From the Principal
Dear Families,
Why does kindness matter? This week is Kindness Week. Every day this week at White Oaks we will be highlighting several different ways students can be kind. In preparing for this week, a colleague shared this article, Here’s Why Kindness Matters, According to Science, from BuzzFeed about how scientists have studied the positive effects of kindness. Kindness is important and something that we strive for in our community.
Below is a list of what we will be doing at school this week. You can use this as a way to have a conversation around all the different ways we can be kind.
- Monday- Be Kind, Include Others
- Daily Challenge: On the playground today, show kindness by asking someone to play with you and help others feel included.
- Tuesday- Be Kind, Appreciate Others
- Daily Challenge: Show appreciation to your teacher, principal, counselor, custodian, secretary or any other WO staff member. Saying thank you to them is a simple act of kindness that will make you feel better inside.
- Wednesday- Be Kind, Share a Smile
- Daily Challenge: Count how many smiles you can give other people today and how many you get back. By sharing smiles, we can help fill other people’s buckets!
- Thursday- Be Kind, Fill Someone’s Bucket Today
- Daily Challenge: Compliment others by telling your friends when they do something nice and help to fill their bucket.
- Friday- Be Kind, Dream of a Kinder World
- Daily Challenge: How can you show kindness to the people around you? Make a point of being kind to at least 10 people today and make our school a kind and fun place.
One way that students can learn about the importance of kindness is through watching others. If our children witness us being kind, they are more likely to be kind themselves. Here is an opportunity to show your children how easy it is to be kind to others.
Sincerely,
Leah Scholer, Principal
[email protected]
School News and Events
Join Us for Our Next PTA meeting - February 12 at 8pm
Please join us for our next PTA meeting. We will start the meeting at 8pm following phone banking. The meeting will take place at Sotheby’s (1250 San Carlos Ave #101). Dr. Harmeier will attend to give a budget update. Everyone is welcome and we would love to see you there.
Your PTA Needs You!
We are already starting to think about next years 2020/2021 PTA board and we are looking for lots of volunteers to help run all the awesome events that the PTA manages (think Holiday Store, Family Ball trip, Art-in-Action, Playpod to name a few). We need folks to join the board as well as oversee individual committees. There are roles to suit any amount of time you have to donate to the school. Email Catherine Dunne for more information or to nominate yourself and/or a friend!
Call for Founder's Day Award Nominations!
Every year, for the past several decades, White Oaks celebrates Founder’s Day --- a time-honored tradition at White Oaks to recognize and thank volunteers who have gone above and beyond to help build our school community. We need your help in nominating some of these very special people. Please use this link to review the awards given and to submit your nominations. Nominations are due by Sunday, March 1.
On Wednesday, April 15 at 7pm in the MU, we will hold our annual PTA Founder's Day to celebrate and recognize the contributions of our award winners. Mark your calendars for the 70th anniversary of this special White Oaks event! Please direct questions to Jennifer Rudy.
PTA Appreciation
We are excited to announce that our White Oaks Running Club has launched! It was so fun to see our 2nd and 3rd graders start making their way to their first 5K! We would like to thank Stephanie Brill and Nicole Ketterman for all their hard work and enthusiasm in leading this amazing program.
The club meets on Thursdays during lunch recess. There is no need to sign up and no cost to participate.
If you would like to help monitor the course or cheer the kids on, please sign up at
https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0C4EABAE29A2F94-white.
Build, Engineer, Invent! Festival - Feb 12
We are so excited to have the Lawrence Hall of Science visit our school for a hands-on assembly on February 12. The program is called the Build, Engineer, Invent! Festival and will consist of multiple stations where kids can have fun becoming engineers and inventors. We will need a sizeable group of parents facilitating the stations for this assembly, so please see the SignUp here to volunteer. Thank you!
Attention 3rd Grade Parents - Upper Elementary Tours are Coming up!
Current 3rd grade families, are you excited to learn more about what our 4th and 5th grade students do at upper elementary school? Student-led tours are available now. Come see our Project-Based Learning, Reader's/Writer's Workshop and enrichment opportunities for your students. Sign up is limited, so reserve your spot now.
Arroyo Tours - 8:45-9:30am
Wednesday, Feb 26 | Friday, April 17
Sign Up Here: https://arroyo.scsdk8.org/apps/news/article/1142468
Save the Date - White Oaks 2nd/3rd Grade Sweetheart Dance - Feb 28
The White Oaks Sweetheart Dance is for all second and third graders and their special adult guest. Come celebrate red carpet style where you will be surprised with lots of fun treats, groovy dance tunes, and memories shared with your special guest in the White Oaks MU Room. See you on Friday, February 28 from 6:30-8:30pm. Tickets on sale soon!
SCEF News and Events
Dwell Matching Program for First Time SCEF Donors
First time SCEF donors have the chance to double their donation thanks to exclusive real estate sponsor DWELL Realtors! Partners Laura Bertolucci, Bob Bredel, Alana Corso, Joyce Romeo and Tatum Clarke will match $1 for $1 any new donations between February 1 and March 31, 2020 up to $50,000! Find out more at scefkids.org/dwellmatch and take advantage of this unique opportunity to double your impact. scefkids.org/donate
Seeking Auction Items for Starlight Gala
We are finalizing our Gala auction and are looking for the donation of air miles and/or hotel points to round out a Trip to New York package. If you can donate these, other New York related items, fine wines or vacation homes items, please email [email protected]. Thank you!
