Bobcat Tales

Mark Your Calendar

Open now:TK/Kindergarten Registration Open Now

March 7th: Report Cards sent home

March 14th: Professional Development Day for teachers (a non student day)

March 27th: Fun Run: information will be coming home soon!

April 1st: SLVE/BCE Vigilant Parent Workshop @ BCE 5:00-7:00 pm (Details below)

A Message from Principal Ponza

SLVE students have had a busy week back from February Break. Our PBIS monthly theme for the month of March is resilience. Students will be working on the theme of resilience and what it looks like to be resilient in school, at home and throughout their daily experiences. Our next PBIS assembly will be on March 12th. 2nd grade and 5th grade students will be working on presenting at this assembly.

The STEAM Expo was a big success and student scientists did a great job of picking topics, researching and presenting their findings. Thank you to Ms. Bedayan, our 4th/5th grade science teacher for coordinating this great event!

We are keeping the Intent to Return Form open. Please be sure to fill it out if you haven't already. It is really helpful and important for us to know who will be returning as we plan for the coming 25/26 school year.

Students have been working on end of the trimester assessments and projects. The 5th grade students presented their Inquiry Projects this week. Students had the opportunity to be presenters, sharing their power point presentations and engaging their student audiences using various strategies to share their projects with their peers. They also had the opportunity to be a learner, actively taking notes and asking questions and working with small groups to respond to the presentations.

Read-A-Thon News!

A special congratulations to the top two fundraising classes:

• Carol Hill's class raised $1,450 Pizza Party
• Gabrielle Brick's class raised $1,335 Ice Cream Party

And let's give a big round of applause to the top readers in each grade:

• TK/K: Monica Kathan (Sartain) - 375 minutes
• 1st Grade: Lila Bassoni (Hill) - 1,000 minutes
• 2nd Grade: Avery Jackson (Friend) - 1,080 minutes
• 3rd Grade: Tenaya Hudson (Gale) - 1,012 minutes
• 4th Grade: Gunnar Donohue (Sanfilippo) - 1,541 minutes
• 5th Grade: Cody Kurek (Ordahl) - 2,410 minutes

Intent to Return for the 2025-2026 School Year

We are excited to get started on the 25/26 school year planning. Please complete this

Intent to Return Form for each child in your family. We are so excited to have you back next year. Please note that this is just for incoming students Kindergarten-4th grade. 5th-grade students will register with the middle school.

SLVE TK/Kindergarten Registration

1. Prepare for Registration. SLVE TK and Kindergarten student registration is now open. Please review the registration page here to determine if your child is eligible for TK or Kindergarten and all the documents needed to complete the Enrollment Process.

2. Plan to attend our TK/Kindergarten Meet and Greet on April 2nd. The TK/Kinder Meet and Greet serves as a great opportunity for students to meet the teachers, see the classrooms and do some fun activities. It's also a great opportunity for parents/adults to meet the Principal, the teachers, inquire about our Transportation and Nutrition Programs, and get to know more about our school and our TK/Kindergarten program.

The times are as follows:

New to SLVE: TK 2:00-2:25

New to SLVE: Kindergarten 2:30-3:00

The Silicon Valley Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force will help parents understand privacy and parental controls on apps, games, and social media. We will distribute iPads and walk parents through the process and teach you how to have a conversation with your child about Internet Safety.

Our goal is to keep children safe from online predators. The workshop will take place at the Boulder Creek Elementary School MU on Tuesday April 1st from 5:00-7:00 pm. This class is for parents only. Childcare will be available and pizza will be served. Please fill out this Vigilant Parent Workshop Form so that we can plan for childcare and available IPADS. Please use the QR code to sign up for this class.

Bobcat Club News

Shout Out to SRO Deputy April Skalland

Our School Resource Officer, Deputy April Skalland, was awarded Deputy of the Year by the Santa Cruz County Sheriff Department. We are grateful to have her on our tri-campus and working with our students. Huge congratulations to April. If you would like to send an email of congratulations her email address is askalland@slvusd.org

Lost and Found Overflowing

Our Lost and Found is absolutely overflowing with jackets, sweaters, water bottles, lunch boxes, etc. If your student is missing items sent to school, please encourage them to take a look through the lost and found to see if they can locate their missed items. Lost and Found items will be cleared after school on Wednesday 3/5.

Attendance Matters

We continue to emphasize the importance of daily attendance for your student. Absences do add up!

We know people get sick, people get injured, and there can be family or life responsibilities and other issues that are reasonable and excused. But if your student can attend, they need to be in school.

If your student is out for three or more consecutive days, we may request a doctor’s note to continue excusing the absences. Students who miss 3-5 days will receive a Chronic Absence letter. We will then meet with those families to attempt to support the student attending school. On the second Chronic Absence Letter, families may be required to meet at the District Office to put a plan in place for the student’s attendance. On the third Chronic Absence Letter, families may be required to meet with the County Office Student Attendance Review Board for truancy. Our goal is that no family ever gets that far along with truancy. We are here to help and support, but it does start at home with the expectation that your student will attend school regularly.

Please remember that students who are absent 3 days or more should complete an independent study contract. Lisa Ghelardi, at lblairghelardi@slvusd.org our SLVE Registrar, will work with families to get the paperwork and the missed classwork assignments needed to complete the contract.

