Dear Robert H. Down School Community,
It has been amazing to see how quickly our students have settled and grown into their routines here at Robert Down! Our TK students are now playing with our Kindergarten friends at lunch recess, new students are making connections with friends, our older students are connecting with their little buddies, as we close out our second full week of school!
Last Thursday, August 13, at the PGUSD Board Meeting, we had a chance to highlight how our incredible community partners have really enhanced our students’ experience at school here at Robert Down. Specifically, we highlighted the Art Mural project last Spring, in which every student participated in the creation of our beautiful mural that now hangs in the entrance to our school as well as our lush and beautiful School Garden! Our Art Mural project was facilitated by Ms. Kristy Chettle and Ms. Jordana Scheer, both of whom are local artist educators and skillful artists in their own right! And our Garden is cared for by Farmer Keith Larson and volunteer Patricia Hamilton, who have utilized their gifts to nurture our vegetable garden, create beautiful small fairy and creature gardens, and cultivate beautiful flowers! Several students had an opportunity to share about their experiences at the Board meeting including 2nd grade student, Jackson Logan; 4th grade students, Julie Brendel, Ximena Arana Almanza, Maeve Dempsey, and Estelle Ferrera, 5th grade students, Erin Li, Vaitea Fusco, Gage De Foy, and Katie Rosenthal.
Next Tuesday, August 25, from 6PM-7PM, Sonda Frudden, our incredible School Counselor, will be hosting a parent workshop on our Social Emotional Learning curriculum called Toolbox for Schools! Come and join us! See flyer below for more information.
Vote for one of our own!
Erica Chavez, one of Kindergarten teachers, is a finalist for the Monterey County Weekly Best K-12 Teacher recognition! If you’d like to vote for her along with any of your favorites in other categories, click here! Polls are open until August 28th!
Goodbye at the Gate!
As we enter into our third full week of school, we encourage parents to say good-bye at the gate to help foster independence as our students get into their morning classroom routines. This also helps students to transition into their classrooms more easily. Thank you for your help and support with this!
Justifiable Absence Request for Independent Study
Thank you so much to those of you who have submitted your Justifiable Absence Request forms!
We are so proud of the progress we made in reducing our chronic absenteeism last year! Please be sure to complete a Justifiable Absence Request for Independent Study at least two weeks in advance, if you anticipate your child will be absent. Otherwise, the absence will be marked as unexcused and may contribute to truancy. These requests may be made for up to 15 days during the school year. We will be adhering to the two weeks notice beginning next week.
If you have a potential family emergency, feel free to submit the request and if you need to adjust the date or even cancel, just let us know!
Important Policy Updates
Health and Wellness Policy As mentioned in the last newsletter in May, the Robert Down Elementary Leadership Team has decided that we will no longer allow food-related birthday celebrations in order to better comply with our new updated District Wellness Policy. Some alternative ideas for non-food related celebrations include stickers, small games, pencils, erasers, fidgets, and other age appropriate items. Moving forward, any food-related classroom activities will be planned exclusively by teachers, directly tied to the grade-level curriculum, and fully compliant with district wellness guidelines. Please also keep in mind we have many students with life-threatening food allergies. We appreciate your partnership in keeping our students healthy and safe.
Volunteer Update We are so grateful for the many volunteers that support us throughout the year! Our District has a new policy requiring all new and returning volunteers to complete an online training in addition to getting fingerprints cleared. Be aware that some content in the training is not suitable for children, in case you were planning to watch it with your children in the room. Please see the information below.
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:
This week, we held our first School Site Council meeting! We are looking for more parents to join our group, which reviews important data and is ultimately responsible for the development of our school plan! If you are interested in joining, please fill out this form and mark School Site Council as an area you are interested in learning more about and possibly supporting! Our next meeting will be held on Tuesday, September 15 at 3:30PM.
September 15-October 15 is National Hispanic Heritage Month! Would you like to share about your family’s Hispanic heritage through a bulletin board display, presentation, or slide deck? If so, please sign up here!
Sign up here to join the Robert Down PTA! Your involvement makes a real difference.
Safety and School Procedures
Drop-off and Attendance: Please ensure your child arrives at school on time. We recommend dropping students off at 8:30 AM to allow for some extra play and connection time with friends. Students are to enter through the side gates. 1st-5th grade stay on the playground until 8:40AM when classrooms will open.
Traffic and Parking: To ease traffic, please use the recommended pick-up gates listed below and see the attached map.
Gate A: TK Rm A2, K Rms A1 & A3, 2nd Gr Rms 11, 13 & 15, Rm 18 - SDC
Gate B: K Rm C1, 1st Gr Rms B1, B2, B3, Rm 17 - SDC
Field Gate: 3rd Gr Rm 8, 4th Gr Rm 10, 5th Gr Rms 6, 7, & 9
Gate D: TK Rm E1, 3rd Gr Rm 3, 4th Gr Rms 2 & 4
Of course, if there is a gate more convenient for your family, please be sure to communicate with your child(ren) your plan. Older siblings are encouraged to pick up their younger siblings before proceeding to a gate.
Safety Reminders: For everyone's safety, please do not park in drop-off zones, avoid U-turns and double-parking, and remember to slow down and stop at all crosswalks. We want all of our children to arrive at school and leave school safely.
If you prefer to walk your child(ren) to the gate, please consider parking a block or two away and enjoy the walk with your child(ren). Carmel Avenue is a wider street and typically has plenty of parking available.
Community Events
My apologies for omitting one of our students in the newsletter last week who is also performing in The Little Mermaid! Elowen Dow, Robert Down 3rd grade student is also in the production! Come watch Elowen, along with 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, more information can be found here!
Upcoming Dates to Remember
August 21st: Safety Drill- Evacuation
September 1st: PTA Meeting 7PM
September 7th: Labor Day- NO SCHOOL
September 12th: Walk with PRIDE 9AM-12PM PG Rec Trail
September 15th: School Site Council Meeting 3:30PM
September 23rd: Picture Day
With gratitude,
Emily Tsai Brownfield, Principa
