Good Afternoon Bobcat Families,
I hope you enjoyed your time at Back to School Night last night. It was so much fun to see everyone here, learning about how to make this the best year yet for your children, and connecting with one another. I also hope the first full week of school was a great one for everyone. I know I saw a lot of happy and tired faces by the end of the week.
In this Communication
- Important Events
- PTO Bucks for Bobcats
- Monterey FC Union Game
- Bobcat Spirit Wear
- After School Enrichment
- Bobcat Family Campout Sept 8
- Swimming for 3rd-5th grade PE
Repeat in this Communication
- Morning Mile
- First Emergency Drill
- Emergency Student Pick-Up Area
Upcoming events
Important Dates:
- Mon, Aug 21: Swimming starts for 3rd-5th grade PE
- Mon, Aug 21: PTO Bucks for Bobcats Starts – see below for details
- Sat, Aug 26: Monterey Bay Union Soccer Game – see below for details
- Correction from last week: Please note that the Fri, Aug 26 pool party and movie is not happening. That was a mistake in a copy and paste from last year’s communication.
PTO Bucks for Bobcats
We are kicking off our PTO Bucks for Bobcats fundraising campaign next week. You should receive a letter and envelope in your child's backpack next week explaining the program. It's super simple. Between now and Sept 15 we ask for donations. A flat donation, big or small. We don't ask families to participate in any other fundraising activities, until our Spring Fling party in May. No caramel apples, wrapping paper or See's candy. Promise. Bucks for Bobcats funds all the great things that PTO does for our school – Field Trips, Art Program, School Garden, Swim Lessons, Assemblies, School Supplies, Campus improvement, playground equipment, Classroom materials, and all the wonderful events the PTO puts on throughout the year. On average we spend $181 per student. Our goal is 100% participation, which means a donation made for every student at our school.
Donations can be made by check, cash or PayPal. There is a lock box by the front office door where you can place your donations. Or you can send it back to school to your child's teacher. You can also pay online at www.bucksforbobcats.org via PayPal. We understand that everyone is in different financial situations. All donations are kept private. For those who can donate extra, please consider doing so. For those who have businesses, family foundations, Grandparents, employers, neighbors - they can also donate! The Tularcitos PTO is a tax-exempt 501(c)3 organization, EIN 77-0010111, so your donation is tax-deductible. Thank you for making Tularcitos such an amazing community for our children!
HAPPY BUCKS FOR BOBCATS!!
Tularcitos PTO
Join fellow Bobcats at the Monterey Bay FC Union Game
On Saturday, August 26, at 7:00 pm, let's wear our new Spirit Wear and show our Bobcat Pride by cheering on our local professional soccer team, Monterey Bay FC Union. Tularcitos PTO has partnered with MBFC by joining their Community of Schools Program. Please refer to the attached flyer for more information and to secure your discounted tickets online to the Aug 26 game. Don't delay, as this match will sell out!
Bobcat Spirit Wear
It was great to reconnect with everyone at Back-to-School Night! Thanks to all who purchased Spirit Wear, and offered their feedback about what you'd like to see in the future. If you haven't received your recent online order, please email tularspiritwear@gmail.com with your child's name, as well as their teacher's name and room number. We will be in touch soon to fulfill those orders. We are short on a lot of kid sizes and are putting in an order for more. More details will be coming soon on when you will be able to purchase more Spirit Wear.
After School Enrichment
People have been asking about enrichment this year. The first session will be Sept 11 – Nov 8. More info coming in the next couple of weeks.
Bobcat Family Campout Sept 8
We will be holding our annual family campout on Friday, Sept 8 (changed from the 15th). On that day anyone who wants to campout for the night comes back to Tular at 3:30, sets up a tent on our lawn in designated spaces, hangs out on campus or goes swimming at the pool. Enjoy dinner (either purchased from the pool or bring your own), smores and movie at night, sleeps in their tents, and gets a pancake breakfast Saturday morning. It is a fun night and another great way to hang out as a community. For those of you who do not want to camp, but want to join the rest of the festivities, you can sign up to do that as well. More details and signups will be coming next Friday, but mark it on your calendars now.
Swimming
The third, fourth, and fifth grade classes will be starting their swim unit next week whenever they have PE. Please make sure they remember their swim suit, towel, goggles, and hair ties. We do not have any loaners at the beginning of the year, so if they forget their suit, they will be doing dryland exercises. If your student is a competent swimmer, they will be working with Ms. Di perfecting their strokes. If your student is an emerging swimmer, or if they are scared of the water, Mr A gets in the water with those groups of students and we focus primarily on water safety. It is truly a great time and though students get nervous that first week, please reassure them that we respect their boundaries and will work at their pace.
