The Grizzly Gazette

We are overjoyed to share that Sierra Vista K-8, already in our sixth year of AVID Schoolwide Certification, has now been awarded our first AVID Schoolwide Certified Banner! This remarkable distinction cements our standing as a pioneering school in the VUSD district for AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination) recognition.

A massive round of applause to the devoted staff, students, and families of Sierra Vista K-8 for their tireless dedication and commitment to fostering a culture of college and career preparedness. Your endeavors have truly made a difference, and we couldn't be more filled with pride!

Together, we'll persist in nurturing a learning environment where every student can flourish and realize their dreams. Here's to future accomplishments at Sierra Vista K-8!

Our Last Grizzly Gazette for the Year

As I update this newsletter I realized this will be my final Grizzly Gazette newsletter for Sierra Vista. It has been a pleasure serving the Sierra Vista community for the past 7 years. What started as a dream to open the first VUSD K-8 school became a reality in August 2016. We opened with just over 400 students and now we have over 600 students with a waiting list at every grade level. Thank you for your support and for putting the trust in our staff to educate and nurture your students. It's been an honor being your principal. Thank you!

Staff Changes for 2023-24

Mrs. Henry and Mrs. Clark are retiring at the end of this school year. We thank them for over 30 years each of service educating students! Ms. Avila, Mrs. Tuttle and Mr. Quesenberry will be leaving as well to pursue other opportunities. We thank them for their dedication to our students.

We welcome Mrs. Kara Dinwiddie (principal), Mrs. Diana Moore (asst. principal), Mr. Christian Villamea (7th grade English), Mrs. Kristin Irwin (3rd grade), Mrs. Rachelle Sparks (kindergarten), Mr. Aaron Stephens (7th grade science) and the return of Mrs. Hannah Parker (5th grade).

Yearbooks Distribution and Last Minute Sales

Yearbooks will be distributed on Monday, June 5th at the end of the day. Any left over yearbooks will be sold after school on Tuesday, June 6th in room 16. It's first come, first some for a very limited amount of yearbooks left. $40 CASH only.

Award Assemblies This Week

Monday, June 5th in MPR

6th & 7th Grade @ 9:10 AM

Tuesday, June 6th in MPR

3rd-5th Grade @ 8:45 AM

1st Grade @ 9:30 AM

2nd Grade @ 10:20 AM

Kindergarten @ 11:45 AM

Wednesday, June 7th on Middle School Blacktop

8th Grade Promotion @ 6 PM

8th Grade Promotion

Click here for all the important information regarding our promotion event. Most important is for guests to bring a chair. It's outside on our middle school blacktop. Weather should be nice with a high of 74 degrees forecasted. Gates open at 5:30 PM. Event starts promptly at 6 PM.

8th Grade Dance

For those 8th graders who RSVP'd and are not on activity restriction, the PTC is hosting our annual 8th grade only dance.

Tuesday, June 6, 2023

5:30 PM - 7:30 PM

Multipurpose Room

FREE event open to Grizzly 8th graders only.

Attire: Summer semi-formal dress

8th Grade Families

We need volunteers to help out at the 8th grade picnic and dance. If you would like to volunteer, please sign up here. Thank you so much for your support in making the 8th grade end of year activities a success!

8th Grade Field Trip and Picnic

8th Grade field trip is Monday, June 5th from 9:30 AM to 1:30 PM in Pena Adobe park. If you are interested in donating any additional snacks that are not on our original list, please email one of the 8th grade teachers. We are also willing to accept some field games to be lent out for the day. Please contact the 8th grade teachers in order to make sure the game is safe and school approved.

Library & MS Textbooks Due Now

K-8: Turn in library books

Middle School: Check in textbooks with Mrs. Hobbs in the library.

Textbooks and library books not returned will be issued a fine. Unpaid fines will follow students through high school and can possibly prevent students from buying dance tickets including prom and not receiving their high school diploma. Return books, textbooks, Chromebooks now or pay the fine for anything lost or damaged.

Middle School PE

The last day for dressing out in PE was Friday, June 2. Students will be bringing home their PE clothes that day. We will be doing final PE locker checkout on Tuesday, June 6th.

Accelerated Reader Update

Mrs. Hobbs will distribute shirts on Monday, June 5th. Any questions? Contact Mrs. Hobbs.

Medications at School

We are seeing an increase in OTC (over the counter) medications coming to school with students for allergies and other issues. Parents are able to pick up medication forms from us in the office. Form must be signed by a doctor and parent for us to give medications at school. One form per medication. Contact our health specialists, Mrs. Piro or Mrs. McGinnis

Have a great week,

Mrs. Bozzini

Thank you to all the staff, students and families who came out to support our annual Sport-o-Rama event! It was a huge success! Congratulations to the Prism-ers (white) for taking 1st place!

PROMO CODE: SierraVista

$5 OF EVERY TICKET SOLD GOES DIRECTLY BACK TO OUR SCHOOL

Scan the QR Code below for more details.

Attention parents! The Vacaville Unified School District wants to help your child start their academic journey on the right foot! That's why we're encouraging families to register their 4-year-olds for Transitional Kindergarten (TK) now.

TK is designed as the first year of a two-year kindergarten program that uses a modified kindergarten curriculum that is age and developmentally appropriate. Our goal is to spark an interest in education that will last a lifetime!

