Podesta Ranch Newletter 09/15/2024

We have 2 weeks left and look forward to seeing you all for the upcoming Parent Teacher conferences. This past week, we enjoyed seeing so many families attend Lunch on the Lawn and Bingo family night.

Upcoming Events:

• This Tuesday, Sept 17: Constitution Day Wear Red, White & Blue
• This Wednesday, Sept 18: Minimum Day
• Next Week: Parent Conferences (minimum days Tuesday-Friday)

Areas of Focus:

• We encourage you to ask your child about what they’re learning and to reach out to their teacher if you have any questions or concerns.
• Safety in the parking lot continues to be an area of focus for our campus. In our parking lot, please drive slowly, follow all posted signs, and use the crosswalks.

Red-Tailed Hawks are Responsible, Kind and Safe! Red-Tailed Hawks, Our school RocKS! Thank you for your continued support and partnership. Together, we can help our students achieve their best and make this year a successful one.

Sincerely,

Alyssa Barban, Principal

We are excited to welcome Cynthia Cortes who has chosen to join our Red-Tailed Hawks team. Cynthia will officially begin her role with us in a few weeks, and we look forward to giving her a warm welcome.

We want to express our sincere gratitude to Mrs. Perez for her outstanding service to our students, staff, and families over the past few months. While we will miss seeing her in the office, we are glad she will continue to support our students in Mrs. Hines' class. Thank you, Mrs. Perez, for your exceptional contributions.

A personal thank you to all the families that participated in our PTA memberships, Spirit Wear, Mountain Mike's Pizza Fundraiser, Book Fair, and Bingo Night events for the past two months. We appreciate all the PTA members for hosting such an exciting opening year, and all the families that came out to support those events. Whether you showed up by donating supplies, books, money or time, WE SEE YOU!! 😊 As a staff, we cannot thank all of you enough for all the love and support you show to our school and our students. We love our Red Tailed Hawks Family! 💖

Our first school break is coming soon! Friendly reminder that there will be no school from Monday, September 30th, 2024 to Friday, October 11th, 2024.

Have a restful break and we will see you again @ 7:45 AM on Monday, October 14th, 2024!

Upcoming minimum days are the following:

Wednesday, September 18th, 2024

Parent/Teacher Conference Week:

Tuesday, September 24th - Friday, September 27th, 2024

Please be sure to pick up your children at their designated dismissal time as staff have meetings and professional development immediately after school. All PM TK and Kindergarten classes start at 8:15 AM.

Attached is Podesta's calendar of events for September 2024.

Please click on the image for the pdf file of the calendar.

THANK YOU for another wonderful Book Fair! Thanks to your contributions, we were able to stock the school library with TONS more books and continue supporting lots of little readers. We'll see you all again in the Spring!

Please click on the image for information flyer.

Come join us for our first Food Truck Friday on Friday, September 20th, 2024 from 5:00 P.M. - 8:00 P.M. in our school parking lot! Bring friends, family, and neighbors to this fun event! Purchasing proceeds goes back to our school!

Please click on the image on the right for more information on the flyer.

Attached is our PTA's calendar of events for the school year of 2024/2025.

Please click on the image on the right for the pdf file of the calendar.

We have a new school librarian! Say hello to Ms. Kathy!

If you are in need of making library book payments or would like to purchase Chromebook Insurance through the District, please click on the image on the right or scan the QR code for access.

You may also click on the blue words PAYMENT below for the digital form to turn in to pay.

PAYMENT

Meet our new school counselor Ms. Harbin! Click on the picture on the right to see September's newsletter.

Meet your new Mental Health Clinician, Mr. Mario! His hours at Podesta are Tuesdays all day during school hours from 8:00 AM - 3:00 PM.

LodiUSD Bridge Program is hosting a Fall Intersession Bridge Program for grades TK - 6th during the Fall Break filled with fun and learning activities in all subject areas! If you are interested, please click on the image on the right for registration or click on the BLUE WORDS below for more infomation on the flyer. Program runs from Monday, September 30th, 2024 to Friday, October 4th, 2024 from 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM. North Stockton Locations are held at Creekside Elementary and Sutherland Elementary.

Click on the link below for the English flyer:

Fall 2024 - Intersession Flyer

Click on the link below for the Spanish flyer:

Fall 2024 - Intersession (Spanish) Flyer

September is #SuicidePreventionMonth. Help us support suicide prevention by learning the warning signs and risk factors for suicide. If you, or someone you know needs support, call or text 988 or chat 988lifeline.org. Additional resources can be found on our website below.

bit.ly/LodiUSDMentalHealthResources

Click on the link below for the suicide warning signs for adults (English):

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1wHq6hdQHBBvTArfUZpELI_p1BvmuesIY/view?usp=sharing

Click on the link below for the suicide warning signs for youth (English):

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1TlwFFWkKb234evBJJf904Mry6X4nhWJv/view?usp=sharing

Español:

Septiembre es el #MesdelaPrevencióndelSuicidio. Ayúdenos a apoyar la prevención del suicidio conociendo las señales de advertencia y los factores de riesgo del suicidio. Si usted o alguien que conoce necesita ayuda, llame o envíe un mensaje de texto al 988 o chatee con 988lifeline.org. Puede encontrar recursos adicionales en nuestro sitio: bit.ly/LodiUSDMentalHealthResources

