As we head into the final few days of the school year, I want to take a moment to thank you for your partnership, support, and trust throughout this year. It truly takes a village, and your involvement has made a lasting difference in the lives of our students and the strength of our school community.

From homework routines and morning drop-offs to cheering at events and showing up when it mattered most—you’ve helped create a school year filled with growth, connection, and care. We’re proud of what our students have accomplished and grateful for the role you’ve played along the way.

With just a few days left, we’re keeping spirits high, routines strong and ending the year on a positive note. Thank you for being such an important part of Sunset.

Thomas Fletcher

Principal

Sunset Elementary School

Brand new"ish" news...

•Last day Dismissal is at 12:30.

•Livermore Library Summer Reading Program - Starts 5/27-Ends 8/6~ The Summer Learning Program is for all ages: babies to adults. You can log your reading and activities to earn prizes and help reach our community reading goal of 5 million minutes this summer! To register click HERE.

•The Crayon Initiative - Crayon Recycling Program~ The National Charity League (NCL) will be dropping off boxes at Sunset the week of 5/19 to collect donations of used crayons that can be recycled and repurposed through The Crayon Initiative. Boxes will be picked up during the first week in June. If you have your student's crayons that may be no longer used next year, please come through the office and drop them off.

•Summer Office Hours & August Reopening~ The Sunset office will remain open to the public from 8:00 AM - 4:00 PM through Friday, June 6th. The office will reopen to the public on Tuesday, August 5th.

•Alameda County Fair~ Students receive a free ticket! LVJUSD opted in to be part of the annual K-5th graders to receive a free ticket! (Children 5 & under are free). The fair will open 6/13 to 7/6, this is an opportunity for children to learn about agriculture and STEAM activities. You will need to use this unique link to request their K-5th grader’s free entrance. Please see the attached flier and QR code.

•Sunset Bell Schedule and Calendar are both attached below.

This will be the third year of summer camps with Breakaway. We will be at Sunset Elementary and fully staffed with LVJUSD teachers. While we know there are a lot of great options out there for kids, we feel you would be hard pressed to find a better experience. Breakaway offers a full day of enrichment activities, including recreation, riveting activities and even reptiles! Check out the attached flier and our instagram @breakaway.summercamp

Here is a quick link for registration. https://bit.ly/Breakaway2025

Last year, Sunset (along with all LVJUSD elementary schools) adopted a school-wide reading curriculum called Sonday (pronounced "Sunday"). Developed by Orton-Gillingham expert Arlene Sonday, the program is thoughtfully designed to teach the essential components of reading: phonemic awareness, phonological awareness, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. It also includes a strong, systematic spelling component.

This year, to strengthen our literacy foundation, we’ve fine-tuned our approach by adding UFLI (University of Florida Literacy Institute) as the primary phonics curriculum in Kindergarten and 1st grade.

As I’ve visited classrooms and observed both Sonday and UFLI in action, I’ve been truly blown away by the growth I’m seeing. In one 1st grade classroom, students were confidently identifying digraphs and consonant-vowel-consonant patterns. In 3rd grade, students explained the difference between open and closed syllables and reminded me that the letters "g" and "c" make soft sounds when followed by "i," "e," or "y."

There were countless moments of impressive phonological awareness that will absolutely lead to stronger spelling skills and increased reading fluency. It’s exciting, and if you know any volunteers in our classrooms, ask them what they’ve noticed. It’s encouraging to witness firsthand. (I’ll admit, it’s also a little humbling. I’m learning things about the English language I didn’t even realize I didn’t know. 😄)

If you're interested in exploring the Sonday program for home use, I’ve attached some Parent Empowerment Kits. These are completely optional, but I’ve found them helpful, and you might too.

Thank you for continuing to support your young readers—Sunset is a stronger learning community because of it.

5/26~ No School (Memorial Day)

5/27~ Field Day

5/28~ Kona Ice Wednesday 1:30 Dismissal

5/29~ Last Day of School! 12:30 Dismissal

•Fun Runners~ It is back on Wednesdays before school. Register at: https://sunsetpto.membershiptoolkit.com/form/m/305646

•Kona Ice:

Sunset PTO Website

In accordance with security guidance, IT has updated student passwords to 9-digits. That means students with 8-digit student IDs will need to add a leading zero and students with 7-digit student IDs will need to add two leading zeros to be able to log in. Students with 9-digit student IDs or who had previously changed their password to a personal password were not affected.

If students need help, they can get help from their teachers when school starts.

May 16th

May 9th

May 2nd

April 25th

April 18th

April 11th

March 21st

March 14th

March 7th

Feb 28th

Feb 21st

Feb 14th

Feb 7th

Jan 31st

Jan 24th

Jan 17th

Jan 10th

Dec 20th

Dec 13th

Dec 6th

Nov 22nd

Nov 15th

Nov 8th

Nov 1st

Oct 25th

Oct 18th

Oct 11th

Oct 4th

Sept 27th

Sept 20th

Sept 13th

Sept 6th

Aug 30th

Aug 23rd

Aug 16th

Aug 9th

Email: tfletcher@lvjusd.org
Website: https://www.livermoreschools.org/sunset
Location: 1671 Frankfurt Way, Livermore, CA, USA
Phone: 925.606.5230