White Oaks Weekly - March 21, 2021 | White Oaks Elementary School

From the Principal

Dear White Oaks Families,

As you may have read in Dr. Harmeier’s email this afternoon, San Mateo County is now officially in the Orange Tier with an adjusted case rate of 2.8%. This means that we are moving into Phase 4 starting tomorrow! Please read through the details below to understand what this means for you and your family.

Phase 4 Schedules

AM Group: In-Person Instruction: 8:20 - 10:50, Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday
PM Group: In-Person Instruction: 12:20 - 2:50, Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday
All students: Wednesday, Distance Learning, 8:30 - 12:30 (minimum days)
Click here for more detailed schedule information.

Drop off
All drop off/pick up locations and procedures will remain the same as Phase 3. Here is our Zones map and list as a reminder. We learned a lot from Phase 3 and are very impressed with the way students were able to quickly learn the procedures. Here are a few takeaways we’d like to share to help make the transition to Phase 4 as smooth as possible:

Do’s:

Do complete FeverFree in the morning (see below) and build it into your routine so students can go straight to class when they come to school
Do communicate with your teacher regarding where you would like your student to go after school. If they will be walking home, going with a neighbor, meeting a sibling in a different Zone, your teacher needs to know!
Do have your child communicate to their teacher that their adult is at the pick-up zone and that they’re leaving to go home. Children should not be running off without their teachers knowing
Do keep socially distanced from other families when waiting in drop off/pick up zones.
Do park away from the cul de sacs and walk to the Zones to get your children. This reduces the traffic and increases the safety of our families during drop off and pick up.

Dont’s:

Don’t escort your child across campus to another Zone. We will have one of our campus staff assist with this.
Don’t have your child run across the street or cul de sac to you at pick up time. We’ve had some close calls and want to keep our children as safe as possible.
Don’t park in front of any of the drop off/pick up zones. These are loading zones only during school hours
Don’t forget to do FeverFree and check that your child has been cleared!

FeverFree
Take a moment to reactivate the notifications setting on your FeverFree app to give you daily reminders as they can help ensure this is complete well before school arrival.

Please complete the FeverFree screener for the AM group by 7:45 AM and the PM group by 8:30 AM. This provides time for us to follow up with families as needed.

When completing Fever Free, make sure you get a clearance badge prior to coming to school. If you are having issues with the app, contact [email protected].

Best Regards,

Leah Scholer, Principal
[email protected]

School News and Events

Call for Founders' Day Award Nominations
Every year, for the past several decades, the White Oaks community celebrates Founders' 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 award categories and to submit your nominations. Nominations are due Thursday, April 1.

On Thursday, May 6, we will hold our annual PTA Founders' Day to celebrate and recognize the contributions of our award winners. Mark your calendars for the 71st anniversary of this special White Oaks event! Please direct questions to Britta Ellis or Jennie Romeo.

Your PTA Needs You!
We are already recruiting the PTA board for the 2021-22 school year. There is are several board positions as well as committee chair roles needed to fill so that we can continue the awesome work of the WO PTA next school year. Most of these roles can suit any amount of time you have to donate to the school and most can be home-based or shared with another person.

We are actively looking for someone to serve as a Treasurer or Auditor as well as Communication Director for the upcoming school year. If you are interested or know someone who might be a good fit for any of these roles, please get in touch with Diana Herman. Thank you for considering volunteering your time at your child’s school!

SCEF News and Events

Thank You SCEF Sponsors
The power of our community working together has been profoundly demonstrated since last spring. We are extremely grateful for the support our community has provided our schools during this time, and know this partnership is also vital for building an exceptional 2021-2022 school year. We appreciate the support of our local business community, as they navigate these uncharted waters. Thank you to the following sponsors (Gold and above). Alexandria Real Estate Equities, The Partners @ Dwell Realtors, Prince Street Partners/Premia Capital, Oracle, Dr. Frank Hsu, Black Mountain Properties, CB Showers, Chang Orthodontics, CA Water Service, Peninsula Chemical Company and Lyngso Garden Materials.

If you are interested in joining these businesses and becoming a business sponsor please explore your options and the benefits here: https://scefkids.org/take-action/businesses/.

Save the Date: Sunday, April 25th @ 5pm is the Virtual SCEF Gala
Silent and Live Auction, Fund-A-Need, prize drawings and more! Stay tuned for more information as the date approaches. All of our upcoming events are always featured here: https://scefkids.org/upcoming-events/.

District News and Events

Student and Community Testing to Keep our Kids On Campus
Please take advantage of the no cost surveillance COVID-19 testing provided by the San Mateo County Health Department.

Please sign up for weekly testing for yourself and your child. Contact your health provider for a test if you have symptoms or know you have been exposed to someone with COVID-19.

Keeping COVID cases off of our campuses will keep our in person learning possible. As a reminder, if a student or or teacher tests positive for COVID, we will need to transition that cohort back to distance learning for at least two weeks to avoid spreading the virus.

Central Middle School - Thursdays, 1-7pm Register Here
Other Community Based Testing sites in San Mateo County Here

Come Join Your Friends in the SMARTE Clubhouse!
As we prepare for schools to enter into Phase 4, which could be as soon as Monday, March 22, the SMARTE Program is reaching out to see if your family is in need of childcare. We are currently serving our White Oaks students in our Brittan Acres SMARTE program and are considering bringing the program back to White Oaks if we have enough interest.

The SMARTE Program schedule will change to coincide with the new AM/PM school schedules and revert back to our 5-day, 3-day and 2-day program. We offer morning and afternoon care from 8:15am-4:30pm and students will be able to move between their classroom and SMARTE based on their AM/PM cohort schedule:

PM Cohort students will attend SMARTE in the morning from 8:15am-12:20pm and then return to the program after school dismissal from 2:50pm-4:30pm
AM Cohort students will attend SMARTE in the afternoon from dismissal at 10:50am-4:30pm
(Times may vary at each school site.)

Our mornings are spent offering our students assistance with zooms and independent work while the afternoon is screen free and filled with outdoor games and fun activities.

If you are in need of childcare, please complete this SMARTE Phase 4 Survey indicating what schedule would work best for your family.

Please contact us if you have any questions about the program at [email protected].

Community News and Events

City of San Carlos: East Side Innovation District Vision Plan
You are invited to discuss the future of San Carlos’ East Side!

The City is embarking on an exciting new vision plan for San Carlos’ East Side. In the coming decade we anticipate change coming to San Carlos’ East Side. During this transformative era, new land uses, such as biotechnology, life sciences, and high-tech offices will provide the foundation for renewal and improvement of this area. The East Side Innovation District Vision Plan will serve to proactively manage these changes.

We encourage everyone to participate in this important conversation at the first interactive virtual Community Workshop to ensure the Vision Plan represents the desires and aspirations of our community through good design, improvements in mobility, and other community benefits.

Thank you again for helping us get the word out for the March 24 workshop and we look forward to seeing you there!

Workshop #1 - Wednesday, March 24, 2021 - 6–8pm

Once registered, the City will provide the Zoom meeting details to make sure you have full access to participate in the conversation.

For questions and information about this project or the workshop, please email Lisa Porras at [email protected] and continue to follow www.SanCarlosInnovation.org for the latest news, updates and information.