Bulldog Bulletin 09.25.24
From Our Principal
Today was our first Early Release Wednesday and our students did an excellent job of adjusting to their schedule changes for the day. At their age, sometimes changes in their day can feel really difficult because predictability helps to prevent anxiety, so please be sure to praise your child for adapting to their Early Release schedule and having a productive day.
Thank you so much to the families who signed up to bring in snacks/drinks for our staff meeting today! Our teachers will feel appreciated and enjoy having something yummy to snack on during our work session together.
Back To School Night is TOMORROW - Thursday 9/26 at 5:30-7:00 PM 🍎
We are looking forward to seeing you all at Back To School Night tomorrow, Thursday 9/26. The Back To School Night "open house" evening will run from 5:30-7:00 PM, so feel free to come and go as you please. Our front main entrance at SE 41st Ave and our cafeteria doors by the parking lot will open at 5:30 PM. Please plan accordingly. We will not be letting families inside until 5:30 PM.
Back To School Night is a special time for our students to invite their parents/caretakers to Richmond to show off their school, walk them through their classrooms, and say hello to their teachers. This is just a friendly reminder that this event is not structured for parent-teacher conferences, so be sure to send those questions and concerns to your child's teacher via their PPS email.
The cafeteria will be serving delicious food samples and parents can come learn about the extracurricular opportunities offered in our school community, or just swing by to snack and socialize.
During Back To School Night the library will be closed and our after school care program Art4Life will be using the gym. Be sure to stop by room 104 to meet our new full-time PE teacher, Ariel Feeney, or Coach Feeney.
The playground will be open to everyone and we would like to encourage families to socialize outside after you are finished visiting classrooms and teachers inside. This will likely help alleviate any crowding we may experience indoors. Arigato!
Digital Back To School Night Teacher Presentations 👩🏻💻
Check out the linked slideshow to view our teachers' Back To School Night presentations. Go to the Table of Contents on slide 5 to use the quick link bookmarks that will allow you to easily navigate the slideshow.
This year we will not be having grade level presentations in the cafeteria at Back To School Night. Instead, the slideshow included will allow families to learn more about their child's teacher at a time that works best for them.
We hope to see you at Richmond's Back To School Night tomorrow for our "open house" style evening!
Optional TAG Info Session - Thursday 9/26 at 5:00-5:30 PM 🌟
This optional presentation in our cafeteria will take place before Back To School Night begins and it is intended for families new to PPS or families who have not attended a TAG Info Session in previous years. Attached here are the slides that our TAG Coordinator, Katia Fleischman, will be presenting on 9/26.
Please enter through Door 6 (cafeteria) by our parking lot no earlier than 5:00 PM. All other exterior doors and indoor spaces will remain closed until Back To School Night begins at 5:30 PM. Thank you for your patience and understanding.
School Safety Updates 🚨
Monday 9/23 was our first Lockdown drill and all of our staff and students did a great job following our emergency response protocols ("Locks, Lights, Out of sight") quickly and calmly. All of our students were well prepared and our kindergarteners did an excellent job of practicing what they learned this year about lockdown drills.
Today, Wednesday 9/25 we had a houseless individual laying at the entrance of our parking lot who refused to leave and needed assistance. Students were allowed into the cafeteria a bit earlier this morning while we waited for PPS Security Services and law enforcement officers to arrive. I also made sure to check on our Mt. Tabor students who were waiting for their bus out front so that they were aware of the situation.
A lockout ("secure the perimeter" / everyone goes inside and we lock all exterior doors) was not necessary because there was no danger present. The houseless individual was not posing a safety threat to anyone at the time and they simply needed assistance in leaving our campus. Please know that these types of situations are monitored very closely until the issue is fully resolved and all safety precautions are taken to prioritize the safety of our students and staff.
Germ of the week 🤒
This week in our Health Room we are seeing more students with a headache and fever. COVID continues to be an issue right now so I wanted to remind families that you can sign a consent form in the Health Room if/when you pick up your sick child and you would like for our Health Room staff to test your child for COVID before you head home.
COVID testing at school is only available to students who have a signed consent form on record.
Wayfinder: Richmond's Social-Emotional Learning Curriculum 💚
Richmond is one of the many K-5 schools in PPS who chose to adopt the Wayfinder program as our Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) curriculum. You can use this link to view sample lessons and learn more about Wayfinder.
