Hello Bobcat Families,

 

Can you believe that we are only days away from starting school?  We are very excited to meet our students and you.  As educators, we go into this profession because of the love we have for students, and we are looking forward to spending the first couple weeks getting to know them, their strengths, and areas of need, and building our classroom communities.   All this week we have had to continue to persevere through problems and ask ourselves “What if…” to see how we can make things even better.  At times, this has been hard as we troubleshoot through issues that have come up (everything from major tech programs not working to not getting the pencil boxes in on time due to supply issues).  I want you to know that while we will be as prepared as we can be for next week, we want to thank you for your grace and understanding in advance for the hiccups and issues we know we will run into as we get things going.

 

The information in the top of this email is all new.  The items under the “Repeat in this Email” is from this last Wednesday’s email.  If you did not read the email on Wednesday, you will need to make sure you read this email in entirety, as there the information is vital to the start of school. 

 

Also, if you did not get a chance to watch the virtual town hall last week where I went over what school will be like this year, you need to either view the slideshow or watch the recorded version of the town hall.  That will provide you with other vital information about what school will look like in this distance learning model.  You can find both the presentation and town hall in English and Spanish on the Tularcitos website. 

 

In this email

• Immunizations for Kindergarteners and New Tular Families
• Important Dates

Repeat in this Email

• Contacting the Office
• Chromebook Pickup
• Data Confirmation due Today, Aug 5
• Emergency Forms
• Internet Access
• Closed Campus
• Teacher Preparation for the Year
• Possible Assistance for Families
• Items You Might be Wondering About

Upcoming events

 

Immunizations for Kindergarteners and New Tular Families

While we will be emailing out teacher assignments later today, please know that before a kindergartener or new student to Tular can start school next week, it is still a requirement in full remote learning for new students to be fully immunized before they start school. Even though this year is a little different with the pandemic, clinics still remain open for immunizations. Please know that we are not able to provide kindergarten or new families with materials on August 11^th, or have students participate in school, if immunizations are not complete and submitted. Please contact our Nurse, Ludmilla (Milla) Nelson, with any questions or concerns: lnelson@carmelunified.org.

 

Important Dates:

• Friday, Aug 7: Teachers will email out their class lists. There will be an email from your teacher with a welcome from your teacher, class lists, and other important information about Aug 12 and 13. Please make sure to check your email today.  Class lists will not be posted at school
• Tuesday, Aug 11, from 8:00 am - 6:00 pm: Parents pick up Chromebooks and School Materials in Bobcat Hall. Please follow social distancing guidelines and signage.  This will be an important planning time for teachers, so please do not disrupt them if you see them in their classrooms.  They are very excited to see you and are looking forward to doing so virtually on Aug 12 and 13. 
• Tues, Aug 11 @ 6:00 Kindergarten Virtual Back to School Night
• Aug 12 & 13: Virtual Meet and Greet – this is a change
  • 9:00 Virtual class meeting on Wednesday (not on Thursday)
  • 9:30-3:00 Scheduled individual family meetings with your teacher- check your email for information
• Aug 14: No School
• Aug 17-20 (Mon-Thurs): Slightly modified school day schedule for 1^st-5^th grade (Kindergarten will be 9:00-12:00 like normal during this week). Students will go 9:00-2:00 like normal, but grade level teachers will be done teaching at 12:00 these days (in a normal week, classroom teachers will also be teaching for part of the time after lunch).  This will provide grade level teachers extra planning time and allow them time to make needed adjustments that may arise from tech or other issues that come up as we start the year. Students, however, will continue with their specials after lunch. The schedule for 1^st-5^th grade will be as follows.
  • 9:00-12:00 students will be with the classroom teacher
  • 12:00-12:40 will be lunch
  • 12:40-2:00 students will be introduced to their specials and have some independent work time
• Thursday, Aug 20 @ 6:00 Virtual Back to School Night
• Friday, Aug 21: Minimum Day – all students are done at 12:00
• Aug 24: Normal 9:00-2:00 schedule starts for teachers and students in Grades 1^st-5^th. Kinder stays 9:00-12:00 with possible additional support after lunch

 

 

Repeat In This Email

Contacting the Office

While it is always a great day at Tularcitos, the Tularcitos Office is physically closed to the public while we are in distance learning.  During this time staff will be working both out of the office and remotely.  If you need to talk to anyone in the office, please do not come by the office, but call us at 620-8195.  We look forward to talking with you.

 

Chromebook Pickup

We will be providing all of our students, kinder through 5^th grade with a Chromebook this year.  However, we are crossing our fingers at this point that we will have all of our Chromebooks here on time for Aug 11.  We already have all of our Chromebooks for our 3^rd, 4^th, and 5^th graders in, but do not yet know if we will have all of the touch-screen Chromebooks in for our kinder, 1^st, and 2^nd graders (these are different devices than our 3^rd-5^th graders).  Therefore, it is important that you indicated in your data confirmation if you need a device.  We will make sure we have enough Chromebooks for those who need them, but we may have to give older devices to our kinder, 1^st, and 2^nd graders to start the year until their new touch-screen Chromebooks come in.  Thank you for your understanding in this.  Due to the high demand by schools, there is a shortage of Chromebooks out there right now.

 

What to do with the Emergency Forms

After you complete your data confirmation it asks you to print out the emergency form and turn it into the school.  Please bring your signed emergency form with you on August 11 when you come pick up your materials.  There will be a box where you can turn in the form.

 

Internet Access

Our district wants to do our best to help families who do not have suitable internet connectivity to get access. Please use this form to request internet access from CUSD.

https://forms.gle/2zHEZFTKmzD6n7TS6

If you have already submitted a form, there is no need to resubmit.

 

Closed Campus

With the start of school and because we are in a distance learning situation, the Tularcitos Campus (as well as other CUSD campuses) will be closed to the public weekdays between the hours of 7:00 am – 4:00 pm.  Thank you for staying off campus during this time.

 

Teacher Preparation for the Year

As you noticed in the plans to start the year, we are trying to work into the schedule as much planning time as possible for teachers.  This week teachers continue to get training on distance learning and teaching in addition to some collaborative planning time.  However, as this way of teaching and learning is new to all of us, this extra planning time is going to be essential to giving us all the best start possible.  In addition to the normal startup of school, we are also trying to plan in time to make any needed adjustments to a number of possible issues that can arise in distance learning.  While we are doing all we can to prepare so that things will go smoothly, we are also trying to be realistic and know from experience that whenever tech is involved (and especially when you are talking about every staff and elementary student), there are going to be some issues.  

 

Possible Available Assistance for Families

We wanted to let you know that the Carmel Valley Community Youth Center is partnering with the YMCA to provide childcare.  Please see the attached flier for more details.  This is something completely independent of CUSD. 

 

Items you may be Wondering About

We wanted to let you know that we are still figuring out how to do Picture Day and more information will be coming as we have details.  Please also stay tuned for information about future virtual Pastries with Peterson where you can join me for a time to ask questions and provide feedback as to how things are going.  I will also be including information about our PTO in my communication this Friday.

 

Upcoming events

Tues, Aug 11, 8:00 am – 6:00 pm: Chromebook and Materials Pickup in Bobcat Hall

Tues, Aug 11 @ 6:00: Kinder Virtual Back to School Night

Fri, Aug 14: No School

Thurs, Aug 20 at 6:00 pm: Virtual Back to School Night

Fri, Aug 21: Minimum Day. Students done at 12:00

Mon, Sept 7: No School for Labor Day Holiday

 

Let’s all stay Bobcat Strong and Tular Proud, and keep asking yourself, “What if…”

 

See you soon!

Go Bobcats!

Ryan Peterson

Proud Principal, Tularcitos Elementary School

Nurturing Hearts, Expanding Minds, Inspiring Actions, Broadening Horizons.

Hello Bobcat Families

 

First, I hope you are enjoying the last days of summer and making the most of this time. As those of you returning Bobcat know, I normally send out communications on Fridays.  While this will be my routine after school starts, I want to make sure to communicate some important details right now since this year is definitely not the normal start.  Also, if you did not get a chance to watch the virtual town hall where I went over what school will be like this year, I would highly recommend that you either view the slideshow or watch the entire town hall.  Those will provide you with much needed information about what school will look like in this distance learning model.  You can find both on the Tularcitos website. 

