I am thrilled to welcome everyone back to another exciting school year. The first two days have been nothing short of amazing, and I want to extend my heartfelt thanks to each and every one of you for your dedication and cooperation.

To our students, thank you for your enthusiasm and positive energy. It's wonderful to see you back in the classrooms, ready to learn and grow.

To our parents and guardians, your support and trust mean the world to us. Thank you for preparing your children so well for the new school year.

And to our incredible staff, your hard work and commitment have made these first days run smoothly. Your efforts in creating a welcoming and productive environment are greatly appreciated.

Let's continue to work together to make this year successful and memorable.

• Kindergarten parents ONLY are allowed to park during drop off in the AM.
• Please do not cross through the parking lot on foot with, or without, children.
• Carpool spaces are reserved for staff.
• Handicap parking is reserved only for those who have the appropriate credentials - credentials must be visible.
• Do not drop off anywhere along the red curb. Once the curb turns BLUE, students can exit their vehicles.

Thank you for helping keep everyone safe and ensuring our drop off runs smoothly!

• Day 3 Specials

• 2:00 PM - Early Release for Teacher Professional Learning Communities

A Professional Learning Community (PLC) is a collaborative approach to professional development where educators work together to improve their teaching skills and the academic performance of their students. Within a PLC, teachers regularly meet to discuss and analyze student performance data, share teaching strategies, and develop interventions to address any learning gaps. The core idea is to foster a culture of continuous improvement and collective responsibility for student success.

Early release days are scheduled to provide our teachers with dedicated time to engage in PLC activities without the distraction of other school responsibilities. This uninterrupted time is essential for effective collaboration and planning. Here are some key reasons for this:

1. Focused Collaboration: Teachers can work together to analyze student data, identify learning trends, and develop targeted strategies to support each student's academic growth.

2. Professional Development: PLC time allows teachers to share best practices, attend training sessions, and stay current with educational research and methodologies.

3. Consistency and Continuity: Regularly scheduled PLC time ensures that collaborative efforts are ongoing and consistent, which is crucial for long-term improvement in teaching and learning.

4. Improved Student Outcomes: Research shows that schools with strong PLCs tend to see higher student achievement. By investing time in professional collaboration, we are directly investing in our students' success.

Greetings Vipers,

Please review the below documents, forms, and procedures as we prepare to begin a new school year. We have attempted to reduce the number of signature pages needed to print and collect for our first day packets. All of our first day information is now electronic in PDF format. We are asking you to please review the following documents and initial each policy with one signature required. Please print, sign, and return the signature page only to your child’s homeroom teacher by Friday August 11. You may also scan it and email the copy to Jennifer.Morales@dvusd.org . If you need a paper copy of the signature page, copies are available in the front office.

**If dropping off after school hours, please use the drop box outside of the front office.

Thank you to everyone that came to our PTSO table at Meet the Teacher Night. We raised $340 in sticker and t-shirt sales that night!

We have a lot of exciting events and opportunities this year. Please get involved and support our school! We are sending home fliers with all of our important dates for this school year. Be sure to visit our website where you can sign up to be a PTSO member- www.sierraverdeptso.com. You can also follow us on Instagram and Facebook.

• Make sure that all adults who will be picking up students at 3:30 have a purple placard with the student's Last Name and Grade clearly written in marker bold and big so we can read them. Placards are available in the office and will be available on Tuesday at MYT Night. Take as many copies as you need (one for mom, dad, grandma, grandpa, etc......).
• Our Bus Loop is open at 3:20 pm for KINDERGARTEN dismissal ONLY.
• Please pull forward and follow all staff directions around the pick up loop, don't stop short, and stay in your car.
• We will load your student(s). If they need help buckling, pull up and around the loop to the buckle zone past our bike rack.
• We do not have any supervision of students until 8:30 am so please do not drop off or leave any kids unattended before 8:30 am.
• Please be patient and be kind to staff and other drivers as it takes a few weeks for all to learn our procedures. Remember out staff is out in 100+ degree weather keeping all our kids safe, and everyone's safety is more important than any individual's convenience.
• If you do not have a kindergarten student, you must use the front loop for morning drop-off. We do not have enough parking spaces for additional vehicles, and our front loop is much more efficient and safe for our 1st-8th graders.
• Do not cross any streets outside of the designated and manned crosswalks in the am or pm. We have had some very close calls and pedestrians almost struck crossing Rose Garden illegally.

• All 1st-8th grade students should be dropped off in the front traffic loop, parking in the lot is reserved for Kindergarten parents only. It is also not permissible to park and cross Rose Garden or 74th Ave at any point other than our crosswalks.
• 8:45 is the start of our academic day, kids who are not in class at 8:45 will need a tardy pass.
• We cannot sign students out after 3:15.
• Do not text your students during the school day, phones are available for use at the office with staff permission.
• We will not interrupt instruction to relay messages or deliver items left at home (unless medically needed)
• Attendance warnings will be sent home for students who are absent more than 10% of days in session or who have accumulated 5+ tardies
• If you have a concern or question regarding progress, grades, or behavior, address the classroom level teacher per our DVUSD Problem Solving Guidance
• School staff and administration are not available to meet on demand, appointments will be made to set up meetings or phone calls for administrators and teachers. Walk-in appointments are not an option.
• SV teachers adhere to an email curfew. They will check emails Monday - Friday from 7:00 AM to 8:30 AM and 3:30 PM to 5:00 PM only.
• SV staff will respond to emails within 48 hours, excluding weekends & holidays.

This year, each student and parent will be required to sign our Off & Away All Day policy (see below). This policy will also be sent in the Back to School documents you will receive next Friday.

A top priority for SV is the safety of our students, as well as protection of student privacy, and maximization of instructional time. To ensure these take place, we will be enforcing our "Off & Away All Day" policy from gate-to-gate. This means that personal electronic devices (including, but not limited to, cell phones and smart watches) will need to be turned off and put away upon entering the SV gates in the morning and will remain off and away until students are outside of SV gates in the afternoon. This policy will also outline the steps that will be taken should personal devices be used on campus during our school day.

If you need to contact your student for any reason during the school day, you will need to call our office to relay the message to your student(s).

If your student is not feeling well, it will be an expectation that they inform an adult on campus and see our nurse. Should your student need to be picked up, our nurse will contact you directly.

For all other policies and procedures, it is important to read and review our updated Sierra Verde Handbook.

For the 24-25 school year, we will once again be charging for school meals, to apply for a free or reduced meal application visit https://secure.ezmealapp.com or stop by Sierra Verde for a paper application (though the online process is much quicker). See the complete information from DVUSD Food & Nutrition below.

DVUSD has a birthday bucket order form that will be the only method of birthday treats for 24-25. You can fill out an application for a birthday bucket and work with our Cafeteria Manger Mrs. Debbie Jasperson to arrange these birthday treats. The Birthday Bucket application is on our homepage and is linked below as well.

In order to keep meal account balances topped off, you can put money on the student account with cash or check at Meet Your Teacher night in the MPR, drop off cash or check in the office, or use E-Z school pay which is free through September 7th. EZ School pay also has an app available to download and track your balance.

A birthday bucket is the perfect way to celebrate your student(s) birthday safely! All birthday buckets are NUT FREE - however, they are not allergy-free. Please check with the teacher or nurse before ordering the birthday bucket to ensure that there are no other allergies.