Mustang News
September 20, 2021
Dr. Malloy's visit on Friday, 9/17/21
Important Dates
September 20 Homework Club Begins
September 21 Teacher Treats Bidding Ends
October 6 Alamo's Turkey Trott, 7:30 AM (see Run for Ed below)
October 6 Principal Chat
October 8 Teacher Work Day - No School
October 9-10 Run for Education
October 11-15 Conference Week -Minimum Days, Dismissal K 10:30 AM, GR1-5 12:00 PM, No Homework Club
October 17 Culture in the Community (see PTA below)
October 19 School Picture Retake Day
October 29 Halloween Parade and Class Parties
November 1 School Recess No School
November 2 Teacher Work Day - No School
November 11 Veteran's Day - No School
November 12 Teacher Work Day - No School
November 22-26 Thanksgiving Holiday - No School
2021-22 SRVUSD Instructional Calendar
Spotlight - New Staff Members
Science Lab Teacher
Melissa Rivers
1st/2nd Grade Science Lab Teacher
SCIP (School Counseling & Intervention Program) Counselor
My name is Donny Chase, and I am now a second-year doctoral student (Psy. D.) with the JFK school of psychology at National University. As a part of my education, students apply to a practicum site that offers training under the license of a currently active licensed psychologist. Working with the Discover Counseling Center, I am working under the license of Dr. Noah Asch. During my first year with JFK, I worked as an academic tutor at the Brentwood Village Community Resource Center for elementary school children that needed extra learning opportunities. I have had my fair share of experiences working with young students in an academic setting, and now I am honored to have the chance to have my first direct clinical experience at Alamo Elementary.
SCIP, a counseling program sponsored by Discovery Counseling Center and SRVUSD, offers students short-term individual and group counseling.
Donny Chase
SCIP Counselor
What are Teacher Treats?
Have you checked out the amazing list of priceless opportunities up for auction? Bidding ends this Tuesday, Sept 21st at 9 pm sharp on our auction site! From a visit to the Lindsay Wildlife Experience, art lesson, baking, sports, movies, scavenger hunt, tennis lessons (and more!), you have a chance to bid on these experiences, which raise critical funds for our school. There are still a few Buy Now items available and deals on other items without any bids. Thank you and good luck to all the bidders!
-Ed Fund
Education Fund
Chimes and Chorus: Does your child love music, chorus, and/or chimes? If you haven’t yet donated to these wonderful programs, please visit HERE. Art and music programs are funded by YOUR generous contributions.
Music Shirts: Music shirts are required for all chorus, band, and chimes performances. Visit this link to place your order by October 15th.
Thank you for your generosity! Here is what your donations have funded so far this school year:
3 classroom paraeducators - Mrs. Border, Mrs. Hascall, and Mrs. Henderson
Music, Chorus, and Chimes teachers - Mrs. Raaum and Mrs. Angle
Art teacher and art supplies - Mrs. Berkowitz
Rainbow Room “Socio-Emotional Learning Coordinator” - Mrs. Bennett
Instructional Assistants: Reading - Ms. Yee and Ms. DaValle
Admin items: Online platforms (for registration, online/silent auction, and Teacher Treats), Insurance, Taxes, SRVEF Dues
Corporate Match...How to double your donation: Donations made during the Annual Giving Campaign are eligible for corporate matching programs. Corporate match can double your donation and help meet our fundraising goals faster! We hope to raise an additional $22,500 through corporate matching, but we can’t do it without you! Email alamocorporatematching@gmail.com so we can help you through the process. Thank you so much to our Corporate Match Chair, Alicia Allyn!
**There is still time to contribute to our Annual Giving Campaign- you can donate online anytime here. See how your donation is used here. Check here to see if your employer will match your donation.
Shopping Amazon? Don’t forget to shop smile.amazon.com and select group: Alamo Elementary SRVED FUND. Every little bit helps the Alamo Education Fund! More ways to give back to Alamo on your normal shopping trips can be found here.
Shout out to our Annual Giving Chair, Kelly Bowes, who has worked hard to organize and promote our Annual Giving Campaign! Thanks also to Blake Forrest and Farigol Bineshpour for keeping track of our finances-we appreciate our volunteers!