Haga clic en el enlace a continuación para conocer las señales de advertencia de suicidio para adultos:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1QSsvDGwHzEA9gF28E5Mzu8Wq9XKuLv3N/view?usp=sharing

Haga clic en el enlace a continuación para conocer las señales de advertencia de suicidio para jóvenes:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/14wpbB7EdSuERqFP76_bcQXPKevO0ruYw/view?usp=sharing

LodiUSD is opening a writing competition to all Lodi Unified School District students in fifth and sixth grade. Students will be judged on content and relevance to the theme (50 points), effective expression (30 points) and grammar and originality (10 points each). Please turn in all submission to their homeroom teacher.

Deadline for entries: Friday, November 1, 2024

Winners will be notified in December.

Contact Linda Hammons ljhammons@sbcglobal.net with any questions.

Please click on the image on the right for the writing prompt and official flyer.

Prizes:

1st Place: $100

2nd Place: $75

3rd Place: $50

Honorable Mentions: $25

Please confirm and update your contact information for EACH child on AERIES to complete their school registration for their 2024/2025 school year.

Click on the blue words below to watch how to login to AERIES.

YOUTUBE

You may click on the image on the right to login into the AERIES Parent Portal website.

Want to volunteer in a classroom or go/drive for class trips? You need to be cleared through fingerprinting at the District office. If interested, please notify your homeroom teacher and they will direct you how to sign up.

We have opened up our applications for the after-school program for next school year. Parents may visit our website at ymcasjc.org and head over to either our 'after school programs' or 'youth development' pages where they will be able to fill out the application 100% digitally!

Disclaimer: The form is not an enrollment or registration form, but simply an application. After families fill out the application, parents/guardians will receive an email with more info on when to expect any registrations to go out.

While current families do have priority enrollment, we still require parents/guardians to submit an application.

You may also click on the image on the right to go to their website.

We want to bring to your attention the importance of discussing the proper care of district-issued student Chromebooks with your children. We have observed an increase in incidents involving damage, often linked to carelessness or misuse. As we address these situations, we want to remind you of the importance of engaging in discussions with your child about the proper care of their district-issued Chromebook. Students will be held responsible for any damages, and charges may apply for repairs. Principals will conduct thorough investigations in collaboration with students to ensure fair outcomes. Additionally, please remind your students to charge their Chromebooks overnight, ensuring they are ready for the next day's learning activities. Your involvement in these discussions is crucial, and we appreciate your attention to these matters.

Please click on the image on the right for more information about the Chromebook Care Plan Insurance page that is avaliable for purchase in the District.

Friendly reminder that every WEDNESDAY is College and Career Wear Spirit Day and every FRIDAY is School Spirit Wear Day.

Free breakfast is served every school day at 7:45 AM - 8:00 AM. If your child intends on eating free breakfast at school, they may arrive no earlier than 7:45 AM. If they are not eating breakfast, children should not arrive at school before 8:00 AM in lieu to safety concerns. No adults are supervising the students before 7:45 AM.

Please remember to NOT pick up or drop off your child in the bus loop or parking lot area, especially by the DEAD END section of the parking lot. Bus loop is ONLY for our SPED students and busses, and families are highly advised to accompany their child when walking through the parking lot. We do not have adults supervising these areas. Please park your car in the parking lot if you are planning to pick up your students directly from their teachers. Please leave the drop off area ONLY for moving vehicles that are picking up/dropping off quickly, and refrain from double parking, as we need ease of car movement for student and driver safety.

Thank you for partnering with us and modeling to our students the importance of following traffic and road safety rules. 👍

One of our site goals, and our challenge from the Superintendent, is to improve attendance and curb truancy. The law states that students will attend every day, on time, and ready for school. With a new system in place, absences are carefully tracked, and notices are automatically sent to guardians. You have 10 days to clear an absence. On the 11th day it reverts to all unexcused and is considered truancy.

If you request IS, it must be requested 2 weeks prior and approved by IS administration. Please do not wait until the night before.

Please click on the blue words student and family handbook for the pdf of school rules/policies for 2024-2025 school year, as it has important information about all school expectations.

You may also click on the image on the right for the same document.

Join us for free nutritious breakfast each morning at 7:45 AM!

Please click on the image on the right to see a live view of the cafeteria menu for our school. Make sure to click on the drop down menu for Podesta Ranch Elementary School.

Click the BLUE WORDS MENU below for the digital pdf copy of the lunch menu.

MENU

For more information about lunches and nutrition, please click on the link below.

https://www.lusdnutrition.org/

As the weather becomes warmer and as a safety reminder, please send your student to school in appropriate attire, including shoes. Our dress code can be found in the Student Handbook in your student's planner or online. Students are expected to wear closed toe/heeled shoes. Students with sandals, slides, or Crocs will be asked to sit out during recess and PE to ensure student safety on the playground, stairwell and in the bark box.

Please click on the image on the right for the digital Student Handbook regarding their dress code.