, thank you all so much for your support!

Take care and keep reading!

Mrs. Kristen Winmil

STEAM How to Catch design packet

How to Catch Club

Hi! My name is Mrs. Hanna. I am excited to be one of the school counselors this school year! Last month was my first month returning to Hirsch Elementary after taking some time off for maternity leave. I am so happy to be back and am looking forward to a spectacular school year with all of our students. As a school counselor, I support our students with social/emotional development, academic achievement, and career/college exploration. Learn more and explore resources on power struggles on the counselor page by clicking here.

Thanks again to all the families who participated in the Harvest Festival! It was a lot of fun to see everyone play games and make arts and crafts. Thank you to all the volunteers for making it possible! The next PTA event is the Bulldog Jog. We are working with a company called Booster to help us get the kids excited and manage the event. This is a fun event held at the school on December 2nd and the kids run laps to raise money for their school. One important item we are raising money for is another set of chromebooks. The ones we have at the school are becoming obsolete and will soon no longer be supported. The money from the Harvest Festival will help but we still need more to fully fund this item and more like it. We also want to be able to afford fun field trips and assemblies for the students and if we raise enough at the Bulldog Jog the school and teachers will have access to those opportunities for our students. The fundraising campaign starts in 3 weeks so keep a lookout. We'll also need volunteers on campus that day to help mark laps and keep things organized. So keep a lookout for that sign up sheet as well.

After Bulldog jog is the winter music program where the students will all perform a song for their parents and it is always a lovely evening. The event is called Giving Tree and we take this time to donate canned and non-perishable foods. There will be a drop off location in the school office and then during the musical event there will be another drop off to collect the donations. We will need volunteers for this as well.

To ask questions about the above or anything related to the PTA, reach out at pta.hirsch@gmail.com.

Thank you,
Chris Rose

PTA President

The Federal and State Department of Fremont Unified School Districts hosts monthly workshops for parents and caregivers. Please visit the FUSD Family Resource Website for more information. Here are the workshops for this month. Please click on the flyer for more information.

This workshop will cover why self-care is important. Parents will also learn strategies for their own and their children's social and emotional well-being.

Screenagers is about the impact of the digital age on children and how to help families minimize harmful effects and find balance.

Fremont Police Department wants to raise awareness about the safety of people walking, emphasizing that “safe drivers, safe speeds and safe vehicles save lives.”

Whether in a parking lot, crosswalk, or sidewalk, we are all pedestrians at one point. Drivers, please slow down and be extra careful around people walking. Put yourself in their shoes and drive how you would want someone to drive when you are walking.

Fremont Police Department offers the following safe driving and walking tips:

Drivers

• Do not speed and slow down at intersections. Be prepared to stop for pedestrians at marked and unmarked crosswalks.
• Avoid blocking crosswalks while waiting to make a right-hand turn.
• Never drive under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs.
  

Pedestrians

• Use signalized crosswalks where drivers expect foot traffic.
• Watch for approaching vehicles and be careful crossing the street, especially busier streets with higher speed limits. At 30 mph, a driver needs at least 90 feet to come to a stop.
• Get in the habit of wearing light colors, reflective material, and walking with a flashlight at night so it is easier for drivers to see you.