Robert Down Principal's Update

Dear Robert H. Down School Community,

Rock Your Socks

Thank you so much for celebrating World Down Syndrome Day with Rock Your Socks last Friday, March 20! Hana and David, two of our Robert Down students with Down Syndrome, felt greatly supported by our school community!

Career Day

Today our 5th grade students had a chance to learn about a variety of careers. Many thanks to Jeff Smallwood, Nick Smith, Alan Durst, Jordana Scheer, Michael Finizio, and Anthony Jones for sharing your expertise and insight with our students. Thank you to our school counselor Sonda Frudden for coordinating this special event!

Professional Learning

Many thanks to our 1st and 5th grade teacher teams for engaging in professional learning with our EL Education staff last Friday, March 20! Mrs. Dacuyan, Mrs. McNickle and Mrs. Spadoni had the chance to co-plan lessons alongside Catharine Smith from EL Education and both grade level teams gained some valuable insight through the day of learning.

Happy Navroz/Nowruz!

We are so grateful for parents, Pheroze Karai and Erica Downs-Karai, as well as their children, Ever and Tenar, for sharing about the significance of Navroz in their culture in Mrs. Perlstein’s class. The students had so much fun learning about the holiday, how it is celebrated, and even engaged in jumping over the “fire!”

RHD Drama Club Presents: Storytime Revue

Be sure to come and support our RHD Drama Club by watching them perform on Sunday, March 29 at 2PM and 5PM in the RHD Ottertorium! Free Admission! Many thanks to parent Shawn Rozsa, who has generously volunteered to work with our students in Drama Club!

Thank you to our Maintenance Team and Custodial Staff!

Continued gratitude goes to our Maintenance team members Robert Bullas and Jeff Stutzman for continuing to support us with essential custodial services while we have been down custodial staff in the day time. In addition, our two evening custodians, Andy Terry and Anthony Johnson, have taken on some additional tasks. We are so grateful for you all!

The Great Taste of PG

PG P.R.I.D.E., a local group that raises and provides significant funding for our classrooms, is hosting a beautiful event called The Great Taste of PG on Saturday, April 4 from 5-8PM at The Inn at Spanish Bay in Pebble Beach. See below for flyer and link to sign up!

Does your student have an unused Golden Pineapple Award?

If so, please have your child exchange it for a new Bubba Gump’s certificate! Islands closed unexpectedly a few weeks ago and we are so grateful to parent, Gardenia Bracamontes, who provided us with Bubba Gump’s certificates!

Justifiable Absence Request for Independent Study

As we approach Spring Break, please remember that if your family plans to take an extended vacation, please complete a Justifiable Absence Request for Independent Study at least two weeks in advance. The form is now electronic for Robert Down as a pilot program for our District.

🛑 Safety: Safe Routes to School

PGUSD has partnered with Transportation Authority of Monterey County (TAMC) and a group of CSUMB students to support our Safe Routes to School programming.

Together, this team designed a parent survey to better understand families’ top safety concerns related to how students arrive at and leave our school sites each day. Your feedback plays an important role in helping us identify areas of need and improve traffic flow, pedestrian access, bicycle safety, and overall student supervision during arrival and dismissal times.

The survey takes no longer than 5 minutes to complete.

Robert H. Down Elementary:

Safe Routes To School Survey

Crosswalk

Huge appreciation goes to our District Office staff as well as PGHS students who have volunteered to support us with safety at the Pine and 13th intersection! Our Crossing Guard position remains open and we invite you to apply here, if interested.

We have placed buckets with flags at the corner of Pine and 13th in the event you see a student or family who may need support, you are welcome to use the flags to assist with the crosswalk.

📅 Upcoming Dates

March - Women’s History Month

March - Disability Awareness Month

April 1 - Passover

April 1 - RHD Technology Committee Mtg 3:30PM

April 2 - World Autism Awareness Day

April 4—Great Taste of PG Fundraiser, Pebble Beach, 5:00-8:00 PM

April 5 - Easter

April 7—RHD School Site Council Meeting, 3:30 PM

April 9—Month of the Military Child, Purple Up Day!

April 9—Toolbox Assembly, 3rd Grade, 10:30 AM

April 9—PGUSD Board Meeting, 6:30 PM

April 10—Sea Otter Classic Assembly, 11:00 AM

April 10—Minimum Day, all students dismissed at 12:15 PM

April 13-17—Spring Break, no school

April 22—Volunteer Appreciation Breakfast, Cafeteria, 8:00 AM

April 30—RHD Open House, 6:00-7:15 PM

📣 Important School News

• Is your family leaving before the 2026-2027 school year? If so, please let us know by e-mailing our office at rhdoffice@pgusd.org, so we can plan accordingly. Thank you!

