Almond Thursday Word

Dear Almond Families,

One of Almond’s assets is the tremendous partnership educators share with parents and caregivers in our community.

This week’s Thursday Word message is a thank-you to Almond parents. Thank you for balancing work and home and supporting learning. Your role in our partnership has changed, and I see how complicated this task is. You are doing the parts of school that teachers can’t do alone remotely--establishing routines, motivating, and creating accountability.

If you are tuned in to social media, you have probably seen that you are not alone. Parents all over the country are finding themselves taking on a role in supporting learning they had never imagined. Thank you, Almond parents and caregivers, for meeting the challenge with grace and confidence.

With a handful of weeks remaining in the school year, teachers continue to refine the way they are planning for and delivering online instruction. You, too, might be thinking about how you can make a few shifts to make the best of schoolwork at home. I stumbled upon a New York Times article outlining a few simple, easy to implement ideas and practices that could help. You are probably already doing many of these things. If so, perhaps reading this will be validating.

I also wanted to share that you FILLED OUR BUCKETS yesterday at the car parade! We loved seeing your faces. The creative posters, brass instruments and smiles were wonderful to experience. Thank you! And another Thank You from the Almond staff for the yummy treats for Staff Appreciation. We certainly appreciated the cupcakes and candy!

Here’s to community celebrations and hearts filled with love!

Raquel

During tomorrow's Friday Assembly, be on the lookout for a special video presentation to celebrate our BookWave authors!

From a Mountain View High School staff member:

We need help with a big challenge. I was contacted by a couple of clinics that serve homeless and low-income families to sew 500 fabric face masks quickly for patients and their kids.

We need you and your friends and family to help us if you are interested and have access to the following:

• Sewing machine to sew fabric (you can order fabric online or I can buy and ship it to you)
• Be able to use the simple tutorial as to "how to make masks" (see the attached tutorial from NY Times and below from Kaiser)

https://about.kaiserpermanente.org/content/dam/internet/kp/comms/import/uploads/2020/03/02_COVID_Mask-Instructions_v9.pdf

Spend about 30 min on each mask to make it well-made, sturdy, and comfortable so families can wash and reuse it.

If you are interested in helping, can order the fabric, or use strong bed sheets that are pastel colors, these are what they are looking for:

https://www.eddiesquiltingbee.com/face-mask-kits
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07MZX6G9B/ref=ox_sc_act_title_3?smid=A2ROIXFFE3ASS9&th=1

So it looks like a cotton mix fabric with no latex works best. Most of the pattern guides suggest the cloth needs to be pre-washed to make sure it doesn’t shrink. I often skip this step, but ideally, it should be done. With cotton, then it probably needs to be ironed before it is cut.

A yard of fabric that is usually 34 to 42 inches wide will make 4 to 5 masks and ties for each. The thread can be either cotton or polyester blend. Ideally, the fabric is neutral for gender and age and not provocative of anything. If someone is pretty comfortable using a sewing machine, it would take less than two hours to make four masks. Once you’ve made several, I’m sure it would be easier and faster.

Once you make several different sizes, our amazing MVHS students will let you know where to drop them off or will pick up from your doorsteps.

Thank you for being proactive, kind, and generous.

Nancy Rafati

Tutorial Center Coordinator

nancy.rafati@mvla.net

(650) 940-4624

https://mvhs.mvla.net/Student-Services/Tutorial-Center/index.html

The Los Altos Library, Woodland Library, and Santa Clara County Library District are here to provide support for you and your students during this difficult time.

Our library is currently offering reference and account chat or email services 7 days a week from 10 am to 6 pm should you or your students need assistance.

In addition to the student cards that all your students have, we also are offering eCards if any other family members would like to get a virtual card to access our virtual services. This will give anyone an instant card as long as they reside in Santa Clara County. Please feel free to share this resource with any friends or family that might not have a library card with us!

Our library staff is working very hard to offer a variety of virtual services and resources for all ages. We have online book clubs, art programs, STEAM programs, live storytimes, eBook lists, blogs, and many more resources available on top of our online databases that many of you are already familiar with. You can access these resources for kids and teens directly from our website.

We also have a new Spring Reading Program that is going on for children and families!

Below is a document highlighting the student resources available that you can share with your students.

Please feel free to reach out to rbaiza@sccl.org or carbogast@sccl.org at any time if you have questions or suggestions.

Have you heard the good news? While school is out, Champions is here to provide child care for families who work in essential service roles during the coronavirus crisis. As our country is stopping normal routines--like sending kids to school--to help flatten the curve, many families are left without the critical child care support they need to do their jobs.

Champions is consistently staying up-to-date on the rapidly changing recommendations and policies from government agencies, including the CDC and childcare licensing. We have updated our safety standards and operating guidelines so that we can provide a warm and welcoming environment that allows both parents and children to feel safe and healthy.

Here is a video we created for our parents in our sites that are currently open for essential service families. We wanted to make sure our families see our health and safety protocols in action.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1feO5IQE1UZf9ZgHIEKV620qxzU-UVB_S/view?usp=sharing

If you are interested in enrolling in our Champions program at Covington Elementary in Los Altos please call or text our Site Director, Stefanie Gindi, at 650-559-7900. You can also email her at ch000684@discoverchampions.com.