Arroyo Eagle Eye - April 23, 2023 | San Carlos School District

April 23, 2023

IN THIS ISSUE

Principal’s Message: Important Parent Meetings and Forms for 2023-24, Yearbook Ordering, SCEF Events, Social Media and Texting Concerns, Thank You to PTA Executive Board Volunteers, Administrative Professionals Day
Honorary Service Award Nominations and Planning
Yearbook Ordering Deadline
Newly Elected PTA Executive Board
PTACC Board Election
Plus SCEF, School District and Community News

IMPORTANT DATES

Mon 4/24: Deadline to submit Elective Choice Form for incoming 5th graders

Mon 4/24: Central Middle School incoming 6th grade parent orientation, Mustang Hall, 6:30 p.m.

Tue 2/25: Zoom orientation for incoming 3rd graders, 7 p.m.

Wed 4/26: Deadline to complete Back-to-School Information Forms for 2023-24

Wed 4/26: SCSD Community Meeting for input on facilities planning, 5:30 p.m.

Sun 4/30: Last day to order yearbook

MAY 2023

Mon 5/1: Deadline for Honorary Service Awards nominations

Sat 5/6: SCEF Revel@Devil’s party

Wed 5/10: PTA meeting in library, 8:45 a.m.

Mon 5/15: San Carlos Night at the Giants

Sat 5/20: San Carlos Hometown Days Parade

Tue 5/23: Central/Arroyo Celebration of Learning and Honorary Service Awards

Fri 5/26: Minimum day

MORE EVENTS

SCSD 22-23 CALENDAR

Principal’s Message

Dear Arroyo families,

This week we have a number of things happening in preparation for next year:

Current 3rd grade parents/guardians are invited to a Zoom orientation on Tuesday at 7:00 p.m. and a campus tour on Friday morning (or May 12). See email or this flier for details.

Current 4th grade parents/guardians need to finalize their child’s elective choice for next year. Even if you participated in Instrument Selection Night and chose your child’s instrument, we need the final elective placement form completed by April 24. In case you missed it, look for an email that was sent on Wednesday with the subject line “Corrected Link for Elective Form” and use the corrected form link here. Please also watch for an email soon with information about the class placement process for next year.

Current 5th grade parents/guardians are invited to a meeting on Monday at 6:30 p.m. in Mustang Hall to meet Central’s principal and assistant principal and learn more about their program.

All families continuing in the San Carlos School District next year need to complete the Student Information Forms that were sent out via email by April 26. See the school district section below for more information.

This is your last opportunity to order an Arroyo yearbook in time for it to be delivered to school. Yearbooks are distributed the last week of school, and extra copies will not be available on campus, so be sure to order by April 30 if your child would like one.

SCEF has some events coming up that I hope you’ll consider participating in. Details can be found at scefkids.org.

Saturday, May 6, 7 p.m.: Revel@Devil’s Community Dance Party featuring Mustache Harbor
Monday, May 15, 6:45 p.m.: San Carlos Night at the Giants (San Carlos school kids sing the national anthem). Last day to buy tickets is May 9.
Friday, May 19, 5 p.m.: Hometown Days Music in the Park featuring SCSD middle school band and orchestra students

We’ve been seeing a slight increase in conflicts and unkind behavior related to texting and/or social media outside of school, and I want to encourage you to set up a routine for regularly checking in with your child about their use of technology. While most of our 4th and 5th graders do not yet have a phone (an approach that we strongly support as educators), they do have access to email at school, and many students also have access to texting and/or social media via an ipad or other personal device at home. Group texts bring many new situations for children to navigate, including inclusion/exclusion of other students, witnessing unkind language to or about other students, and the sharing of images or videos intended to embarrass other students. If your child has access to group texting, please make time to periodically check in about the texts, and be sure your child knows to come to you if they observe unkind behavior. You can always come to us at Arroyo (me, your child’s teacher, our school counselor) if additional support or intervention is needed. Additionally, SCSD has this Google Form that can be used to report an incident of bullying, intimidation, harassment or discrimination.

It can be challenging for parents to know how to navigate the digital terrain with your child. Parent Venture has a great parent talk coming up on May 4 related to this topic, so I wanted to make sure you all saw this. This is relevant for all of our 4th and 5th grade families, but especially for our 5th graders as they transition to middle school. The registration link is here.

Thank you to the parents who have stepped up to lead our PTA and SCEF efforts next year. The election took place at our PTA meeting last week, and I look forward to working with our new and continuing parent leaders led by Alana Corso and Trinity Murphy. You can see the full Executive Board listed in the PTA section below. I also want to thank the parents who have been filling those roles this year. Our community is as strong as it is because of parent volunteers who are willing to help make things happen.

