Parent Letter

“Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity."

~Melody Beatie

Happy Sunday Ochoa Families,

To recap last week....Thank you to Mrs. and Mr. Mondoy we appreciate you being the project lead for our Taste of the Philippines last Thursday. The Taste of the Philippines, was made possible by donations provided by Seafood City Grill. The students certainly did! Finally, I'd like to give a Special Shout Out to Seafood City Grill, 24536 Hesperian Blvd, Hayward for the donations of Turon, Shanghai Lumpia, Chicharon, Chicken Crackling and Halo Halo. What a great way to finish off Filipino History month.

Friday, Ms. Zendejas, Community Schools Specialist, in partnership with Alameda County Safe Routes to School was able to bring an E-Bike/Scooter Safety Assembly for our students. Families, there are lots of eye opening details here. Please take a moment to see how you can best keep our students safe. Click here==> E-Bike & Scooter Safety Presentation

Last Friday ended our Ochoa Monster Book Bash Read-A-Thon. Students read 30,045 minutes and we collected $720. Ms. Ilankoon's class leads for minutes read and Ms. Kean's 6th period is still leading for donations. Families, thank you for all you do, we appreciate your support!

2nd Quarter is here! It's a chance at a fresh start. As a reminder to students and families, that placement for the next year is just around the corner. Student success during the first semester of the year (Qtr & Qtr2) is the determining factor. Soon (Jan/Feb) our high school counselors will be meeting with our 8th graders to start programing/planning for their freshman year in high school. It seems far off, but its not really. If your student needs support, our teachers have office hours at lunch and after school; tutoring is available on campus. Our YEP program continues to accept new students. The first hour of the program is H/W club and every Thursday, they do a more intensive Study Hall, pulling student outstanding assignments from Infinite Campus to make sure they are completing them.

Pro Parent Tip: Parents at the end of the school day your student's assignments should be written in their school planner. Ask them to see the planner and if they completed their assignments. If they say yes... go the next step and ask to see the completed work. When I was raising my children this extra question went a long way in our communication about their role in their education.

As a reminder, I'd like to address concerns about parking lot safety for our students. We are noticing there are many occasions where families are disregarding the posted traffic signage. For example: no left turn and or u-turns in the main parking lot. In the rear parking lot, we are seeing families enter at speeds that exceed the 5 mph allowed, failure to follow arrows for the flow of traffic and yield to pedestrians. These are basic rules of the road intended to keep our students safe. This presents a huge safety concern for our students and staff. We want to avoid any tragic situations at all costs. Please drive with care for the safety of our students and staff. *If you have teens doing pick up an drop off please talk with them about these important safety concerns.

*NOTE: Parents must pick students up within 15 min of school events ending times.

Thank you all for your partnership. I know it will be a great year!

Warmly submitted,

~Ms. Rowe-Andrews, Principal

📚📕📗Most Minutes Read: Ms. Ilankoon's Class - 2nd place Mr. Tañada

💵💵💵 Most Donations: Ms. Kean's 6th period Class

📗📕📚KEEP READING!!!📚📕📗

Here is where we are:

Goal 98% ~ CurrentOverall= 94.04%🔻🔻

7th grade= 94.42% 🔺

8th grade= 93.63%🔻

*We have lots of work to do to reach our goal of 98%. Please let us know how we might help with issues around attendance. There are district resources that help, please let us know.

In Person Support:

Hayward Public Library, Downtown (C Street), location Tuesdays & Wednesdays from 3-6:00 PM.

For more information, please contact Kohella Lane at 510-881-7953

kohella.lane@hayward-ca.gov

On-line support:

Tutor.com

Tutor.com provides on-demand tutoring, homework help, test preparation and writing assistance for students in grades K-12 in over 40 subjects. Live tutors are available from 1:00 pm - 10:00 pm. You can also use their practice quizzes and SkillsCenter Resource Library to study 24/7.

Easy Access from Home or School

1. Go to the tutor.com page.
2. Enter your library card number and tutor.com password (allows you to save your study sessions, favorite tutors, and more).
3. Select your homework subject and grade level.
4. Connect to a tutor in an online classroom.

There are spaces left in our YEP program, do not miss out...Our Youth Enrichment Program also known as Y.E.P. is our after school program, run by our Site Coordinator Mr. Ryan Edmonson.

Please click the link to sign up/register (English/Español) . Click the button below to sign up.

*YEP FREE after school support for students M,T,Th,F from 3:15-6PM and Wed. from 1:30-6PM

All last week Ochoa's teams hosted try outs for the following teams:

7th/8th grade Girls- Coaches: Mr. Ryan/Mr. Keysch

7th Grade Boys - Coach: Mr. Burton

8th Grade Boys - Coches: Ms. Larkins/Ms. Croft

Practices will continue on Monday & Tuesday of this week. Wednesday No School/Games

*Students may not arrive more than 15 minutes ahead of game time.

