News From The Nest

Dear Falcon Families,

What a fun night at Trunk or Treat! Thank you to our families who hosted a trunk and to all our Falcon families who also donated candy! It was a great evening of community and fun! See the photos below for the winners of each trunk category!

This week, we are celebrating Red Ribbon Week at Fern. See the flyer below for our spirit day each for day this week.

Our Foundation Falcon Dash is off to a great start! We kicked off our Foundation Falcon Dash fundraiser and we've already raised over $4,200! ALL funds raised this year will go directly to Fern Drive! Thanks to the planning and dedication from our Foundation Board and committee members, we are using 99Pledges as our donation platform and are able to keep all funds in-house this year! Please look in your email for your child's customized link that you can share out to family and friends. Our Falcon Dash will take place on Thursday, November 20th. See the flyers below for more information about our Falcon Dash and for opportunities to volunteer or to watch the event day.

Please mark your calendars for the upcoming non student days: Monday, November 3rd & Tuesday, November 11th.

And finally, a reminder that we will hold our annual character parade this Friday, October 31st. We allow students to dress in costume for our annual character parade, which will begin at approx. 8:30 am and end with our Friday flag assembly. Students will need to plan to change out of their costume after the flag assembly. We will also be kicking off another fun event that morning too, Reading with a Loved One, where we are inviting families into the classroom to read with their Falcon. Please see the information below for the guidelines for all activities.

Mark Your Calendars:

October 27th ~ Red Ribbon Week

October 31st ~ Costume Parade, Friday Assembly

& Read with a Loved One

November 3rd ~ Non-Student Day, Teacher PD

November 11th ~ No School, Veterans Day

Go Falcons! 💚

Please join your Falcon for an opportunity to Read with a Loved One in the classroom this Friday, after our character parade and Friday flag assembly. We are planning to hold Read with a Loved One each month, (generally the last Friday of the month), after our Friday flag assembly. This is a new "tradition" for us. We have a vision for how this will look and roll out, but of course there is always a learning curve. As both educators and parents ourselves, we believe strongly that reading with our elementary age students is one of the BEST things we can do to help our children become successful students both today and in their future. Thank you for joining us in this new, fun activity! Our hope is that it becomes a time both you and your child look forward to each month, or in my case as a working parent, at least a few times a year. :)

Here are some important guidelines:

• Plan to join us for the flag assembly that begins at approx. 8:25 am.
• At the end of the assembly, wait for students to exit the assembly with their class and THEN walk to their classroom to read with your Falcon.
• You will read inside the classroom, or possibly outside, as directed by the teacher.
• You are welcome to bring a story from home to read with your child, or the teacher will have some available in the classroom to choose from as well.
• If you have more than one Falcon, you can choose to read for a few minutes in each room, until the announcement is made that RWALO has concluded; (eg. 2 students = 10 min in each room) OR you may choose to read one month with one child, and the next month with another child.
• As with every Friday assembly, you will go directly to the assembly and NOT need to sign in at the office.
• You will need to leave campus once the announcement has been made that RWALO is over.
• Have fun and enjoy reading with your Falcon!

Join in the spirit this week as we practice choosing healthy habits during Red Ribbon Week!

PTA is seeking volunteers to help with our upcoming family movie night, scheduled for November 14th, and our annual Holiday Shop, scheduled for December 10th-12th. Please reach out to our PTA Board at ferndrpta@gmail.com.

multicultural fair interest form

We had an awesome evening at our third annual Trunk or Treat! Thank you to ALL the families who decorated a trunk and participated in our evening! Below are the winners for each of our categories. Way to represent Falcons!

Attendance is key in student achievement and success at school.

Thank you for ensuring your Falcon attends school on time every day that they are healthy.

If your child will be absent, please use this google form to clear their absence. You may also call the school attendance line to clear an absence. Independent Study MUST be requested on THE DAY of the absence. For vacations, parents must request Independent Study TWO weeks before the absence.

Each week we hold a raffle for class attendance. Each day, if the class has 100% attendance, the teacher sends a raffle coupon up to the office. On Friday's we draw a primary and upper grade class winner. The winning class receives 3 class Gotcha's, a 10 minute extra recess and has the Falcon mascot in their room for the week.

This week's winners are:

Primary - Mrs. White

Upper grades - Mrs. Conti

Here is our latest update from Student Council. Read carefully to see the latest spirit dates.

Link to FSD website Nutrition Page

Lunch and breakfast will continue to be free for all students daily. We will still do a lunch count daily so please discuss with your student the importance to take a correct lunch count. Some students bring a lunch to school and then at lunchtime go get a school lunch. This results in some lunch shortages of the choice meal that day. Lunch options are still available and all children will be fed but often when this happens, the "lunch of the day" runs out. Please review with students the importance of this an accurate lunch count.

An important reminder to drive SLOWLY and SAFELY through our parking lot and on Fern Drive. Cars are driving too fast through our parking lot and students are also exiting cars in the drive through lane. This is not safe and we need to follow our drop off/pick up protocols. Students are only permitted to exit their car on the SIDEWALK side of their car in the drop off lane, NOT the drive-through lane. A reminder that adults are not permitted to exit the car. Students should be ready to exit when their car pulls into the drop off lane. As cars pull away, please be sure you are driving SLOWLY and cautiously. Drive slowly on Pico and Fern Drive as well. Thank you for your attention to this matter. Our students, families and staff should be safe at all times.

Month of October PTA update.

Each month, be sure to take a look at the latest news and events from PTA.

Mark you calendars!

The Falcon Dash is coming on November 20th!

Our 25-26 Foundation Board Members

President, Kristen Jones

Vice President, George Benfit

Secretary, Nanette Roller

Treasurer, Joe Conti

• The PowerSchool Parent Portal will be live beginning Fri, 8/8. If your child took the state test last spring, you can find their CAASPP test scores there.
• Fern Drive School Handbook
• Fern Drive Website
• FSD Website
• Follow us on Instagram and Facebook

Follow Fern Drive on IG: fern_drive_falcons

Follow our PTA on IG: ferndrivepta

Follow our Foundation on IG: ferndrivefoundation