Bobcat Tales
August 1, 2025
Mark your Calendar:
August 5th: Class placement emails sent to families 5:00 pm
August 6th: TK/Kinder Meet and Greet 3:00 pm
August 7th: First Day of School
Be sure to bring your Summer Brainquest Book and Summer Roadmap to school today!
August 8th: Coffee with the Principal hosted by the Bobcat Club
August 21st: Back to School Night 5:00-7:00. Schedule to Follow.
August 28th: Fall Picture Day
August 29th: Teacher Professional Development Day/No school for students
September 1st: Labor Day (No school)
SLVE Library
Welcome Back to School Bobcats!
It’s hard to believe summer is already winding down and a new school year is just around the corner! I hope you’ve all had a wonderful break—whether spending time with family and friends, going on adventures, learning something new, or simply enjoying the slower pace without the daily school routine.
The office reopened last week, and our awesome office staff has been busy supporting the start of the new year. There’s already a buzz of activity on campus. Our incredible custodians, Manny and Edgar, have been working tirelessly to deep-clean classrooms, assist with room changes, and support numerous summer projects. Some of the major projects this summer have included the replacement of electrical panels, parking lot modifications, fresh paint on the stairs and iron railings of our two-story building, and a beautiful renovation of our school library. Our campus is looking better than ever, and we are so grateful to the entire District staff for their dedication and hard work in preparing for the new school year.
Welcome to our new SLVE Staff Members!
We are excited to welcome some new and returning staff members/positions to our SLVE community this year.
Kinder/1st Combo teacher: Halley Benjamin
2nd Grade teacher: Nicole Arroyo
3rd Grade teacher: Brianna Kinkopf
4th/5th Grade Science teacher: Leah Luchsinger
Resource Specialist: Amy Lawrence
TK Instructional Aide: Jackie Pistole, Jen Kanter
K-5 Instructional Aide: Stephanie Vulpius
Art Specialist: Kelli Reynolds
We are excited to launch this new school year and look forward to welcoming friends, teachers and staff and our wonderful parents, families and caregivers to SLVE. Here are a few reminders to help start the year off strong.
- Please be sure to review the SLVE Bell Schedule which highlights start/end times throughout the day.
- Please be sure to send all students to school with a snack, even if they are getting a school lunch.
- The students are very hungry by morning recess. A snack helps to keep them focused and engaged until lunch time.
- Label all jackets, backpacks, water bottles and lunch bags.
- Make sure to communicate pick up plans with your student's teacher.
- Our perimeter gates will be closed from 8:30 am-2:00 pm each day.
- All visitors should enter the school through the front office and sign in.
- TK teachers will walk TK students out to the pick up area at 12:20.
- In an effort to minimize noise and distractions for our 4th and 5th grade classrooms the SLVE Playstructure and Field of Dreams playground areas will be closed from 2:15-3:00 pm.
If you plan to remain on campus while waiting to pick up an upper-grade sibling between 2:15 and 3:00 p.m., we kindly ask that you wait at the picnic tables located under the shade structure on the basketball court playground. Your cooperation helps us maintain a quiet, focused and safe learning environment for all students through the end of the school day. Thank you for your continued support!
- Summer Learning Roadmap
- If you completed your Summer Brainquest workbook and/or finished your i-Ready online lessons, don’t forget to bring your Summer Learning Roadmap and your Brainquest book to your teacher during the first week of school! Students who completed the Summer Roadmap will earn a special extra recess and a sweet treat to celebrate all their hard work.
It's going to be an amazing year! See you on August 7th!
Creating a Safe and Caring School for Everyone at SLVE
At San Lorenzo Valley Elementary, we want to start the school year by sharing something very important: we do not allow any form of hate, bullying, or unkind behavior in our schools. Every student and adult deserves to feel safe, respected, and welcome—always.
We are proud of the many different backgrounds, families, and identities that make up our school community. We believe every student should be treated with kindness, no matter their race, abilities, gender, religion, or family structure.
