The Blazer Bulletin

Hello Trailblazers!

Gratitude for our Veterans & Active Duty Military Members

As we head into our long weekend, we want to take a moment to thank all of our active duty and veteran military members in our community. Thank you for keeping our country safe and strong. You are very much honored and appreciated for all that you do and have done!

Family Picnic Appreciation!

Thank you for joining us at the Family Paper Picnic! It was wonderful to see so many families come together to enjoy a fun afternoon with their students. Your presence truly made the event special.

We are also incredibly grateful for your generous support. Thanks to your contributions, we received approximately 165 reams of paper, along with envelopes, labels, lined and graph paper, and colored paper. Your donations will help ensure that our classrooms are well-stocked with the supplies needed for a successful school year.

We appreciate your continued partnership in supporting our school community. We look forward to more opportunities to connect and collaborate throughout the year!

Warmly,

Teri Heard

Your Very Proud Principal

November 11: Veterans Day - No School!

November 11-15: National School Psychologist Week

November 13: Foundation Meeting

November 14: PTA Meeting

November 15: Trimester 1 Ends, Fire Drill

November 18: Non Student Day (Parent/Teacher Conferences)

November 19-20 & 22: Minimum Day, Dismissal at 11:45am

November 21: Regular Thursday Dismissal at 12:25, DNHS Ambassadors on campus at lunch

November 22: Community Gathering

November 25-29: No School - Holiday

We are making some changes to our lunchtime routines. We have seen an increase in unexpected behaviors during lunch. Unfortunately, some students are making a mess of the lunch area (squirting ketchup packets, stomping on juice/milk cartons, leaving trash), getting up and bothering peers, and being defiant to our Character Coaches.

Last week we made changes to the 4th and 5th grade lunch routine with tremendous success. Students are enjoying their lunchtime experience and they are treating the café area and Character Coaches with respect.

We are expanding our new routines and rules to include all students in grades TK-5. The café expectations are that students stay seated during their eating time (they may get up to use the restroom or grab an item from the share bin), keep the area clean, and be respectful to adults. We will be sitting in the front café area only in order to better monitor students.

Please review the slide shared with teachers. It would be wonderful if you could review these café rules with your child as well.

Principal Heard met with the Safety Patrol student team on Friday at lunch. They shared that some individuals riding e-bikes are not respecting the safety rules. If you are riding an e-bike, please be cautious when crossing the bus loop "cross walk" and stop when the red stop sign is out. We are so grateful to our 5th grade students that operate the Safety Patrol. When driving by campus during pick up or drop off, please remember that these young students are volunteering to help keep our school safe. Your adherence to the safety rules means a lot to them and the entire Stone Ranch community.

Lastly, I want to remind parents/guardians that under no circumstances should cars be left unattended in either the bus or staff parking lot loops. Every day, we see multiple cars parked in the loops without a driver in sight. This creates a serious safety concern and traffic hazard.

We know you may be in a hurry or you might think that it will just take a quick minute to hop out and take care of picking up your student. However, in that time, our drop off process is impacted and it creates a safety hazard.

Parents are encouraged to park in a designated parking spot if you need to get out of your car for any reason.

We appreciate your partnership in keeping our school a safe place!

We wanted to take a moment and discuss student Google Drives. Teaching with individual Chromebooks is a whole new world to education post Covid. It offers our students incredible opportunities for learning and creativity. However, it also presents new challenges, particularly in the realm of digital citizenship.

In the past few weeks, several students have approached teachers regarding unkind content that has been shared with them by peers outside our classroom and school. Most of the content has been created on Google Slides. It's essential that our students learn not only how to create and share digital content responsibly but also how to navigate and respond to material that may not be appropriate.

To support your child in developing good digital citizenship skills, we kindly ask that you check their Google Drive periodically. This will help ensure that the content they are creating and receiving is appropriate and aligns with our district values.

Our school rule is that students may not create and share content without permission. Their Google Drive is owned by the school district and given to them for the sole purpose of educational learning. If they want to create appropriate content to share with friends, they need to be using a personal account and NOT their school account.

Thank you for your help and support!

As the holidays approach, we know that some families may be planning an extended absence. Please note that district policies allow for students to earn credit for missed days through an OCIS (off campus independent study) contract. This contract may be used for up to 15 days of absence. Please reach out to Mrs. Rubino, our Health Tech, if your child is planning on an extended absence and she can support you with the OCIS process. Mrs. Rubino's email is rrubino@powayusd.com.

Absences beyond 15 days have additional implications. It is very important that you reach out and communicate these absences with the school as soon as possible.

Chronic absence refers to students missing an extended period of school when both excused and unexcused absences are taken into account. Given the critical importance of time devoted to learning, especially in the early years, we believe it is important to count all absences. We intentionally use the term “chronic absence,” because the more frequently used term, “truancy,” only refers to unexcused absences and connotes inappropriate student behavior requiring a punitive response.

Chronic absence is most commonly defined as missing 10 percent or more of the school year (equivalent to 18 days out of a 180 day school year) regardless of whether absences are excused or unexcused. If children miss this much school while in grades K-3, it is chronic early absence.

