

SLVUSD Charter News
Vol 1.3 - Week of September 5, 2023
From the Principal
Here's hoping you had a restful and restorative Labor Day weekend! We can't wait to welcome back all our homeschool programs this week - Heartwood and Quail Hollow HomeSchool (Creeks and Quails) on Tuesday, and Coast Redwood Middle School on Wednesday!
Our master gardener, Melanie Burgess has begun her garden classes! Each of our six programs will have dedicated time in one of the three teaching gardens this year. Coast Redwood High School students were harvesting potatoes and planting seeds this week, as well as enjoying pickled carrots and garlic from the July harvest. Nature Academy students got started in the middle school tea garden as well!
With the awful fires from northern CA impacting our valley air, I'm sure you are tracking air quality just as we are. When air quality deteriorates we are mindfully minimizing outdoor time, rigorous exercise, and keeping doors/windows closed, utilizing air purifiers as needed. Parents please feel free to contact the office if you have particular concerns about your child's respiratory health. And we also have an up-to-the-minute way to monitor now, thanks to Melanie. In her words: "We now have a Tempest Weather Station and a Purple Air Quality Monitor newly installed on campus!! The weather station is located on the middle campus and the air quality monitor is installed at CRHS.
Click here to access the daily AQI.
Thanks to all the parents who filled out the survey for Beginner and Advanced Band at SLVUSD Charter School. We hope to be making an announcement this week about tryouts for the extra curricular band program under the direction of Nathan Gonzalez. (Beginner band students will not need to try out.) If you didn't get a chance to fill out the survey, please do so here.
Is your child interested in Scouting? Click here for a flyer with more information.
Here's to a great week ahead!
Kerry
News and Announcements
Charter Insta
If youβre interested in following our Instagram account, showcasing news and events from SLVUSD Charter School, here is the info:
βI'm on Instagram as slvcharterschool. Install the app to follow my photos and videos, or click this link: https://instagram.com/slvcharterschool?igshid=MzMyNGUyNmU2YQ==
(Please know that we will be very careful not to post pictures of students on the "Do not Photograph" list.)
Narcan info and distribution event - Sept 10
Santa Cruz County Office of Education is partnering with Santa Cruz Community Health and SLVUSD to offer free Narcan in San Lorenzo Valley on Sunday Sept. 10th from 9am-1pm. In addition to this life saving tool families are welcome to meet with staff in the Park and Walk up area and gather parent guides on how to have difficult conversations with young people about the risks of substances. We hope this normalizes how hard it is to be a parent and in turn, reduces stigma. This will be the third Narcan distribution event, with the first one in April at Cabrillo College, and then again in June at Watsonville High School. Click here for more info.
Please note: Enter the distribution event through SLV Elementary and exit through SLV High School.
Construction update - solar power and shade structure
We are pleased to announce that our shade structure/solar panel installation is slated for completion at the end of September! Just a few more weeks of construction fencing on our QH quad!
Looking ahead - save the date!
Mon, Sept 4- Labor Day (no school)
Tues, Sept 5 - Heartwood Home School and Qual Hollow Home School - Creeks and Quails - are back in session today!
- Ga-ga Ball pit reserved for elementary programs every Tuesday lunch time)
Wed, Sept 6 - Coast Redwood Middle School back in session
Thurs, Sept 7 -- Middle School tea garden open (supervised) at lunch time for 6-8th grade
- 6th grade Nature Academy excursion day
Mon, Sept 11 - Nature Academy "Short Monday" (students dismiss at 1:19pm)
Nature Academy parents, don't forget to check the Nature Academy Google Calendar to be sure which bell schedule we're on! (You can also click here if you are not a Google Calendar subscriber)
- A1 Mondays are 3pm dismissal at the tricampus;
- A2 Mondays are 2:05pm dismissal at Nature Academy;
- O days are Tues/Thurs, dismissal 2:05pm;
- E days are Wed/Fri, dismissal 2:05;
- Minimum Days dismiss at 12:05;
- Short Mondays dismiss at 1:19pm
- Excursion Days (dates not yet finalized) times are individual to the excursion
Ongoing information from previous Charter News
Attendance matters!
Attendance Matters!
We hope to see a positive improvement in our attendance rates this year, and encourage our families to support your student in participating consistently, whether it be in a homeschool program where work completion = attendance, or in our classroom-based 5 day a week Nature Academy. Students who are absent 10% or more in a school year are typically "less proficient in reading, writing and math than their peers with good attendance" (Source: CA Dept of Ed.) Thank you for being our partners in supporting good attendance.
Volunteer information
New! Volunteer application hours - PLEASE NOTE: The Charter Office and SLVUSD Human Resources Office hours will accept volunteer registrations on Tuesdays from 7:00-11:00 am and Thursdays from 12:30-3:30 pm. The Human Resources Office is located at 325 Marion Avenue, Ben Lomond, CA 95005.