And here's some great news: children who turn 4 years old on April 2nd or before can now register for the next school year! To ensure your child's enrollment and help us determine our facility needs for the 2023-24 school year, we encourage you to register your student by July 31st, 2023. Don't wait! Many of our schools fill their classes quickly, and TK is not at every elementary school. Start learning with us, beginning at age 4!

Enrollment Webpage:
https://www.vacavilleusd.org/cms/one.aspx?portalId=70116712&pageId=70706002

The PTC is a group of parents, guardians, staff members, and teachers working together to support and enrich the educational experience of students at Sierra Vista K-8 School. The PTC relies solely on volunteers, membership contributions, donations, and fundraising in order to raise and provide funding for academic and social programs benefiting our students and school. Thank you so much for all your support!

Need a Physical? Get one from your own doctor or you can call Sutter Health at (707) 427-4900 and make an appointment. Costs depend on your insurance. They are located at 770 Mason Street, in Vacaville. Make sure you tell them that it is for a sports physical for Sierra Vista K-8 School and take our school's physical forms with you.

Online Athletic Clearance

1. Visit www.AthleticClearance.com
2. Watch quick tutorial video
3. Register. Parents register with valid email username and password. You will be asked to type in a code to verify you are human. If this step is skipped your account will not activate.
4. Login
5. Select “New Clearance” to start the process.
6. Choose the School Year in which the student plans to participate. Example: Cross Country in Sept 2022 would be the 2022 - 2023 School Year.

Choose the School: Sierra Vista K-8.

Choose Sport

1. Complete all required fields for Student Information, Educational History, Medical History and Signature Forms.
2. UPLOAD PHYSICAL to turn in to. Do not give your physical to your coach.
3. Once you reach the Confirmation Message you have completed the process.
4. All of this data will be electronically filed with your school’s athletic department for review. When the student has been cleared for participation, an email notification will be sent.

Online Athletic Clearance FAQ

Multiple Sports

Once you complete a clearance for one sport, most of the information you have entered will be retained in the system. To register for an additional sport, select New Clearance after enter the year, school and sport most of your information will auto fill.

We are excited to announce that we adopted a new form of school-to-home communication at Vacaville Unified School District called ParentSquare. This unified communications platform is designed to keep parents and guardians informed and encourage greater engagement and connection with VUSD. It provides a safe way for district administrators, school principals, teachers, staff, and parents to:

• Send and receive school and class information

• Share pictures and files

• See calendar items

• Sign up to volunteer

• Schedule parent-teacher conferences

• and much more . . . all in one centralized place!

Parents—Getting Started Video

All district and school, grade level and classroom information will now be sent to your computer or phone via email and/or text. For even more convenience, download the ParentSquare app (available for free for iOS and Android devices).

Have questions? Click the question mark in the top right corner of the desktop version or the Help tab on the app (tap the triple bar icon at the top left) to find answers to most of your questions.

6th - 8th grade students interested in participating in school sports must have a 2.0 GPA and sports physical examination on file prior to trying out. Sports information is located on the school website, including the physical exam form to be completed by your child’s doctor. We highly recommend that middle school students get their physical exam prior to school starting school if they plan on playing any sports. Once the physical is completed and on file with our athletic director, your student may try out for all sports throughout the year.

Cell phones are becoming more of a distraction for our children, which is disrupting the learning environment at school. Cell phones are recognized as a safety precaution for parents and children before and after school. Cell phones and other personal electronic items may not disrupt the educational program, school activities or violates the rights of others. This includes iPhone watches as well. During the school day, bell to bell, all cell phones must be silenced and remain out of sight. Teachers may allow students to use their cell phones for instructional purposes under their supervision. If a school employee finds it necessary to confiscate an electronic device, the item will be secured and recorded in the Confiscated Item Log in the office. Cell phone violation consequences: 1st violation- warning & confiscation, return to student at the end of the day, 2nd violation- confiscation & parent pick up, 3rd violation- confiscation, parent pick up and administrative detention. 4th violation- confiscation, parent pick up and behavior contract.

In 2000, I transitioned from teaching in the classroom to becoming an administrator. Student conflict was always a part of the job back then. However, the conflict usually centered around miscommunication, rumors, dirty looks or just disagreements. In 2007, the iPhone came out and this new technology would forever change the way student conflict occurred on school campuses nationwide. In 2022-23, the majority of our middle school students owned a Smartphone. There were a good number of our elementary students who also owned Smartphones. Many of these students owned a social media account and participated in group chats. You can see where this was heading. Towards the end of the 2021-22 school year, Mrs. Henry and I dealt with student conflict due to social media or group chats on a daily basis. Most of the conflicts originated out of school, but almost always ended up at school interrupting the learning environment. Students were posting pictures online on social media pages often without permission from the other students. When these pictures posted are discovered by students, conflict naturally ensued and arguments happened at school. While working to resolve these conflicts, we discovered that parent controls are not being used. We highly recommend parent controls on cell phones. The students with parent controls on their phones generally didn't engage in any conflicts compared to other students without parent controls on their cell phones. One of the most important parent control is setting a bedtime for Smartphones so students can get a good night's sleep. We find that students are on social media and chatting to one another into the late hours of the night. The most important part of this message is student safety. Students with an unmonitored Smartphone have access to everything on the internet and anyone on the internet has access to your student. I've attached several articles below for parents. I hope you find them helpful. Let's keep our students safe and minimize their distractions while learning at school.

Sincerely,

Mrs. Bozzini, principal

Mrs. Henry, assistant principal