Arts Magnet News!
August 14, 2022
Coffee with the Principal!
Week 2
Dear Altadena Eliot Arts Families,
What a wonderful, smooth and happy opening of school we had thanks in large part to months of thoughtful planning with our Executive Leadership Team. We hope your children came home excited about the school year ahead!
Thanks to all who made it to our Parent Coffee! It was great to see you all and to connect.
Join us at Handel's Ice Cream for a sweet treat on Thursday, August 18 in support of Eliot Arts PTSA.
What to expect this week:
You should be receiving a "Meet the Teacher" or class syllabus from your child's teacher(s). This document should be informative and give you information on how best to contact him/her should you need something.
PUSD is embarking on the development of a new strategic plan!
Applications are available at this link https://www.pusd.us/strategicplan or for printing upon request.
"I Want to Volunteer!" We are excited to welcome our parent and community volunteers back to campus. We will be putting out a call for volunteers after Labor Day. Please stay tuned.
"Who do I contact?"
Elementary
Attendance, Front Office, Sign in or Check out, Volunteer Processing: Ms. Rosa Magdaleno, Clerk Typist at magdaleno.rosa@pusd.us
Registration and all other general school needs: Ms. Maria Gonzalez, Office Manager at gonzalez.maria@pusd.us
Health Concerns/Needs: Karen Butler, RN at butler.karen@pusd.us or Lucia Robles, Health Clerk at robles.lucia@pusd.us
Administrators: Mr. John Maynard, Assistant Principal overseeing Discipline, Special Education and Facilities at maynard.john@pusd.us, Dr. Benita Scheckel, Principal at scheckel.benita@pusd.us
Middle School
Attendance, Sign in or Check out: Felicia Lee, Attendance Clerk at lee.felicia@pusd.us
Volunteer Processing: Adrian Flores, Community Assistant at flores.adrian@pusd.us
Community Resources, Partnerships and Events: Helen Sandoval at sandoval.helen@pusd.us
Overall School Needs not addressed by those listed above: Candy Gonzales, Secretary II at gonzales.candy@pusd.us or Sara Aparicio, Secretary II at aparicio.sara@pusd.us
Health Concerns/Needs: Karen Butler, RN at butler.karen@pusd.us or Guadalupe Leal, Health Clerk at leal.guadalupe@pusd.us
Class Schedule/Student Academic or Emotional Support: Jody Simmons, Counselor at simmons.jody@pusd.us
Textbooks/Research/Academic Support: Summer St. Pierre, Librarian at stpierre.summer@pusd.us
Administrators: Dr. Dana Hill, Assistant Principal overseeing Discipline, Special Education, and Facilities hill.dana@pusd.us, Dr. Benita Scheckel, Principal at scheckel.benita@pusd.us
I wish you and your family a great second week of school!
It's a great year to be a Cougar and a Husky!
Yours in Service,
Dr. Benita Scheckel, Principal
PUSD COVID-19 UPDATE
Since the early days of COVID, PUSD has had to pivot and adapt to rapidly changing circumstances. At last night’s meeting, the Pasadena Unified Board of Education approved revisions to COVID safety protocols. The following revisions are now in place at all PUSD schools.
Outdoor in-person meetings/activities with parents/guardians, community members, staff, and students are now allowed with masking strongly recommended.
Indoor in-person meetings/group activities with parents/guardians, community members, staff, students are allowed with masking required for all.
Masks are strongly recommended for students and staff indoors in classrooms and other shared spaces.
Parent group meetings such as (PTA, SSC, ELAC, AAPC) are allowed in person and may be held outdoors or remotely if the respective parent leadership agree.
IEP meetings with parents/guardians may be held in-person or remotely, whichever supports greater parent/guardian participation.
Back to School nights will proceed as planned with masks required for all.
Visitors and volunteers are allowed on campus if they self-attest to being fully vaccinated or to having a negative COVID test within the past 48 hours. They must also conduct a symptom screening prior to entering campus and masking is required. All visitors and volunteers must abide by Board policies, regulations, and school rules. Board Policy - Visitors BP 1250.
Back-to-School Nights will be allowed in-person with mandatory masking.
The following protocols remain in place:
Masks are strongly recommended for students and employees in classrooms and indoors. Masks are required in larger group activities such as assemblies.
Masks are required:
on PUSD buses (with accommodations for students)
at testing and vaccination clinics
during field trips when required by the venue
for 10 days after exposure to COVID-19 and after a positive test result
Reentry Testing Before arriving for the first day of school, PUSD is asking every student and employee to take an at-home rapid antigen test on August 10 or 11. Parents/guardians can pick up rapid antigen test kits (containing 2 tests) at their child’s school/children’s center August 8-10. More information https://www.pusd.us/Page/9801
Rapid Antigen Tests The California Department of Public Health has endorsed the emergency use of over-the-counter COVID-19 tests beyond their FDA authorized expiration. Please follow instructions carefully. If a distinct line in the color specified in the instructions does not appear in the “C” control window, the test may be invalid.
Vaccine Clinics Getting vaccinated and boosted is still the best way to slow the spread of COVID-19 to prevent serious illness, hospitalization, and death. PUSD is holding vaccination clinics for ages 3 and older at the PUSD Primary Clinic (351 S. Hudson Ave., Pasadena)
Tuesday, August 9, 2022, 1:00-2:45 pm
Wednesday, August 10, 2022, 1:00-2:45 pm
Pre-register at MyTurn.CA.gov or register on site. Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines available. We also accept limited walk-ins.