 

In this email

• Important Dates
• Contacting the Office
• Chromebook Pickup
• Data Confirmation due Today, Aug 5
• Emergency Forms
• Internet Access
• Closed Campus
• Teacher Preparation for the Year
• Possible Assistance for Families
• Items You Might be Wondering About

 

Important Dates:

• Friday, Aug 7: Class lists, a welcome from your teacher, and other important information about Aug 12 and 13 will be emailed out to parents. Please make sure to check your email that day. Class lists will not be posted at school
• Tuesday, Aug 11, from 8:00 am - 6:00 pm: Parents pick up Chromebooks and School Materials in Bobcat Hall. Please follow social distancing guidelines and signage.  This will be an important planning time for teachers, so please do not disrupt them if you see them in their classrooms.  They are very excited to see you and are looking forward to doing so virtually on Aug 12 and 13. 
• Tues, Aug 11 @ 6:00 Kindergarten Virtual Back to School Night
• Aug 12 & 13: Virtual Meet and Greet
  • 9:00 Virtual class meetings
  • 10:00-2:00 Scheduled individual family meetings with your teacher
• Aug 14: No School
• Thursday, Aug 20 @ 6:00 Virtual Back to School Night
• Friday, Aug 21: Minimum Day – all students are done at 12:00

Aug 17-20 (Mon-Thurs): Slightly modified school day schedule for 1^st-5^th grade (Kindergarten will be 9:00-12:00 like normal during this week).  Students will go 9:00-2:00 like normal, but grade level teachers will be done teaching at 12:00 these days (in a normal week, classroom teachers will also be teaching for part of the time after lunch).  This will provide grade level teachers extra planning time and allow them time to make needed adjustments that may arise from tech or other issues that come up as we start the year. Students, however, will continue with their specials after lunch. The schedule for 1^st-5^th grade will be as follows.

• 9:00-12:00 students will be with the classroom teacher
• 12:00-12:40 will be lunch
• 12:40-2:00 students will be introduced to their specials and have some independent work time

 

Contacting the Office

While it is always a great day at Tularcitos, the Tularcitos Office is physically closed to the public while we are in distance learning.  During this time staff will be working both out of the office and remotely.  If you need to talk to anyone in the office, please do not come by the office, but call us at 620-8195.  We look forward to talking with you.

 

Chromebook Pickup

We will be providing all of our students, kinder through 5^th grade with a Chromebook this year.  However, we are crossing our fingers at this point that we will have all of our Chromebooks here on time for Aug 11.  We already have all of our Chromebooks for our 3^rd, 4^th, and 5^th graders in, but do not yet know if we will have all of the touch-screen Chromebooks in for our kinder, 1^st, and 2^nd graders (these are different devices than our 3^rd-5^th graders).  Therefore, it is important that you indicated in your data confirmation if you need a device.  We will make sure we have enough Chromebooks for those who need them, but we may have to give older devices to our kinder, 1^st, and 2^nd graders to start the year until their new touch-screen Chromebooks come in.  Thank you for your understanding in this.  Due to the high demand by schools, there is a shortage of Chromebooks out there right now.

 

Data Confirmation due today, Wednesday, August 5.

The Parent Data Confirmation window is now open. Data Confirmation is required of all new and returning families to ensure we have up-to-date information.

We have set it up so one parent/guardian per family can update the student's information. Most often, it should be the person who initially registered your child for school.

• If you don't have an Aeries Portal account, your account is being auto-created. You should have received an email invitation today from aeriesservices@carmelunifed.org. Please use the username, password, and link provided in that message. (Do not use the "Create Account" link on the Aeries portal.)
• If you already have an Aeries Portal account, please login to https://aeries.carmelunified.org/parent/ and you should automatically be taken to the Data Confirmation screen. If not, look for it under the Student Info menu. (If you don't remember your password, use the "Forgot Password?" link on the Aeries Portal login screen.)

If you have multiple students in CUSD schools: Each of your children's data will be accessible under your portal account. Once you have logged in, look for the pull-down menu near the top corner of the screen that says "Change Student" Under this menu, you will see your children listed.

This video may be helpful: https://support.aeries.com/support/solutions/articles/14000071127-parent-data-confirmation-parent-view-video 

 

What to do with the Emergency Forms

After you complete your data confirmation it asks you to print out the emergency form and turn it into the school.  Please bring your signed emergency form with you on August 11 when you come pick up your materials.  There will be a box where you can turn in the form.

 

Internet Access

Our district wants to do our best to help families who do not have suitable internet connectivity to get access. Please use this form to request internet access from CUSD.

https://forms.gle/2zHEZFTKmzD6n7TS6

If you have already submitted a form, there is no need to resubmit.

 

Closed Campus

With the start of school and because we are in a distance learning situation, the Tularcitos Campus (as well as other CUSD campuses) will be closed to the public weekdays between the hours of 7:00 am – 4:00 pm.  Thank you for staying off campus during this time.

 

Teacher Preparation for the Year

As you noticed in the plans to start the year, we are trying to work into the schedule as much planning time as possible for teachers.  This week teachers continue to get training on distance learning and teaching in addition to some collaborative planning time.  However, as this way of teaching and learning is new to all of us, this extra planning time is going to be essential to giving us all the best start possible.  In addition to the normal startup of school, we are also trying to plan in time to make any needed adjustments to a number of possible issues that can arise in making sure all of our staff and students are connected and the technology programs are working correctly.  While we are doing all we can to prepare so that things will go smoothly, we are also trying to be realistic and know from experience that whenever tech is involved (and especially when you are talking about every staff and elementary student), there are going to be some issues.

 

Possible Available Assistance for Families

We wanted to let you know that the Carmel Valley Community Youth Center is partnering with the YMCA to provide childcare.  Please see the attached flier for more details.

 

Items you may be Wondering About

We wanted to let you know that we are still figuring out how to do Picture Day and more information will be coming as we have details.  Please also stay tuned for information about future virtual Pastries with Peterson where you can join me for a time to ask questions and provide feedback as to how things are going.  I will also be including information about our PTO in my communication this Friday.

 

Upcoming events

Tues, Aug 11, 8:00 am – 6:00 pm: Chromebook and Materials Pickup in Bobcat Hall

Tues, Aug 11 @ 6:00: Kinder Virtual Back to School Night

Fri, Aug 14: No School for Car Week

Thurs, Aug 20 at 6:00 pm: Virtual Back to School Night

Fri, Aug 21: Minimum Day. Students done at 12:00

Mon, Sept 7: No School for Labor Day Holiday

 

Let’s all stay Bobcat Strong and Tular Proud, and keep asking yourself, “What if…”

 

Enjoy the last days of summer!

Go Bobcats!

Ryan Peterson

Proud Principal, Tularcitos Elementary School

Nurturing Hearts, Expanding Minds, Inspiring Actions, Broadening Horizons.

Hi Tularcitos Bobcats and Families,

 

We realized after sending out my first communication on Monday that some of our families were not in our new system.  We think that is fixed now.  If you did not receive my communication on Monday, it is at the bottom of this email.  We are sorry for that.  If you know someone who does not receive this information, please refer them to our website and have them email Lindsey (lterry@carmelunified.org) in the office.

 

Many people are wondering when they will get the email to do your parent data confirmation for this year.  Our district will send that email out at the start of next week.  Please make sure you complete it within a couple days of receipt so we can make sure your information is up to date in our system.

 

Here is the link to the presentation I will be going over at the Virtual Tularcitos Distance Learning Orientation (Town Hall) tomorrow, Thursday, July 30, from 6:00-7:00 pm.  (We will be doing a different presentation for our Spanish speaking families Friday, July 31, from 5:00-6:00 pm.  Those families will receive another communication regarding that presentation)

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1itoApIU502Hb4JANpKuQ_SCwkCoTL7oYjjL0N8cBYQ4/edit?usp=sharing

 

Here is the link to the form where you can ask questions ahead of time after you have had the chance to view the presentation. (We will stop looking at this form at 12:00 pm on Thursday). 

https://forms.gle/adxZq81weWHcMkm26

Please try to put questions in ahead of time so I can see the most common ones and imbed the answers into my presentation.  During the Virtual Orientation, the chat will be open for people to submit further questions. At the end of the Orientation, I will be answering those questions.

 

Here is the information for accessing our Virtual Orientation

• You are invited to a Zoom webinar.
  When: Jul 30, 2020 06:00 PM Pacific Time (US and Canada)
  Topic: Tularcitos Elementary Virtual Site Orientation
• Please click the link below to join the webinar:
  https://carmelunified.zoom.us/j/91642240799
  Passcode: 972468
• Or Telephone:
      Dial(for higher quality, dial a number based on your current location):
          US: +1 669 900 6833  or +1 346 248 7799  or +1 253 215 8782  or +1 312 626 6799  or +1 929 205 6099  or +1 301 715 8592
  Webinar ID: 916 4224 0799
  Passcode: 972468
      International numbers available: https://carmelunified.zoom.us/u/a0Tw8IhpD

 

Thank you for all of your support and understanding as we prepare for the year.

Let’s all stay Bobcat Strong and Tular Proud.  “See you” soon.

 

Go Bobcats!

Ryan Peterson

Proud Principal, Tularcitos Elementary School

Nurturing Hearts, Expanding Minds, Inspiring Actions, Broadening Horizons.

