Almond Thursday Word

Dear Almond Families,

For the last month, we have all been doing our part to help keep each other healthy and safe by sheltering in place. I don’t know about you but I have been increasingly looking for ways to stay connected with my parents, my sister and close friends now that visiting them is no longer an option. I have several group text strings that I frequent throughout the day, sending jokes and funny videos, and I have been calling old friends on the phone more often. The Marco Polo app is another easy and quirky way to stay in touch. One more old-fashioned method to send a message of love is to write a letter or send a card through the staid and true U.S. Postal service. There is just something so satisfying about sending or receiving a letter in the mail!

Speaking of which, I want to invite you and your children to read a story called “The Letter” from a book about two of my favorite fictional characters: Frog and Toad. If you haven’t already met Frog and Toad, you should know that they are the best of friends who are also complete opposites. But one thing they undeniably share is absolute love and care for each other, even going out of their way to send each other special messages. I hope you enjoy this sweet story.

Here’s to connecting with others, in a variety of ways, including sending "snail mail"!

Raquel

P.S. And, like many businesses right now, our "snail mail" Postal Service is in need of support so one thing you can do is consider buying a book of stamps to help them out :)

Dear Families,

As educators, we foster a tremendous sense of responsibility to our community. We know that all of our families are currently being impacted by COVID-19. Some are even being laid off from their jobs or are no longer able to earn a steady income due to the shelter-in-place and social distancing orders. Our teachers want to help our families in whatever small ways we can.

In this spirit, the Los Altos Teachers’ Association Representative Council voted recently to set up a $5000 relief fund for LASD families who are in need of assistance due to circumstances around COVID-19. We will be partnering with our school principals and teachers to ensure this targeted assistance will support our families most in need by providing grocery store gift cards.

• If you feel that you could benefit from support in this way, please do not hesitate to reach out to me or to your school site secretary (Jane Sanders) or principal (Raquel Matteroli). We want to reassure you that we will maintain strict confidentiality when providing support.

• If you would like to make a contribution to support the fund, please consider donating by following the link here: bit.ly/LATAfamilies.

If you have any questions or comments, please don’t hesitate to contact me at lata.werepyou@gmail.com. Thank you so much for your support.

Ricky Hu

Los Altos Teachers Association President

lata.werepyou@gmail.com

Congratulations to our 2020-2021 PTA Board Members who were voted into office during the PTA's videoconference general meeting earlier this month. The PTA Board for the next school year will take effect on July 1, 2020 and include:

President: Lien Percy

Executive VP: Amy Mendenhall

1st VP, Technology: Carlos Padilla

2nd VP, Communication: Leslie Lee

3rd VP, Membership: Stefanie Friedland

Recording Secretary: Urvi Lee

Treasurer: Gaurav Agrawal

Financial Secretary: Deidre Caldbeck

Historian: Andrea Kanda

Parliamentarian: Andrea Bocking

Auditor (non-board position): Joel Meyer

Our school partners with Second Harvest Food Bank each fall for our Food Drive. If you are able, please consider a donation: Second Harvest​​, and if you are in need of food or other support, please visit their site SHFB​ for information about the services that are provided.

Community Services Agency serves Mountain View, Los Altos and Los Altos Hills, and is another fantastic organization that provides many types of support. Please visit their website if you care to donate, or if you are interested in their services.

Pennies for Patients drive was a huge success! Our generous community raised $3600, well over our goal, even with the shortened fundraising window. Thank you, Almond Eagles! The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society is grateful for your donations. And because of our shelter in place condition, we weren't able to distribute the bracelets, etc. Instead, we will have a popsicle party at the beginning of the next school year to celebrate!

Virtual School Expected Attendance:

We will expect students to “attend” virtual school each school day. Attendance will be taken by classroom teachers each day through a required check-in. If students do not check in for two or more days, parents will be contacted by the teacher, school secretary and/or school administration. Please notify your school secretary via email if your child is sick during this time and unable to “attend” virtual school, almondsecretary@lasdschools.org.

Please include this information:

• Student’s first and last name

• Grade

• date(s) of absence

• Reason for absence

• If sick, please specify if your child has a fever, common cold symptoms such as a runny nose or cough, vomiting and/or diarrhea, and or any other communicable/contagious illness which may require follow-up.

Did you know that if you make your Amazon purchases on smile.amazon.com, Almond will get a donation? This is an easy way to help our school meet its fundraising goal and is especially important now given the negative impact COVID-19 has had on our fundraising efforts. It's so easy!

Thank you for supporting Almond and our PTA by shopping at smile.amazon.com!

Kelly McGonigal, Ph.D.

The Joy of Movement: How Exercise Helps Us Find Happiness, Hope, Courage, and Connection

Tuesday, April. 21, 2020 - 7:00 - 9:00pm | Live Online via Zoom

During our shelter-in-place, physical exercise and movement can be an amazing coping mechanism. Join us as Kelly McGonigal explores why physical exercise is a powerful antidote to the modern epidemics of depression, anxiety, and loneliness. People who are physically active have a stronger sense of purpose and experience more gratitude, love, and hope. They feel more connected to their communities and are less likely to suffer from loneliness or become depressed. These benefits are seen throughout the lifespan, apply to every socioeconomic stratum, and appear to be culturally universal.

In this talk, learn how and why physical activity promotes resilience, belonging, and even meaning in life. From the biological, including how exercise remodels the brain to make you more receptive to joy and social connection; to the psychological, such as how movement is intertwined with identity, self-expression, and self-efficacy; to the social, including how moving with others harnesses human instincts for teamwork, trust, and interdependence.

Audience: Parents and educators of students grades K - 12.

Register: To register for this free event, go to https://mvla2019-20-kellymcgonigal.eventbrite.com

Event Login: We will send the Zoom link via Eventbrite email, Tuesday afternoon on April 21st.
This is a Zoom event, if you have not used Zoom before, please make sure to allow a few extra minutes before the event to download the free Zoom app.

Books available with FREE shipping from Books, Inc. here

Sponsored by Los Altos Educational Foundation (LAEF), MVLA High School Foundation, Mountain View Educational Foundation (MVEF), and Los Altos-Mountain View PTA Council.

The Speaker Series Committee is seeking enthusiastic parents to join our MVLA Parent Ed Speaker Series committee. We are interested in having parents who represent any of our elementary, middle, and high schools. There are many ways to contribute and we'd be happy to talk more about what is involved with anyone interested. Generally we have one meeting per month and one event per month with other communications between meetings.

If you know of anyone who cares about parent education or might be a good fit for this committee, please have them email us at mvlaspeakerseries@gmail.com.

The Los Altos Art Docent program is turning 50 next year and we want LASD TK-6 students to create a logo to be exhibited at the Los Altos History Museum.

The winning design will be used on posters, pins and sketchbooks during the 2020-21 school year.

Rules:

• 8 ½” x 11” paper

• Draw and use lots of bright, bold colors

• Include 50 and art in your design

• Write parent email and contact info on back

• Attach an artist’s statement to be displayed with submission at the Los Altos History Museum

• One entry per student

Deadline: Saturday, May 30th

Submit: electronically with lasdk8 email here

Or mail to

Los Altos Art Docents

201 Covington Road

Los Altos, CA 94024