Ventilation Air purifiers are in place in classrooms and indoor common areas. Filters were changed over the summer, and all lead custodians were trained on how to change both carbon and HEPA filters.
Personal Protective Equipment Masks and hand sanitizers are in stock and available to students and staff.
Thank you for your continued cooperation and flexibility as we strive to keep our students and staff safe and healthy.
PT(S)A Corner!
Let's Get Involved in our School!
Welcome Back Huskies!
Eliot's PTSA is hosting a fundraising event with Handel's Homemade Ice Cream on Thursday, August 18th from 12pm-10pm. All are welcome to attend from either campus! 20% of all proceeds, (with Handel's digital/ paper flyer below) will go directly to Eliot's PTSA. Enjoy a sweet treat and support your school!
A Garden Club for Everyone!
All parents and students are invited to join the Eliot Arts Garden Club! We meet the 1st and 3rd Saturdays of each month, 8am-10am. Just show up at the gate on Calaveras Street! Students can get community service hours, so have them bring their forms to be signed. We won't meet if it's a holiday weekend (like Labor Day or Thanksgiving). Our first meet-up is Saturday August 20 at 8-10am. We have exciting new plans this year including a student garden club! Bring gloves if you have them. Contact Arden Thomas with any questions: arden.e.thomas@gmail.com
Please consider joining both PT(S)As!
What is PTSA?
The Parent, Teacher, Student Association (PTSA) is part of a national organization that engages and empowers families and communities to advocate for all children. At Altadena Eliot Arts Magnet, we support teachers and campus-wide projects and activities, give students, parents and guardians a voice and opportunities to improve the school environment, and work to improve the connection between our school, our families, and our community. Every student, parent, guardian, teacher, and staff person is invited to join PTSA. Members are encouraged but not required to attend three Association meetings during the school year; meetings and other activities are open to the entire school community.
Altadena Eliot Arts Membership Meetings for 2022-2023 are every 2nd Tuesday each month. Our first meeting will be held in the Eliot Library on September 13 at 6pm.
Step 1, join our PT(S)A membership! These parent groups are school advocates with a heart for service for our school! Anyone in the family can join, kids too! Join one, join both! Joining the PTA is simple.Log onto:
https://jointotem.com/ca/altadena/altadena-arts-magnet-pta
https://jointotem.com/ca/altadena/charles-w-eliot-middle-pta
Annual Fund!
Please consider making a recurring donation of $45 to one or both of our Annual Funds! Our annual funds help to create a bridge for special services and arts programs at each of our campuses. Our annual funds are separate. Altadena's annual fund is chaired by Ms. Tasiah LeConte and Eliot's annual fund is chaired by Ms. Wendy Silva. Please join their committees and consider making a donation today!
AAM's Annual Fund
Eliot's Annual Fund
French Dual Language Program
Our French Interns have arrived and are happily settled in with their host families! We are currently fundraising to help provide extra financial support to our host families for the care of our guests. If you'd like to donate to our GoFundMe, https://gofund.me/2d2cd01f you may do so at the link.
We are so fortunate and grateful to have received a $6,000.00 grant from the FACE foundation for the expansion of our French libraries at both campuses! This is so exciting as we continue to build our program across two sites. Our first group of FDLIP students have already made their way to Eliot Arts and they are having an excellent experience in middle school! We are so proud of them and all their accomplishments. It takes a special spirit to be pioneers and these students have it! #Cougar and #Husky proud!
Congratulations to Jon Taylor!
Jonathan played Mowgli in our spring musical, The Jungle Book! Every year we have a contest to see who can sell the most tickets to our show and the winner receives a 1 day park hopper pass to the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim. Jonathan sold 68 tickets! Congratulations Jonathan!
A View Inside our Elementary Classrooms!
A View Inside our Middle School Classrooms!
Eliot Staff Lounge Makeover!
Thanks to the design talents of parent, Wendy Silva and her team, the Eliot Staff Lounge has had a beautiful makeover! You have an opportunity to donate to this effort by donating to the purchase of a special chair for your child's teachers! See the flyer below! Thank you Wendy and team!
Calendar
August
- 18 Handel's FUNdraiser - Eliot
- 26 Free Dress Friday - AAM
- 2 Fire Drills - Both
- 3 Integrated Schools Pasadena @ 10 am - Both
- 5 Labor Day Schools Closed - Both
- Rose Bowl Aquatics Program Begins for 3rd grade - AAM
- 8 School Tour AAM @ 9am
- 8 Back to School Night - Eliot @ 6pm
- 9 Cougar Values Awards Assembly @ 7:50 am - AAM
- 13 AAM SSC @ 3pm VIRTUAL
- 13 Joint PT(S)A Meeting in Eliot Library @ 6pm - Both
- 15 School Tour Eliot @ 8:30 am - Eliot
- 17 Design Team Meeting in Eliot Library @ 9 am - Both
- 21 Back to School Night @ 5:30 pm - AAM
- 22 Eliot SSC @ 3:45 VIRTUAL
- 23 Staff Professional Development Schools Closed - Both
- 25 Rosh Hashanah Begins
- 30 Free Dress Friday - AAM