Bobcat Tales

Mark Your Calendar

Open now:TK/Kindergarten Registration Open Now

March 10th-March 28th (@ 9:00 pm): Family Survey~

SLVE Annual Family Survey English Link

SLVE Annual Family Survey Spanish Link

March 14th: Professional Development Day for teachers (No school for students)

March 27th: Fun Run

April 1st: SLVE/BCE Vigilant Parent Workshop @ BCE 5:00-7:00 pm (Details below)

April 2nd: TK/Kinder Meet and Greet:

New to SLVE: TK 2:00-2:25/New to SLVE: Kindergarten 2:30-3:00

April 7th-11th: Spring Break/ April 14th District Storm Day if needed

April 24th: SLVE Open House

A Message from Principal Ponza

Professional Development Day for Teachers Tomorrow

Tomorrow, Friday March 14th, is a Professional Development Day for teachers and a No School Day for students. Have a wonderful 3 day weekend and we will see students back at school on Monday, March 17th.

Fun Run is Coming on March 27th

Our Fun Run will soon be here. Next week students will be getting daily check ins from the Fun Run team. Each day represents a new theme and challenge for the classes. Teachers will be sending out communication to families as enthusiasm builds for the event which takes place at the SLVHS track on March 27th. This is always an amazing event and very successful fundraiser for our school.

Read Across America Day

SLVE celebrated Read Across America Day today. Students welcomed many guest readers to our campus which included several staff members from our District Office, Student Nutritional Services. our SRO April Skalland, SLVHS student athletes, and other community members and staff. It was a great way to end the week. Thank you to our SLVE librarian Brandy Escott for organizing this exciting annual SLVE event!!!

PBIS News

Students had another fun Bobcat Assembly on Resilience and Women's History. Congrats to the Second grade presenters on a wonderful presentation about women’s history and their resilience. Ms. Ordahl shared with the upper grade students about resilience and how being resilient means pushing through challenging tasks. Students had so much fun this month at the Bobcat Bubble party at recess. Students earn Pawprints where they can buy fun items from the school store and participate in activities on campus. Congratulations to Ms. Gale and Ms. Hill’s class on winning the golden tickets!

SLVUSD ANNUAL FAMILY SURVEYS – OPEN UNTIL MARCH 28th.

SLVUSD is looking to gather feedback from our families regarding our Academic, Communication, and Learning Environment goals. We anticipate the survey will take from five to seven minutes to complete. The valuable feedback that you submit will provide the District and the site with important information as we plan for the 2025-2026 school year.

The surveys will be available through Friday, March 28th 9:00 p.m.

As a little incentive, the schools will receive additional site funds for student/teacher resources based on the percentage of families that complete the survey for their site.

SLVE Annual Family Survey English Link

SLVE Annual Family Survey Spanish Link

The breakdown for the incentive is as follows (percentage represents participation):

10% = $1,000, 20% = $2,000, 30% = $3,000, 40% = $4,000, 50% = $5,000

In addition, the site with the highest percentage of completed surveys will receive an additional $5,000.

We are excited to engage in a little fun competition. Each site is ready for the challenge and believes that it will be their families that will achieve the highest percentage of completed surveys. Thank you in advance for taking the time to provide your input.

We look forward to using the data generated from the Family Surveys to celebrate areas of strength at SLVE and to focus on areas where SLVE can strengthen and grow.

Last year, SLVE had the highest percentage of completed surveys and earned the $10,000 additional incentive for having both the highest percentage of families completing the survey and the highest percentage of completed surveys. That money goes directly to supporting additional student/teacher classroom resources at SLVE. Let's make that happen again Bobcat families!

Intent to Return for the 2025-2026 School Year

We are excited to get started on the 25/26 school year planning. Please complete this

Intent to Return Form for each child in your family. We are so excited to have you back next year. Please note that this is just for incoming students Kindergarten-4th grade. 5th-grade students will register with the middle school.

SLVE TK/Kindergarten Registration

1. Prepare for Registration. SLVE TK and Kindergarten student registration is now open. Please review the registration page here to determine if your child is eligible for TK or Kindergarten and all the documents needed to complete the Enrollment Process.

