Hawk Updates

November

4th: School Site Council. 3:45 pm

9th: Dining 4 Dollars at Everbowl

11th: VETERANS' DAY. NO SCHOOL

14th: PUSD Board Meeting

18th: CHES NON-STUDENT DAY (Parent/Teacher Conferences)

19th - 22nd: Minimum Day for all students (Parent/Teacher Conferences). Release at 12:45 pm

20th: Kona Ice on Tannin Dr after school dismissal

20th: CAPES meeting. 5:30pm in MPR

25th - 29th: THANKSGIVING BREAK. NO SCHOOL.

December

2nd: VAPA Vision

2nd: School Site Council. 3:45 pm

12th: Dining for Dollars at Chick-Fil-A in Carmel Mt. Ranch

18th: CAPES Foundation Meeting. 5:30 pm

23rd - Jan. 3: District Recess

Click HERE for the School Calendar.

CHES Staff not only showed their Halloween Spirit, but they are also are in the running to win our school contest, "Who Wore it Best?"

The winners will be decided by you!!! Take a look at our finalists and cast your vote today!

Front Office - John and Oswald Children's Book Theme

National Native American Heritage Month has roots going back to the early 20th century. In 1915, Dr. Arthur C. Parker, a Seneca historian, along with other advocates, pushed for a dedicated day to honor Native American contributions. In 1916, New York became the first state to recognize "American Indian Day." Over the years, efforts continued to expand recognition, and in 1990, President George H.W. Bush approved a joint resolution designating November as "National American Indian Heritage Month." This observance, now known as Native American Heritage Month, is celebrated every November as a time to honor and recognize the significant influence and contributions of Native American people and cultures throughout American history.

Last Thursday, millions of Hindus and South Asians across the world, and at Chaparral, celebrated the Festival of Lights with parties, dinners, food and prayers.

Diwali, the festival of lights, is one of the most popular holidays in India, and for Hindus in particular.

A celebration of good over evil, it is observed across faiths over five days with gatherings for prayer, feasts and fireworks displays.

The holiday takes its name from the word "deepavali," Sanskrit for a row of lamps. It may have originated with harvest festivals that date back more than 2,500 years.

This year, the main holiday is on Sunday but celebrations begin days earlier. More than one billion people will observe Diwali throughout South Asia and the Indian diaspora.

Initially a religious event, Diwali has evolved over the years into a festive occasion, much like Christmas and Hannukah, with people of all communities and religion joining in to celebrate.

What does that mean? You get to enjoy all the Halloween candy you want—but bring your leftovers to school because we’re collecting them!

For each pound of candy you donate, I-Ortho will give us $1. Last year, we gathered over 600 pounds of candy and scored a check for $600! Not bad, right?

But this year, we're raising the stakes. 🏆

Mr. Hicks is challenging you, my sweet-toothed friends, to help us collect over 1,000 pounds of candy, so we can make I-Ortho write us a $1,000 check!

Oh, and there’s one more thing: if we hit the 1,000-pound mark, Mr. Little, Ms. Chambers, and your student council members tape me to the basketball pole at an upcoming community gathering! 🎉🍬 So bring in that candy, and let’s make this year a treat for everyone! 🍭

Parent/Teacher Conferences are quickly approaching. The schedule for conferences is as follows:

Nov 18 (Mon) - No School for Students. P/T Conferences all day

Nov 19 - 22 (Tue-Friday) - ALL GRADES dismiss at 12:45pm. P/T Conferences during the afternoons.

Please be on the lookout for messaging from your student's teacher regarding sign ups for meetings.

Our Health Office is accepting donations of girl's pants for those times when our students have "accidents". Sizes 4-8 would be great! Just drop them off in the front office!

Thank you!

California School Parent Survey, 2024-2025

Chaparral

Your school needs you to complete this online survey to learn more about your opinions about it. This survey is an opportunity to communicate your perceptions about your child’s school.

The purpose of this survey is to obtain parent perceptions about the school.

Your participation is voluntary. It is also very important. The information you provide will help guide district and school efforts to promote safety, enhance learning supports, and improve student achievement.

• This is an anonymous survey. It is designed so that no one can be identified from the data. You do not have to respond to any questions that you feel could be used to identify you. Simply skip any such questions.

• All questions apply to this school only.

• The results are for the use of your district. The California Department of Education and WestEd will preserve data confidentiality and refer any data requests to the district.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR ACCESSING THE SURVEY

If you have more than one child at this school, you will only need to complete one survey for this school. Please fill out just one survey about the school using your oldest child as a reference.

Access the survey using the following URL:

https://wested.ugam-apps.com/wested/ts/w4ds

Thank you for taking this important survey!

Parents-

We’d like to remind you that when students are checked out early, we wait until the parent or guardian arrives at the school before calling them out of class. This allows students to remain engaged in their learning for as long as possible, minimizing missed instruction time.

Additionally, please remember to bring ID!

Thank you for your understanding and patience when picking up your student.

It takes a lot to ensure our kids are getting the best experiences and education. If you or someone you know wishes to donate to a teacher's classroom or the overall school, one way you can do so is through the follow site: CLASSROOM SUPPLIES - ONLINE DONATION PROGRAM

November D4D!