Finally, this week we celebrate Administrative Professionals Day, and I want to extend a HUGE shout out and thank you to our phenomenal school secretary, Tracey Olazar! Thank you, Tracey, for all that you do for our community!

Warmly,
Mindy Shelton
Principal
[email protected]

PTA News

Honorary Service Award Nominations and Planning

Every year the PTA presents Honorary Service Awards to individuals who provide significant contributions and outstanding service at CMS and Arroyo. Please take the time to nominate the people around you whose special contributions go above and beyond and deserve a big thanks! Submit your nominations via this online submission form by May 1.

We’d love your help planning the Honorary Service Celebration! Bring your creativity or just follow the plans from previous years. Sign up here!

NOMINATE

JOIN COMMITTEE

Time Is Running Out: Order Your Yearbook Now!

Order and personalize your child’s yearbook for $17.26 (plus tax) through Sunday, April 30. Arroyo is using San Mateo-based company TreeRing, which allows you to personalize two free pages. Get started by creating your free account! If you already have a TreeRing account, buy via this link (Arroyo code is 1014628525232886).

If you have school-related photos of your child or shots you have taken during school events, the yearbook team would love to have them. We are specially looking for photos from ROPES and SCSD STEM Fair. Upload your images into TreeRing’s shared photo folders by following these instructions.

2023-24 PTA Executive Board Elected

At last week’s PTA meeting, the following volunteers were elected to the PTA Executive Board for 2023-24. Thank you to these parents for agreeing to help lead our PTA efforts for the next school year.

PTACC Executive Board Election

The San Carlos PTA Coordinating Council (PTACC) Executive Board election will be held on May 3. The PTACC is made up of PTA council officers, PTA presidents from each school, principals, representatives from the San Carlos Education Foundation, Charter Learning Center, and San Carlos School District administration working together to support the needs of all of the children in our nine community schools. For more information on PTACC, please email Central-Arroyo PTA President Kirsten Kell. To become a PTA member, go here.

SCEF News

We Appreciate Our Volunteers and Supporters

Congratulations to Debbie Blucher, Jackie King, Jennifer Rudy and CB Showers, who were recognized on April 6 with Honorary Service Awards for their dedication to SCEF and San Carlos public schools. Jennifer and Greg Holmes were also recognized for their volunteerism and generous support with the SCEF Legacy Award.

EVENT TICKETS

RAFFLE!

Revel@Devil’s

Saturday, May 6 • 7 p.m.

Join us at Devil’s Canyon brewery for dancing, beer, and food trucks at SCEF’s Community Dance party for parents, teachers, staff, and all of San Carlos! $95 general admission, $45 for teachers and staff.

Will you be the lucky winner? One raffle winner gets to pick from these fabulous items: Taylor Swift tickets, BottleRock tickets, dinner for four at Chez Panisse, Mexico vacation for four, or a Geoffrey’s diamond necklace. More details.

Raffle ticket cost: 1 for $125, 3 for $325, 6 for $600. The winning ticket will be drawn at Revel@Devil’s. Get tickets for yourself! Buy tickets for your teachers!

Don’t Let Free Money Go to Waste!

Find out if you can “double your donation” to SCEF by going to doublethedonation.com/scef. Annual Fund donations, volunteer hours, Last Auction Hero donations, and Fund-A-Need donations qualify for corporate matching. Matching gifts are a meaningful contribution to SCEF’s annual fundraising goals. The earlier you give, the better, since it can take 8 to 10 weeks for SCEF to receive your donation. Every donation counts! If you don’t have access to employer matching, spreading out your intended gift over the next 3 months makes it easier to give. Sign up NOW to make a recurring monthly donation. Visit scefkids.org/donate to make a donation TODAY.

School District News

Community Meeting on Facilities Master Plan

Wednesday, April 26 • 5:30-7 p.m.

We want to hear from you! Join us for a Facilities Master Plan Community Meeting in person this Wednesday to learn more about the planning process and receive an update on recently collected input. Participate in real-time brainstorming as we think together about future opportunities for SCSD and our learning spaces. Your input will be invaluable to co-create a roadmap to inform the next steps for our facilities.

To join, RSVP on Eventbrite and select Wednesday, April 26, 5:30-7 p.m. at the San Carlos School District Office, 1200 Industrial Rd., Unit 9.

Read more about our Facilities Master Plan update process and our Strategic Plan refresh process. Questions? Email Veronica Rickson or call 650-580-7333.

Don’t Forget to Complete Your Annual Back-to-School Forms

Deadline extended to Wednesday, April 26

Each spring, we ask all families to complete Back-to-School Student Information Forms through PowerSchool (InfoSnap) online. This allows families to confirm they will be attending SCSD schools next year, update or add emergency contact information, update health records (allergy or medical considerations), and give permissions, etc.