All Charter parents are encouraged to register with the District as a volunteer and a field trip driver. (All parents are asked to drive on excursions...)
Please click here to access the required volunteer paperwork. Hard copy paperwork is also available at the Charter Office.
To use your personal vehicle to transport your own or other students, we will need updated driver information on file as well - please click here for the form.
Γ New Volunteer: You will be required to fill out the volunteer paperwork and obtain a signature from the principal. Once complete, please bring your signed paperwork to the Human Resources Office. You will be required to provide a current TB result. Also, all new volunteers will be required to be fingerprinted.
Γ Returning Volunteer: You will be required to provide current TB results. This documentation can be provided to the Charter office. The school site will forward current TB results to the Human Resources Office. You may also bring current TB results directly to the Human Resources Office.
Transportation
If your child takes the bus to or from school, please remember you will need to purchase a bus pass. Please click here to access the Transportation web page with all the information you will need.
ALL Nature Academy students will need to register to take bus transportation on A1 days to the tricampus. (No need to pay.)
Students at Coast Redwood High who need afternoon transportation to the tricampus for concurrent enrollment classes can take the TK bus that leaves the District Office at noon each day. They will not need to pay for a bus pass. However they still need to register with Transportation. Rides will be denied if students are not registered.)
The Charter Office staff ask families to call in before 1:50pm if they have a message for their student about changing that day's bus transportation arrangement.
Athletics information (middle school)
Please click here for a link to the Panther Athletics website (SLVMS).
Please click here for a link to the Cougar Athletics website (SLVHS).
Parking lot safety
Student drop off and pick-up:
Please be mindful of safety during drop-off and pick-up. Drive slowly, and stay with your young child when walking to and from your car. Older students should walk (never run), and watch for moving cars when the are in the parking area.
- Parents/guardians of elementary-age students need to park and walk their students to their classroom and sign them in at their classroom.
- Middle school and High school students can walk to their classroom, where the teacher will take attendance, or students will sign in.
- If your student is taking the bus, they will be dropped off in the morning in front of the District Office.
- At pick up time, teachers will supervise all students until they are picked up - either at the bus stop at the top of Marion, or at the parent pick-up spot behind the District Office building.
NOTE: The driveway down to the main campus is not designed for walkers and cars at the same time. Buses need to take wide turns to exit the transportation lot. Please use the stairs when going up and down from Marion Avenue to the central campus area.
Parking:
- Parents of elementary and middle school students can park in front of the District Office Building.
- CRHS students who are driving to classes can park in the front parking lot and walk up the stairs to the CRHS building.
Bikes:
- Any student who is riding their bike to the campus needs to park their bike at the top by the Coast Redwood High School building, along the side of the path, and walk down the steps to the central campus area.
Nutrition services
- All SLVUSD students are eligible to receive a free breakfast and lunch through the cafeteria. But lunch must be ordered online.
- Complete the Free/Reduced Lunch Application at https://family.titank12.com/
- Although a meal application is not necessary to receive free meals during the 2023-2024 school year, households are encouraged to complete a meal application to ensure that your school receives accurate funding. As well, your childβs eligibility for free or reduced lunch could qualify you for additional outside services or benefits including Free/Reduced Bus passes, student fee waivers, P-EBT, discounted utilities, and more.
- Meals will be served from our Multi-use Room in the central area of the campus.
- Breakfast will be available in the mornings from 8:15 - 8:45am - no need to place an order
- Lunch times vary per program, but generally happen in the 11:50 - 12:30 window
- CRHS students can order lunch and it will be delivered to the CRHS building.
- Elementary students will have lunch cards (kept by teacher)
- Secondary students will need to key in their student ID on a keypad
- Make sure your online order is in by 9am on the day prior to ensure hot lunch. Some limited cold lunch options will be available for anyone who didn't order in time. Here is a link to the steps for setting up a LINQ account and ordering your child's lunch. (Free to all; no charge!)
- SLV Student Nutrition Services. Please click here for more information
After school childcare
SLVUSD partners with the YMCA to provide before and after-school childcare at Boulder Creek Elementary and San Lorenzo Valley Elementary. For more information, please reach out to the YMCA (831) 338-2128, or visit their website - YMCA CHILDCARE.
Parent/family engagement/involvement and education opportunities
Triple P
Triple P/First Five of Santa Cruz County offer ongoing parenting classes for parents of students of all ages. Please click here to see their workshop offerings.
Triple P also offers 1:1 sessions for parents who are needing intensive 10 week session and add-on sessions for people who are divorcing or separating (Family Transitions), for couples wanting to work on their relationship (Enhanced) and for people wanting to work on their strong emotions, like anger (Pathways). If interested in 1:1 sessions, please contact First 5 of Santa Cruz: https://www.first5scc.org/contact