"What's this 'Second Step' I keep hearing about?" Great question! Second Step is a longstanding program at Chaparral and throughout our district. It forms the foundation of our Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) curriculum, which is designed to help students from Transitional Kindergarten (TK) through all grade levels develop vital social and emotional skills.

Second Step lessons guide students in building empathy, learning strategies to self-regulate and calm down, solving problems effectively, and understanding bullying prevention, along with many other important life skills.

At Chaparral, we have a dedicated SEL team: Ms. Siebel teaches our youngest learners in TK through 2nd grade, and Mr. Hicks works with students in grades 3 and up. Together, they equip students with the tools they need to confidently navigate social and emotional challenges, fostering a positive, inclusive learning environment where all students can flourish.

2024/2025 School Year Birthday Marquee Signups are now open!

Complete the form from the link provided below if you would like your child's name (first name and last initial) to appear on the Chaparral Marquees during the week of his/her birthday. To secure your marquee reservation, please make a $25 donation to CAPES after submitting the form.

Note--Each marquee has only two (2) available sign-ups per week. If a week is not listed, it has reached the maximum capacity of reservations. Holiday weeks have not been included. This form is ONLY for the 2024/2025 school year. Please do not submit a response for a future school year.

Your child's birthday message (ex. Happy Birthday Lizzie B.) will appear at some point during the week and will stay up for a minimum of 1 day.

Please note that our CAPES volunteers may need at least one (1) week of advance notice to honor birthday marquee reservations.

Click the link HERE to sign up today!

We are looking for any parent who may be interested in helping with the 24-25 Yearbook!

If you are interested, please reach out to Will Smith at chaparralcapes@gmail.com.

Thank you!

• FREE SPANISH Teen Positive Parenting Workshop Series In Person

Valley Elementary School

Thursday, November 7th, Wednesday, November 13th and Thursday, November 21st from 6:00pm – 8:00pm

*Childcare provided for school-aged children

• FREE Bereavement Parent Workshop

via Zoom

Wednesday, November 6th from 6pm-7pm

PUSD provides breakfast and lunch to all students free of charge pursuant to the California Universal Meals Program. Free meals are available to all families, regardless of their free or reduced-price meal eligibility status. Breakfast service will begin at 8:25 am and end at 8:40 am. Students will report directly to the playground after eating breakfast. Students not eating breakfast need to arrive when the playground opens at 8:25 am.

Meal program details are provided on the Food and Nutrition Department website at PUSD Food and Nutrition. Families are still encouraged to submit a school meal application for free and reduced-priced meal benefits because this information may be used for other programs such as Federal and State funding for your school, reduced registration fees for academic tests, free or discounted fees for bus passes, ESS childcare, and athletic programs, discounted rates for internet service and many more! The application can be found online at https://www.myschoolapps.com/ . Applications must be submitted on an annual basis.

In order to Volunteer on campus, PUSD's Volunteer Requirements must be met and the following documentation needs to be submitted to the office:

1) Volunteer Application & Megan's Law clearance form + picture ID (signed annually)

2) TB clearance/negative result from a health care provider (Good for 4 years)

3) Code of Conduct form (signed annually)

4) Code of Confidentiality (signed annually)

Note--the district office needs at least 2 weeks to process and clear volunteers once all forms/documents are submitted; therefore, please submit the volunteer paperwork as soon as you are able.

Please help us keep the parking lot safe and the drop off and pick up in our front lot running smoothly.

We ask of everyone:

1. Do not park in the parking lot. You may see open spots, especially in the morning, but those are reserved for our staff. If parents fill those spots our staff has a hard time getting onto campus and getting prepared for your students.

2. Please pull forward. Whenever possible, before picking up or dropping off always pull as far forward as possible.

3. Stay in your cars. To keep everything running smoothly, please stay in your cars while in line for the drop off and pick up. If your child needs help, please just roll the passenger side window down and ask one of our staff and they will assist.

4. Stay back from the gates if you are picking up your students in person. It is very helpful if parents stay back from all gates before they open. Additionally, we ask they all parents, even those in grades 1-5, who use the front gates to not go beyond the TK/K gate. Your students will meet you there.

Thank you in advance for helping us keep drop off and dismissal running smoothly by following these guidelines. We are a large school and we need everyone's help in keep kids safe.

Obviously, the best environment for any student to learn is the school environment. Whenever possible, families are strongly encouraged to avoid taking vacations and other trips that results in their students missing extended periods of time from school.

However, when these trips are unavoidable, parents can request an OCIS contract. Details of OCIS contracts can be found below.

Off Campus Independent Study (OCIS) Contracts

This contract allows the student to complete work that he/she would be doing if they were in class and helps the school to continue to receive funding from the state. The student needs to work with his/her teachers closely to submit the assignments.

The threshold for implementing an OCIS contract is limited to a minimum of 3 days through a maximum of 14 school days. The 14-school day limit for OCIS contracts is cumulative for the entire school year.

At least 5 school days of notice is required to set up an OCIS Contract.

*A family who plans to keep their student out of school beyond the 20 days must enroll their child in Poway Home Education Program (PHEP: TK through 8th grade)

Please refer to the PUSD website for more information and contact the student’s counselor.