Hi Tularcitos Bobcats and Families,

 

I hope that you have all been enjoying your summer.  If you are new to Tularcitos, welcome to the Bobcat Family.  If you are returning, know that I have been missing all of you and as I am back in the office and walking around Tular, it just does not feel the same knowing that it will not be filled with your joyful smiles in a few weeks.

 

I know that most people have been paying close attention to what has been going on in the district and the state with the start of school.  If you have not, it was decided by the CUSD Board of Education that we are going to be returning to school in a distance learning model (required by the state) and we will stay in that model through October 9th. 

 

I know that families are all over the map as to how they feel and what they are thinking about the start of school this year.  Some are happy and others are furious.  Some are relieved, others are very anxious.  Most of us are probably feeling a combination of multiple emotions and thinking lots of things.  Ones I am guessing we all share, however, are concern and curiosity.  We are concerned about how we are going to make school work this year.  We are curious about what our student’s day will look like.  

We all, staff and families alike, know we have a lot to improve on from our experience in spring to make sure our students get the education they need to keep moving forward, and so our teachers have the chance to deliver the type of education they are capable of.

 

This coming Thursday, July 30, from 6:00-7:00 I will be hosting a Virtual Tularcitos Orientation (Town Hall) to share more about what school will look like this year.  In the meeting, I will be able to get into more specifics than we could cover in the district-wide town halls or board meetings, but I will not be able to get into hyper specifics that you might expect at a normal Back to School Night.  I will be sharing the schedule for the day and week and a general outline of what a day might look like for students. I will also be going over what we hope to accomplish the first days of school this year in order to get everyone off to a good start. 

 

On Wednesday, July 29, I will be emailing out a link to the Virtual Orientation which will be over Zoom, the presentation I will be using, and a form where you can submit questions that you would like answered in the Virtual Orientation. (Please make sure you look through the presentation before submitting a question so you do not ask a question that is already answered in the presentation).  During the Virtual Orientation we will be taking questions through the chat feature of Zoom, but will not be opening it up to “live” questions where we turn your microphone on to ask questions as we will not have enough people to help facilitate that behind the scenes.  However, the more questions I can get ahead of time, the better and more thorough I can make my presentation.  So please try to submit questions ahead of time.

 

One of the hardest parts in all of this is knowing that we will not be able to meet all of the diverse needs of our families.  As educators, we strive every day to meet every one of our student’s needs.  It is what is most important to us at our core.  Now that the classroom is not at school, but is in every home, those needs are exponentially multiplied making it that much more difficult.  I know that everyone knows this, but I want to remind us all of that fact so that we can have grace for each other in this process and remember the good intentions.  More than ever in the history of education, educators and families must work as a team to ensure our children succeed in their education.  We have an absolutely incredible community at Tular, one we can all be very proud of.  This year, it will not only “take a village,” it will take “our village” to make sure our students succeed and get the education they deserve.

 

I am so looking forward to “seeing you” whenever I can, in whatever format I can.  As we start the year, I will be doing regular live meetings with parents (over Zoom). Hopefully, we can connect that way.  One of my mottos for this year is, “What if?”  What if this was the year we have actually been waiting for?...What if this was the year we actually all needed?... For education, for our families, and for our community?  For elementary students especially, they always look to the adults around them to take cues on how they should respond to a situation.  Therefore, it is extremely important that, as the adults right now, we set a positive tone for the year so that our children can have a positive attitude about the year as well and get off to a great start.  Thank you for your help with that.

 

I have always felt blessed to be at Tular.  I am often asked what the best part of Tular is.  My answer is always “the people.”  We have the most amazing staff, students, families, and community members.  While this may not be the year we were hoping for, we can make it whatever year we want it to be.  So, please join us in envisioning the “what if’s?” for this year.  I believe our village can make this the best year yet.

 

Here is an outline of our current thinking about the start of the school year.  As with everything right now this is still tentative. By the end of the week we will know for sure and another communication will be coming out.

Aug 7 – Post Class lists

Aug 11 – Day 1 of school: Materials and Chromebook pickup

Aug 12 & 13 – Days 2 and 3 of school: Virtual Meet and Greets with the teachers/classes, and tech orientations/trainings for students and families

Aug 17 – Regular school day starts

 

Let’s all stay Bobcat Strong and Tular Proud.  “See you” soon.

 

Go Bobcats!

Ryan Peterson

Proud Principal, Tularcitos Elementary School

Nurturing Hearts, Expanding Minds, Inspiring Actions, Broadening Horizons.

Good Afternoon Bobcat Families.   

 

Summer is finally here.  Can you believe it?  As we head into summer, while we continue to look forward and plan for the unknowns of a new school year, I have also been reflecting on these past eleven weeks and what we have gone through. I want to make sure that we take from it the lessons we should learn.  I want to make sure that it has been a time of growth for all of us and not just a time of disappointment.  I am reminded of that fact that every crisis brings with it opportunity.  And it would be unfortunate if we all let this opportunity go by without learning something.

 

As we move forward and start next year, I am hoping we remember the lessons to enjoy the slower pace of life and value relationships above all else.  I hope that, as we return to the “new normal,” we do not just quickly fill up our schedules again, but that we evaluate all that can fill our plates and choose wisely what gets put on moving forward.  I am hoping that we continue to value time with our family and loved one by continuing to cook and have meals together, having game or movie nights, and going on family hikes or trips to the beach.  Above all, I am hoping that we continue to prioritize our spousal relationships or relationships with significant others by spending quality one-on-one time together on a regular basis.  I am sure there are other lessons that people have learned during this time, and I would encourage you to remember those so they are not lost as we move forward.    

 

Many people are asking what they can do this summer to make sure their child comes back as prepared as possible for the next grade level.  While there are academics you can do (we’ve created a link to resources on our website that is mentioned below), the most important thing you can do is to strengthen your child’s social and emotional skills by continuing to strengthen your relationships with your child and make good memories. Make sure you keep eating meals together, play games together, camp out in the back yard, read books together, travel virtually to different places around the world as a family, or take an online class about something you want to learn (look at outschool.com).  Like I have mentioned in an early Friday email, if our families come out of this stronger, our students will come out of this stronger, and we will all be ahead as we start school up in the fall. 

 

I know we are all anxious to know how we will start next year, but there is still no way to know.  I am projecting that, at the earliest, we will not know how school will start until mid to late July.  We continue to move forward in planning for three different scenarios – 1) if we can welcome back all students to campus with specific safety measures in place, 2) if we need to be in a hybrid model of students learning part time at school and part time at home, and 3) students having to learn full time from home.  Our district will send out communications about the start of next school year as we know more so please make sure to check the website and read those emails.

 

As a staff we wanted to send everyone to summer on a positive note, so we created a little video for all of you.  Here it is.  Enjoy!  https://drive.google.com/file/d/11IZ49gjzxTVxYW5T1XKPWN4Xlctcx8_x/view

Here are also the videos from the staff when we started the shelter-in-place that students might enjoy seeing again

Bobcat Mantra: https://www.schooltube.com/media/Bobcat+Mantra/0_n3u89y9z

Tularcitos Song: https://www.schooltube.com/media/Tularcitos+Song/0_8kligaji

5^th Graders, here is the link to my Promotion Address: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1PnNovPZjGspqPhxCyPrL9jKrvMPFdV-I/view

 

In this email

• Talking to your Child about Racism and the Protests
• End of Year Materials Return and Collection
• Yearbooks
• Report Cards
• Academic Resources for the Summer
• PTO Thank You
• Message from our PTO

 

Repeat in this Email

• Message from our Student Council President
• Kinder and New Student Registration for Next School Year
• Returning Student Registration

 

Talking to your Child about Racism and the Protests

If we were in school right now we would be engaging our students in developmentally appropriate discussions around what is happening in our nation at this time.  Children inherently understand that everyone should be treated with respect and compassion regardless of what you look like.  What they do not understand is why people treat others differently because they have a different skin color.  While these topics may be hard to talk about, they are vital to discuss.  Stamping out bias and racism in our society starts with taking time to address it in ourselves and with what we teach our children.  Here are a few resources for you to help discuss racism and the protests going on right now with your child.  If you have not already been talking about this in your house, I would highly encourage you to do so.  Since Kindergarten, every Tular student has been receiving lessons on personal character, and how people of all different backgrounds, races, and genders have made our world better for everyone.  Feel free to draw on those lessons as you discuss what is happening in our nation with your children.

Here is an article about talking to your students about what is going on

https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/01/health/protests-racism-talk-to-children-wellness/index.html

Here is a great book to “watch” with your child about racism (thank you, Mrs. OBryan, for finding it)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LnaltG5N8nE&feature=youtu.be

Here is another book to “watch” that I have read to students in the past about how we are all the same even though we might look and live differently

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f0J6tKoT53Y

 

End of Year Materials Return and Collection

If you were unable to pick up and return your materials on June 1 or 2, they will be in Bobcat Hall all next week between 9:00-3:00.

