Bobcat Tales
April 17, 2026
Mark Your Calendar
April 30th: Open House 5:00-7:00pm (see details below)
May 6th: Kindergarten Round Up
May 7th: SLVE TK Kick off
May 4th-15th: CAASPP Testing Grades 3-5
May 18th-22nd: CAST Science Testing Grade 5
SLVE Open House Thursday, April 30th
It's almost that time of the year again~SLVE Open House! We are looking forward to seeing all of our SLVE students, families and friends as we celebrate this year's Open House. Students, teachers and staff have worked hard to prepare for this amazing evening. Come have dinner, visit classrooms, the art show, garden/life lab and more! It's going to be a great evening of celebration and community. Please see Open House schedule below.
Schedule:
5:00-7:00
- Art Show (MU)
- Food Trucks
- Life Lab Garden w/ Ms. Amy
5:30-6:30
- TK-5th Grade Classrooms Open
- Counseling Center Open~Room 33
- RSP Room Open~Room 35
- 4th/5th Grade Science~Room 29
Message from Principal Ponza
UFLI, Grammar, Spelling Pilot Feedback
Dear SLVE Families,
Based on family feedback from our Annual Parent Survey, there was a need to enhance our work around Spelling and Phonics. Our school has been piloting two instructional programs designed to strengthen students’ foundational literacy skills: UFLI (University of Florida Literacy Institute) and a Zaner-Bloser spelling curriculum.
The purpose of these pilots is to ensure we are using high-quality, research-based instructional materials that support students in developing strong skills in reading, spelling, and word recognition. Throughout the year, teachers have been implementing these programs and monitoring student progress to better understand their impact on learning.
Families often see growth in ways that may not always be captured in classroom assessments—such as increased confidence, willingness to read, or changes in how students approach spelling and writing.If you’ve noticed any changes in your child’s reading or spelling this year and would like to share your feedback, here, we would welcome it. Your perspective helps us better understand the impact of these programs.
Thank you for your continued partnership and support.
Student Registration is now open.
The PowerSchool registration is now open for 2026-2027 school year, please follow these instructions below to complete the online forms. We need your up-to-date contact preferences, student health data, parent/student permissions, as well as other important information verified or completed within one week of receipt or prior to the first day of school whichever is first. Having all the necessary information will help us with student placement and scheduling. Your timely input and cooperation are greatly appreciated.
An email will be sent this week from PowerSchool Enrollment. Please follow the directions below to complete your registration form.
Directions to follow:
1. Please find in your email an email from PowerSchool Enrollment
2. Title of the email will read : SLVUSD POWERSCHOOL ENROLLMENT (ONLINE REGISTRATION)
3. Locate the yellow box on the email. In the yellow box will be the link for you to click to complete the online registration form.
4. You will use your student's date of birth to access the form, once you click the link in the yellow box.
5. Please use Google Chrome or a Firefox browser to complete the form
6. You will receive one email for every student you have that will be returning to SLVUSD. Each student will need to complete the registration process.
For any technical difficulties encountered during the enrollment process, please contact PowerSchool using the below channels:
- PowerSchool Support: https://help.powerschool.com/t5/reg
- Phone: (866) 752-6850, Listen carefully and follow the prompts; select Option 1; Monday through Friday, 8AM -5PM EST
School Contact Information:
- Boulder Creek Elementary - 831-338-6413 x510
- San Lorenzo Valley Elementary - 831-335-4475 x410
- San Lorenzo Valley Middle School - 831-335-4452 x310
- San Lorenzo Valley High - 831-335-4721 x210
- Special Education and/or Ludlow Preschool - 831-336-9678 x141
- SLVUSD Charter School - 831-336-5167 x610
Please reach out to the school Registrar and ask any general questions about the form or the Student Registration process.
Thank you and we look forward to seeing you in the upcoming new school year!
Lauri E. Martin
Assistant Superintendent Instructional Services
San Lorenzo Valley Unified School District
831-336-8852
San Lorenzo Valley Elementary Intent to Return Form~Please complete today!
It is hard to believe but it is time for us to start thinking about next year. We ask that EVERY SLVE family complete the Intent to Return form. We need to know about each and every student so we can plan classes and staffing for next year. Please click on this link: SLVE Intent to Return Form to complete the form.
