Parent Letter

"The power of one, if fearless and focused, is formidable, but the power of many working together is better."

~Gloria Macapagal Arroyo

Happy Sunday Ochoa Families,

So many great things have been happening at Ochoa Middle School. Here is a quick recap of last week. Last week Ms. Coney, Counselor, kicked off her Executive Functioning Sessions with our focal students. During these sessions students are learning skills like organization, time management, how to use their planners, the importance of completing and turning in assignments; as well as the skill of self-advocating and so much more. The hope is once students have these foundational level skills and a little practice, they will have greater success in the classroom.

Thank you to our Parents and our Hispanic Heritage Month Committee, Ms. Garcia, Ms. Zendejas, Ms. Hiester, Mr. Loza, Ms. Haynes and Mr. Tañada for the wonder Hispanic Heritage Month events like fun Fridays where students learned the art and tradition of Bailé, Papel Picado, and had a chance to celebrate all cultures on International Culture Day with traditional dress and flag coloring activities. I will say the Piñata was a huge hit this past Friday. Thank you to Ms. Garcia and the Youth and Family Services Organization for your donation to this event as well as all of the staff who integrated the historical traditions and history of Hispanic peoples into your lessons, and projects this past month. Next up we continue our Filipino American History month activities through the end of October.

Let's give it up for our Visual and Performing Arts Students for their fantastic Fall Concert under the direction of Ms. Ramos and Mr. Holbrook. The Concert last week was so good! The Band, Orchestra, Choir student performances were outstanding and I loved the new uniform look. If you see him this week, be sure to give AJ (Anthony E.) a special SHOUT OUT, he was a solo performer for the evening. Good job AJ!

Monday ends Quarter 1. Report cards will be mailed in a few weeks Chat with you students about their progress and help them to set goals for the 2nd Quarter. As a reminder to families, 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. 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 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.

Ochoa is a Community School which means ... We are looking for families who would like to be part of our team. Please take a look at the flyer HERE.

This week in Bulldog Athletics stay tuned for information regarding our Football and Volleyball Playoff game locations and times.

*NOTE: Parents must pick students up within 15 min of game end.

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

Warmly submitted,

~Ms. Rowe-Andrews, Principal

Here is where we are:

Goal 98% ~ CurrentOverall= 94.16%🔻🔻

7th grade= 94.37%

8th grade= 93.93%

*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

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, October 19, 2026

Tuesday, October 20, 2026

• Parent Nutrition Classes begin, 9AM-11AM (8 wks)
• 504 Mtg, 2PM
• SBDM Mtg, 3PM, Library, Meeting Agenda
• District Safety Meeting, 4PM
• Subject Matter Mtg, 4PM
• District Advisory Committee Mtg, 5-8PM

Wednesday, October 21, 2026

• Rowe-Andrews off site AM
• Dept. Collaboration, 1:45PM
• Flag Football plays Winton @ Ochoa MS 3:30PM & Volleyball plays @ King, 4:15PM
• DELAC-District English Learner Advisory Committee Mtg, 5:45PM

Thursday, October 22, 2026

• Puente Fall Conference (Virtual) 9-3PM
• YEP will proudly celebrate Lights On Afterschool, a national celebration highlighting the incredible impact of afterschool programs on students, families, and communities.

Friday, October 23, 2026

• Puente 8 & AVID 8 & Leadership-Monarch Day Field trip to 10AM-1:30PM
• District African American Student Achievement Initiative (AASAI), 6PM The Hub

Looking Ahead

Saturday, October 24, 2026

• Ilocano Weaving: Heritage, Resilience, and Our Immigration Story; 1:30 p.m. - 3:30 p.m. Weekes Library
• 3rd Annual Filipino American History Month Celebration, Schafer Park Elementary, 10:30AM-3PM

Monday, October 26th

• Monster Bash Read-A-Thon Begins

Tuesday, October 27, 2026

• COST Mtg, 1PM
• SSC Member Training, 5:30PM (The HUB)

Wednesday, October 28, 2026

• ELAC Meeting
• Board of Education Meeting, 6:30PM
• In Person: 24411 Amador St, Hayward, CA 94544, USA

• Public Session: 6:30 p.m. - 10:30 p.m. (unless extended)

This Board of Education meeting will be held in person. Viewers may also participate via Zoom or view only on YouTube. Join by telephone: +1 408 638 0968 or +1 669 900 6833

Zoom ID: Closed Caption is available in several languages via Zoom. Spanish Interpretation is provided. The agenda shall be posted on the board meeting website at least 72 hours prior to a regular meeting.

Friday, October 30, 2026

• Halloween Festival/Leadership

Tuesday, November 3, 2026

• Election Day

November 11, 2026

• Veterans Day observed- No School

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

Facebook: coming soon
Twitter: coming soon