Online Auction Success
Thank you for participating in the online auction! We are grateful to the teachers & staff who donate their time to raise money for our schools and ever appreciative of our generous and involved community of supporters. Special thanks to Debbie Blucher, Christopher Kashap, Annie Kennedy Ramirez, Scott Cleveland and Kathy Parmer-Lohan for creating and running this wonderful event.
District News and Events
Attend a Superintendent Budget Workshop at Your Feb PTA Meeting
Parents, please join us for a special Superintendent budget workshop at your next PTA meeting to learn more about our current budget, how the Measure N Parcel Tax impacts our budget, and provide input about priorities as we develop our budget for next year.
Upcoming February PTA Meetings:
Feb 12 - 8pm - White Oaks (Golden Gate Sotheby's - 1250 San Carlos Avenue #101)
Feb 12 - 7pm - CMS/Arroyo (Central/Arroyo School Library)
LCAP Parent Advisory Committee
All school districts in California must create and maintain a three-year growth plan called the Local Control Accountability Plan (LCAP). The LCAP is one portion of the budget development process and requires the district to monitor growth on SCSD's four goal areas. Stakeholder engagement is a key component of the LCAP monitoring process. Representatives from each school will form the 2020 LCAP Parent Advisory Committee (PAC). The PAC serves in an advisory role to offer feedback goal development and on progress in each goal area. All parents/guardians are encouraged to engage in this process.
The LCAP PAC is scheduled to meet on the dates below. All meetings will take place in the SCSD District Office Board Room, located at 1200 Industrial Road, Suite 9, in San Carlos. These are public meetings and any member of the community is encouraged to attend. If you are interested in becoming a part of the PAC, contact your principal.
February 13: 9-10am
March 19: 9-10am
April 22: 9-10am
May 7: 9-10am
Measure N Parcel Tax Information
Are you registered to vote? You can still register online or check the status of your voter registration here - https://www.smcacre.org/register-vote.
The early voting period for the March 2020 election started on February 3, with four Vote Centers opening in San Mateo, Redwood City, South San Francisco and East Palo Alto.
The last day to register to vote is Tuesday, February 18!
Learn more about Measure N at - https://www.scsdk8.org/apps/pages/2020-Parcel-Tax-Information.
Family Talk with Health Connected- Mar 5
Join professional facilitators from Health Connected for an evening of discussion about puberty and growing up. This is an event for families of all structures and children, ages 11-14. SCSD PTAs are sponsoring a large part of the cost for the event and we are asking participants to donate up to $20 at the door. Thursday, March 5 from 6:30-8:00pm at the SCSD Board Room - RSVP here: http://evite.me/x2987YTHJbarents.
Community News and Events
Healthy Cities Workshop - "How to Support your Student in Math?"
Is your student struggling with math? Want to learn how to help them with tips and insights from seasoned math teachers? Join Healthy Cities Tutoring for our Math Tips workshop. Want to tutor? Arrive early to hear about volunteer tutoring opportunities.
Tuesday, February 11
6:30-6:55 pm Orientation "How to Become a Tutor?"
7:00-8:30 pm Workshop "How to Support Your Student in Math"
Arroyo/Central Middle School Library
Presented by Sheila Sevilla, Kirsty Mooney & Hillary Wiessinger
Open to Healthy Cities Tutors, Parents and Para-Educators
Click here to RSVP.
Additional workshop on Thursday, March 19, 2019. Visit our website for more information.
Perfect Pairings Wine Pairing Dinner for Healthy Cities Tutoring - Feb 28
Join Healthy Cities Tutoring for the 6th annual Perfect Pairings wine pairing benefit dinner on Friday, February 28 from 5:30-9pm at Domenico Winery, 1697 Industrial Road in San Carlos. The Perfect Pairings benefit will be a festive celebration with delicious food and wine pairings, special friends and inspiring stories.
Our community of supporters will enjoy passed appetizers and Prosecco followed by a delicious 3-course sit-down dinner prepared by Chef Gino Gramegna and perfectly paired wines from Domenico while helping to make a difference in the lives of children.
Please purchase your tickets by Feb.18 at Perfect Pairings - http://www.healthycities.site/perfect-pairings-2020/
Contact Nancy Bardsley - [email protected] - with questions. Thank you
Upcoming Parent Education Opportunity- Feb 27
The Sequoia Healthcare District is sponsoring the following parent education events this winter. Please consider attending. All parent education events can be found here.
Creating Gender Inclusive Environments for Children and Teens
Joel Baum, Senior Director for Professional Development, Gender Spectrum
Thursday, February 27, 2020, 7:00 - 8:30 pm
Woodside High School, Multi-Use Room (MUR)
199 Churchill Avenue, Woodside
Info & Ticket information
Save the Date for San Carlos Hometown Days 40th Anniversary May 15-17, 2020
San Carlos Hometown Days is a unique community event and tradition! This year we are excited to celebrate and continue on after four decades of FUN! For this milestone year, we have a great line up of entertainment, food, beer and wine, games and special attractions, and much more. Don’t miss our Parade on Saturday morning which will be a showcase for our 40th Anniversary celebration! Thank you to all the volunteers who help run this non-profit organization, to our Community Partners, and to our Sponsors. We hope to see you at the event and can’t wait to say to you, “Cheers to 40 Years!”