Penngrove Press
November 1, 2019
UPDATE FROM MRS. RUDDER
This has been a hard week for so many Penngrove staff members and so many Penngrove families. Many of our teachers had to evacuate their homes and others lost power. Some of us that weren't evacuated and had power hosted people in our homes and helped in the community. I'm so grateful that everyone is now back safely in their homes and that no lives were lost.
The decision to close all schools in the PCS District was not an easy one to make. One of the compelling reasons for this decision was that while all of the schools in the district had power by Wednesday, there were so many teachers who had evacuated to relatives and friends far outside Sonoma County and were still on Evacuation Warning. Others were living in areas where there was no power or heat so their ability to get to work was impacted. Also the city of Petaluma had so many extra people coming into town during the day or staying in local shelters, that it was sometimes taking 45 minutes to get across town.
PCS will be requesting a waiver from the State of California Department of Education for the missed days. Hopefully it will be granted. If not, the school year will be extended by one week. Penngrove School will share that information when it becomes available.
One thing that was missed by many in the Penngrove Community, besides the Harvest Festival and 6th Grade Haunted House, was the annual Halloween Parade. Many parents reached out to me to see if it could be rescheduled. This is not a decision that I took lightly, nor one that I would venture to make without input from the teaching staff. Losing 5 days of instruction right before conferences was a hard hit. Many teachers were planning on doing assessments this last week so that they can share the most updated information with families in regard to their child's progress on the California State Standards. Therefore I sent a survey to all of the Penngrove teachers and I'm happy to announce I have decided that we will have the Halloween parade on Wednesday morning in lieu of the weekly assembly.
The compromise I ask of all families is that you do not expect or plan to have any class parties following the parade or at any time this week. We cannot afford to miss any more instructional time.
I totally understand that many children were affected by the fires and that not having the parade would add to the trauma of the last week. I'm hoping that a little fun time on Wednesday morning will warm the hearts of our community. We look forward to seeing you on Monday!
Penngrove Elementary - Home of the #pennpanthers
Email: penngrove@petk12.org
Website: www.penngroveelementary.org
Location: 365 Adobe Road, Penngrove, CA, USA
Phone: 707 778 4755
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Penngrove-Elementary-School-323595021067904/
Twitter: @pennpanthers