Research by the National Center for Children in Poverty found that absenteeism has a direct impact on student performance in their current and future academic achievement and social emotional development. Chronic absence in the first years of school was associated with lower academic performance in subsequent grades (see chart).

Information taken from Hedy Chang and Mariajose Romero’s report, “Present, Engaged and Accounted For: The Critical Importance of Addressing Chronic Absence in the Early Grades.”

At Stone Ranch, we believe that coming to school every day is an important opportunity for students to learn as well as connect with their peers. If your child is consistently late to or absent from school, you can expect a phone call from the office. Our goal is to help our families make coming to school a priority.

As the holiday season approaches, we are reminded of the importance of community, kindness, and supporting one another. At Stone Ranch, we recognize that this time of year can be especially challenging for some of our families. In the spirit of giving, we are reaching out to ask for your help in making the holidays brighter for those in need within our school community.

Keep an eye out for our “Giving Tree” which will be located in the front entryway. If you are able to, please consider donating a gift card that will directly support families. The tree will have "ornamental leaves" with gift ideas or gift card amounts. You can simply select one of the "ornamental leaves" and return it with the designated item.

If your family is in need of support and you would like to receive help, please reach out to our school counselor, Ms. Nikki, via email. This is completely confidential. Our goal is to ensure that every child and family feels cared for and supported, no matter their circumstances.

Nouellette@powayusd.com

Thank you for your support and kindness,

Nikki Ouellette, School Counselor

We sold over 4,600 books this week, surpassing our goal by more than 600 books!

To thank all of our avid readers and parents for supporting this book fair we have a special surprise! The PTA is sponsoring a playground Chalk and Bubbles party on Wednesday, November 13th during lunch.

Please join us in donating to our Foundation’s 30 Days of Giving fundraiser! Your donations help enhance the learning experience for each Trailblazer, and provide the sole source of funding for:

• TK/K Aides

• Impact Teachers

• PE Coaches

• Classroom Funds

• Teacher Assessment Days

• STEM equipment and new technology

• School safety equipment

The suggested donation of $300 is based on the budget needs and goals to support the above teaching professionals, programs, and equipment. However, any and all donations are appreciated! Stone Ranch Foundation is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, and all donations are tax-deductible. Ask your employer about corporate matching, as well! Donate online at: www.stoneranchfoundation.org , or through Venmo at: @SRESFoundation . The class with the most participants will earn a special surprise each Friday of the Fundraiser!

DISNEY RAFFLE- November 7 through December 6

🎉✨ Get ready for some magical news! Enter our raffle for a chance to win Disney gift cards! Whether you’re dreaming of a trip to the parks, unforgettable merchandise, or movie nights at home, these gift cards will bring the magic of Disney straight to you. Don’t miss your chance to experience the joy and wonder of Disney! Raffle sales begin at the Family Paper Picnic, November 7! 🌟🏰

Join us for the Mendocino Farms Dine Out Night on Tuesday, November 12th. 30% of the proceeds from SRES families will go back to our school!

The Parent Ambassadors of PUSD Special Education Department, in partnership with EFRC (Exceptional Family Resource Center) would like to share these valuable community resources with you. Please see linked Community Resource Update flier for details.

Please complete the free/reduced-price meal application! Although school meals are free for all students, the application for free and reduced-price meal eligibility is still very important. School funding depends in part on the number of students who qualify for free or reduced-price meals. If income-eligible families do not apply, we risk losing important educational funds for our school.

Students who are eligible for free or reduced-price meals may also qualify for discounts on testing fees, before and after school care, and home internet! Income qualifications change annually, so a new application is needed every school year. For school year 2024-2025, children from a family of four are eligible if the total gross (pre-tax) household income is less than $4,810 per month, or less than $57,720 per year. Household income information is confidential and applying online is quick and easy. Apply online at MySchoolApps.com, or pick up a paper application in the

Join other 4S families on Thanksgiving Day for the Turkey Trot and support a great cause! Please affiliate your registration with Stone Ranch Elementary School. With 10% school participation, SRES will receive $500 for playground sports equipment!

Nondiscrimination Philosophy and Policy Statement

The Poway Unified School District (PUSD) is an equal opportunity employer/program and is committed to an active Nondiscrimination Program. PUSD prohibits discrimination, harassment, intimidation, and bullying based on actual or perceived race, color, ancestry, national origin, nationality, immigration status, ethnicity, ethnic group identification, age, religion, marital or parental status, physical or mental disability, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, or gender expression or association with a person or a group with one or more of these actual or perceived characteristics. For more information, please contact: Title IX/Equity Compliance Officer, James Jimenez, Associate Superintendent of Personnel support Services, Poway Unified School District, 15250 Avenue of Science, San Diego, CA 92128, 1-858-521-2800, extension 2121, jjimenez@powayusd.com. For students, you may contact Title IX Coordinator/504 Coordinator Jamie Dayhoff, Director of Attendance and Discipline, Poway Unified School District, 1-858-521-2840, jdayhoff@powayusd.com.

Stone Ranch Mission: To create an environment where each and every child feels safe, valued, and inspired to be their authentic self.

Principal email: theard@powayusd.com

Website: stoneranch.powayusd.com

Location: 16150 4S Ranch Parkway, San Diego, CA 92127

Phone: 858-487-8474