Robert Down Principal's Update

Principal's Message

Dear Robert H. Down School Community,

Thank you to the families who came out to our PTA Paint Party last Friday, September 11! I enjoyed seeing the beautiful otter paintings made by so many of you!

It was so fun to see many of you at Walk with PRIDE on Saturday! Thank you so much for taking time out of your weekend to participate in this community event raising important funds for our classrooms!

I am also so grateful for the response received to support us with honoring National Hispanic Heritage Month as well as honoring Jewish celebrations and traditions! I truly appreciate our community sharing their cultures with our larger school community!

On Friday, September 11, we took a moment of silence to honor Patriot Day and remember the heroes of 9/11 as well as reflect on the many heroes we have in our community that help keep us safe.

Yesterday, September 16, our 5th grade classes had the opportunity to learn about the U.S. Constitution in honor of Constitution Day from the Honorable Judge Elizabeth Leitzinger, an alumni and parent of a Robert Down Elementary student! Students learned about the history, who the authors were, the parts of the Constitution, and its significance and relevance, even today.

Next week is Start with Hello Week! The purpose of Start with Hello is to empower students to embrace empathy and reject bullying and social isolation. We will be encouraging students to notice those around them and reach out to one another in positive ways.

Picture Day is Wednesday, September 23! Order forms went home this week. Please check your student’s folder.

Remember to save the date for a longstanding Pacific Grove tradition, the Butterfly Parade, on Saturday, October 3rd, 2026! Students should arrive no later than 10:15AM in order to participate in the parade which starts at 10:30AM in front of Robert Down on Pine Avenue. More details will be forthcoming next week including details on where to line up.

Plan to join us afterwards for the Butterfly Bazaar on our playground and field from 11AM-2PM. Sign up to volunteer here. Purchase tickets or wristband for games here. Sign up to donate a cake here. In addition, the last day to order 2026 Butterfly Parade clothing or bag is Friday, September 18!

Building Our "Culture of We" – Get Involved!

At Robert Down Elementary, we believe in the power of community. There are so many ways to get involved and support our students:

PTA Dine Out at Pizza My Way! Place an order anytime between 11am and 9pm this Friday, September 18th and mention our fundraiser! RHD PTA will receive 15% of the purchase will go directly to RHD PTA!
Butterfly Bazaar Volunteer Opportunities: Sign up for a volunteer shift or to donate a cake!
Are you interested in volunteering to help some of our classes with Science prep (which could possibly be done from home), set up, and/or clean up? If so, please let us know here! Many thanks to those who signed up recently!
Sign up here to join the Robert Down PTA! Your involvement makes a real difference.

Safety Update

On Wednesday, September 23, our site will engage in a Modified Lockdown Drill. Here is a reference to our protocol as well as the script I will be using to walk our school through the drill.
Thanks to our Facilities and Maintenance Department, we now have improved signage indicating drop off and pick up zones in front and back of the school!
PLEASE Use designated loading and unloading zones for drop off and pick up: For your safety and those of your children and others, please pull up to the designated curbs for loading and unloading or park in designated parking areas. Do NOT stop in a red zone or in the middle of the street. It is illegal and dangerous.
Are you interested in Safety for our school and community? If so, consider joining our Safety Committee either at the site level or District level. Feel free to indicate your interest using this form. I will be scheduling a school traffic safety committee soon.

Community Events

The Little Mermaid at the Forest Theater (Last weekend!)

Come watch 3rd and 4th graders Elowen Dow, Lennox Andrade, Ever Karai, Tenar Karai, and Emmi Leyva Nguyen in this year’s Fall PacRep production of The Little Mermaid at the Outdoor Forest Theater in Carmel! It is playing on Thursdays-Sundays through September 20! If interested in this fun family event, more information can be found here!

Coastal Clean Up Day

One of our Robert Down families leads Trash Turtles and they are partnering with some other local organizations to do a Coastal Clean Up Day on Saturday, September 19 in Sand City. For more information, see the flyer here.

Free Family Programs at Pacific Grove Museum of Natural History

Biketober - Families can drop in from 12:00-3:00 on Sunday October 4th with their bikes to learn how to do some basic maintenance and repairs. We will have community experts here showing people how to do Maintenance and safety checks on their own bikes.
Repair Fair - Families can drop in for workshops from 10:00-2:00 on Saturday, November 7th. Repairing is a conservation action. PG Museum is hoping to build a culture of people confident in fixing their own stuff - repair a bike flat, patch your jeans, darn a sock, fix your holiday lights... Families can bring their broken stuff and learn how to fix them.
Science Saturday - The last Saturday of every month from 10:00-3:00 is a community favorite - Science Saturday brings together Museum experts and community partners around a theme. This year we are trying to bring in more partners who have animals to show off. Themes coming up include Sep - Microworld: All Things Tiny, Oct - Spooky Science: Creepy Animals We Love, Nov - Monarch Magic: A celebration of local endangered and threatened species.

