Spruce Elementary Newsletter

🔸 We are well into learning now and strengthening our classroom routines and instruction.

🔸 We are also fully into booking our field trips and if it is something you want to volunteer for, you must do so well ahead of time, about two months ahead of time.

🔸 We need to work on getting to school on time. Last week we averaged about 40 students with Friday going down to about 25. Then Monday September 30 we went up to 50 tardies. Let's keep working on this!

🔸 Remember the office will be closed for 15 minutes every single day to help with dismissal. This means nobody will be here to answer phones either.

🔸 There will be a pause in helping parents in the office when announcements begin as the background noise can be disruptive to announcers

"Lockdown/Barricade is implemented when the imminent threat of violence or gunfire is identified on the campus or the school is directed to do so by law enforcement. During Lockdown/Barricade, students are to remain in designated classrooms or lockdown locations at all times. This response is considered appropriate for gunfire or a threat of extreme violence outside the classroom." San Mateo County Big 5 Emergency Response

What will we staff do?

• The school will hear an all call from office informing of the drill
• Teachers will then enact the drill by implementing protocols such as locking doors, turning off lights, closing windows.
• Each classroom will be checked that doors are locked and windows closed
• Nobody is to enter nor leave classroom

What I need from parents/adults:

• To talk to our children about the importance of being quiet and understanding that they might be asked to move to part of the classroom that is somewhat hidden from view.
• To talk to our children about remaining quiet during this time and to follow all directions from their teacher.

In the event of a LIVE situation:

• Please know that our first priority is to ensure security of campus by enacting procedures on site and police/fire department arrival.
• As soon as it is safe to do so, communication will go out.

I reiterate that I know these things can cause worry and fear. We do these drills in order to ensure we know what to as a staff to keep all safe and that we look for things we do to improve as well.

I thank you for your understanding of the importance and for your assistance in talking with our children.

Please let me know if you have any questions,

Ms. Garduno

8:30am in the STEM Lab!

You can still do your part by paying the PTA membership HERE!

Sonrisas Dental Health will be providing free dental screenings at Spruce. A dental screening is a quick and painless survey of your child’s mouth to briefly check whether he/she has obvious dental cavities or other dental problems. A screening does not take the place of a complete exam.

Dentists and dental hygienists will visually check the students’ teeth and each child will receive an oral health goodie bag containing a toothbrush, toothpaste, and floss.

Then, a representative from the school or Sonrisas Dental Health may contact you to see if your child needs a referral to a dental home.

Opportunity for families/student to purchase a pumpkin at our very one Spruce Pumpkin Patch on campus.

Forms for odering to go home soon

If you would like to have your child retake their picture, please contact the Spruce Main Office so we can write them down on the schedule. We will then ensure your child is photographed.

See linked document HERE

Halloween Costume Guidelines:

• May come to school wearing a costume on October 31.

• Costumes may have a mask but no other make up or accessories can be worn or brought to school. Masks only to be used during the parade.

• No weapons, wands, etc.

• Must wear a costume that they can easily and independently use the restroom in. The teachers may not help to dress or undress students.

• Need to wear safe/flat shoes for walking and playing (shoe dress code applies)

• May wear inflatable costumes only if student is able to put on and off themselves. These may be worn during the parade ONLY, not in class or recess.

Food Policy

• NO CANDY and NO FOOD may be brought to the classroom

• See your teacher for possible donations for classroom art projects

• Other options for celebration: Stickers, Pencils, bubbles to be distributed at the end of the day to take home.

No Celebration

• If your family does not celebrate holidays, please inform your classroom teacher.

• For Halloween, we will have a parade in the morning. We will have a separate setting for students who do not participate.

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Parade is slated for first things in the morning.

Details to follow closer to date

5th Graders are selling chocolate bars to help raise money for their Outdoor Education Trip that will be in January.

If you wish to help purchase chocolates for $1 per chocolate bar you can do so in our Main Office.

If you wish to kindly donate to help support in general and you do not want the extra chocolate, then you can also do so at the Main Office!