2. Plan to attend our TK/Kindergarten Meet and Greet on April 2nd. The TK/Kinder Meet and Greet serves as a great opportunity for students to meet the teachers, see the classrooms and do some fun activities. It's also a great opportunity for parents/adults to meet the Principal, the teachers, inquire about our Transportation and Nutrition Programs, and get to know more about our school and our TK/Kindergarten program.

The times are as follows:

New to SLVE: TK 2:00-2:25

New to SLVE: Kindergarten 2:30-3:00

SLVE and BCE Vigilant Parent Workshop April 1st @ BCE

The Silicon Valley Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force will help parents understand privacy and parental controls on apps, games, and social media. We will distribute iPads and walk parents through the process and teach you how to have a conversation with your child about Internet Safety.

Our goal is to keep children safe from online predators. The workshop will take place at the Boulder Creek Elementary School MU on Tuesday April 1st from 5:00-7:00 pm. This class is for parents only. Childcare will be available and pizza will be served. Please fill out this Vigilant Parent Workshop Form so that we can plan for childcare and available IPADS. Please use the QR code to sign up for this class.

Bobcat Club News

*Need help signing up? Video instructions HERE. Bobcat Bash Spring Auction Early Bird tickets are on sale now. Prices will go up on March 17! Buy Your tickets today! Prices will go up on March 17! Join us at Roaring Camp on Friday, April 25, from 5:30-10 pm. This year features an Open Bar, Dinner, Raffle, Live Auction, Live DJ, and Dancing! It's a parents' night out you don't want to miss!

4th Annual Bobcat Bake-Off

Do you or someone in your household love to bake? Are you hoping for bragging rights as SLVE's Best Bobcat Baker? Enter by 4/18/25 by emailing braedenliam@gmail.com.

When: 4/25/25 at 5:30 pm (drop-off time for desserts is 4:30 pm)

Where: SLVE's Annual Auction & Parents' Night Out

Who: Adults, students, and families are welcome to enter, but the event is adults-only

What's required: You'll need to bring 36 self-contained, single-serving desserts and a sign listing ingredients/allergens.

How: Email braedenliam@gmail.com today with any questions and to enter the competition!

Attendance Matters

We continue to emphasize the importance of daily attendance for your student. Absences do add up!

We know people get sick, people get injured, and there can be family or life responsibilities and other issues that are reasonable and excused. But if your student can attend, they need to be in school.

If your student is out for three or more consecutive days, we may request a doctor’s note to continue excusing the absences. Students who miss 3-5 days will receive a Chronic Absence letter. We will then meet with those families to attempt to support the student attending school. On the second Chronic Absence Letter, families may be required to meet at the District Office to put a plan in place for the student’s attendance. On the third Chronic Absence Letter, families may be required to meet with the County Office Student Attendance Review Board for truancy. Our goal is that no family ever gets that far along with truancy. We are here to help and support, but it does start at home with the expectation that your student will attend school regularly.

Please remember that students who are absent 3 days or more should complete an independent study contract. Lisa Ghelardi, at lblairghelardi@slvusd.org our SLVE Registrar, will work with families to get the paperwork and the missed classwork assignments needed to complete the contract.

Learning Websites~IReady and Lexia

Your student can access Lexia Core5 (phonics/reading support) or i-Ready (math & reading) from home using their Google login information or their Classlink QuickCard (QR Code). Teachers will be sending home IReady/Lexia log in information (also linked below) and QR codes with students by Friday, October 4th.

You can access these applications from a personal computer (Mac or Windows), a personal Chromebook, a school-issued Chromebook, or an iPad. See the instructions for how to access them below:

How to Access Lexia/i-Ready from Home (Slideshow with all options)-SLVE

How to access Lexia/i-Ready from Home (School-Issued Chromebook)--SLVE

How to access Lexia/i-Ready from Home (iPads)--SLVE

How to access Lexia/i-Readyy from Home (Computers/Personal Chromebook)--SLVE

Updated Student Illness Protocols

For suggestions to help with knowing when to keep your child home when they are not feeling well please click on this Illness Protocol Link. Contact a health care provider if your child needs medical care. A doctor’s note is generally not required to return to school or child care. For more information, please visit the CDPH guidance page.

