Almond Thursday Word

Dear Almond families,

School has officially begun and I want to welcome you again to the 2022-23 school year. I really enjoyed catching up with students and families who have returned and it was fun to start getting to know those of you who are new to our Almond family. When you see me out on the playground or at the front of the school during drop-off and pick-up, please come by to say hello.

Our Almond staff and I have worked hard to provide a welcoming environment to all of our students and we are taking time over these first three days to build community within classrooms, across the grade level and entire school. As you probably noticed yesterday, all of our teachers and staff welcomed students first thing yesterday morning during drop-off; we gathered as an entire school yesterday for a whole-school assembly to introduce staff and talk about our intentions for this school year; teachers began leading their students through the process of thinking about what is looks like, sounds like and feels like to be a student at Almond; and students took time at the end of the school day to reflect on what worked for them during the school day and what could be improved. We plan on continuing these practices throughout the next few weeks to ensure that all students feel cared for, safe and welcome.

We also had a fantastic turnout for the Back to School coffee and volunteer sign-up yesterday. Thank you to those of you who have already volunteered to support our community. If you werent able to make it, please reach out to me or Lily Wang at lily@alexwang.com if you would like to find out more about the many ways you can volunteer at Almond. We are thrilled to have more parents on campus, supporting our kiddos.

There are many events coming up in the next couple of weeks including the Ice cream social this friday and Back to School Night. Please see below for more information.

Here’s to being stronger together as an Almond community!

Raquel

p.s. Almond Assemblies have moved from Fridays to Wednesdays this year so please feel free to join us next Wednesday, August 24 at 8:30 for our all-school assembly on the blacktop! NO FRIDAY ASSEMBLY TOMORROW

Important Events:

We hope you’ll join us for the following special events:

TK-6 Back to School Night

Thursday, September 1st

At this "Adults Only" event, you will learn about TK-6 curriculum and what to expect throughout the year. We will meet in the Multi at 6:05-6:20 for a short welcome from the Principal and staff, Almond PTA and LAEF and you can check the times below to find out when you can meet with the teachers. Please remember that this event is for adults only. See you then!

• Upper grades: 5:30-6:00
• All Families meet in Multi: 6:05-6:20
• Primary grades: 6:25-6:55

Additional Dates:

August 19 - Ice Cream Social, 6:30-8:00pm

August 24 & 25 - Picture Day

September 2 - Minimum Day- All students leave at 12:15pm

September 5 - Labor Day Holiday

Please consider joining our team as a Hot lunch volunteer, yard duty and/or a crossing guard. These are paid positions. We are in need of support for all days. Please reach out to me at rmatteroli@lasdschools.org if you can help.Thank you!

As you are getting ready for the start of school Wednesday, I would like to encourage you to register for the Almond Back To School System. During this process you can provide family contact information, sign-up for volunteer opportunities, drama and chorus programs, and complete PTA and LAEF donations. Every little bit counts! This is a great way to stay connected with the Almondcommunity and support all of the wonderful programs your children enjoy.

Please complete your family’s registration any time between now and September 10th. This is a different registration system than the infosnap process that registers your child for school.

Log in via this link. Please let me know if you have any questions or you can also contact Lily Wang, our Almond PTA President or Lien Percy, our Parliamentarian/BTS systems coordinato

Dear Almond Community,

I am Lily Wang, PTA President this 22-23 school year.

First of all, welcome (back) to our Almond community! I am excited to be back with our amazing principal Raquel Matteroli, all of our teachers & staff, as well as to cowork with our PTA board members & committee chairs and of course all the parents (& even our students) to make Almond School the excellent academic environment it has been over the years!

I would like to present the following top-of-mind PTA committee needs:

1. Fall & Spring Book Fair Co-Leads - our current leads Amy, Marsci & Leslie are all 6th grade parents and have taken on book fair year after year. They are also super fun to work with. If anyone is interested, please email me at lily@alexwang.com. Fall & Spring book fair bring a good amount of PTA income and creates all sorts of opportunities for learning. If you find it meaningful and worthwhile to keep book fairs going for Almond, please contact us!!

2. Auction Committee Member/Co-Leads - We are blessed that we have a strong walkathon & gala team to make the events happen, and also greatly blessed that we have a small auction team made up of last year's PTA board members to make sure the events can help generate funds & fun experiences for Almond parents, students & (hopefully) teachers & staff. We are looking for 2-3 parents with fundraising experience to help with online & in-person auction planning & promoting. We do most of our planning on zoom so it is a perfect leadership position for working parents.

3. Junior Olympics Co-Leads - Jr. Olympics is a LASD wide event with over 60 years of history! All of the Los Altos schools students grades 4 & up show up to compete against each other and there are festivities throughout the day. Please email me at lily@alexwang.com. if you are interested in learning and supporting Jr. Olympics!

The main reason for the lack of younger grader parents committee co-chairs is because we could not meet in person for almost 2 school years due to covid! I am extremely grateful that so many of our parents with 6th graders are willing to stay on one-more-year to keep Almond PTA programs going & to leave Almond school PTA activities in good hands.

If you have any questions or want to be more involved in the PTA, please don't hesitate to reach out to me at lily@alexwang.com or our EVP Rishi Sampat at rishisampat@gmail.com

THANK YOU!

Our students are back on campus ready to meet new friends and teachers! Let's get them off to a fabulous start with strong support from our parent community. ​​Your partnership with the Los Altos Educational Foundation (LAEF) can help the Los Altos School District (LASD) deliver a high-quality, well-rounded learning experience for all our TK-8th grade students. What is LAEF?