PPS has been undergoing this SEL curriculum adoption process as a way to provide specific SEL opportunities for students during the school day that focus on diversity, equity and inclusion, as well as building skills such as self-awareness, empathy and collaboration.
At Richmond we have a unique Japanese dual language program, which means that our daily academic schedules are more jam-packed than a monolingual neighborhood school program in PPS. However, SEL is very important to the wellness and development of each student, so we will be providing SEL lessons in each classroom as a part of our core curriculum each week.
Your child's classroom teacher(s) will be including SEL info in their bi-weekly newsletters, and our hope is that families will be able to continue these discussions at home to support your child in their social-emotional development.
From Our School
School Lunch Survey
Richmond Nutrition Services would like to know how often your student is eating hot lunch at school. With the free lunch for all program, it is very helpful for them to have an estimate of how much food to prepare. Please take a minute to answer a quick survey here. Your submission will help all kids who eat at school get enough food AND reduce the waste of the food. Thank you for your participation and support! They are hosting a tasting during back to school night until samples run out. Stop by the cafeteria.
HELPFUL LINKS
School Webpage HERE
District Student Handbook
School Supplies Online Payment
Google Dismissal and Dismissal Changes Form
Want to Volunteer?
Fliers approved for distribution
Richmond Calendar
From PTA
PTA at Back To School Night
Come visit the PTA table at Back to School Night. We will have Richmond yard signs for those who signed up to be PTA members this year. There will be plenty available to those who still want to join PTA and make a commitment and contribution to our causes.
Run 4 Richmond
R4R is a fundraising event where the students get to be involved. Students seek sponsors for their run, total up the number of laps they run during the half hour event and then collect the money they were sponsored. Mark your calendars for October 18th. There will be more information coming out in the next week.
International Walk + Roll to School Day : Wednesday, October 9th
Walk, bike, or scoot to school! Or just park your car a couple of blocks further away from school than normal and get the extra steps. Everyone can participate to support active transportation in our community.
Rich Coffee
A great way to donate to the PTA and support the incredible Richmond teachers and staff is by purchasing a discounted Rich Coffee punchcard for them. Teacher and staff discounted coffee cards are $20 and are good for 10 drinks delivered to their classroom. Come by Rich Coffee on Tuesday Mornings from 8:00 to 8:30 in the cafeteria to purchase a punchcard for your child’s teacher or a staff member and while you’re at it, buy yourself a cup of coffee, tea, cocoa, matcha latte, or chai latte and start your post-drop off day with fellow Richmond parents.
Rich Coffee is cashless. We accept credit cards, Apple Pay, etc. **Join the Coffee Crew** We need more hands to keep this 15+ year tradition going. Stop by or email richcoffeepta@gmail.com.
Cultural Committee
To Japanese Speaking families
日本語スピーカーの皆さまへ
リッチモンドお茶会のお知らせ!
9月27日(金)8時15分から
リッチモンド小学校カフェテリアにて、お茶会(という名の井戸端会議の会)を開催します!
学校のこと、PTAのこと、お友達を作りたい人、お喋りしたい人、1人でも、初めてでも、ぜひ気軽に参加してください!
リッチモンド通信への登録
文化委員では、日本語で不定期にニュースレターを配信しています。学校行事などの大事な日程、ボランティアのチャンスなど、日本語で簡単に配信しています。もし興味がありましたら、ぜひご登録ください。登録リンク→https://forms.gle/kaYqKg7pQY2Hp4gG6
文化委員と一緒に日本の文化や言語に関するイベントなどのお手伝いに興味がありましたら、ptaculturalcommittee@gmail.comまでいつでも連絡ください!
Super Green Team
Thank you to everyone who showed up to help rework and add another basin to the rain garden and we got a ton of plants planted! We got so much done and it was great to meet new-to-the-school parents and get to work alongside and catch up with everyone else. We will be spending our next Breakfast in the Garden event wrapping up the rain garden - hopefully just in time for the start of the forecasted wet La Niña winter! We will also begin to winterize the beds in the learning garden in prep for kindergarten usage in the Spring. *Please mark your calendar for Saturday October 19th from 9 am to noon - there will be a pumpkin themed craft for the kiddos*
From Oya No Kai
Host Family Update!
Thank you! We now have enough families interested in hosting! Though if any families would like to get information about hosting in the future, feel free to contact Haruka at haruka.takanuma@oyanokai.org!
Art Search
Don’t forget to submit your artwork to the Community Art Search by Sunday, September 29th! Go to https://oyanokai.org/artwork/ for all the information you need!