Stay up to date with Ed Fund News by visiting us on Instagram @alamoedfund
For all Ed Fund news and events: https://aes-srvusd-ca.schoolloop.com/edfund
NEW E-mail this year: alamo.edfund@srvef.org
Lauren Cymerys
Ed Fund President
PTA
Thank you to all registered through the future fund program. If you purchased a PTA membership, you have access to the school's online Directory. You can access the directory at aes.futurefund.com/directory. Many thanks again to Bar Minze and Kelly Bowes for their work with this!
This year, the Alamo School PTA is proud to fund the Homework Club. It begins on Monday, September 20, for grades 1st-5th. We want to provide students with a calm environment to complete their homework and access extra support, books, and computers. Our amazing paraeducator, Mrs. Linda Henderson, will supervise and assist students. She has an abundance of knowledge of our curriculum and experience in teaching as a classroom paraeducator.
Homework Club meets Monday-Wednesday in the library, after school:
Monday 2:30-3:30
Tuesday 2:30-3:30
Wednesday 12:50-1:50
Please fill out this form and turn it into the office with payment. Please email lhenderson@srvusd.net if you have any questions.
The Alamo Elementary PTA is helping to support the Afghan Refugee Crisis as Northern California is expected to receive thousands of Afghan refugees-most will be settled in the Sacramento area. The Muslim Community Center (MCC) in Pleasanton and the Jewish Family and Community Services East Bay (JFCS) are working with the International Rescue Committee (IRC) to help in this process. The IRC takes on the responsibility of settling families and then relies on smaller community organizations like the MCC and JFCS to help. Your donations will go directly to these types of community organizations. To create community awareness and to assist in this effort, bins will be placed at the Alamo School front entrance for the collection of the following items:
Cleaning Supply Kits: please provide a bucket filled with a Sponge, Windex, Dish Soap, Pinesol, Windex, 409, or similar type cleaners
Toiletries: shampoo/conditioner/soap/ lotion/ toothpaste/ toothbrush/ hairbrush
Feminine hygiene products (pads only)
Diapers/ Baby Wipes
Target Gift Cards
Much more support is needed, but we are focusing our efforts on these items for now. If you are interested in getting more information, or to donate money or volunteer your time or translate, please visit the links below for google docs where you can sign up:
https://jfcs-eastbay.org/urgent-afghan-evacuation/
Thank you to Massuda Atta and her family for their work in supporting these families and to all Alamo families who have already donated. We hope you will help us as we continue her efforts.
Save the Dates!
The next principal chat is Wednesday, October 6. Our first PTA Moms Social is Friday, October 22. Thank you to the Bako Family for generously donating their backyard for this event. Details for both as we get closer. The Hoedown has been moved to Friday, April 22.
Sunday, October 17 from 10-2 is the Culture in the Community Celebration. Join the festivities for the 4th annual Culture in the Community Celebration! More details here https://app.peachjar.com/flyers/2118116/schools/53764
Kudos
Kudos to all lunchtime parent volunteers who give their time to support lunch; to our room parents, and to those that volunteer in our classrooms. Special Kudos to Michelle Parkinson for all her work on Run For Education; to Karen Chin for her leadership as our Inclusivity and Diversity chair; to Kumiko Nyguen for her work on PTA membership and the garden dedication and to Bar Minze for her leadership with our sister school program and finalizing registration.
Be up to date and in the know!!! Follow us on Facebook @Parents of Alamo Elementary School and on Instagram @alamo.school. THANK YOU, Doris Tam, for keeping us in the social media mix!
Michelle Petersen and Nicole Rocca, PTA Presidents
Run for Education 2021
Registration is open and your student(s) won’t want to miss out on the fun!!! The SRVEF is hosting another virtual run... and ALAMO SCHOOL IS HOSTING ITS FIRST-EVER TURKEY TROT!!!! On Wednesday, October 6th at 7:30 AM, your student(s) can run, walk, gallop their way to raising money for our school and the RFE. With the help of Mr. Cherry, Principal Salazar and parents we will be cheering our kids to earning their steps while running the school loop and fulfilling their run goals. Your child cannot attend this event unless they are registered for the RFE so REGISTER TODAY!. Click HERE for how to register. If you have questions about the Run For Ed, please contact our fabulous PTA RFE coordinator, Michelle Parkinson michelleparky@gmail.com Please consider being a parent volunteer for this program!!! You can find specific details on RFE HERE.