Families, when students are attending the games as both athletes and spectators, we must make a few requests:

First and foremost, we want to remind you that the responsibility of the school athletics program in addition to exposing students to multiple sports, it is to teach students discipline, sportsmanship, responsibility, and accountability. *Families, please remember to model the pro-social behaviors that we want and expect to see from our students athletes when attending our games and other school functions. Parents you are our student's first teachers.

• Please review these expectations with your students.
• Students and families attending school events are expected to uphold the appropriate conduct of sportsmanship at all times.
• Student athletes are required to maintain a min. of 2.0 GPA; counselors review weekly
• Students not in attendance at school for the day are not authorized to attend.
• All student athletes and spectators, may arrive to the games 15 minutes prior; there is no adult supervision before that time. *unless specified by the coach in attendance. Ex: game starts at 3:30PM, arrival time is 3:15.
• All student attendees must be picked up promptly after the game ends to ensure their safety.
• Students on suspension may not attend any school events or be on any school campus during a suspension.
• Students who did not attend school may not attend or participate in any school related event activity or sporting event.
• Two-sport athletes have a responsibility to complete what they started. This is a commitment expected in high school, collegiate, and professional sports programs. If your student is enrolled in multiple sports, remind them if they are to continue, they must finish what they started with the current season.

Does your student require public transportation? If you would like to apply for a free AC transit card for your student please click the link below. This is not transportation specific to students with IEPs, but is available for ALL students.

SCHOOL SUCCESS IS DIRECTLY RELATED TO GOOD ATTENDANCE. Ochoa strives for a 98+% attendance rate for our students each year. Poor performance in the classroom is often the result of poor attendance. If students are to achieve maximum value from their middle school education, 100% attendance is the goal. Did you know that the state of California only allows students to be absent, with *valid excuse for less than 10% of the year?

*valid excuses for absences from school are:

• Illness or quarantine
• Medical, dental, or optometry appointments

• Religious Requests, upto one per quarter with prior written notice and approval
• Attendance at funeral services for a member of the immediate family

California law requires all students 6 to 18 years old are required to attend school on time and regularly. Cal. Ed. Code § 48200.

A child is habitually truant if, without valid excuse, they are:

• Absent for three days in a single school year,
• Absent or tardy more than 30 minutes three times in a year,
• Any combination of the above. Cal. Ed. Code § 48260(a).

A child is chronically truant if they have missed 10 percent of the school year. Cal. Ed. Code § 48263.6.

Parents must Report Absences-Please call us!: All absences must be cleared by a phone call or a note within 72 hours of the absence from a parent/guardian to the attendance office (510 723-3130 Ext. 43111). When absences are not cleared in this manner the family can expect to receive a call from our office or automated phone system.

Monday, November 9, 2026

• Hayward Education Foundation Grant applications begin
• Household Essentials Drive Kick Off, View Flyer
• SST Mtg, 8:30AM
• IEP Mtg, 10AM
• Parent Nutrition Classes, 9AM
• COST 1PM
• IEP Mtg, 2:30PM

Tuesday, November 10, 2026

• Superintendent Site Visit 8:45AM
• Parent Nutrition Class, 8:45AM
• COST Mtg, 1PM
• LCC Mtg, 3:30PM
• Equity Oversight Committee Mtg, 5PM

Wednesday, November 11, 2026

• Veterans Day observed- No School

Thursday, November 12, 2026

• PNM 8:30-11:30AM, Andrews off campus AM
• IEP Mtg, 10:30AM
• IEP Mtg, 2:00PM
• Community Schools Mtg, 3PM
• Lead to Literacy Mtg, 3:30PM
• 6-8 Exploratory Committee, 4PM

Friday, November 13, 2026

• Assembly Schedule Today, Bikes, E-Bike and Scooter Safety-9AM 8th grade, and 10AM 7th grade
• IEP Mtg, 10:30AM
• IEP MTG, 1:30PM

Looking Ahead

Tuesday, November 17, 2026

• Parent Nutrition Class, 8:45AM
• IEP Mtg, 10:30AM
• IEP Mtg, 1:00PM
• District Safety Committee, 4:00PM
• Subject Matter Mtg, 4:00PM
• DELAC, 5:45PM @The HUB

Wednesday, November 18, 2026

• School-Wide field trip: Mama Mia @ HUSD PAC~Signed Permission Slip required
• School Board Meeting, 6:30PM
• IEP Mtg, 1:00PM
• Dept Collaboration, 1:45PM
• Board of Education Mtg, 6:30PM

Thursday, November 19, 2026

• Ochoa Parent Day-ScreenAgers film #1, 8:30AM; Parents Shadow 4th Pd
• Mamma Mia Live Performance begins, 7:00PM==> Click to Buy Tickets

Thanksgiving Break

• 11/23-11/27/2026

Thursday, December 3, 2026

• ELAC/Virtual Summit K12 Night: ELL Students/Families, 5:30PM RSPV Required (Dinner provided)

Website: https://ochoa.husd.us
Location: 2121 Depot Road, Hayward, CA
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