 

Yearbooks

The Yearbooks are in!  You can come in any day Tuesday-Friday, June 9-12, between 9:00-3:00 to pick up your yearbook in Bobcat Hall.  I want to give a huge thank you to Sawsan, our yearbook coordinator, for all of her work on it this year.  She spent countless hours checking working on it and you’ll see why.  It is an amazing yearbook!  Thank you!  We do have 10 extra yearbooks for sale.  They will be given on a first-come-first-served basis.  Please email Sawsan at sawsan93940@yahoo.com if you would like to purchase one.

 

Report Cards

Report cards will be mailed home the week of June 8.

 

Academic Resources for the Summer

Here is a link to a collection of resources students can access this summer for staying up on academics and other fun links.  There are quite a few listed.  I would recommend Khan Academy for anything academic and Get Epic for reading if you can’t make it to your local library.  If you can only do one thing for academics, please make sure your child is reading or you are reading with your child.

https://www.carmelunified.org/Domain/687

 

Thank you PTO

I want to especially thank our PTO for everything they did to support our school and community this year both while we were physically at school and while we have been learning at home.  Thank you, especially, to our PTO Executive Board, Heaven Tempalski, Lauren Robertson, Lauren Collins, and Gina Nucci.  They have been an absolutely amazing board.  Thank you for all of your dedication, time, energy, thought, and love. 

 

Message from our PTO

Thank you to everyone who helped with our PTO this year.  We are looking forward to seeing how we can best support our school and families next year in whatever school looks like.  Attached is an end of year letter to you from Heaven. We are still looking for some key board members and committee leads for next year.  If you are interested in doing more with our PTO, please contact Gina.    

 

Repeat in this email

Message from our Student Council President

Our student council president, Brianna, wrote an end of year speech to the students and families thanking them and wishing them a good summer. Here is the link to the video.  She did a fabulous job.  Enjoy.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1aUWMFVz3TDuAO-BmgU10hxb8RWIhdPM4/view?usp=sharing

 

Kinder and New Student Registration for Next School Year

Kinder and new student registration for next school year is open.  Please see our website for details of what you need to do.  https://www.carmelunified.org/domain/533  If you have an incoming kindergartener and did not come into our office prior to the closure, please visit our website ASAP.  Additionally, if you know someone else in the community who has an incoming kindergartener and has not registered, please direct them to the website ASAP as well.

 

Returning Student Registration

More information will be coming in an email in July regarding what you need to do for registering for next Fall.

 

Happy Summer.  Stay Bobcat Strong and Tular Proud!  Can’t wait to see everyone when we return!

Go Bobcats!

Ryan Peterson

Proud Principal, Tularcitos Elementary School

Nurturing Hearts, Expanding Minds, Inspiring Actions, Broadening Horizons.

Good Afternoon Bobcat Families.   

 

I hope you are all well.  I can’t believe we are almost done with school.  Next week is the last week for instruction as we will be collecting back materials on June 1 and 2 (see below for more details). 

 

I hope you had a chance to drive by Tularcitos to see the signs from the staff on the Library.  We will leave them up through the weekend.  In addition to the posted signs for Open House, as a staff we have a few things in store for the end of the year to bring closure for our students and celebrate them. 

 

If you are 5^th grade parent, a message went out earlier today regarding how promotion will work this year. Please see that email for details.

 

Understandably, I continue to get questions about what next year will look like.  As of right now, there is no way to know.  I am projecting that, at the earliest, we will not know how school will start until mid to late July.  Therefore, as a district, we are continuing to move forward in planning for three different scenarios – 1) if we can welcome back all students to campus with specific safety measures in place, 2) if we need to be in a hybrid model of students learning part-time at school and part-time at home, and 3) students having to learn full time from home.  Thank you to everyone who completed the parent survey.  We just got those results and will be using those to help us in developing what any potential at-home learning could look like next year.  Our district will continue to send out communications about the start of next school year as we know more, so please make sure to read those emails.

 

In this email

• End of Year Materials Return and Collection – June 1^st and 2^nd
• Collecting Back Loaned our Chromebooks
• PTO Thank You
• Attention to 4^th and 5^th grade instrumentalists
• Kinder and New Student Registration for Next School Year
• Returning Student Registration
• Information from the Specialists
• Monday Morning Announcement Still Going On
• Message from our PTO

 

Repeat in this Email

• Grading Policy for Elementary School
• Online Tutoring Now Available with our Tularcitos Instructional Aides
• Mindful Mondays and Parent Support Groups
• Notes from the Technology Department

 

End of Year Materials Return and Collection – June 1st and 2nd

There are a number of materials that we need to collect back from families at the end of the year.  There are also projects, artwork, yearbooks, and materials that we want to return to families as well.  We are going to do all of this in a similar way as we have done the previous two packet-pickup times, but this time it will be a swap of materials.  We will have your child’s materials packaged with their name on it in Bobcat Hall for you to pick up.  At the time you come into Bobcat Hall to pick up those materials, you will need to return the materials you have at home.  To return the materials you will need to  1) read the emails from your child’s teacher so you know what materials need to be returned to school, 2) place those materials in a bag with your child’s name on it, 3) when you pick up your materials in Bobcat Hall, place the materials you are returning in the same spot on the table (basically swap out the materials).  The dates to drop off and pick up your child’s materials will be Monday, June 1, and Tuesday, June 2 from 8:00-4:00 in Bobcat Hall. 

 

Collecting Back Loaned out Chromebooks

We will be collecting back any Chromebook that was loaned out on June 1 and 2 from 8:00-4:00 in Bobcat Hall.  Please make sure to return both the Chromebook and charger.

 

Thank you PTO

I want to especially thank our PTO for everything they did to support our school and community this year both while we were physically at school and while we have been learning at home.  Thank you, especially, to our PTO Executive Board, Heaven Tempalski, Lauren Robertson, Lauren Collins, and Gina Nucci.  They have been an absolutely amazing board.  Thank you for all of your dedication, time, energy, thought, and love.

 

Attention all 4th and 5th grade instrumentalists:

If you did not turn your instruments in today, please make sure to bring them with you on June 1 and 2 for the materials return time.  If your student wants to keep their instrument because they plan to continue playing it in the fall at either Tularcitos or CMS, please email Mrs. Kremer directly at jkremer@carmelunified.org to make arrangements.  Current 5th grade students heading to the Middle School next year may request to keep their current instrument for practice over the summer to prepare for 6th grade band or orchestra if they are signed up for music class in the fall but they must make arrangements to return it to Tularcitos the week prior to the first day of school next year.   Students who used their own instrument this school year should plan on returning their folders and books only.  

 

End of Year Teacher Gift

Some people have asked about what can be done for an end of year teacher gift.  If you want to give your teacher a gift, feel free to place the gift in the bag with the materials you are returning to school and make sure to notify the teacher it is in there.

 

Kinder and New Student Registration for Next School Year

Kinder and new student registration for next school year is open.  Please see our website for details of what you need to do.  https://www.carmelunified.org/domain/533  If you have an incoming kindergartener and did not come into our office prior to the closure, please visit our website ASAP.  Additionally, if you know someone else in the community who has an incoming kindergartener and has not registered, please direct them to the website ASAP as well.

 

Returning Student Registration

More information will be coming in an email in July regarding what you need to do for registering for next Fall.

 

Information from some Specialist

Our specialists continue to post new activities each week for students to do at home.  Their websites, and all teacher’s websites, can be found on the “Classrooms” webpage on the Tularcitos website:

https://www.carmelunified.org/site/Default.aspx?PageType=1&SiteID=140&ChannelID=143&DirectoryType=6

 

Monday Morning Announcements Still Going On

I am posting a new video every Monday morning with a message to the students and a reading of a book.  Here is the link (on the website): https://www.carmelunified.org/site/Default.aspx?PageID=5483

 

Message for our PTO

We are still at work to support our community through our Facebook page.  Thank you to everyone who has followed along with the posts and posted your participation.  We would encourage you to like and follow “Tularcitos Elementary PTO.”  We are trying to post themes of the day and have Tular families post pictures of what is happening at their house to keep our community connected. 

 

Repeat in this email

Grading Policy for Elementary School

Earlier this week Dr Dill-Varga emailed parents information about the new Administrative Regulation (AR), regarding how grading will work in CUSD for the end of year report cards this year.

 

Here is what the new AR states for elementary:

During school closure related to the COVID 19 crisis, grading for the spring of 2020 school year will be altered from our traditional systems. This plan is in line with the guidance provided by the California Department of Education to ensure students are held harmless during this crisis.