-PTA
Calling all Parents!!!! Volunteers Needed for Lunch Recess!
We need parent volunteers at lunch each day to help with lunch recess: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/30E0D45A8AB28A6F94-lunch. Volunteers must be cleared only through Level 1 at Be A Mentor.
Please check the menu for each day. Picky eaters or those with restricted diets may want to pack a lunch option for their child for the first few weeks while the District works out its kinks. Visit https://www.srvusd.net/childnutrition for more information about the school lunch program and thank you in advance for volunteering!
-PTA
Music with Mrs. Raaum - Thank you, Ed Fund!
Science Lab with Ms. O'Toole - Testing Like an Alchemist
When you put your dirty pennies in the vinegar and salt, the copper oxide and some of the copper dissolve in the water. That means some copper atoms leave the penny and start floating around in the liquid. But when these copper atoms leave the penny, they leave some of their electrons behind.
Starting this school year, grades 1-5 students have a second Science Lab class to allow more comprehensive, hands-on experiments. Students spend two 50-minute blocks in the lab per week with either Ms. O'Toole (gr 3-5) or Ms. Rivers (gr 1-2).
Community News
Afghan Refugee Support
Upcoming Religious Observances
ATTENDANCE PROCEDURE AND TARDY POLICY
Attendance Procedure
If your child is going to be absent, please email AlamoAttendance@srvusd.net , giving your child's name, and the reason for the absence, as soon as you are aware he/she won't be in school. Additionally, if you know your child is going to be late for school, please follow the same procedure. Please copy your child's teacher on these emails.
Student safety is our number one priority. In order to ensure that every student is safely where they are supposed to be at the beginning of each school day, we are implementing a new attendance safety protocol. Our priority is to make contact with families for any absent students within 30 minutes of their arrival time at school.
Within the first thirty minutes of your child’s start time, if your student is not at school, you will receive an automated message alerting you to the fact that your child has been marked absent. If you receive an automated call alerting you that your student is absent and you sent your child to school, please call the school office right away.
Per our school’s regular guidelines and protocols, we ask that you email AlamoAttendance@srvusd.net as soon as possible and provide a brief explanation of why your student will be absent that day, including a list of their symptoms if they are sick, as this helps us with our Covid tracking. Please copy your child’s teacher on the email to Alamo Attendance.
Please keep in mind that if your student is tardy, you may receive a call, because it takes time to update the information in our system from absent to tardy. For some, an automated message may be a change from past practice, but we know you will understand that this is the most effective way to ensure the safety of every student.
We ask for your patience as everyone gets accustomed to this new process. There may be times that you have already called or emailed about your student’s absence, but you may still receive a robocall, as the school office has not had the time to input that information in the system.
We appreciate your support and partnership in keeping our students safe. If you have questions about the new process, please contact your school office.
Tardy Policy
Rationale - Tardiness is unacceptable because:
- Tardiness reduces the instructional time of the student who is late.
- A student's tardiness interrupts the class he or she is coming into, resulting in a loss of instructional quality and time for all students.
- Punctuality is a practice valued by business and society; students should be trained in this practice while in school.
With the above as a rationale, the following is our policy:
- Tardiness is defined as arriving after 8:00.
- The student must go to the main office for a tardy pass before going to class.
OFFICE HOURS: 7:30 - 4:00 PM (925) 855-4800
DISTRICT COVID TESTING AVAILABLE MONDAY-SATURDAY!
SRVUSD Board Of Education
About Alamo
Email: ghughey@srvusd.net
Website: https://aes-srvusd-ca.schoolloop.com/
Location: 100 Wilson Road, Alamo, CA, USA
Phone: 925-855-4800
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/142092245882817/
Twitter: @AlamoMustangs