Cougar Community News

Students in middle school were awarded for academics, citizenship, and attendance on Friday afternoon to reflect the end of the First Trimester. Thank you to the families that were able to attend. Below are photos of our recipients. Congratulations to these hard-working students!

Friday, our Woodside classroom spelling bee winners from 2nd-6th and 8th grades competed to find our school winner. These are the first steps of the Scripps National Spelling Bee, which is celebrating its 100th year. We congratulate our winner, Julien McCormick and all the participants!

This week Middle School Students interested in Student Senate came to an informational meeting. Next week candidates will give a 2 minutes or less speech in their homerooms, and the class will vote for their classroom candidates onlyl The winners will be announced and first meeting will be held on Tuesday 12/17 in Mrs. Wohlford's classroom. Middle School students also have a LatinX and Design Club.

Twenty four 4th and 5th grade students have joined our first Glee Club, which started on Wednesday. 4th and 5th will also have an upcoming opportunity to join a Celebrating Diversity Club. Students who are interested in participating in Celebrating Diversity will have a lunchtime informational meeting. This club is a student-led club with guidance from Ms. McKay and Mrs. Garboushian. They will be focused on activities and discussions that acknowledge and appreciate the unique differences between students on campus.

POMS is officially back!! We’re excited to share the latest updates from our mentoring sessions! Here’s what’s been happening:

🎉 Achievements

• Attendance: 82.5% participation rate – Thank you for your support in making sure students show up, let's strive for 100%

• Mentee Spotlight: We recognized Cruz and Alejandra for the month of November. They have demonstrated exceptional behavior and leadership skills during program.

🍂 First Lunch Engagement

• This month, we introduced our first Lunch Engagement Activity, thoughtfully designed to bring students together in a fun and meaningful way with a Halloween twist. Students participated in the game “Pass the Pumpkin,” where they practiced collaboration, communication, and connection.

• In addition to the game, students got creative by coloring a tablecloth and having conversations amongst peers. This experience allowed students to bond, laugh, and connect with peers from different grades, fostering a stronger sense of community.

🗣️ Topics We’ve Covered

• Sense of Belonging: Fostering a supportive community.

• Positive Identity: What it means to value ourselves with positive self-talk and building positive self-esteem.

• Relationship Skills:

• Teamwork: Collaborating effectively.

• Friendship Qualities: Building and maintaining strong friendships.

📅 Upcoming Sessions We have about 20 Thursdays left until our final session. Stay tuned for more exciting activities and learning opportunities! Last day will be the week of May 12th 2025.

📢 Highlights to Note

• Help us keep up the attendance!

• Every month, we’ll be reaching out to spotlight students excelling in academics and leadership.

• Look out for upcoming events and special activities.

• We our aqt full capacity so we are not accepting any students unless a spot opens up

If you have any questions or need assistance, feel free to reply to email me.

Jamisha Jackson at jjackson@projectoptimism.org

We continue to monitor our attendance daily, weekly, and monthly...hoping to see all of our student's faces each day! Even with only fifteen school days (five of those being minimum days) in November, our 4th grade class attended at 95% to take the top spot! They were followed by 4th grade at 94%, 6th grade at 93%, then TK, K, 2nd, & 3rd all at 92%, followed by 1st, 7th, & 8th at 90%. Way to go 4th grade!

Upcoming this week: School Site Council Meeting on Monday afternoon (Agenda) and a Visitation Day Friday morning! Please spread the word to any families interested in attending Woodside for the 2025-26 school year, Visitation is a time to meet the principal, have a tour of classrooms and ask questions.