Here’s how we support a safe and inclusive school:
We take all reports of bullying, body shaming, or hateful actions seriously and follow our rules to keep everyone safe.
We teach students about kindness, respect, and how to treat others through class lessons and school activities.
We provide counseling and support to students and families who need it.
We ask for your help at home, too. Please talk with your children about treating others with empathy and kindness.
Together, we can make sure our schools are places where every student can learn, grow, and feel proud of who they are.
Back to School Night Thursday, August 21st 5:00-7:00
Back to School Night is early this year! Please mark your calendars with the date, 8/21. The BTSN Schedule will be shared in next week's Bobcat Tales.
Fall Picture Day Thursday, August 28th
Teacher and Staff PD Day Friday, August 30th
Friday, August 30th is a Professional Development Day for teachers/staff and a school holiday for students. Teachers and staff will be working on a number of professional training opportunities which will help to strengthen the work they do with students everyday.
Don't forget that Monday, September 1st, is the Labor Day holiday.
There is no school that day.
Bus and School Lunch Information
We will continue to provide free lunch to all students this year. We do ask that you complete the application on the district webpage. It is very important that ALL families complete this form, as it helps us with funding in several different areas.
If your child will be riding the bus this year and will need a bus pass, please make sure you purchase your bus pass online here. Once you log in to LinqConnect you will see "School Store" on the bottom right hand corn. Click that to buy your pass. Any questions contact the Transportation department at 831-336-2223 Please also complete the Transportation Registration Form for all students riding the bus.
Student Pick up Drop off
We are really needing to focus on safety during our pick up time each day. As a reminder, the far right lane is the ONLY lane that you may idle in to pick up your student. The middle lane is a drive thru lane only for parents who are driving up to park. If cars stop in the middle lane, buses CANNOT get up the hill to pass without going into the far left lane which is the exiting lane. There have been some close calls and unsafe situations where cars are stopped in the middle lane when buses are making the wide turn to go down the driveway to head out onto Highway 9. We would also like to remind you that the parking lot in front of the school office is reserved for teachers/staff only. Please do not stop there to drop off or pick up your student. We appreciate your role in helping to ensure the safety of our SLVE students and families.
Bobcat Club News
What is the Bobcat Club?
We are the San Lorenzo Valley Elementary Parent-Teacher Organization. We are a non-profit 501(c)(3) and our main objective is to raise money to provide the Art, Ceramics, and Life Lab programs at our school. Without our fundraisers, these programs will not happen. Look out for our first newsletter next week. Sign up here.
Coffee with Principal Ponza! Join us for our first event!
Join us Friday, August 8th at 8:20am in the MU room (next to the office) for coffee, and an opportunity to chat with Principal Ponza and learn about the Bobcat Club.
Attendance Matters
We are so happy to welcome our students back to school after the summer break. Now that we are all back, we'd like to emphasize the importance of daily attendance for your student.
We know people get sick, people get injured, and there can be family or life responsibilities and other issues that are reasonable and excused. But if your student can attend, they need to be in school.
If your student is out for three or more consecutive days, we may request a doctor’s note to continue excusing the absences. Students who miss 3-5 days will receive a Chronic Absence letter. We will then meet with those families to attempt to support the student attending school. On the second Chronic Absence Letter, families may be required to meet at the District Office to put a plan in place for the student’s attendance. On the third Chronic Absence Letter, families may be required to meet with the County Office Student Attendance Review Board for truancy. Our goal is that nobody ever gets that far along with truancy. We are here to help and support, but it does start at home with the expectation that your student will attend school regularly. For more information please visit our SLVUSD Student Attendance Policy on the SLVUSD website.
Please remember that students who are absent 3 days or more should complete an independent study contract. Lisa Ghelardi, at lblairghelardi@slvusd.org our SLVE Registrar, will work with families to get the paperwork and the missed classwork assignments needed to complete the contract.