Dear Taft Families,
I hope you had a restful and relaxing three-day weekend. We had a great Back to School Night last week! We had over 220 attendees and the cafeteria was full. Thank you for taking the time to visit us and meet our teachers. It is always a pleasure to have families join us. We look forward to seeing parents on campus when we do our events, workshops and volunteer events. I also want to thank you for being flexible and following our directives regarding drop-off and pick-up. It makes our mornings and afternoons go much smoother when everyone is doing the right thing for our students.
September is here and in about a month we will have our goal-setting conferences. Also, my principal's coffees and SSC start this month. My first principal's coffee takes place this Wednesday, Sept 3 from 8:30-9:30 am. If you interested in joining us, please see the calendar section below and if you are interested in joining us as a parent member of the School Site Council or Facilities Master Plan Site Committee, please email me. You can find specific details below in the Parent Committees section.
Sincerely,
David Camarena
Principal
Taft Community School
650-482-2416 ext 3755
We are looking for parents to join our School Site Council (SSC) or Facilities Master Plan Site Committee. The commitment for SSC is once a month on a Monday and the meeting takes place virtually from 6-7 pm. We discuss various topics such as the school's budget, ELAC, data and assessment and school events. Our first SSC meeting takes place on Monday, Sept 16.
For the Facilities Master Plan Site Committee, we are looking to gather diverse perspectives from across our school community. The committee will have a maximum of nine participants that includes staff and parents, plus the site principal. The Facility Master Planning process will involve at least two Site Committee meetings. These meetings will serve as key opportunities for committee members to provide input, discuss priorities, and review preliminary plans.
If interested in any of these committees, please email me at dcamarena@rcsdk8.net
Counseling services are available at school to support your child’s emotional wellbeing. To submit a referral for counseling, please fill out the counseling referral form. The counselors will begin processing new referrals on September 3rd.
Lunch Bunch is a special recess opportunity that is designed to help students make friends through counselor-facilitated games and activities. Students are able to participate by nominating themselves or receiving a nomination from a teacher. All participation is entirely voluntary by the student. Lunch bunch is offered every other week during lunch recess. If you have any questions or would like to opt-out, please contact Lauren Abrahams at labrahams@rcsdk8.net or 650-482-2416 ext 3745.
Parent Project classes will begin next week in the evenings via Zoom (flyer in English, Spanish). This is a great opportunity to learn strategies to strengthen your relationship with your child and practice skills for communication, positive discipline practices, and school success. To sign up, please contact Joselyn Bautista at joselyn.bautista@star-vista.org or (650) 208-2257. Please see the flyers attached for details.
Click below to view our Back to School Night Presentations
- Mr. Camarena's Back to School Night 2024 Presentation
- TK - Ms. Viadero
- K - Ms. Sumbad (email teacher with questions) rsumbad@rcsdk8.net
- K - Ms. Lopez (email teacher with questions) g
- 1st - Ms. Bailon
- 1st - Mrs. Rodriguez (email teacher with questions) brodriguez@rcsdk8.net
- 2nd - Ms. Benjamin
- 2nd - Ms. Schmidt
- 3rd - Mr. Milos
- 3rd - Mr. Egido
- 4th - Ms. Gil
- 4th - Ms. Puentes
- 5th - Ms. Aguilar
- 5th - Mrs. Momjian
- 5th - Ms. Teasdale (email teacher with questions) jteasdale@rcsdk8.net
We are looking for parent volunteers who are willing to come in once a month (or more) to help tend to our outdoor classroom/garden. We have all the tools necessary (gloves, shovels, etc). If you're interested, please email me at dcamarena@rcsdk8.net or call the school at 650-482-2416.
The Taft Family Resource Center is dedicated to supporting you and your child throughout the school year. Whether you need help with academic resources, after-school programs, food resources or community resources, we're here for you. Stop by our center anytime—we look forward to working with you and your family! Scan on the image or click on this link to know more about the following:
- Family Center Information and Flyers
- Second Harvest Food Distribution Dates
- Uniform & Backpack Information
- Mental Health (more information to follow)
- After School Partners: Casa Círculo, Boys and Girls Club Program (BCGP) and PAL Center
Jocelyne Arriaga- Community School Coordinator, jarriaga@rcsdk8.net
Julissa Gaytan Sanchez- Family Center Admin Assistant, jgaytansanchez@rcsdk8.net
(650) 482-2847
The 2024-2025 school year has started and we want to encourage all students and families that attendance matters every day! Coming to school every day and on time is crucial for our students. It's very important for students to attend every day and we remind parents to bring students on time. We know traffic can be a concern but please make an attempt to get your student to school on time.
To report an absence, please follow the instructions on the link below. This is the new method of reporting your student's absence. The link below can be found on our Taft website under the Parent Hub.
https://taft.rcsdk8.net/parent-hub/report-an-absence
If you have any questions, please call the school at 650-482-2416.
- Monday, Sept 2: Labor Day, No School
- Wednesday, Sept 4: Principal's Coffee, 8:30-9:30 am
- Wednesday, Sept 11: Second Harvest Food Distribution, 2:30-4 pm
- Monday, Sept 16:School Site Council 6-7 pm
- Tuesday, Sept 24: ELAC with Ms. Chavez 8:30-9:30 am
- Monday, Sept 30: Teacher Professional Development in the morning and Goal-Setting Parent Teacher Conferences from 1-4 pm, No School
- Oct 1-4: Goal-Setting Parent Teacher Conferences, Super Minimum Day, dismissal at 11:45 am for all grades. 1-4 pm conferences
- School Calendar: Please schedule family vacations around our school vacations.
- Bell Schedule : Please review so your child is dropped off and picked up on time.
- Student and Parent Handbook (English and Spanish): Please review our handbook and and try your best to have your child follow our dress code daily.
- Student Absence Reporting Form/School Messenger: Please use this in lieu of calling the office.
- School Lunch Menu ; School Brunch Menu Link
Please pick up your student at the appropriate dismissal time listed in our Bell Schedules. As mentioned above, our office closes at 3 pm and our office staff end their shift at that time as well. We have no staff available after 3 pm. Students who are picked up after 3 pm will have to wait inside the gated area without supervision.
- Please do not park in the staff parking lot in the morning and afternoon. The lot is reserved for staff.
- Please do not block our neighbors’ driveways at any time.
- Please drop off your students in the front drop-off zone. No parking is allowed along the curb. If you are going to park and walk your child to the gate, please park on Bay Rd and walk to the main gate. The RCPD will periodically patrol mornings and afternoons. Administration will be there to receive your students. Once students are dropped off at the main gate, students will be directed to go to their designated area which will be supervised by a staff member. All visitors must check into the front office.
- All students need to be in full uniform and wear appropriate shoes every day unless it's a Free Day dress (last Friday of the month). Sandals and Crocs are not allowed on any day. Please refer to the Parent & Student Handbook for complete guidelines. If you need help with uniforms, please contact our Family Center.
- Please review Taft's Cell Phone Policy for Students. Students bringing a cell phone to school must check it in at the front office.
Taft Community School
Email: dcamarena@rcsdk8.net
Website: taft.rcsdk8.net
Location: 903 10th Ave, Redwood City, CA 94063, USA
Phone: 650-482-2416
Facebook: www.facebook.com/taftcommunityschool