• 2026-2027 Registration: Know an incoming TK or Kindergartner? Pre-registration for next year is now open. See link here.

• Yearbooks: Pre-orders and ads are available now through April 17th here.

• Personal Items: To prevent loss or heartbreak, please ensure toys and sentimental items stay safely at home.

🤝 "Culture of We" Opportunities

• We are looking for several parents who would be willing to support us with a Safety Drill on Evacuation with Reunification between 11AM and 11:45AM on Tuesday, April 7. If you are available to support us with this important practice drill, please complete the form. Thank you!

• Please take a moment to complete our District LCAP Family Engagement Survey. We will use this information to help us improve our school.

• Robert H. Down Elementary: Safe Routes To School Survey

• Volunteer for the Big Sur Marathon and support our PTA! Sign up here..

• Celebrations: We would love your help highlighting Autism Awareness Month in April. If you would like to create a bulletin board or give a presentation, please email me at ebrownfield@pgusd.org

Wishing each of you a wonderful weekend.

With gratitude,

Emily Tsai Brownfield, Principal

We are now happy to accept Short-Term Independent Study Request Forms digitally (see link below). Please remember, the request needs to be submitted at least 2 weeks prior to the first day of your child's absence.

Justifiable Absence for Short-Term Independent Study Request Form

Please have your child to school on time. Gates open at 8:30 AM. Warning bell rings at 8:40 AM. Final bell rings and instruction begins at 8:45 AM. When a student is tardy it is disruptive to the office and classroom. In addition, students miss important information and announcements from their teacher first thing in the morning.

Did you know that you can report your child's absence with your ParentVUE app? Simply log into your ParentVUE account to send the office a message about why your child is absent.

* Ways to report a student absent *

a) ParentVUE app (click the bell icon next to your child's name)

b) 24 Hour Absence Line (831) 646-6663

If you plan on being a VOLUNTEER on campus or a CHAPERONE for a field trip, please be sure you are fingerprint cleared with our district. To make an appointment at the District Office please contact Bree Nehring by calling 607-8892 or emailing bnehring@pgusd.org

Before coming to campus to volunteer, please check with your child's teacher to schedule a time that works best for them.

Pre-registration for the 2026-2027 school year is OPEN for new to the district TK and Kindergarten age children. If you have a child turning 4 or 5 years old by September 1, 2026, please submit a NEW STUDENT PRE-REGISTRATION FORM

Turn 4 years old on or before 9/1/26 = Transitional Kindergarten (TK)

Turn 5 years old on or before 9/1/26 = Kindergarten

If your child is a current student at Robert Down you do not need to submit a pre-registration form. This form is only for new to the district children.

This notice is to tell you about our voluntary program designed to build the RHD library and foster your child’s love of reading.

Here is how it works: To join the Robert H. Down Birthday Book Club fill out the information below (scroll way down to the bottom of this message to print the Birthday Book forms) and deposit it in the Drop Box at school along with a check for $20.00 (please make the check payable to the P.G.U.S.D. and write R.H.D. Birthday Book on the memo line).

When your child’s birthday month comes around Ms. Scanlon will present a new book in honor of your child’s birthday. Your child will be the first one to check out and read the book that has been donated to the library to celebrate their birthday. A bookplate with your child’s name will be affixed to the inside cover for all future readers to appreciate.

Robert Down is proud of our commitment to social and emotional learning (SEL). Both of the programs we use, Toolbox and Second Step, are aligned with the Center for Social and emotional learning (CASEL). You can learn about CASEL and our SEL programs below.

https://casel.org/fundamentals-of-sel/what-is-the-casel-framework/

Robert Down SEL Programs:

1. TOOLBOX

Toolbox is taught in every classroom at RD and on ‘Toolbox Tuesdays’ during P.E. time with Mrs. Tobin and Mr. Dixon. Robert Down has embraced this program for over ten years.

https://toolboxproject.com/https://toolboxproject.com/

2. SECOND STEP

We are in our second year of piloting the Second Step program. Second Step is a research-based program that focuses on developing human skills. Students (K-5) have two second-step lessons per month and 15 in total throughout the year.

https://www.secondstep.org/digital-k-12-curriculum

Website: https://robertdown.pgusd.org/
Location: 485 Pine Avenue, Pacific Grove, CA, USA
Phone: (831) 646-6540

Email: RHDOffice@pgusd.org