From the Principal
Dear White Oaks Families,
I’ll give 2020 one thing and that is that I have certainly learned not to take anything for granted! The fog, wind, and blue skies have never been more appreciated or welcomed. I hope you were able to experience some moments of gratitude this week.
Picture Day
This coming Friday and Saturday (9/25 and 9/26) are White Oaks’ Picture Days! Please be sure to read through our instructions carefully. They will be sent out again towards the end of the week as well.
Instructions for Picture Days (Friday, 9/25 and Saturday, 9/26):
- Pictures will be taken in the White Oaks library. Both doors will be open and there will be one-way traffic, in and out.
- Enter the campus through either the east or west White Oak Way cul de sac gates or Fairmont.
- You will see signs that will direct you to wait in line in front of the library door, under the breezeway, across from the Multi-Use room. There will not be another access point for the library.
- Each student will walk into the library one at a time. They will keep their mask on until the photographer directs them to take it off for their picture.
- Students will exit the library through the back door that leads to the west White Oak Way cul-de-sac.
- Maintain a distance of 6ft between families at all times
- Wear a mask at all times
Here is a map that illustrates the path or “flow” of Picture Day. Here is the schedule of assigned times.We are scheduling by family’s last names. Please make sure you have your family’s time in your calendar and that you arrive on time. Contact Teresa Williams if you need to come at a different time.
Lunch Bunches
We are continuing to find ways to strengthen our connection with each other and with our students. Lunch Bunches will start this week with Mrs. Scholer and the hope is to provide students with an opportunity to connect with kids in other classrooms and share common interests. The Zoom link to the Lunch Bunches is the same as the Welcome Wednesday link. A calendar invite has been sent out to student accounts and an email will be sent out as well. Students can eat their lunch, chat, and share ideas for interest groups. Here is the schedule for each grade level’s Lunch Bunch:
- Monday: First Grade @ 12-12:30pm
- Tuesday: Second Grade @ 12:30-1pm
- Wednesday: TK/Kinder @ 1-1:30pm (NEW TIME)
- Thursday: Third Grade @ 12:30-1pm
Distance Learning Page
We have created a Distance Learning Page on our WO Website under “Our School”. Here, you will find easy access to our student/parent health screener, resources and support links as well as our brand new WO Virtual Makerspace! We will learn more about this exciting addition to our school at our next Welcome Wednesday. Reach out to Leah Scholer if you are interested in working with our PTA subcommittee on Makerspace ideas and activities!
Sincerely,
Leah Scholer, Principal
[email protected]
School News and Events
Joining Together for Student Success!
Join TeamKid and be a part of the critical community fundraising needed to support our students, our teachers, and our schools!
Your PTA donations support essential programs and events at White Oaks this school year. PTA funded programs include critical cleaning supplies, school supplies, teacher stipends, principal funds, and other school-wide community, administrative and academic support.
Your SCEF donation ensures continued funding for teaching positions and professional development, technology devices and applications, mental health and wellness, elective teachers and music programs, and Principal Flex Accounts across all San Carlos schools.
Find out more about how PTA and SCEF are working together for student success HERE. Join the TeamKid movement by making your PTA donation this fall and planning your SCEF donation at a time that works best for your family.
White Oaks Yearbook
Yes, there will be a yearbook! This is our chance to create a book that captures this historic year for our children and school. This year your photo contributions will be instrumental in the yearbook’s success.
Please photograph your students throughout the year and submit your photos online.
- LOG ON TO: images.jostens.com
- Enter our school ID: 415473954
- Browse to select the photo(s) you wish to upload, click on “Select My Images.”
- Click “Upload Chosen Images.”
Some Photo Ideas:
- First Day of School
- Candid moments of your student learning virtually
- Music – student at home play instruments
- Virtual Events – Welcome Wednesdays, etc.
- Sports – martial arts, dance, BMX, equestrian, etc.
- Outside Play – water games, sidewalk chalk, hiking
- Celebrations – birthdays, traditions, cultural events, holidays
- Science/Math – home experiments, favorite STEM toys, LEGO creations
We also need Yearbook Class Rep volunteers. It’s a fun and creative way to get involved. No previous experience in necessary. Click this link and sign up today!
Pop-Up Library Name Contest
We’re happy to announce the White Oaks pop-up library will launch the first week of October. We’re searching for a fun name that will get everyone excited about this new venture. Please ask your students to email their ideas to Mrs. Scholer by September 29. The school will vote for the final name at Welcome Wednesday the following morning.
PTA Appreciation
Big thanks to Kristen Azar and Mrs. Scholer for launching the incredible White Oaks Makerspace Website. We love seeing our own White Oaks kids teach each other different ways to create and we cannot wait to see all the future creations from our ingenious White Oaks Makers. Thank you again for all your hard work, Kristen and Mrs. Scholer!
Anti-Racism Team
Hello and welcome back to school from the Anti-Racism Team. We are a newly formed Idea Team at White Oaks.
The team is a work in progress and we welcome any and all ideas and collaboration from parents and the community at large. Our initial approach is three-fold, which includes areas where we can implement immediate change and others that will take continuous time and effort to develop.
1. Advocacy - Advocate for larger system and process changes within the district and eventually the state level.
2. Education - Provide education tools for parents, teachers, staff and students to identify and combat racism within our own school.
3. Visibility - Increase visibility of BIPOC for our White Oaks students through books and activities that celebrate BIPOC voices and cultures, as well as raise the voices of BIPOC within White Oaks by providing them a safe way to share their experiences in the school through engagement and collaboration with teachers, students, parents, the school board and other entities with power.
We are committed to providing advocacy, support and educational development. If you have interest or expertise in these areas, we’d love to hear from you! Please email us at [email protected].
SCEF News and Events
WHY Community Support of Our Schools is so Important!
School districts in California are funded one of two ways. State-funded or “Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF)” districts, like ours, receive the majority of their revenue from the state of California based on student enrollment because their property tax revenue is insufficient to fund the minimum per student allocation set by the state. Community-funded districts (formerly known as “Basic Aid) derive all their funding from local property taxes because they are able to meet the state-set per pupil funding threshold through their property taxes alone.
While San Carlos is surrounded by some community-funded districts, the vast majority of school districts in California are state-funded, like SCSD. A shift in how California schools are funded resulted after the passage of Proposition 13 in 1978, prior to which, school funding was much more robust throughout the state, as districts could count on property taxes to meet their funding needs. How does this impact us today? Following Prop. 13, California now consistently ranks near the bottom in education funding in the U.S., particularly in the Bay Area where cost-of-living is so high.
SCSD currently receives about 75% of what it takes to educate our students from the state of California, leaving a 25% gap to fill. Thanks to support through SCEF donations, parcel taxes and the like, our San Carlos community bridges this funding gap to ensure our district has the resources to provide our children with the well-rounded quality education they deserve.
To learn more about California school funding visit: https://www.scefkids.org/about-us/state-funding/
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We are beginning to work on SCEF’s 2019-20 Annual Report and would like to include photographs of kids working in their home "classrooms." If you would like to submit a photo for consideration, please send it in the highest resolution to: [email protected]. We will select a few to publish in the annual report and use in marketing throughout the year.
Community News and Events
Proposition 15 - Schools & Community First
The San Carlos School District unanimously approved a resolution in support of Prop 15 Schools and Communities First on the ballot in November. The District would receive an estimated $1,896,397 and the City of San Carlos $4,112,000 in additional funding if the initiative passes. According to the measure's sponsors, The California Schools & Local Communities Funding Act would raise an estimated $12 billion annually statewide for schools and local communities including $830 million for San Mateo County.
For details, go to the California PTA's website.