PTO Update
There was a lot of enthusiasm and positive energy surrounding our scheduled events and committees, and we can't wait to work with all of you to make this a memorable year. To those of you who signed our interest forms, the specific committee or event chair will be in touch with you shortly. In the meantime, please reference our 2023-2024 PTO Activities Calendar to save the dates of upcoming events and see what you can be a part of.
Repeat in this email:
Morning Mile
If you are new to Tular, Morning Mile is an event that is hosted every Tuesday and Thursday morning before school starts from 8:15am-8:30am. We will start in a few weeks once kids are settled into the swing of school! This is a great event in which students are able to run by themselves or with their families on our hilly track that encompasses our field. I will be playing music, there will be dancing on the hill, and it is genuinely a fun party environment twice a week. The primary intention for Morning Mile is grounded in the research that activity prior to academic learning increases cognitive retention and classroom behavior. It is also a great opportunity to establish an activity-based habit with you and your students to help your scholar grow as a healthy individual. I am a big believer in extrinsic motivation at primary grades, so as you run or dance around the track, I will be passing out popsicle sticks. Students will be turning in these popsicle sticks for twinkle toes and/or charms at certain times in the year. Each member of your family will receive a popsicle stick when you circulate the track, so invite grandma, grandpa, uncle, aunt, that long-lost cousin that came to town for the week, as the more popsicle sticks you collect, the more twinkle toes your student will receive.
First Emergency Drill
Today we did our first emergency fire drill. This is also a good reminder to parents to make sure your entire family knows what to do at home in case of an emergency. Here is a link to the Monterey County Office of Emergency website where you can get information for what to do as a family:
https://www.co.monterey.ca.us/government/departments-a-h/administrative-office/office-of-emergency-services
Emergency Student Pickup Area
Every month we practice some sort of emergency drill (earthquake, fire, hostile intruder) so our staff and students know what to do in an emergency, and in October we do a full-scale drill with emergency personnel where we practice search and rescue and student release. More information will be coming about that drill when we get to October. I also know that the mention of a hostile intruder drill brings up a lot of emotions. For this drill we do it in a very age-appropriate way and more information will be coming home to parents before we do that type of drill so you know what to expect.
In a real emergency one of the biggest components is safely returning the students to you. This is something we will practice in the coming months when we do a full scale emergency drill, but I wanted to take the time now to inform all of our families what you would do to pick up your child at Tular if there was ever a big emergency. In every emergency training I have attended, the trainers emphasize the point that student release is the most complicated, emotional, and potentially volatile part of an emergency. Parents come in, rightfully so, very concerned about the safety of their child, and at times can become impatient and hostile to the people trying to release students safely to their parents. Our biggest concern in student release after an emergency is to safely return students to the right person. In an emergency we all must work together, so the most important thing to remember in an emergency is to stay calm and know that we have a process in place to safely release your child to you. However, with over 433 students, this process will take time so patience, staying calm, and helping each other is extremely important.
To pick up your child safely in an emergency you would go to the following locations:
- In an emergency where students cannot be in the classrooms, parents will be directed to check out their children from the gate along Pilot Rd near our garden.
- In an emergency where students are in the classrooms, parents will be directed to check out their children from Bobcat Hall.
In any emergency, we will have staff and signs out directing parents where to go. Again, the most important thing is to know that we have a process in place to safely return your students, and we need everyone to work together to stay calm so we can safely return students to their parents. If you have any questions about emergency preparedness, please feel free to give me a call. Here is also a link to our district’s emergency website: https://www.carmelunified.org/domain/29
Upcoming Events
Mon, Aug 21: Swimming starts for 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade PE
Aug 21: PTO Bucks for Bobcats Fundraiser starts
Thurs, Aug 31: Picture Day
Mon, Sept 4: No School for Labor Day
Sept 5-8: No Screens Week
Thurs, Sept 7 @ 6:30 pm: PTO Meeting at CV Community Center and via Zoom
Fri, Sept 8: Minimum Day. Students released after lunch at 12:30
Fri, Sept 8: Bobcat Family Campout
Stay Bobcat Strong and Tular Proud
Go Bobcats!
Ryan Peterson
Proud Principal, Tularcitos Elementary School
Nurturing Hearts, Expanding Minds, Inspiring Actions, Broadening Horizons