Elementary: Students at the elementary level will not be evaluated for 3rd trimester on their report cards, instead an N/A (not assessed) will be placed in the box next to each standard assessed during the trimester. Teacher comments will be placed in the narrative box on the report card.

 

For a number of reasons, we felt that trying to give elementary students grades for the 3rd trimester that would accurately reflect student learning would be very difficult.  In these circumstances, we cannot accurately conduct many of the assessments we do for students at the end of a trimester. To gauge progress of student academic levels, many assessments need to be done in-person, one-on-one, and in small groups. Also, we acknowledge that the grades students might get now would not accurately reflect the progress they could have made if they were in school.  

 

We are looking forward to providing students and parents report card comments at the end of the year which will focus on a student’s overall character, scholarship, and effort from the year.

 

When we return in the fall, we know we will need to perform a number of pre-assessments to determine student learning needs.  The assessment results will guide our teachers and we will adjust instruction accordingly.  We will meet the students where they are- academically, socially, emotionally, physically, and behaviorally. Our teachers already to a lot to differentiating instruction within their classrooms and they will take on this new challenge to support all students where they are and get them to where they need to be.

 

Online Tutoring Now Available with our Tularcitos Instructional Aides

Online tutoring is available Monday - Thursday, 9:00 am-12:00 pm (except Monday from 11:00-12:00) provided by our outstanding Tularcitos Instructional Aides.  Each session is 15 minutes long and you can sign up for as many 15-minute tutoring sessions as you would like. You can sign up for either "Zoom" or "Over the Phone" tutoring sessions.

To sign up, go to our website and click on the link, “Online Tutoring Sign-Ups” on the right side of the page under announcements. For your quick reference: https://www.carmelunified.org/site/Default.aspx?PageID=5710

Once on the site you will:  

1. Click on the link for the week that includes the day you want to sign up for online tutoring.
2. Complete the form. (If a time you want does not show up on the form, that means it has already been taken and you will need to sign up for another time slot.)
3. One of our Aides will get back to you at the time of your session through either email, if you signed up for a "Zoom" session, or phone, if you want an "Over the Phone" session.

 

Mindful Monday and Parent Support Groups

Mindful Mondays - Students can join me live in a zoom hangout on Monday for a mindfulness exercise and check in about school and life.

K & 1st can join at 10am and go to https://zoom.us/j/341625057 passcode - 006406

2nd & 3rd can join at 1pm and go to https://zoom.us/j/210914680 passcode - 006406

4th & 5th can join at 2:30pm and go to https://zoom.us/j/737892457 passcode - 006406

Parent Support

Feeling overwhelmed, needing support, want to share ideas or just connect with other parents? Join us for our weekly Parent Chat with Ms. Amy & Miss. Suzie every Wednesdays at 10am.  To join go to https://zoom.us/s/513939785  & the passcode is 006406. 

 

Notes for the Technology Department:

For specific technical support with your child’s Chromebook, you can now directly enter a help ticket to request assistance from one of our technicians. Use this link to see the instructions and the trouble ticket web address.

We are providing Chromebooks to students who need them, and we are looking for solutions for families who have no or poor internet access. Please let us know if you have these types of needs by using this form.

 

 

Enjoy the long weekend

Go Bobcats!

Ryan Peterson

Proud Principal, Tularcitos Elementary School

Nurturing Hearts, Expanding Minds, Inspiring Actions, Broadening Horizons.

Good Afternoon Bobcat Families.   

Happy Early Mother’s Day to all you moms!  Now, more than ever, you deserve a Mother’s Day.  Not only are you doing all of the jobs you normally do, but you have also now most likely taken on the role of classroom teacher as well.  I hope you feel appreciated on your day!

 

In the zoom coffee hosted by Dr. Dill-Varga yesterday that focused on elementary issues there were some good suggestions shared for ways we can make at-home learning work better if/when we have to go back into this model of learning next year. (It is good to be aware that throughout next year we will most likely have to move through different models of education based on what is happening in society.  We have to be prepared for times where we may be sheltered-in-place again, times where we could all be at school at once with limiting exposure to one another, or times where we may only be able to have smaller groups of students at school at a time).  In the zoom coffee people were able to share what it was like for them at home and people realized the vast range of desires families have for what learning should look like at home (i.e. people desiring more tech and people desiring less tech).  One of the main suggestions brought up was finding a way for students to connect on a more regular basis with teachers for instructional purposes.  I want to make sure everyone knows that, as a staff, we are talking about how we can improve on our current at-home learning model as well and feel that same need.  Part of our process for improvement will be to gather feedback from our families starting with the survey that was put out last week (link here).  So please make sure you fill that out and add comments at the end for specific suggestions about what is working and what you would like to see.   I also want to remind everyone that if you ever need help with any of the work your students are doing at home, please make sure to contact your teachers.  When we went into shelter-in-place the structures we set up to support students were purposefully flexible because we wanted to make sure we could be available at different times so you could access your teacher when you needed instructional support.  So please, if your child needs assistance on anything, reach out to your teachers during either the pre-established times throughout the week, or through email as I know your teachers are wanting to assist you and their students to make sure students are learning all they can during this time.

 

We are also still brainstorming ideas for end of year celebrations, so if you have some ideas, please send them my way.  Thank you to those people who already have.  We are also still discussing how the end of this year will happen with the collecting and distributing of materials (including yearbooks) the last week of school.  More details will be coming in the next couple of weeks. 

 

Like I stated, it is too early to know what school in Fall will look like, other than to know it will be different somehow.  Dr. Dill-Varga will continue to send out communications about the start of next school year, so please make sure to read those.

 

In this email

• Grading Policy for Elementary School
• Online Tutoring Now Available with our Tularcitos Instructional Aides
• Kinder and New Student Registration for Next School Year
• Returning Student Registration
• Teacher and Staff Appreciation Week Next Week
• Information from the Specialists
• Mindful Mondays and Parent Support Groups
• Monday Morning Announcement Still Going On
• Message from our PTO

 

Repeat in this Email

• No State Standardized Testing this Year
• Friend of Carmel Unified Schools (FOCUS) Needs Board Members for Next Year
• Notes from the Technology Department

 

Grading Policy for Elementary School

Earlier this week Dr Dill-Varga emailed parents information about the new Administrative Regulation (AR), regarding how grading will work in CUSD for the end of year report cards this year.

 

Here is what the new AR states for elementary:

During school closure related to the COVID 19 crisis, grading for the spring of 2020 school year will be altered from our traditional systems. This plan is in line with the guidance provided by the California Department of Education to ensure students are held harmless during this crisis.

Elementary: Students at the elementary level will not be evaluated for 3rd trimester on their report cards, instead an N/A (not assessed) will be placed in the box next to each standard assessed during the trimester. Teacher comments will be placed in the narrative box on the report card.

 

For a number of reasons, we felt that trying to give elementary students grades for the 3rd trimester that would accurately reflect student learning would be very difficult.  In these circumstances, we cannot accurately conduct many of the assessments we do for students at the end of a trimester. To gauge progress and student academic levels, many assessments need to be done in-person, one-on-one, and in small groups. Also, we acknowledge that the grades students might get now would not accurately reflect the progress they could have made if they were in school.  

 

We are looking forward to providing students and parents report card comments at the end of the year which will focus on a student’s overall character, scholarship, and effort from the year.

 

When we return in the fall, we know we will need to perform a number of pre-assessments to determine student learning needs.  The assessment results will guide our teachers and we will adjust instruction accordingly.  We will meet the students where they are- academically, socially, emotionally, physically, and behaviorally. Our teachers already to a lot to differentiating instruction within their classrooms and they will take on this new challenge to support all students where they are and get them to where they need to be.

 

Online Tutoring Now Available with our Tularcitos Instructional Aides

Thankfully, we have had a good number of people sign up for tutoring this week.  It is great to see people taking advantage of this.  We will be meeting as an instructional aide group this coming Tuesday afternoon to talk about how it is going and how we might improve the model.  If you signed up and have ideas, please email those to me.

 

Again, here is what we are doing:  We are making online tutoring available Monday - Thursday, 9:00 am-12:00 pm (except Monday from 11:00-12:00) provided by our outstanding Tularcitos Instructional Aides.  Each session is 15 minutes long and you can sign up for as many 15-minute tutoring sessions as you would like. You can sign up for either "Zoom" or "Over the Phone" tutoring sessions.

To sign up, go to our website and click on the link, “Online Tutoring Sign-Ups” on the right side of the page under announcements. For your quick reference: https://www.carmelunified.org/site/Default.aspx?PageID=5710

Once on the site you will:  

1. Click on the link for the week that includes the day you want to sign up for online tutoring.
2. Complete the form. (If a time you want does not show up on the form, that means it has already been taken and you will need to sign up for another time slot.)
3. One of our Aides will get back to you at the time of your session through either email, if you signed up for a "Zoom" session, or phone, if you want an "Over the Phone" session.