Upcoming Dates to Remember

September 14th: Yom Kippur
September 18th: PTA Dine Out Event Pizza My Way (See flyer below)
September 21st-25th: Start with Hello Week
September 23rd: Picture Day
September 23rd: Safety Drill: Modified Lockdown (Note: Date Change)
September 25th: PTA Game Night, 5pm to 7pm, Cafeteria
October 3rd: Butterfly Parade and Butterfly Bazaar

Have a wonderful weekend!

With gratitude,

Emily Tsai Brownfield, Principal

Robert Down "Extra Clothes" Closet

We are looking to fill our "extra clothes" closet.

These clothes are used for students who get messy, or have accidents at school.

We are in need of:

1. Elastic waist sweatpants sizes 4 to 8

2. Leggings sizes 4 to 8

3. T-shirts sizes 4 to 8

4. Girls and boys underwear sizes 4 to 8

5. Lightweight jackets or sweatshirts sizes 4 to 10

6. Shoes sizes Toddler 7 to Child 2

7. Socks

Office Reminders

Please have your child to school on time. Gates open at 8:30 AM. Warning bell rings at 8:40 AM. Final bell rings and instruction begins at 8:45 AM. When a student is tardy it is disruptive to the office and classroom. In addition, students miss important information and announcements from their teacher first thing in the morning.

Did you know that you can report your child's absence with your ParentVUE app? Simply log into your ParentVUE account to send the office a message about why your child is absent.

* Ways to report a student absent *

a) ParentVUE app (click the bell icon next to your child's name)

b) 24 Hour Absence Line (831) 646-6663

Volunteer & Chaperone Clearance

If you plan on being a VOLUNTEER on campus or a CHAPERONE for a field trip, please be sure you are fingerprint cleared with our district, and have completed the Mandated Reporter training. To make an appointment at the District Office please contact Bree Nehring by calling 607-8892 or emailing bnehring@pgusd.org

Before coming to campus to volunteer, please check with your child's teacher to schedule a time that works best for them.

Link to Mandated Reporter Training

Short-Term Independent Study Request Form - NOW DIGITAL!

We are now happy to accept Short-Term Independent Study Request Forms digitally (see link below). Please remember, the request needs to be submitted at least 2 weeks prior to the first day of your child's absence.

Justifiable Absence for Short-Term Independent Study Request Form

District Illness Policy Reminder

Our District Illness Policy specifies that individuals should be free of contagious illness prior to attending school. Those who are ill should remain home until their symptoms have resolved or significantly subsided for at least 24 hours without the use of over-the-counter medication to relieve symptoms.

If a child arrives at school with or develops active illness symptoms while at school, we will phone parents to pick them up with instructions to keep them home until the illness has resolved for at least 24 hours without the use of over-the-counter medication to relieve symptoms.

The following symptoms would warrant a child staying home from school:

Persistent headache and fatigue
Elevated temperature (99.0 or above)
Body aches
Sore throat
Congestion
Cough
Shortness of breath
Nausea
Diarrhea
Loss of taste or smell
Pain severe enough that the child has difficulty participating in routine school activities

Thank you for all your efforts in caring for your families and for your support in helping us maintain a healthy school environment.

Birthday Book Club

This notice is to tell you about our voluntary program designed to build the RHD library and foster your child’s love of reading.

Here is how it works: To join the Robert H. Down Birthday Book Club fill out the information below (scroll way down to the bottom of this message to print the Birthday Book forms) and deposit it in the Drop Box at school along with a check for $20.00 (please make the check payable to the P.G.U.S.D. and write R.H.D. Birthday Book on the memo line).

When your child’s birthday month comes around Ms. Scanlon will present a new book in honor of your child’s birthday. Your child will be the first one to check out and read the book that has been donated to the library to celebrate their birthday. A bookplate with your child’s name will be affixed to the inside cover for all future readers to appreciate.

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Birthday Book Club.pdf

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Update - Life-Threatening Allergy Awareness and Education

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UPDATE - Life-Threatening Allergy Awareness and Education.pdf

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Otterly Adorable

Flyers

REGISTER FOR CAMP ERIN HERE

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FINAL Robert Down Registration Form2627.pdf

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Robert Down Social & Emotional Learning Curriculum Information for Parents

Robert Down is proud of our commitment to social and emotional learning (SEL). Both of the programs we use, Toolbox and Second Step, are aligned with the Center for Social and emotional learning (CASEL). You can learn about CASEL and our SEL programs below.

https://casel.org/fundamentals-of-sel/what-is-the-casel-framework/

Robert Down SEL Programs:

1. TOOLBOX

Toolbox is taught in every classroom at RD and on ‘Toolbox Tuesdays’ during P.E. time with Mrs. Tobin and Mr. Dixon. Robert Down has embraced this program for over ten years.

https://toolboxproject.com/https://toolboxproject.com/

2. SECOND STEP

We are in our second year of piloting the Second Step program. Second Step is a research-based program that focuses on developing human skills. Students (K-5) have two second-step lessons per month and 15 in total throughout the year.

https://www.secondstep.org/digital-k-12-curriculum