Almond Thursday Word

Dear Almond Families:

Please see below for some noteworthy news items!

Almond Flag Football Celebrations

Our very own Almond Flag Football Teams placed well this year against the other district schools. Our A team took 2nd and our B team won 1st place! One of the coaches is even an Almond alum--Luke Machatzke. We have the trophy on display in the office and you can find a picture of it below. Congratulations!

Parent /Teacher Conferences

Many of you will be meeting with your child’s teacher for parent/teacher conferences in the next couple of weeks. Please read this brief article on “Tips for Parents on Parent-Teacher Conferences” as you prepare for that important conversation.

Principal Coffee

Please join me in the Almond Library after drop-off next Wednesday, November 20 for a principal coffee. The topic of the principal chat will be “The Importance of Reading and Writing in your Child’s Life: Understanding How you can Make a Difference in Your Child’s Achievement." The session will be about an hour. Hope to see you there!

Here’s to critical family/school partnerships!

Raquel

Mon, 11/18, Student Council Food Drive begins

Mon, 11/18, FINAL Community Engagement Workshop, Egan School, 6:00

Wed, 11/20, Parent Ed event, Adolescent Wellness, Session 2, Springer School, 6:30pm

Thu, 11/21, ELAC meeting, EL classroom, 8:30 am

Mon and Tue, 11/25-26, Parent/Teacher Conferences, NO SCHOOL

Wed-Fri, 11/27-29, Holiday, NO SCHOOL

Sun, 12/1, Festival of Lights Parade, Downtown Los Altos, 6pm, Come see our Almond Eagle in the parade!

Tue, 12/3, Family Literacy Night, Almond Library, 6-7:30

Wed, 12/4, Almond Singers Winter Concert for families, 7pm

Thur, 12/5, New Family/Kindergarten Information Night, 7pm -- tell your neighbors with young children!

Wed, 12/11, PTA Board Meeting, 8:30 am

Wed, 12/11, Winter Concert, Grades 4-6, 1:00

12/23-1/3, December Recess

Mon, 1/6/20, School resumes

Buy your tickets now before they run out! Purchase Here!

The Gala Auction is Almond's biggest PTA fundraiser and a great way for parents to mix and mingle while supporting our school. It is an adults-only event.

Break out your Ray-Bans, neon clothes, crimping iron and Walkman and get ready to go "BACK TO THE 80'S" with your fellow Almond parents. The evening will include dinner, dancing, silent and live auctions!

You’re Invited to the Third and Final Workshop!

Thank you to all of our community members who have participated in the Community Engagement Process for Facilities. We are truly overwhelmed by your enthusiasm and appreciate you adding your voice to this very complex issue.

Due to extremely high demand and participation in our last community engagement workshop, we are hosting a third and final workshop to help us understand levels of support for various potential options to house Bullis Charter School in the long term.

Final Workshop

Monday, November 18, 2019

Open House: 6-6:30pm

Workshop: 6:30-8:30pm

Egan Junior High School Multipurpose Room

The workshop will allow participants to review potential facilities options and show their support for each possibility. To review materials for the workshop, including translated materials in Japanese, Mandarin and Spanish, please visit our Community Engagement Webpage.

Please only attend one workshop. The format is the same for all workshops. There is no need to participate in more than one. Attendance is limited to 400 people. Please give others the opportunity to participate on November 18th if you have already had the chance to participate in a workshop. Participants and community members are asked not to distribute materials related to the facilities discussion at the workshop.

Thank you for your ongoing support for our students, our schools and our community.

You can help fund teachers and staff working hard to provide an excellent education for your student each day. Many generous LASD parents have now given 70% of what’s needed to fully fund this school year. We need your help to finish the job. If you have yet to give, please donate to LAEF today.

Once you’ve made your donation to LAEF, increase your impact by requesting a corporate match today. Find out if your company offers corporate matching.

Welcome to Family Giving Tree's 2019 Holiday Wish Drive. Begin supporting those Bay Area children, individuals, and seniors most in need. You can be the reason for their celebration this season! All donations made from this link will reflect Almond Elementary School Involvement.

Like last year, this year too, Almond Elementary School is participating in the Holiday wish drive. Use this link below to begin supporting those children, adults and seniors most in need throughout our Bay Area community. https://vtree.fgt.org/AlmondElementarySchool

Since 1990, the Family Giving Tree has provided gifts for over one million San Francisco Bay Area children, families, and seniors from low-income households. We believe that everyone should experience the joy of the holidays through the receipt of a gift and more than half of these gifts have fulfilled exact holiday gift wishes. Please donate! Almond School Donations

Join us TONIGHT as Dr. Bonnie Halpern-Felsher, Professor of Pediatrics at Stanford University, discusses the harmful impacts vaping has on the minds and bodies of adolescents at Los Altos High School at 7pm.

Dr. Halpern-Felsher will provide an overview of current tobacco/nicotine products, including vapes, Juuls, and other pod-based systems, which are more commonly used among teens than combustible cigarettes.

Register to attend here for this free event.

Almond's Student Council is partnering with Second Harvest Food Bank for our annual Food Drive starting Monday, November 18th and ending Friday, November 22nd.

These are the food items they need most:

• Canned foods with pop-top lids, including:

  • Tuna, salmon or chicken

  • Fruit in its own juice or water

  • Low-sodium vegetables

  • Soup, stew or chili

• Peanut butter

• Olive or canola oil

• Spices (cinnamon, chili powder, cumin, salt-free spice blends)

• Low-sugar whole grain cereals

• Nutritious snacks (granola bars, nuts, dried fruit)

• Bottled water

These are the household items they need most:

• Toiletries

• Baby formula and diapers

• Paper towels and toilet paper

• Can openers

• Reusable tote bags

• Laundry detergent

In addition, Second Harvest says monetary donations are really important, here's why:

While both help eliminate hunger in Silicon Valley, monetary donations can make a big difference. With a $1 donation, Second Harvest can buy the equivalent of $3 worth of food from a local grocery store.​

We've set up a unique fundraising page for monetary donations here: ​http://fundraise.shfb.org/goto/almond-food-drive. Please share this your friends and family!

We are having an (English Language Advisory Committee) meeting Thursday, Nov. 21, at 8:30 in the ELD classroom.

What is ELAC? ELAC is a committee that offers suggestions to strengthen the school’s English Language Learner program.

Who is ELAC? ELAC is you! As a parent of a student learning English, your feedback and ideas are essential to helping us improve the way we support our English Learners and their families.

During this first meeting we will discuss:

– How are ELLs (English Language Learners) identified and tested?

– What does Almond’s ELD (English Language Development) program currently look like?

– How is Almond helping new families feel included and informed?

Please attend to learn more details about the program and offer suggestions for welcoming new families. Change begins with you, so if you have great ideas please come to share them tomorrow!

Jessica Mountz and Raquel Matteroli

Tomorrow, Friday, is the last day to purge your home of that extra Halloween candy lying around! Our local officers from Moffett Field will be stopping by to pick up the boxes of sugary sweets to be sent to our deployed troops, as well as to be shared with local veterans. Thank you!