 

Again, this is something totally new that we are trying and thus the structure may alter over time.  We are hopeful that students and families will find it beneficial.  Please know that your child may not get tutoring from their normal classroom aide as that aide may not be providing tutoring during the time slot you sign up for.  However, all of our aides are wonderful so I know the support your child receives will be great.

 

Kinder and New Student Registration for Next School Year

Kinder and new student registration for next school year is open.  Please see our website for details of what you need to do.  https://www.carmelunified.org/domain/533  If you have an incoming kindergartener and did not come into our office prior to the closure, please visit our website ASAP.  Additionally, if you know someone else in the community who has an incoming kindergartener and has not registered, please direct them to the website ASAP as well.

 

Returning Student Registration

More information will be coming in May regarding what you need to do for registering for next Fall.

 

Teacher and Staff Appreciation Week Next Week.

Thank you to everyone who shared a note of appreciation with your teachers or other staff members this week.  It was very heartwarming to get those.  If you did not get the chance, it is never to late.  Notes of appreciation are always a good idea!

 

Information from some Specialist

Our specialists continue to post new activities each week for students to do at home.  Their websites, and all teacher’s websites, can be found on the “Classrooms” webpage on the Tularcitos website:

https://www.carmelunified.org/site/Default.aspx?PageType=1&SiteID=140&ChannelID=143&DirectoryType=6

 

Mindful Monday and Parent Support Groups

Mindful Mondays - Students can join me live in a zoom hangout on Monday for a mindfulness exercise and check in about school and life.

K & 1st can join at 10am and go to https://zoom.us/j/341625057 passcode - 006406

2nd & 3rd can join at 1pm and go to https://zoom.us/j/210914680 passcode - 006406

4th & 5th can join at 2:30pm and go to https://zoom.us/j/737892457 passcode - 006406

Parent Support

Feeling overwhelmed, needing support, want to share ideas or just connect with other parents? Join us for our weekly Parent Chat with Ms. Amy & Miss. Suzie every Wednesdays at 10am.  To join go to https://zoom.us/s/513939785  & the passcode is 006406. 

 

Monday Morning Announcements Still Going On

I am posting a new video every Monday morning with a message to the students and a reading of a book.  Here is the link (on the website): https://www.carmelunified.org/site/Default.aspx?PageID=5483

 

Message for our PTO

We are still at work to support our community through our Facebook page.  Thank you to everyone who has followed along with the posts and posted your participation.  We would encourage you to like and follow “Tularcitos Elementary PTO.”  We are trying to post themes of the day and have Tular families post pictures of what is happening at their house to keep our community connected. 

 

Repeat in this email

No State Standardized Testing this Year

Normally, this is the time of year where we start the state standardized testing in grades 3^rd, 4^th, and 5^th.  In case you are wondering, these tests have been canceled for this year.  So we do not need to worry about them.

 

Friends of Carmel Unified Schools (FOCUS) Board Positions for next year open

Come join the FOCUS Board! FOCUS supports quality education within the Carmel Unified School District and since its founding has provided close to $3,000,000 in grants that support academic and social-emotional student success. Several FOCUS Board members have students leaving CUSD in 2020 or 2021. We need parents to join the Board so that they can shadow in the 2020/2021 school year for the positions of President and Treasurer.  We will also be losing our Secretary this year, so we need to fill that position for the 2020/2021 school year. If you are interested, please contact Kath Uyeda at: kuyeda@zcheetah.com.

 

Notes for the Technology Department:

For specific technical support with your child’s Chromebook, you can now directly enter a help ticket to request assistance from one of our technicians. Use this link to see the instructions and the trouble ticket web address.

We are providing Chromebooks to students who need them, and we are looking for solutions for families who have no or poor internet access. Please let us know if you have these types of needs by using this form.

 

 

Hope you have a good Weekend! 

Go Bobcats!

Ryan Peterson

Proud Principal, Tularcitos Elementary School

Nurturing Hearts, Expanding Minds, Inspiring Actions, Broadening Horizons.

Good Afternoon Bobcat Families.   Happy May Day!

 

In talking with staff and some families this week, I know this week was a particularly difficult one.  I want to encourage everyone to hang in there and to keep prioritizing your family relationships and the social-emotional well-being in your household.  As a reminder, Ms Amy, our counselor, and Ms Suzie, our Monterey County Behavioral Health Counselor, hold parent support meetings Wednesday’s at 10:00 am.  Please feel free to join and/or to reach out to Ms. Amy for support with anything happening at home.  Here is the link with more info https://www.carmelunified.org/Page/5648 

I also want to encourage all of the parents to make sure you are getting some personal time to care for yourself and that you are also getting some alone time with your significant other to strengthen that relationship as well.  We cannot take care of our children if we do not address our own health as well.

 

If you did not get a chance to read my last Friday email and are having trouble at home, I would encourage you to reach what I wrote in the “repeated in this email section” at the bottom of this email.

 

I know many people are starting to wonder about the end of this year and the beginning of next.  We are currently discussing as a staff and district how the end of this year will happen with the collecting and distributing of materials as well as what we will be doing to bring a sense of closure and celebrate the year.  More details will be coming in the next couple of weeks.  (if you come across any good ideas for end of year celebrations at a time of distancing, please email them to me).  For the start of next year, it is too early to know what that will look like, other than to know it will be different somehow.  Dr. Dill-Varga, our superintendent sent an email out this week entitled “What does the Future Look Like?” with more information regarding what we currently know and don’t know that I would recommend reading, if you have not already.

 

In this email

• Online Tutoring Now Available with our Tularcitos Instructional Aides
• Kinder and New Student Registration for Next School Year
• Returning Student Registration
• Teacher and Staff Appreciation Week Next Week
• Information from the Specialists
• From Mrs. Kremer for Music
• From Mrs. Petersen for Technology
• Monday Morning Announcement Still Going On
• No State Standardized Testing this Year
• Message from our PTO

 

Repeat in this Email

• Last Friday’s Words of Encouragement
• Helping Us Help You
• Parent Input Form
• Friend of Carmel Unified Schools (FOCUS) Needs Board Members for Next Year
• Children Feeling Lonely
• Notes from the Technology Department

 

Online Tutoring Now Available with our Tularcitos Instructional Aides

First, please know that this is a work in progress.  We are trying to find more ways of assisting students in their learning at home.  So this structure may change and any feedback would be greatly appreciated and should be emailed to me at rpeterson@carmelunified.org.

 

Here is what we are going to try:  We are making online tutoring available Monday - Thursday, 9:00 am-12:00 pm (except Monday from 11:00-12:00) provided by our outstanding Tularcitos Instructional Aides.  Each session is 15 minutes long and you can sign up for as many 15-minute tutoring sessions as you would like. You can sign up for either "Zoom" or "Over the Phone" tutoring sessions.

To sign up, go to our website and click on the link, “Online Tutoring Sign-Ups” on the right side of the page under announcements. For your quick reference: https://www.carmelunified.org/site/Default.aspx?PageID=5710

Once on the site you will:  

1. Click on the link for the week that includes the day you want to sign up for online tutoring.
2. Complete the form. (If a time you want does not show up on the form, that means it has already been taken and you will need to sign up for another time slot.)
3. One of our Aides will get back to you at the time of your session through either email, if you signed up for a "Zoom" session, or phone, if you want an "Over the Phone" session.

 

Again, this is something totally new that we are trying and thus the structure may alter over time.  We are hopeful that students and families will find it beneficial.  Please know that your child may not get tutoring from their normal classroom aide as that aide may not be providing tutoring during the time slot you sign up for.  However, all of our aides are wonderful so I know the support your child receives will be great.

 

Kinder and New Student Registration for Next School Year

Kinder and new student registration for next school year is open.  Please see our website for details of what you need to do.  https://www.carmelunified.org/domain/533  If you have an incoming kindergartener and did not come into our office prior to the closure, please visit our website ASAP.  Additionally, if you know someone else in the community who has an incoming kindergartener and has not registered, please direct them to the website ASAP as well.

 

Returning Student Registration

More information will be coming in May regarding what you need to do for registering for next Fall.

 

Teacher and Staff Appreciation Week Next Week.

I would love to share with our staff members (teachers, aides, support staff, office staff, custodians - everyone) your words of appreciation during Staff Appreciation Week next week (week of May 4-8).  Please take a few minutes with your child to complete this form for any staff member you want to share your appreciation towards.  You can have your child share their appreciation, and/or you can write one yourself.  To make it easy for me to share your words with the staff members, please complete one form per staff member (please do not put multiple staff members on one form).  Please complete this by Wednesday, May 6, at midnight. After this time, I will compile all of all the words of appreciation for each staff member and share them with that person.  Or course, if you want to do something else next week for your teacher, please do so as well.  I know the teachers would greatly appreciate any encouragement especially during this time.  They are missing their students and families tremendously.  Thank you for showing the Tular staff how much they are appreciated.