Learning Websites~IReady and Lexia

Your student can access Lexia Core5 (phonics/reading support) or i-Ready (math & reading) from home using their Google login information or their Classlink QuickCard (QR Code). Teachers will be sending home IReady/Lexia log in information (also linked below) and QR codes with students by Friday, October 4th.

You can access these applications from a personal computer (Mac or Windows), a personal Chromebook, a school-issued Chromebook, or an iPad. See the instructions for how to access them below:

How to Access Lexia/i-Ready from Home (Slideshow with all options)-SLVE

How to access Lexia/i-Ready from Home (School-Issued Chromebook)--SLVE

How to access Lexia/i-Ready from Home (iPads)--SLVE

How to access Lexia/i-Readyy from Home (Computers/Personal Chromebook)--SLVE

Updated Student Illness Protocols

For suggestions to help with knowing when to keep your child home when they are not feeling well please click on this Illness Protocol Link. Contact a health care provider if your child needs medical care. A doctor’s note is generally not required to return to school or child care. For more information, please visit the CDPH guidance page.

Cradle to Career

Cradle to Career Santa Cruz County (C2C) is a family advocacy organization and community connector that strives to uplift all families. C2C has expanded into SLVUSD and has developed free programming, including recreation activities, parent workshops, and advocacy opportunities for families. Register with C2C for more information about upcoming yoga classes, and more! Contact Claudia Oblea, SLVUSD's Community Organizer, for more information about C2C, questions, or resource support.

To Register with C2C visit: https://share.hsforms.com/1PECJBXBRREmsdHAUyGb4Ggdl8zs

Claudia's Contact information:

Email - Coblea@c2cscc.org

Phone: 916-270-5237

Triple P Parenting Classes

Triple P Positive Parenting topical workshop flyers for March are attached. Información sobre programas en español disponibles en el sitio web.

Each flyer has its own unique link to register for each class, or go to https://www.first5scc.org/triple-p-classes and register on the website. All of these classes are on Zoom!

Workshops are all free, and grant funded by First Five of Santa Cruz.

Individual sessions are also available for free or sliding scale. If you are interested in a 1:1 session, please contact First Five of Santa Cruz at First 5 Santa Cruz County at (831) 465-2217 or

The "Community Opportunities" website link is provided as a courtesy to parents and students, by the San Lorenzo Valley Unified School District, to enable you to receive information of current local events and opportunities for adults and/or children.

Student Drop Off and Pick Up at SLVE

As the rainy days are upon us, it is important to focus on safety during our drop off and pick up time each day. As a reminder, the far right lane is the ONLY lane that you may stop in to pick up your student. The middle lane is a drive thru lane only. If cars stop in the middle lane, buses CANNOT get up the hill to pass without going into the far left lane which is the exiting lane.

Cars dropping off and picking up students must drive all the way up to the cafeteria to drop off and/or pick up their students. Please do not open car doors into the driving lanes. When stopping to drop off your student, students should leave their car through the car door on the cafeteria/playground side of the car. Please do not get out of your car to drop off/pick up your students. School staff can assist students out of their cars if needed.

Please remember to park ONLY in marked parking spots. Please do not park in fire lanes or bus lanes. A reminder that the parking lot in front of the school office is reserved for teachers/staff only. Please do not stop there to drop off or pick up your student. We appreciate your role in helping to ensure the safety of our SLVE students and families.

Perimeter Fence Update

Our perimeter fence is almost complete. We are just awaiting a couple of small panels. The fence is a nice addition to our campus as it helps to prevent balls and other recess items from rolling into the parking lot. It also provides a very clear and visual boundary to our campus which helps to keep students safely inside.

Beginning on Tuesday, January 7th, we will be opening the gates at 7:50 am and closing them at 8:30 am. The gates will be reopened forTK dismissal and then remain closed until 2:00 for afternoon student dismissal. All volunteers will need to enter through the SLVE front office to check in and get a volunteer badge.

Please remember that school remains in session from 2:15-3:00 for our 4th and 5th grades. During this time, the SLVE playground is closed unless being used by SLVE PE classes and their teachers, or the after school ELOP program and their leaders. As a reminder, Kindergarten-3rd grade students should NOT be playing on the playground between the hours of 2:15 pm-3:00 pm. We appreciate your help in supporting this school protocol.

Bus and School Lunch Information

We will continue to provide free lunch to all students this year. We do ask that you complete the application on the district webpage. It is very important that ALL families complete this form, as it helps us with funding in several different areas.

If your child will be riding the bus this year and will need a bus pass, please make sure you purchase your bus pass online here. Once you log in to LinqConnect you will see "School Store" on the bottom right hand corn. Click that to buy your pass. Any questions contact the Transportation department at 831-336-2223

Please complete the Transportation Registration Form for all students riding the bus. Should there be a school bus breakdown, closed route or a route delay, School Messenger will not contact you unless your student(s) are registered.If you do not have your student registered by Thursday, 08/29/24 your student will be left at the school and sent to the office. For more information please call the Transportation office at 831-336-2223 or email Heidie at hoconnor@slvusd.org.

Thank you for your understanding.

-Transportation Department