Message from Ms. Alves, Dean of Students
April Update: Responsibility
Our PBIS theme for April is Responsibility. Students will be reading books about responsibility in class!
Throughout the month, teachers will nominate students who demonstrate responsible behavior in class, at recess and all around campus! Families of award recipients will be invited to attend our assembly on April 29th to help us honor and celebrate their students.
School Store Update
Our next school store will be on Friday, April 17th during recess. Thank you so much for all of your generous donations to the school store. Students are enjoying new items in the school store, including food and larger prizes. If you would like to donate to the school store, please visit this link: SLVE Bobcat Store Wishlist.
Interested in helping host the school store monthly? We are looking for some parent volunteers who would like to help run our school store by setting up, hosting, and cleaning up the school store once a month in the Library or MU room. Please contact Sage Alves malves@slvusd.org if you are interested!
Bobcat Club News
Last Chance: 5th Grade Yearbook Dedications Close Tonight!
5th-grade families—don’t miss your chance to purchase a special yearbook dedication for your child! Please review the instructions carefully. The deadline is tonight (April 17) at midnight—no exceptions. Note: Dedications must be created on a computer.
A Night Under the Stars Auction is Next Week!
Join us for an unforgettable evening! Your ticket includes an open bar (alcoholic and non-alcoholic), dinner, a DJ, dancing, and access to incredible raffle and auction items.
Want your child’s birthday featured on the marquee? You can bid on it at the auction!
Looking for a deal? Sign up to volunteer and receive a discount code toward your ticket.
Sign up to volunteer HERE
We can’t wait to celebrate together! Buy Tickets
Teacher & Staff Appreciation Week | May 4–8
Let’s show our amazing SLVE staff how much we appreciate them! The Bobcat Club and SLVE families are coming together to celebrate and spoil our incredible teachers and staff.
Start by signing up to decorate a door—more opportunities to get involved will be shared next week!.
Save the Dates
April 24: Spring Auction at Roaring Camp - A Night Under the Stars
April 30: Open House
May 4-8: Staff Appreciation Week
May 12: Bobcat Club Meeting and Elections
Community Opportunities Website
The "Community Opportunities" website link is provided as a courtesy to parents and students, by the San Lorenzo Valley Unified School District, to enable you to receive information of current local events and opportunities for adults and/or children.
Triple P Parenting Classes
Triple P Positive Parenting topical workshop flyers for April.
Información sobre programas en español disponibles en el sitio web.
Each flyer has its own unique link to register for each class, or go to https://www.first5scc.org/triple-p-classes and register on the website. All of these classes are on Zoom!
Workshops are all free, and grant funded by First Five of Santa Cruz.
Individual sessions are also available for free or sliding scale. If you are interested in a 1:1 session, please contact First Five of Santa Cruz at First 5 Santa Cruz County at (831) 465-2217 or
Creating a Safe and Caring School for Everyone at SLVE
At San Lorenzo Valley Elementary, we want to start the school year by sharing something very important: we do not allow any form of hate, bullying, or unkind behavior in our schools. Every student and adult deserves to feel safe, respected, and welcome—always.
We are proud of the many different backgrounds, families, and identities that make up our school community. We believe every student should be treated with kindness, no matter their race, abilities, gender, religion, or family structure.
Here’s how we support a safe and inclusive school:
We take all reports of bullying, body shaming, or hateful actions seriously and follow our rules to keep everyone safe.
We teach students about kindness, respect, and how to treat others through class lessons and school activities.
We provide counseling and support to students and families who need it.
We ask for your help at home, too. Please talk with your children about treating others with empathy and kindness.
Together, we can make sure our schools are places where every student can learn, grow, and feel proud of who they are.
Attendance Matters
We'd like to emphasize the importance of daily attendance for your student.
We know people get sick, people get injured, and there can be family or life responsibilities and other issues that are reasonable and excused. But if your student can attend, they need to be in school.
If your student is out for three or more consecutive days, we may request a doctor’s note to continue excusing the absences. Students who miss 3-5 days will receive a Chronic Absence letter. We will then meet with those families to attempt to support the student attending school. On the second Chronic Absence Letter, families may be required to meet at the District Office to put a plan in place for the student’s attendance. On the third Chronic Absence Letter, families may be required to meet with the County Office Student Attendance Review Board for truancy. Our goal is that nobody ever gets that far along with truancy. We are here to help and support, but it does start at home with the expectation that your student will attend school regularly. For more information please visit our SLVUSD Student Attendance Policy on the SLVUSD website.
