Bobcat Tales
November 21, 2025
SLVE Mission Statement
“We are a supportive team of educators, collaborating with our community, dedicated to nurturing critical thinking, social-emotional growth, and a lifelong love of learning. Rooted in equity and inclusion, we strive to educate and prepare responsible, compassionate citizens through strong partnerships and engaging learning experiences.”
A Message from Ms. Ponza
As we head into the Thanksgiving break, I want to share my heartfelt gratitude with every member of our wonderful SLVE community. To our students—thank you for your curiosity, enthusiasm, and hard work. To our teachers and staff—thank you for your dedication, compassion, and commitment.. And to our families—thank you for your partnership and support. Wishing you all a restful and joyful Thanksgiving surrounded by those you love. I am truly grateful for this community. Please note that school will be closed Monday, November 24th through Friday, November 28th. We will look forward to seeing students back on campus on Monday, December 1st.
Thank you Bobcat Club
Thank you to the Bobcat Club for hosting Science Night last Friday. There were so many fun, hands on, make and take activities. It was great to see so many families participating in a night of learning and fun. Thank you to the parents and families who worked so hard to bring such a wonderful event to SLVE.
Thanks, also, to the Bobcat Club for coordinating and providing another amazing lunch for our staff on Thursday. Teachers and staff felt so appreciated and grateful for this. We are very lucky to have such an active and generous parent community and Bobcat Club at SLVE!
5th Grade Play
This week, the SLVE 5th grade students delivered an amazing performance titled Social Skills: How to Interact with Human Beings. The play was a humorous and engaging story about superheroes learning to navigate social interactions—listening carefully, reading body language, speaking thoughtfully, managing emotions, handling conflict, and making amends. The message was especially powerful coming directly from the students themselves. A big thank you to the 5th grade teachers and students for their hard work, creativity, and enthusiasm in sharing such a fun and inspiring presentation with our SLVE students.
Please help us continue our Title 1 Funding at SLVE.
Our school funding depends on how many families qualify — your form makes a difference!
Please click on this updated link to complete your application today:
https://linqconnect.com/public/meal-application/new
This link will take you directly to the application. You DO NOT need to put a Student ID number when asked. Skip that section and proceed filling out the form and submitting. Please call our office at (831)335-4475 or reach out to Lisa Blair Ghelardi @ lblairghelardi@slvusd.org if you need support completing the form.
Did You Know?
Each school day, all California students can enjoy one free breakfast and one free lunch at no cost to families! Even though every student receives free meals, completing the Free and Reduced-Price Meal Application is still very important.
San Lorenzo Valley Elementary (SLVE) is a Title I school, which means we receive additional funding to support academic interventions, additional support staff, and programs that help all students succeed. Submitting the meal application can directly impact our ability to continue offering these valuable resources and interventions, through the Title 1 program at SLVE.
The information collected through these applications helps determine our school’s eligibility for state and federal funding, including Title I support.
Why it matters:
Helps schools receive additional state & federal funding
Qualifies families for discounted bus passes
Reduces fees for AP exams & other programs
Ensures we can continue offering quality meals and student support
Cradle to Career Update
Cradle to Career is working to stay up-to-date with SNAP benefit updates and food distributions. This flyer shows some of the food distributions within the valley provided by Second Harvest Food Bank. Visit https://www.thefoodbank.org/food-distribution-nutrition-education-locations-times/ for more locations and additional information on where to find food near you. You can also sign up for Cradle to Career's Food Distribution mailing list, where we will send weekly updates on any news or new food distributions and resources.
Thank you!
Claudia Coblea@c2cscc.org or call/text at 831-325-2390.
SLV Warriors Night Tickets on Sale! Join us for SLV night at the Santa Cruz Warriors! We will all be in the same section together! We will have fun and raise a little bit of money for our school!
- SLVE students can sing the National Anthem (must sign up ahead of time and go to practice with Mr. G) or
- they can be an anthem buddy.
Buy Tickets Now! There are only 200 available. Makes a great holiday gift!
Buy a Yearbook! https://www.treering.com/purchase?PassCode=1016914162674592
Save the Dates!
January 9: Family Game Night
January 31: Warriors Game - ALL SLV NIGHT
February 10: Bobcat Club Meeting
February 27: Family Movie Night
March 26: Fun Run
April 14: Bobcat Club Meeting
Buy Bobcat Gear
https://san-lorenzo-valley-elementary.myspreadshop.com
Sign up for our Newsletter
What is the Bobcat Club?
Join the Bobcat Club and help make San Lorenzo Valley Elementary the best it can be! We’re the school’s parent-teacher organization, funding programs (art, ceramics, lifelab), field trip buses, assemblies, and campus improvements that enrich every student’s experience. Your involvement—big or small—helps create a stronger, more connected school community. Learn more and get involved at slvebobcatclub.org
Becca Rubin
SLVE Bobcat Club Co- President
831-335-0656
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.
Triple P Parenting Classes
Triple P Positive Parenting topical workshop flyers for December.
Información sobre programas en español disponibles en el sitio web.
Each flyer has its own unique link to register for each class, or go to https://www.first5scc.org/triple-p-classes and register on the website. All of these classes are on Zoom!
Workshops are all free, and grant funded by First Five of Santa Cruz.
Individual sessions are also available for free or sliding scale. If you are interested in a 1:1 session, please contact First Five of Santa Cruz at First 5 Santa Cruz County at (831) 465-2217 or
Attendance Matters
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.
SLVE Reminders
- 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 Pick Up Protocols
- Car Pick-Up: You may pick up your TK child through the car pick-up line at the flagpole between 12:15–12:20 p.m. (Wednesday pick-up begins at 12:15 p.m.).
- Please note: On Wednesdays, our buses need extra time to complete TK pick-up and return for upper-grade dismissal, so we appreciate your timeliness
- Classroom Door Pick-Up: If you prefer to pick up your child at the classroom door, please stop by the front office first to sign in and get a visitor pass. To help maintain campus security and minimize disruption to other classrooms still in session, we ask that you do not enter campus before 12:10 p.m.
- A lanyard for TK pick up will be distributed at Back to School Night. TK teachers will be discussing this protocol at that time.
- K-3rd Pick Up Protocols:
- Perimeter gates will open at 2:00 pm
- Car pick up:Teachers will walk classes out to the pick up area for both car and bus pick up.
- Classroom door pick up: if you would like to walk in to pick up your child, please do not come before 2:00 when gates open.
- 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!
- 4th-5th Pick Up Protocols:
- Car pick up: Students will be walked to the pick up areas by their teachers at 3:00 pm
- Classroom Door pick up: If you are walking in to meet your student, please be sure to wait until 2:55.
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.
Hello from the SLVUSD Transportation Department,
To register your student to ride the bus, there are two options:
1) Online on the Transportation Department’s page located on the SLVUSD.org website. Under Registration Information there is a clickable link to our Google Doc which will automatically update our department on your student’s registration.
2) At our office in the school bus yard located at 315 Marion Ave, Ben Lomond, half-way down the driveway to the District Office. For the safety of our mechanics and drivers, we ask that you park at the District Office and walk up the driveway to our office.
Information about payments for an annual or single semester bus pass for your student is also located on the Transportation Department’s page. To pay by card, please use LINQ Connect, just as you would for student lunches. To pay by cash/check, come to our office at the transportation yard. If your student receives government assistance and you would like to see about free or reduced-price bus passes, or if you have any questions at all, please call our office at 831-336-2223.
Thank you so much for your continued support for the safe transportation of students, and remember:
If the red lights are flashing, you shouldn’t be passin’!