Cradle to Career

Cradle to Career Santa Cruz County (C2C) is a family advocacy organization and community connector that strives to uplift all families. C2C has expanded into SLVUSD and has developed free programming, including recreation activities, parent workshops, and advocacy opportunities for families. Register with C2C for more information about upcoming yoga classes, and more! Contact Claudia Oblea, SLVUSD's Community Organizer, for more information about C2C, questions, or resource support.

To Register with C2C visit: https://share.hsforms.com/1PECJBXBRREmsdHAUyGb4Ggdl8zs

Claudia's Contact information:

Email - Coblea@c2cscc.org

Phone: 916-270-5237

Triple P Parenting Classes

Triple P Positive Parenting topical workshop flyers for March are attached. Información sobre programas en español disponibles en el sitio web.

Each flyer has its own unique link to register for each class, or go to https://www.first5scc.org/triple-p-classes and register on the website. All of these classes are on Zoom!

Workshops are all free, and grant funded by First Five of Santa Cruz.

Individual sessions are also available for free or sliding scale. If you are interested in a 1:1 session, please contact First Five of Santa Cruz at First 5 Santa Cruz County at (831) 465-2217 or

The "Community Opportunities" website link is provided as a courtesy to parents and students, by the San Lorenzo Valley Unified School District, to enable you to receive information of current local events and opportunities for adults and/or children.

Student Drop Off and Pick Up at SLVE

As the rainy days are upon us, it is important to focus on safety during our drop off and pick up time each day. As a reminder, the far right lane is the ONLY lane that you may stop in to pick up your student. The middle lane is a drive thru lane only. If cars stop in the middle lane, buses CANNOT get up the hill to pass without going into the far left lane which is the exiting lane.

Cars dropping off and picking up students must drive all the way up to the cafeteria to drop off and/or pick up their students. Please do not open car doors into the driving lanes. When stopping to drop off your student, students should leave their car through the car door on the cafeteria/playground side of the car. Please do not get out of your car to drop off/pick up your students. School staff can assist students out of their cars if needed.

Please remember to park ONLY in marked parking spots. Please do not park in fire lanes or bus lanes. A reminder that the parking lot in front of the school office is reserved for teachers/staff only. Please do not stop there to drop off or pick up your student. We appreciate your role in helping to ensure the safety of our SLVE students and families.

Perimeter Fence Update

Our perimeter fence is almost complete. We are just awaiting a couple of small panels. The fence is a nice addition to our campus as it helps to prevent balls and other recess items from rolling into the parking lot. It also provides a very clear and visual boundary to our campus which helps to keep students safely inside.

Beginning on Tuesday, January 7th, we will be opening the gates at 7:50 am and closing them at 8:30 am. The gates will be reopened forTK dismissal and then remain closed until 2:00 for afternoon student dismissal. All volunteers will need to enter through the SLVE front office to check in and get a volunteer badge.

Please remember that school remains in session from 2:15-3:00 for our 4th and 5th grades. During this time, the SLVE playground is closed unless being used by SLVE PE classes and their teachers, or the after school ELOP program and their leaders. As a reminder, Kindergarten-3rd grade students should NOT be playing on the playground between the hours of 2:15 pm-3:00 pm. We appreciate your help in supporting this school protocol.

Bus and School Lunch Information

We will continue to provide free lunch to all students this year. We do ask that you complete the application on the district webpage. It is very important that ALL families complete this form, as it helps us with funding in several different areas.

If your child will be riding the bus this year and will need a bus pass, please make sure you purchase your bus pass online here. Once you log in to LinqConnect you will see "School Store" on the bottom right hand corn. Click that to buy your pass. Any questions contact the Transportation department at 831-336-2223

Please complete the Transportation Registration Form for all students riding the bus. Should there be a school bus breakdown, closed route or a route delay, School Messenger will not contact you unless your student(s) are registered.If you do not have your student registered by Thursday, 08/29/24 your student will be left at the school and sent to the office. For more information please call the Transportation office at 831-336-2223 or email Heidie at hoconnor@slvusd.org.

Thank you for your understanding.

-Transportation Department