DECEMBER

• Mon. 12/9 - SSC Meeting 3:30pm, Dine & Donate at Dos Coyotes in Citrus Heights, 4pm
• Tues. 12/10 - PTO Meeting, 4:30pm in the Art Room/Design Lab. Zoom LINK HERE
• Fri. 12/13 - Woodside Visitation Day, 8:30am - meet and tour for prospective 2025-26 families
• Tues. 12/17 - Dental Screening
• Thus. 12/19 - Cocoa, Crafts & Community, 5:00-6:30pm in MPR
• Fri. 12/20 - Minimum Day, Dismissal at 11:25 for TK/K and 12:00 for 1st-8th
• Dec. 23 - Jan. 3 - WINTER BREAK - NO SCHOOL

JANUARY

• Mon. Jan. 6 - NO SCHOOL
• Mon. Jan. 13 - Internet Safety Presentations for Middle School Classes
• Fri, Jan. 17 - Empathy Assemblies, 8:30am 3rd-5th Grade, 9:00am TK-2nd
• Mon. Jan. 20 - Martin Luther King Jr HOLIDAY - NO SCHOOL
• Tues. Jan. 21 - PTO Meeting, 4:30pm in Art Room/Design Lab or Zoom LINK HERE
• Thurs. Jan. 23 - Trimester 2 Progress Reports viewable on Parent Portal
• Fri. Jan. 24 - Healing Heels Assembly, 9:00am TK-4th, 10:10 5th-8th

Flyers were sent home for our dine and donate at Dos Coyotes on Monday December 9th from 4:00 to close at the Sunrise location. We look forward seeing all the Woodside Families and friends.

Crafts and Cocoa is also coming up soon on December 19th. We hope that everyone will be able to make it to this event to make memories and have some winter fun. The PTO will have cookies and hot chocolate for all families to enjoy and there will be raffle tickets available for purchase for some amazing baskets. All proceeds will go back into the school for more events and fun for the kids.

Nicole Goss, President

FACE's upcoming learning opportunities for families this month include Fostering Conflict Resolution Skills and our popular Spanish series Talleres workshop. We also launched our new digital “on demand” learning videos, which consist of pre-recorded learning workshops that families and staff can access and watch at any time. This month’s featured workshop video is Introduction to Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) for Families and can be found at www.sanjuan.edu/familyed, along with other learning videos, under our “Family Engagement Video Library” tab.

We’re so excited for our upcoming Cocoa, Crafts, & Community event on December 19 from 5:00 to 6:30 p.m. Join us in the Woodside MP room as we come together as a community to share food, make crafts, and witness our school’s three pillars in action.

If you would like to connect with me, share a bit of your story, or ask questions about the design work taking place at Woodside, I’d love to chat! Email me at dvictor@sanjuan.edu.

A few of our students were lucky enough to be included in the annual Shop With a Cop program sponsored by the Citrus Heights Police Activities League (CH PAL) and Walmart. This program helps to create positive ongoing relationships.

Seasons Greetings Neighbors!

Tis the season; jolly and bright, sharing is caring and help thy neighbors.

Your Neighborhood Areas 7-8-9 are gearing up for their annual Giving Tree Event in which local families in need are sponsored to ensure a memorable Christmas is provided. Last year we helped provide for 15 local children. We would like to increase that goal to help more families, funds permitting.

Your assistance is pivotal in the quality and quantity of those wishes we can fulfill. Whether the smallest amount or the greatest, any donation supplements our efforts. We are grateful to receive cash, checks, or gift cards toward toys, clothing and tangible essentials. No amount is too small to make a difference.

We are a non-profit organization and can provide a tax-deductible receipt to you.

If you’d like to help, please reach out by sending checks (payable to CHASEN) or gift cards in care of Bill

Shirley, or email us to make pick-up arrangements; www.citrusheightsarea789@gmail.com.

THANK YOU for your generous consideration.

Our open enrollment period begins on Monday, Dec. 9, at 8 a.m. and ends at 5 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 24. During this time, you can submit an application to have your student attend a school other than their neighborhood school as long as space is available and you are willing to provide transportation for your student.

You can now log in to Parent Portal to view your child’s assigned school for the next school year to help you decide whether to participate in open enrollment. As soon as you log in to Parent Portal, you will see both your child’s school for this school year and their assigned school for the next school year (2025-26) listed just below. If you are satisfied with your child’s assigned school for the next school year, no further action is needed. If you would like to apply to make a change, you can complete an open enrollment lottery application starting Dec. 9.

Because open enrollment is a computer-generated lottery and not approved on a first-come, first-served basis, you can submit your application anytime during the open enrollment period.

