News From The Nest

Hello Falcons families,

We had a great first week back after Spring Break with many celebrations! Please see the photos below from our Trimester 2 awards assemblies. On Friday, we also celebrated two of our incredible FD staff members, Mrs. Paiz and Mrs. Brenda Alvarez. Mrs. Paiz is our 2025-26 Teacher of the Year and Mrs. Alvarez is our 2025-26 Classified Employee of the Year! We loved taking a few minutes to celebrate these special ladies. Fern Drive would not the same without them.

April is upon us, hard to believe, and that means that our annual state testing, the SBAC, will take place at the very end of April and the beginning of May for all 3rd-6th grade students. Third-Sixth grade parents, please take a few minutes to check out this site to learn more about the test and how you can support your student. Our students will be practicing for this assessment over this next month, however your support and encouragement will also have a strong, positive impact on our Falcons. Thank you for taking some time to view the site.

Our Spring Festival is just around the corner, April 10th from 4:00-7:30 pm! You can place an order for a special "Aloha Package" that includes a festival t-shirt. The orders are DUE no later than this Friday, April 3rd. See the flyers below for more information.

Our Sixth grade students will take their panoramic class picture this Tuesday morning. Please be sure your Falcon is on time for school. :)

Finally, a reminder that the LAST day to purchase a yearbook is FRIDAY, APRIL 10th. Sixth grade parents, your last day to submit a dedication page is FRIDAY APRIL 3rd.

Go Falcons! 💚

Warmly,

Mrs. Lucas

Mark Your Calendars:

March 31st ~ 6th Gr. Panoramic Picture

April 9th ~ Dental Clinic @ FD

April 10th ~ Spring Festival, 4:00-7:30

April 11th ~ 4th Gr. Hockey Trny - Richman

April 16th ~ PTA Assoc. Mtg, electing new Board

April 18th ~ FSD Fest @ CSUF

April 22nd ~ Excellenza @ LV

April 25th ~ Love Fullerton Day

This past week we held our Trimester 2 awards assemblies and celebrated our students' progress!

We love celebrating the hard work of our Falcons and our teachers!

Please order your yearbook NOW! We do NOT order extra so be sure to get your order in

by APRIL 10th.

See all the flyers below. Submit your pictures for the yearbook by clicking on the

appropriate QR code.

6th Grade families, be sure to submit your dedications now!

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. Holbrook

As we head into the winter months, students are often home ill. If your child is absent, you can request Independent Study to make up the absence on their attendance. You MUST request it on the first day of the absence. There is a spot on the google attendance form to request this. If your child is absent, you MUST clear their attendance with either the ABSENCE google form or a call to our office attendance line so that the absence does not become a truancy. TY!

Here is our April 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.

📚Read With A Loved One dates for the remainder of the year: 📚

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 April PTA update.

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

Save the date! Our Hawaiian Luau Spring Festival is April 10th!

Our 25-26 Foundation Board Members

President, Kristen Jones

Vice President, George Benfit

Secretary, Nanette Roller

Treasurer, Joe Conti

Our annual Love Fullerton day is coming! Mark your calendars and sign up to "Love Fern Drive" on Saturday, April 25th. This is always a great morning of community and caring.

Join a team of motivated workers who want to bless Fern Drive Elementary school with a day of Spring cleaning. Here is the scope of work for Fern Drive School:

Repainting our free library box

Ramp for our new PE shed

Cleaning the slider doors and windows

Weeding the planters

Beautifying our TK/K playground

https://lovefullerton.org/Volunteer/Sign-Up/ID/422

Go Falcons!

• 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