The week of March 27, you should have received an email from [email protected] with the subject line: “San Carlos School District - Online Back-to-School Student Information Forms (2023-2024) Instructions” that provided directions on how to complete registration, including a link to the PowerSchool portal, as well as a special ID number (snapcode) for your student. We have extended the deadline to complete your forms to Wednesday, April 26.

If your child will not be attending school in the San Carlos School District for the 2023-24 school year, we kindly request that you notify your child’s school office or send an email to [email protected] ASAP. This will help us to keep track of our student enrollment for budgeting purposes and allow district staff to plan more effectively for the school year.

PLEASE NOTE: Your registration is not complete and your child will not be allowed to start school in the fall until you submit your Back-to-School Student Information Forms through PowerSchool Enrollment. If you do not have access to a computer or need assistance, please contact the District Office at 650-508-7333 or [email protected] to make arrangements to complete these forms. Thank you for completing this important process!

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Community News

Starting Today: The San Carlos Farmers’ Market Is Back!

Join us for some fun for all ages on Sunday, April 23, for our Grand Re-Opening! Find healthy, delicious foods, a farmers market scavenger hunt, balloon twisting, and enter for your chance to win a basket filled with fresh market goodies, valued at $300! Now open year-round, every Sunday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at 700 Laurel St. See you there!

San Carlos Library Special April Events

Wednesday, April 26, 3-4:30 p.m.: Make a Hero comic workshop with artist Karen Luk. Karen will walk budding artists through the process of creating a full character, start to finish. Part of the Peninsula Libraries Comic Arts Fest. Event for 4th-8th graders.

Saturday, April 29, 1:30-3:30 p.m.: Dungeons & Dragons one-shot. Great stand-alone game play for beginners or anyone! This is for 6th-12th graders, and we’ll be doing new one-shot campaigns the final Saturday of each month. Space is limited; registration required.

Visit smcl.org for more information.

May 2: Give Where You Live and Support Students at Your School

A special day is coming! Tuesday, May 2, is Healthy Cities Tutoring’s annual 24-hour day of giving. Your donations help students get the support they need to improve in school, be more engaged in learning and enjoy enhanced self-esteem. Please give now to our campaign so we can recruit, train, and support more tutors and help all the students on our waiting list. Learn more and donate here.

Hummingbird Music School’s Rock Band Summer Camp

Named “the best camp in San Carlos” and “the only camp my kids will still go to” by our past camp families, Rock Band Summer Camp is returning all summer!

Have you ever wanted to sing a Taylor Swift song, play guitar on a song by Harry Styles, or drums on a song by Imagine Dragons? Now is your chance! And you don’t need to already know how to play an instrument — although it’s also great if you do — as we will have bands with a range of ages and experience levels.

You’ll find us at Arroyo School, Monday through Friday from June 19 to Aug. 4. Learn more and register here. We can’t wait for you to join the fun! See you at Rock Band Camp!

Kamparama Summer Camp

Registration is open now for “After School’s” Kamparama. Join us for a summer of field trips, giant water-slide play, fun games and sports, arts and crafts, STEAM activities, and plenty of friend-making!

Kamparama is open 7:30 a.m.-6 p.m. daily at Arundel and Heather elementary schools. Healthy lunches are included three days a week, field trips are twice a week, and there is a 20% sibling discount. For more information, please check out our website.

Parent Education Opportunities

How can we manage our own anxiety to raise healthy, happy, balanced kids? National best-selling authors Bill Stixrud, PhD, clinical neuropsychologist, and Ned Johnson, founder of PrepMatters, present How to Be a Non-Anxious Parent (April 25).

Join us for an important community conversation, Be SMART: Understanding Firearm Safety and Storage, hosted by the San Mateo County Office of Education, Safe and Supportive Schools, and nonprofit Be SMART (April 26).

MORE PARENT EDUCATION

WATCH PAST TALKS ON YOUTUBE

MANY WAYS TO VOLUNTEER AT ARROYO

SHARE YOUR STUDENT’S ACHIEVEMENTS

We want to honor students who are doing great things outside of school and have two ways parents can help.

Submit a virtual Soar Card explaining how your child is being Responsible, Respectful and Safe at home.
Share an accomplishment from outside school with the Arroyo Spotlight form.

SCHOLARSHIPS AVAILABLE

As part of our Arroyo School program, we offer assistance to families as needed. The support can be a yearbook, grocery gift cards, or scholarships for school trips and PTA events. The recipients are kept confidential, and the principal is the only one who will know. Please complete this form to make a request.

PTA CORNER

Join the Central Arroyo PTA. Your membership matters and helps support programs and events for our students and teachers.

VOLUNTEER

YEARBOOK INFO

Order and personalize your child’s yearbook for $17.26 (plus tax) through April 30. Get started by creating your free account! (Arroyo code is 1014628525232886.)