Applications will be available online at www.sanjuan.edu/openenrollment and at the San Juan Central office at 3700 Garfield Ave. in Carmichael. For more information, call (916) SAN-JUAN or email oel@sanjuan.edu.

Important Dates:

Open Enrollment – December 9,2024-January 24,2025

Inter-Transfer priority window – January 31,2025-February 28,2025

Enrollment begins K-12 – February 3, 2025

TK Lottery Window – February 10, 2025- March 14, 2025

TK Lottery Results/email – March 28, 2025

TK Lottery Enrollment Due – April 7, 2025

Intra District Transfer Window – March 3, 2025-April 25,2025

Woodside will be hosting a Visitation Day on December 13 at 8:30am. Show up for a tour and information!

Join us for the San Juan Unified School District Winter Art Showcase on Saturday, Dec. 14 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Sacramento Fine Arts Center, located at 5330B Gibbons Drive in Carmichael. The event will feature student artwork from elementary, middle and high schools, and will include choir performances by Twin Lakes and Mary Deterding elementary schools during the artist reception.

Woodside has two Elementary Boys Basketball teams that have started practicing this week! Practices are Tuesdays/Fridays for one team and Thursdays for the other.

If you have any questions, please email Renzo at rbozzalla@sunriseparks.com or call 916-725-8843. Email is the preferred method of contact. Please allow 24-48 hours for a response to all voicemails and emails. Game Locations: Rusch Park. Season Dates 12/3 - 3/1. No practices or games from 12/21 - 1/6 (Winter Break)

The Middle School Girls Basketball League has begun. Practices are Wednesdays and Thursdays, 6:30-7:30pm at Woodside MPR. Season Dates 10/29 - 2/1, No practice or games from 12/21 - 1/6 (Winter Break)

Our Giving Tree provides assistance to families in our Woodside community. This year we have a number of families we would like to support with gifts for the children and food for the family.

If you would like to participate in this worthwhile effort, you may come into the office and pick one or more STARS from the Giving Tree. Each star will have information about the child's age and a specific gift that the parent thought the child would like.

The gift listed on the star should be returned to the office by Tuesday, December 17th. The gifts should be wrapped, and the star should be placed on top.

Thank you for your thoughtfulness and caring support of our community members!

As the holiday season approaches, our Counselor Mrs. Garboushian wanted to share some resources for staff, students, and families. The attached holiday resource guide includes free family events and activities, toy drives and holiday baskets, and ongoing food and meal resources.

Office phone - (916) 971-5216

Mrs. Taylor Gonzales-Moore, Secretary - taylor.gonzalesmoore@sanjuan.edu

Mrs. Ana Johnson, Clerk - ana.johnson@sanjuan.edu

Mrs. Deb Johnston, Vice Principal - debra.johnston@sanjuan.edu

Mrs. Beth Wahl, Principal - ewahl@sanjuan.edu

Facebook Woodside TK-8

SJUSD NON-DISCRIMINATION STATEMENT

The San Juan Unified School District Board of Education is committed to equal opportunity for all individuals in district programs and activities. District programs, activities and services shall be free from unlawful discrimination, harassment (including sexual harassment), intimidation, and/or bullying based on actual or perceived characteristics of race or ethnicity, color, ancestry, nationality, national origin, immigration status, ethnic group identification, age, religion, marital or parental status, pregnancy, physical or mental disability, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, gender expression, or genetic information, or on the basis of a person's association with a person or group with one or more of these actual or perceived characteristics. For questions or complaints, please contact Equity Compliance Officer: Linda C. T. Simlick, General Counsel, 3738 Walnut Avenue, Carmichael, CA 95608, (916) 971- 7110, LegalServices@sanjuan.edu; Title IX Coordinator: Katie Fabel, Legal Analyst/Title IX Coordinator, 3738 Walnut Avenue, Carmichael, CA 95608, (916) 971-7110, TitleIX@sanjuan.edu; Section 504 Coordinator: Dominic Covello, Director, Student Support Services, 3738 Walnut Avenue, Carmichael, CA 95608, (916) 971-7220, DCovello@sanjuan.edu.