Please remember that students who are absent 3 days or more should complete an independent study contract. Lisa Ghelardi, at lblairghelardi@slvusd.org our SLVE Registrar, will work with families to get the paperwork and the missed classwork assignments needed to complete the contract.
SLVE Reminders
- Please be sure to review the SLVE Bell Schedule which highlights start/end times throughout the day.
- Please be sure to send all students to school with a snack, even if they are getting a school lunch.
- The students are very hungry by morning recess. A snack helps to keep them focused and engaged until lunch time.
- Label all jackets, backpacks, water bottles and lunch bags.
- Make sure to communicate pick up plans with your student's teacher.
- Our perimeter gates will be closed from 8:30 am-2:00 pm each day. All visitors should enter the school through the front office and sign in.
- TK Pick Up Protocols
- Car Pick-Up: You may pick up your TK child through the car pick-up line at the flagpole between 12:15–12:20 p.m. (Wednesday pick-up begins at 12:15 p.m.).
- Please note: On Wednesdays, our buses need extra time to complete TK pick-up and return for upper-grade dismissal, so we appreciate your timeliness
- Classroom Door Pick-Up: If you prefer to pick up your child at the classroom door, please stop by the front office first to sign in and get a visitor pass. To help maintain campus security and minimize disruption to other classrooms still in session, we ask that you do not enter campus before 12:10 p.m.
- A lanyard for TK pick up will be distributed at Back to School Night. TK teachers will be discussing this protocol at that time.
- K-3rd Pick Up Protocols:
- Perimeter gates will open at 2:00 pm
- Car pick up:Teachers will walk classes out to the pick up area for both car and bus pick up.
- Classroom door pick up: if you would like to walk in to pick up your child, please do not come before 2:00 when gates open.
- In an effort to minimize noise and distractions for our 4th and 5th grade classrooms the SLVE Playstructure and Field of Dreams playground areas will be closed from 2:15-3:00 pm
- If you plan to remain on campus while waiting to pick up an upper-grade sibling between 2:15 and 3:00 p.m., we kindly ask that you wait at the picnic tables located under the shade structure on the basketball court playground. Your cooperation helps us maintain a quiet, focused and safe learning environment for all students through the end of the school day. Thank you for your continued support!
- 4th-5th Pick Up Protocols:
- Car pick up: Students will be walked to the pick up areas by their teachers at 3:00 pm
- Classroom Door pick up: If you are walking in to meet your student, please be sure to wait until 2:55.
Student Pick up Drop off
We are really needing to focus on safety during our pick up time each day. As a reminder, the far right lane is the ONLY lane that you may idle in to pick up your student. The middle lane is a drive thru lane only for parents who are driving up to park. If cars stop in the middle lane, buses CANNOT get up the hill to pass without going into the far left lane which is the exiting lane. There have been some close calls and unsafe situations where cars are stopped in the middle lane when buses are making the wide turn to go down the driveway to head out onto Highway 9. We would also like to remind you that the parking lot in front of the school office is reserved for teachers/staff only. Please do not stop there to drop off or pick up your student. We appreciate your role in helping to ensure the safety of our SLVE students and families.
Hello from the SLVUSD Transportation Department,
To register your student to ride the bus, there are two options:
1) Online on the Transportation Department’s page located on the SLVUSD.org website. Under Registration Information there is a clickable link to our Google Doc which will automatically update our department on your student’s registration.
2) At our office in the school bus yard located at 315 Marion Ave, Ben Lomond, half-way down the driveway to the District Office. For the safety of our mechanics and drivers, we ask that you park at the District Office and walk up the driveway to our office.
Information about payments for an annual or single semester bus pass for your student is also located on the Transportation Department’s page. To pay by card, please use LINQ Connect, just as you would for student lunches. To pay by cash/check, come to our office at the transportation yard. If your student receives government assistance and you would like to see about free or reduced-price bus passes, or if you have any questions at all, please call our office at 831-336-2223.
Thank you so much for your continued support for the safe transportation of students, and remember:
If the red lights are flashing, you shouldn’t be passin’!