Our site was the lucky recipients of a generous donation of 200 literacy kits backpacks from Reading Is Fundamental (RIF) and Amazon. These literacy kits were distributed September 30 during the school day to our TK/K to 2nd grade students. In the literacy kit, there was an activity sheet, bookmark, 2 books and maybe some other goodies!

Through their work, RIF promotes the joy of reading, imagination, and possibility in children. To support families with this work, please refer to this RIF website for additional reading resources: https://www.rif.org/literacy-central/families

Every month we will be highlighting a different Character Trait to teach our students. We will begin September with our norm of being SAFE! Please talk to your child about the importance of being safe not only at school, but at home and in the community.

At the end of the month a few students will be selected from each class who exhibited the Character Trait of SAFE and be invited to sit at our VIP (Very Important Person) Table at lunch and be given a certificate. We will work to highlight every student in the class throughout the year at least once.

In accordance with the California Education Code (EC) Section 49452 and 49455, student vision and hearing screenings will take place annually at each school for TK/Kinder, 2nd, 5th, 8th grades, upon entry to a California public school and to all students with an Individual Education Plan. An additional hearing screening takes place in 10th grade.

If your child is not in the listed categories, and you would like your child screened, come to the Spruce Main Office to fill out a form to request screening.

Evaluation of a student's vision may be waived at the parent/guardian's request if the parent/guardian provides in writing a note of exclusion to the school nurse and a certificate from either a medical doctor or an optometrist specifying the results of an examination of the student's vision including visual acuity, and, in male students, color vision. (Education Code 49455, SBCUSD AR 5141.3 Students Health Examinations)

https://www.cde.ca.gov/ls/he/hn/documents/visionreport.pdf

California Education Code

• VISION: California Education Code 49452, the California Department of Education, A Guide for Vision Testing in California Public Schools, and SBCUSD AR 5141.3 Students Health Examinations. School Nurses will conduct annual vision screening for the grades TK/Kinder, 2nd, 5th, and 8th. The screening consists of distant and near visual acuity for all grades. Additionally, color vision screening for first grade boys. Vision screenings are also provided for IEPs and teacher/parent requests.

• HEARING: California Education Code 49452, California Code of Regulations, Title 17, Section 2952 (c)(1)),and the state of California Health Services Children’s Medical Services Branch Hearing Conservation Program. The grades screened annually for hearing are TK/Kinder, 2nd, 5th, 8th, 10th, and upon first school entry. Screening is performed by our credentialed school nurses who hold an audiometry certificate.

-South San Francisco School District Nurses

We do plan to have field-trips again this year and in order for parents to volunteer to be chaperones, you must be a fingerprinted cleared volunteer. This process takes time! Please come to the office to pick up an application to start the process.
Want to volunteer if teachers have a need in the classroom? It is the same process. Start today!

• September 30-October 4: Conferences - Minimum Day Schedule
• October 3: PTA Meeting at 9am STEM Lab
• October 7: TK begins 1:20pm Dismissal 🚩
• October 10: Sonrisas Dental Screenings Tk-1st
• October 14: Indigenous Peoples Day - NO SCHOOL 🚩
• October 15: Spruce Pumpkin Patch Day - Wear Fall colors
• October 16: Heal Farm Ms. Cheung and Ms. Philpott 🚌
• October 17: 5th Grade to California Academy of Sciences 🚌
• October 24: Picture Retake Day (By order form only)
• October 30: Animal Spirit Day (wear something with animal print or animals)
• October 31: Halloween Parade
• November 1: Staff Development Day - NO SCHOOL 🚩
• November 7: Heal Farm Mr. Norton 🚌
• November 11: Veterans Day - NO SCHOOL 🚩
• November 14: Ruby Bridges Day - Walk to School Day
• November 27-29: Thanksgiving Break - NO SCHOOL 🚩
• December 19: Winter Festival by PTA
• December 19 & 20: Minimum Day Schedule dismissal 12:55pm 🚩