Form: https://forms.gle/venjKPF3ouFKJzZb8

 

Information from some Specialist

I want to make sure everyone knows that our specialists continue to post new activities each week for students to do at home.  Here is a message from some of them. Also know that all teacher’s websites can be found on the “Classrooms” webpage on the Tularcitos website:

https://www.carmelunified.org/site/Default.aspx?PageType=1&SiteID=140&ChannelID=143&DirectoryType=6

 

From Mrs. Kremer for Music

I continue to keep my website updated weekly with music activities for each grade level (jenniferkremer.edublogs.org).  I have also added more exercises in SmartMusic for instrumentalists in 4th and 5th grade.  Students with instruments should try to record and submit at least 1 or 2 exercises per week if possible.  Additionally, all 3rd grade families should look for an email with information about the instrumental program in 4th grade which was sent earlier this week.  The email directs families to read about the instrument options in 4th grade as well as complete a short survey on google forms so that she can begin accumulating materials and supplies for instrumental classes next year.  If you did not receive the email, please check the "choosing an instrument tab" on my webpage.  Please email me with any questions at jkremer@carmelunified.org

 

From Mrs. Petersen for Technology

Check out the Student Links page - there are some ideas for family discussions around balancing screen time with non-screen activities.  These are not lessons, but will hopefully help each family and/or student think about the best balance for themselves. 

 

Monday Morning Announcements Still Going On

I am posting a new video every Monday morning with a message to the students and a reading of a book.  Here is the link (on the website): https://www.carmelunified.org/site/Default.aspx?PageID=5483

 

No State Standardized Testing this Year

Normally, this is the time of year where we start the state standardized testing in grades 3^rd, 4^th, and 5^th.  In case you are wondering, these tests have been canceled for this year.  So we do not need to worry about them.

 

Message for our PTO

We are still at work to support our community through our Facebook page.  Thank you to everyone who has followed along with the posts and posted your participation.  We would encourage you to like and follow “Tularcitos Elementary PTO.”  We are trying to post themes of the day and have Tular families post pictures of what is happening at their house to keep our community connected. 

 

Repeat in this email

Last Friday’s Words of Encouragement:

I want to encourage everyone to keep relationships and the social-emotional well-being of you and your children the priority in your household right now.  Knowing that we won’t be returning to school this year has many people, if not everyone, wondering, “What if my child falls behind during this time?”  That is a completely natural thought.  I know I’ve had it for my own kids as well.  In response, I want to set people’s mind at ease.  As a school, while we have provided our students with what we consider to be vital in order to come back prepared for next year, we know we will have to make adjustments to instruction when we return, just like every educational institution in the world.  We are all in this together.  And as a school, we will support every one of our students when we return, and they will be fine.  So the challenge for us at this time is to shift our thinking during this time from, “How can we keep our children from falling behind?” to “How can we help our children and families thrive?”  People thrive when they know they are unconditionally loved and feel safe to explore and be curious.  I heard an interview with someone online this week where the interviewer responded with something similar to, “we will all have memories about this when it is all over.  We need to be thinking about how we can make sure those are positive memories.”  That resonated with me, and I want to encourage us to all think about that and do what we can to create those positive memories for our children.  We don’t want our children remembering the fights they had with their parents over the work they had to do for school.  We want them remembering how their parents did all they could to support them (or even laugh at how their parent struggled with their school work) and all the extra times their parents heard them say, “I love you.”  We want our children remembering the fun times they had with their parents and family playing games, preparing and eating meals together, exploring outside, or just goofing off. Not memories of everyone in the house consumed on their own electronic device (although I know many of us have our own work to get done on our computers, so there is no shame in the time we need to do that). 

 

I know many families are experiencing stress right now because of some very difficult circumstances.  I do not want to come across as downplaying that at all.  These are hard times.  I just want to assure all of us that, if we keep our priorities in the right place and invest in our family relationships, there is no way our students can “fall behind.”  In fact, I firmly believe that if the families in our community come out of this stronger, our children will actually be ahead.

 

Helping us help you

One thing we have realized during this time is that teachers are providing just as much help to parents as they are to students.  We realize this is very necessary since parents have become the main teachers at home.  While we are very happy to do this, we realize that we need a couple of things from parents to help us help you.  First, please make sure that you thoroughly read through the emails your teachers send you each week.  We know it can be a lot of info, but we have tried our best to consolidate a lot of details into digestible chunks.  By reading those emails thoroughly at the start of each week it will cut down on the amount of repeated information we are having to provide to parents when we talk to them on the phone of through Zoom, and this will allow us to spend more time helping the students.  The second is that we need your help in making sure your children get to their class’s Zoom sessions on time.  Just like showing up late to school, it is disruptive when a teacher has to let a student into a Zoom meeting late and this leaves the student what is going on as well.  If you need to, please set an alarm a few minutes before the Zoom starts so that you can make sure your child can be on time.  Thank you for your help in these two areas. 

 

Parent Input Form

Each year, we work as a staff to establish classes that are balanced for next year.  When making class placement decisions, we take into account a variety of factors to achieve the best balance possible. The following factors are considered:

• Each student’s academic status, special needs, interests, behavior, and motivation;
• Boy/girl ratio;
• Academic balance of high, medium and low achieving students;
• Styles of individual teachers;
• Class size balance among classes at each grade level.

Parents/Guardians who would like to give input about their child’s placement may write a request for a particular learning environment (e.g. learning style, personality attributes, classroom physical environment, educational needs, etc.) by completing the Electronic Class Placement Parent Input Form below All forms must be completed by Friday, May 8th.  No late forms will be accepted.  Additionally, since some teachers change grade levels year to year, please do not write a request for a specific teacher. If a form is turned in with a teacher's name as a particular request, it will be discarded and not considered.

Input Form: https://forms.gle/B99wW1uJionAuh3M9

 

Friends of Carmel Unified Schools (FOCUS) Board Positions for next year open

Come join the FOCUS Board! FOCUS supports quality education within the Carmel Unified School District and since its founding has provided close to $3,000,000 in grants that support academic and social-emotional student success. Several FOCUS Board members have students leaving CUSD in 2020 or 2021. We need parents to join the Board so that they can shadow in the 2020/2021 school year for the positions of President and Treasurer.  We will also be losing our Secretary this year, so we need to fill that position for the 2020/2021 school year. If you are interested, please contact Kath Uyeda at: kuyeda@zcheetah.com.

 

Children Feeling Lonely

Here is a great article that Mrs. Neuhaus shared with me about helping children deal with the lonely feelings they may be experiencing during this time (which is to be completely expected).  I know many of the students (and we adults) are missing their friends right now.  I’d encourage you to spend time reading it when you get a chance.

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/our-kids-are-feeling-lonely-in-lockdown-here-are-10-ways-to-help_l_5e9f317ac5b6b2e5b8390937?utm_campaign=share_email&ncid=other_email_o63gt2jcad4

 

Notes for the Technology Department:

For specific technical support with your child’s Chromebook, you can now directly enter a help ticket to request assistance from one of our technicians. Use this link to see the instructions and the trouble ticket web address.

We are providing Chromebooks to students who need them, and we are looking for solutions for families who have no or poor internet access. Please let us know if you have these types of needs by using this form.

 

 

Hope you have a good Weekend! 

Go Bobcats!

Ryan Peterson

Proud Principal, Tularcitos Elementary School

Nurturing Hearts, Expanding Minds, Inspiring Actions, Broadening Horizons.

Good Afternoon Bobcat Families. 

 

I hope you all had a great spring break and that you were able to get back into a family rhythm for your at home learning.  I know my family enjoyed the break and took time to virtually travel to different countries around the world each night.  It was so much fun we’ve kept it going and our kids keep asking where we are going next.  I definitely recommend it.  It was also great to see everyone pick up their packets earlier this week.  Thank you for your commitment to doing everything you can at home to keep your child’s learning moving forward as much as it can during this time.

