Almond Thursday Word

October 👻

LASD 2024-2025 Calendar

Almond Website: www.almondschool.org

Almond Community News: PeachJar

This Friday, we will transform our parking lot into a Halloween family fun zone! To prepare for the Trunk or Treat, the parking lot will be temporarily closed from 3:45-8:00 pm so families can decorate their cars and get ready for the Trunk or Treat. We apologize for the inconvenience.

35 families and teachers have signed up to decorate their car. When you arrive at the Trunk or Treat, you will get a punch card. The punch card has 35 pumpkins on it. Each time you visit a car, one pumpkin will be marked. When all your pumpkins are marked, you have completed the Trunk or Treat! This will help cars from running out of treats and having to end early.

We hope you’ll be able to join us. Remember to bring a water bottle. You might be thirsty from all the candy and treats you receive!

The Trunk or Treat is a way to build community, and it is a fundraiser for Foster Love, an organization that helps foster kids. We have raised $1,440 so far! If you would like to donate to Foster Love, you can donate here.

Way to go, everyone! We thank you for your support, and we can’t wait to see you on Friday, from 5:30-7:30 for Almond’s very first Trunk or Treat! The Trunk or Treat is a free event.

- Ryan, Penny, and Mrs. Nguyen’s Fourth Graders

Eagle Flyers Update

Our top classes for participation: Ms. Herbert, Ms. Penner, Ms. Hall

Our top classes for mileage: Ms. Hall, Ms. Herbert, Ms. De Alba

We've had 230 students participate and together we have run 382 miles, which is the distance from Almond to the Oregon border!

Here’s to showing care and kindness to ALL kids, both in and out of our Almond ohana!

Raquel

Halloween is coming up, and this year the student council has decided to start a spirit week called “Halloweek.” To prepare for this, we will have tables during recess to decorate from Monday, October 21st to Friday, October 25th to decorate our campus.

During “Halloweek”, we will be showing Halloween spirit, wearing things such as black or orange clothing or Halloween theme clothes.

On Halloween, students will be allowed to wear their costumes to school for the annual Halloween Parade.

On Friday, November 1st, we will have PJ day! More information will follow up later! Have a great long weekend!

We are growing a storybook pumpkin patch in the library this year. Encourage your child to decorate a pumpkin to look like one of their favorite book characters and bring it to school October 23rd - 25th . No carved or cut pumpkins. Decorate with acrylic paint, permanent markers and add materials like yarn, buttons, etc. Flyers with more information can be picked up in the office. Participation is completely voluntary.

Tickets are now on sale for this year’s highly anticipated

Almond musical performance of The Lion King Jr.

Roar into adventure and see our own Almond 4th-6th graders perform this majestic, award-winning musical in the Almond Multi. We recommend you purchase your tickets as soon as possible to avoid disappointment.

Performances are on:

11/15 & 11/16 7pm

11/17 at 2pm

Remember there are NO REFUNDS so we highly recommend you discuss with your family and just have one person purchase tickets. All tickets must be purchased prior to the performance date.

Here is the Classroom Parent link to buy your tickets for row B through Risers: https://almond.classroomparent.com/store?tag=Musical

It Takes a Village!

Thank you to our wonderful LASD parent volunteers, school principals & staff, LASD board members, and community members who texted and called LASD families on behalf of LAEF last week. Donations are coming in, and each gift will help to fund teachers and staff at Almond this school year. Check out a chart with the details.

Let’s Keep it Going!

If you have yet to give this year, Donate Today!

Learn about the ways to contribute on the LAEF website: Check or Cash, Credit Card (one-time or monthly payments), Bank ACH Transfer (eCheck), Payroll Deduction, Pledge, Stock, Crypto, and Donor-Advised fund (DAF) Grants. Apply for a Corporate Match, if one is available to you.

Join us for an evening with Jennifer Wallace, author of Never Enough

Never Enough: Mattering as a Solution to Toxic Achievement Pressure

Wednesday, October 30, 2024, 7PM, Crittenden Middle School Auditorium, Mountain View (please note venue change)

Today’s students face unprecedented pressure to succeed. The drive to optimize performance has resulted in skyrocketing rates of anxiety, depression, and self-harm in teens and adolescents. Parents, educators, and community leaders face the same quandary: how can we teach our kids to strive towards excellence without crushing them?