Established 40 years ago, LAEF is a non-profit organization that raises funds from parents and the community to sustain and enrich LASD's excellent educational program beyond what public funding provides. LAEF fills the gap in school funding from federal, state, and local sources and is the only way for parents to fund LASD teaching staff in our district.

It’s for the Students!

LASD is counting on us to raise $2.8 million to fund teachers and staff for STEM, Wellness, Literacy, and Arts this school year. Donations to LAEF from parents like you will benefit your student and every student in our seven elementary schools and two junior high schools. Find out which teachers LAEF supports.

Let’s Get Started

Your generosity is key! Donate or Pledge to LAEF today. Parents are encouraged to give $1,200 or $120/month per student this school year. Gifts of any amount are appreciated. If you can submit for a corporate match from your employer, we would be most grateful. Both parents can apply. If you donate to LAEF via your employer, DAF, or gifts of stock, please let us know, and we’ll make a note that your gift is coming.

Working Together

Check out LASD Superintendent Sandra McGonagle’s Back to School video to find out how LASD, LAEF, and your school’s PTA work together to support our schools.

The Almond Singers, under the direction of our new instructor Camille Cintas, is open to all students in grades 2-6. The group will meet on Tuesday mornings from 7:30am-8:15am in the Almond Multi beginning September 6th. Students will perform in both Winter and Spring concerts. Parents of participants need to sign up for 2 shifts in supervision in order to ensure the program runs smoothly. Please register here if you would like to sign up - https://docs.google.com/forms/...

Minimum of 25 students needed for this program.

REGISTRATION DUE Sunday, 9/5/2022

1) Complete one form per child participating.
2) For each child participating, PTA will reach out to collect $200 due per participant
3) Parents of participants are required to sign up for at least two volunteer positions per child participant - 20 minutes mandatory information meeting at first day of practice on 9/6 at 7:50am.
4) For now, face masks required, participant being a part of covid pool testing at Almondencouraged
4) Feel free to email lily@alexwang.com for any questions you have or list them below in the comments section

IMPORTANT DETAILS TO KEEP IN MIND:
* Open to the first 45 Almond students in grades 2-6* REHEARSALS 9/6/22 - 4/25/23 on Tuesdays 7:30-8:15am
*Tentative Winter & Spring Performance Dates on 12/13/22 & 4/25/23 Evening

It's a "big bright beautiful world" as everyone's favorite ogre, Shrek, leads a cast of fairytale misfits on an adventure to rescue a princess and find true acceptance. Part romance and part twisted fairy tale, Shrek JR. is an irreverently fun show with a powerful message for all.

REGISTRATION DUE Tuesday, August 23, 2022
1) Complete one form per child participating - https://forms.gle/s4vAx4qoNxM3...
2) For each child participating, PTA will reach out to collect $350 due per participant
3) Parents of participants are required to sign up for at least one volunteer position per child participant
4) Face mask required at all rehearsals, participant being a part of covid pool testing at Almond encouraged
4) Feel free to email lily@alexwang.com AND kinnery@gmail.comfor any questions you have or list them below in the comments section

IMPORTANT DETAILS TO KEEP IN MIND:
* Open to the first 45 Almond students in grades 3-6
* If there are spaces available after 8/23, we will offer them to students in grade 2
* AUDITION: 8/29 from 3:00 - 5:00pm Call Back 8/31 3:00-5:00pm
* SHOW DATES: 11/3 and 11/4 @ 7:00pm and 11/5 @ 4:00pm, cast party to follow
* REHEARSALS 9/7 onwards: Mon & Wed 3:00-5:00pm, Sat 9/24, 10/8, 12-4pm, Sat 10/29 12-5pm
*Tech Week is the week of 10/31, we will have rehearsal everyday (Mon, Tues & Weds) that week after school.
(Cast members will not be called to all rehearsals - there will be a schedule sent out once casting is complete)

* $350 includes licensing, costume fee, and surcharges due to inflation

* THANKS @LASD & Almond PTA in providing facilities, recruiting volunteers, and supplementing to keep the cost affordable for our children to immerse in performance arts

Join us for our first weekly training session,

Thursday September 8, 9-11:30am

LASD iLearn Studio (Masks recommended)

201 Covington Road, Los Altos

No experience or artistic talent is required.

To RSVP or for questions, contact (650) 947-1195 or kdickerson@lasdschools.org

Trained local high school students from the Computer Engineers of the Next Generation are hosting free coding classes on Zoom in Scratch, JavaScript, and Python. Students will build interactive games and learn how to code in a fun and engaging environment. We offer Beginning, Intermediate, and Advanced levels for each coding language. Students will be put into different breakout rooms according to their levels, but the Zoom link of each class remains the same.

Dates:

Wednesdays, August 31 - October 5, 2022, OR

Saturdays, September 3 - October 8, 2022

Time: 4:15 - 5:45 pm PST

No. of Weeks: 6

Format: Zoom Classes

Cost: Free

Register now at https://www.cengclass.org/class-offerings/

Registration deadline: 11:59 pm on Friday, August 26, 2022, or when class is full.

Computer Engineers of the Next Generation (CENG) is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization with the mission to inspire underrepresented minorities to pursue Computer Science. For more information, please check out our website at cengclass.org. Questions? Please email us at cengclass@gmail.com