 

That said, as I have mentioned in past emails, I want to encourage everyone to keep relationships and the social-emotional well-being of you and your children the priority in your household right now.  Knowing that we won’t be returning to school this year has many people, if not everyone, wondering, “What if my child falls behind during this time?”  That is a completely natural thought.  I know I’ve had it for my own kids as well.  In response, I want to set people’s mind at ease.  As a school, while we have provided our students with what we consider to be vital in order to come back prepared for next year, we know we will have to make adjustments to instruction when we return, just like every educational institution in the world.  We are all in this together.  And as a school, we will support every one of our students when we return, and they will be fine.  So the challenge for us at this time is to shift our thinking during this time from, “How can we keep our children from falling behind?” to “How can we help our children and families thrive?”  People thrive when they know they are unconditionally loved and feel safe to explore and be curious.  I heard an interview with someone online this week where the interviewer responded with something similar to, “we will all have memories about this when it is all over.  We need to be thinking about how we can make sure those are positive memories.”  That resonated with me, and I want to encourage us to all think about that and do what we can to create those positive memories for our children.  We don’t want our children remembering the fights they had with their parents over the work they had to do for school.  We want them remembering how their parents did all they could to support them (or even laugh at how their parent struggled with their school work) and all the extra times their parents heard them say, “I love you.”  We want our children remembering the fun times they had with their parents and family playing games, preparing and eating meals together, exploring outside, or just goofing off. Not memories of everyone in the house consumed on their own electronic device (although I know many of us have our own work to get done on our computers, so there is no shame in the time we need to do that). 

 

I know many families are experiencing stress right now because of some very difficult circumstances.  I do not want to come across as downplaying that at all.  These are hard times.  I just want to assure all of us that, if we keep our priorities in the right place and invest in our family relationships, there is no way our students can “fall behind.”  In fact, I firmly believe that if the families in our community come out of this stronger, our children will actually be ahead.

 

In this email

• Kinder and New Student Registration for Next School Year
• Helping Us Help You
• Parent Input Form
• Friend of Carmel Unified Schools (FOCUS) Needs Board Members for Next Year
• Children Feeling Lonely
• Notes from the Technology Department
• Information from the Specialists
• Monday Morning Announcement Still Going On
• Message from our PTO

 

Repeat in this Email

• 3^rd Grade Service Project for Monterey County Food Bank
• 4^th Grade Service Project – Sharing a Tularcitos Smile
• Zoom Safety

 

Kinder and New Student Registration for Next School Year

Kinder and new student registration for next school year is still open.  Please see our website for details of what you need to do.  https://www.carmelunified.org/domain/533  If you have an incoming kindergartener and did not come into our office prior to the closure, please visit our website ASAP.  Additionally, if you know someone else in the community who has an incoming kindergartener and has not registered, please direct them to the website ASAP as well.

 

Helping us help you

One thing we have realized during this time is that teachers are providing just as much help to parents as they are to students.  We realize this is very necessary since parents have become the main teachers at home.  While we are very happy to do this, we realize that we need a couple of things from parents to help us help you.  First, please make sure that you thoroughly read through the emails your teachers send you each week.  We know it can be a lot of info, but we have tried our best to consolidate a lot of details into digestible chunks.  By reading those emails thoroughly at the start of each week it will cut down on the amount of repeated information we are having to provide to parents when we talk to them on the phone of through Zoom, and this will allow us to spend more time helping the students.  The second is that we need your help in making sure your children get to their class’s Zoom sessions on time.  Just like showing up late to school, it is disruptive when a teacher has to let a student into a Zoom meeting late and this leaves the student what is going on as well.  If you need to, please set an alarm a few minutes before the Zoom starts so that you can make sure your child can be on time.  Thank you for your help in these two areas. 

 

Parent Input Form

Each year, we work as a staff to establish classes that are balanced for next year.  When making class placement decisions, we take into account a variety of factors to achieve the best balance possible. The following factors are considered:

• Each student’s academic status, special needs, interests, behavior, and motivation;
• Boy/girl ratio;
• Academic balance of high, medium and low achieving students;
• Styles of individual teachers;
• Class size balance among classes at each grade level.

Parents/Guardians who would like to give input about their child’s placement may write a request for a particular learning environment (e.g. learning style, personality attributes, classroom physical environment, educational needs, etc.) by completing the Electronic Class Placement Parent Input Form below All forms must be submitted by Friday, May 8th.  No late forms will be accepted.  Additionally, since some teachers change grade levels year to year, please do not write a request for a specific teacher. If a form is turned in with a teacher's name as a particular request, it will be discarded and not considered.

Input Form: https://forms.gle/B99wW1uJionAuh3M9

 

Friends of Carmel Unified Schools (FOCUS) Board Positions for next year open

Come join the FOCUS Board! FOCUS supports quality education within the Carmel Unified School District and since its founding has provided close to $3,000,000 in grants that support academic and social-emotional student success. Several FOCUS Board members have students leaving CUSD in 2020 or 2021. We need parents to join the Board so that they can shadow in the 2020/2021 school year for the positions of President and Treasurer.  We will also be losing our Secretary this year, so we need to fill that position for the 2020/2021 school year. If you are interested, please contact Kath Uyeda at: kuyeda@zcheetah.com.

 

Children Feeling Lonely

Here is a great article that Mrs. Neuhaus shared with me about helping children deal with the lonely feelings they may be experiencing during this time (which is to be completely expected).  I know many of the students (and we adults) are missing their friends right now.  I’d encourage you to spend time reading it when you get a chance.

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/our-kids-are-feeling-lonely-in-lockdown-here-are-10-ways-to-help_l_5e9f317ac5b6b2e5b8390937?utm_campaign=share_email&ncid=other_email_o63gt2jcad4

 

Notes for the Technology Department:

For specific technical support with your child’s Chromebook, you can now directly enter a help ticket to request assistance from one of our technicians. Use this link to see the instructions and the trouble ticket web address.

We are providing Chromebooks to students who need them, and we are looking for solutions for families who have no or poor internet access. Please let us know if you have these types of needs by using this form.

 

Information from some Specialist

I want to make sure everyone knows that our specialists are posting activities for students to do at home as well.  Here is a message from some of them. Also know that all teacher’s websites can be found on the “Classrooms” webpage on the Tularcitos website:

https://www.carmelunified.org/site/Default.aspx?PageType=1&SiteID=140&ChannelID=143&DirectoryType=6

 

Monday Morning Announcements Still Going On

I am posting a new video every Monday morning with a message to the students and a reading of a book.  Here is the link (on the website): https://www.carmelunified.org/site/Default.aspx?PageID=5483

 

Message for our PTO

We are still at work to support our community through our Facebook page.  Thank you to everyone who has followed along with the posts and posted your participation.  We would encourage you to like and follow “Tularcitos Elementary PTO.”  We are trying to post themes of the day and have Tular families post pictures of what is happening at their house to keep our community connected. 

 

Repeat in this email

3^rd Grade Service Project Supporting Monterey County Food Bank

At this time of year, our 3^rd graders normally do a service project of collecting food for the Monterey County Food Bank.  We do this project in spring because the food bank is normally low on food during this time.  I know that the food bank is in high need of donations right now.  While we cannot collect food for them, we do want to encourage our families, if you are able, to donate money to them.  Here is the link to their website where you can donate. 

https://foodbankformontereycounty.org/

 

4^th Grade Service Project – Sharing a Tularcitos Smile

Are you interested in spreading a little bit of Tularcitos sunshine? The fourth-grade team at Tularcitos is inviting any students/families who are interested to “Share a Tularcitos Smile” and write letters/draw pictures for the elderly and/or essential workers in our community! We know it has been a challenge for most of us with the shelter-in-place and social distancing guidelines and this, most likely, has been a particularly lonely time for the elderly. In addition, we thought that students could show their appreciation for the essential workers who are keeping us safe and/or providing important services for our community. We encourage everyone who is willing and able to participate!

 

In an email that went out Monday, April 6, we explained what we are doing and provided addresses for some local organizations and retirement/nursing homes. This was not a comprehensive list and we encourage you to write not only to those listed but to anyone you know who you would like to reach out to and/or show your appreciation. Some of you may be wondering if it is okay for the elderly to receive mail. We have checked with the facilities we listed to make sure their residents can safely receive mail during this time and have been assured that cards/pictures would be welcomed!

 

Students should address cards, “Dear Friend,” and sign them, “Your friend at Tularcitos.” Please use Tularcitos School for the return address: 35 Ford Rd., Carmel Valley, CA  93924.

 

Please make sure you preview your child’s card/picture before sending it. We also want to remind everyone to make sure to follow hand-washing guidelines before making or sending cards. We thank you, in advance, for helping to “Share a Tularcitos Smile!”

 

Zoom safety

Parents have brought up questions about the safety of Zoom meetings. Naturally, this is of utmost importance to our district as well. This week, the tech department set up all staff accounts with tight security settings to block “Zoombombing,” prevent outsiders from entering a meeting, and provide stricter controls.  As we navigate this new learning environment, we are continually making adjustments and learning new methods of delivering effective instruction. We appreciate the feedback we've been receiving from students, parents, and staff.

 

 

Hope you are enjoying the sunshine!  We are so lucky to live in this paradise.

Go Bobcats!

Ryan Peterson

Proud Principal, Tularcitos Elementary School

Nurturing Hearts, Expanding Minds, Inspiring Actions, Broadening Horizons.