In this eye-opening talk, Wallace investigates the deep roots of toxic achievement culture, explores its harmful impact on our kids, and delivers the powerful solution: Mattering, the psychological concept of feeling like you add value and are valued regardless of your external achievements. Wallace provides a practical mattering framework that parents and educators can use to tackle achievement pressure at home and in the classroom.

About Our Speaker

JENNIFER BREHENY WALLACE is an award-winning journalist and author of the instant New York Times bestselling book Never Enough: When Achievement Pressure Becomes Toxic – and What We Can Do About It. Her second book Mattering: Building A Life of Value At Home, Work, and in the Larger World will be published in 2026. Wallace is the co-founder of The Mattering Movement, a nonprofit whose mission is to create cultures of mattering in schools, workplaces, and communities. After graduating from Harvard College, Wallace was a broadcast producer for CBS “60 Minutes" and was part of the team that won The Robert F. Kennedy Awards for Excellence in Journalism. She is a contributor to The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post and frequently appears on national television programs to discuss her work.

Audience: Parents, caretakers, teachers, and counselors of elementary, middle, and high school age children

Registration: Register for this free event

Book: Never Enough

For more information, visit mvlaspeakerseries.org. Events are free thanks to our generous sponsors: MVLA High School Foundation, Los Altos Educational Foundation, Mountain View Educational Foundation, and the Los Altos-Mountain View PTA Council.

Students may bring their own lunch to school, however, no outside food/vendors will be allowed on campus, including deliveries from outside vendors

(i.e. DoorDash or similar service or parent drop off of local food vendors).

No-Cost Meals for All Students California has become the first state to pass a universal free school meals program for all public school students. Free Breakfast and lunch will be offered at all schools, and all meals will comply with federal nutrition regulations. LASD is committed to serving the best food for our students through our vendor, Revolution Foods.

More Than Meals! Benefits for Your Student and School Completing a school meals form is crucial to school funding.

• For every student who applies and qualifies for free or reduced-price meals, the school receives more than $150 and additional money from state and federal grants. This financial support translates into increased funding for afterschool programs, technology, counseling services, and equipment for school kitchens, ensuring a better learning environment for your child.

• Families who qualify for free or reduced-cost may also be eligible for free or reduced-cost internet, free or reduced-cost summer camps, after-school child care, summer discount cards, and more! Your application helps your child and many others. Please use this website to access the application. (https://linqconnect.com/public/meal-application/new)

• To translate this website, please click on the 3 lines in the top right corner.

• If you need help filling out the application, you can email Abel Velazquez, our Family Engagement Facilitator at avelazquez@lasdschools.org, who can also sit down with you and help you fill out the application.

• Each student may utilize a maximum of 15 ISP days per school year

• Parents notify office of the dates of absence as soon as possible

• All Independent Study Plans are subject to principal approval

• Work MUST be completed during the absence and returned to school the day after the ISP ends

• Parent to initiate the ISP. Please use this link: Independent Study Plans

• To initiate 1-2 day ISPs, parent to contact Ms. Martinez in the school office so she can provide the supporting documentation

ATTENDANCE NOTES:

ABSENCES: If your child is going to be absent, make sure to fill out the new Attendance absence form before 9:00 or by calling 650-917-5454. If your child is going to be absent for more than five days, then an independent study program must be implemented before departure and returned upon return.

LATE ARRIVALS: stop by the office to check in before going to the classroom.

EARLY PICK UPS: fill out the new Attendance absence form or CALL 650-917-5454 and come into the office to check out.

• Please let both your teacher & the office know if you are planning to pick up children early.
• It will take longer to check out your child during recess (10:10-10:30am) and lunch (12-12:45pm) because we have to locate your child on the playground. Please try to avoid these times by coming before or after recess & lunch.

OFFICE NOTES:

• NO dogs allowed on campus
• Any volunteers or visitors to LASD schools are required to check in at the front office and complete a COVID symptom screener.
• FORGOTTEN ITEMS: if you must bring a forgotten item to school, please drop it off to the office and we will deliver it to the classroom. This includes forgotten lunches from home too!