Week 12

Arroyo Seco Museum Science Magnet (ASMSM)

Red Ribbon Week

Red Ribbon Week is a special time when we talk to our students about the importance of making healthy and safe choices. It’s the largest drug prevention campaign in the United States, and it gives us a chance to help our children understand how to say "no" to harmful substances and "yes" to things that help them grow strong and stay safe.

At our school, we keep things age-appropriate by focusing on:

Making healthy choices
Standing up to peer pressure
Being kind to ourselves and others
Learning how to take care of our bodies and minds

The red ribbon is a symbol of our commitment to living drug-free lives, and during this week, we do fun activities, wear themed outfits, and have conversations that help build confidence and smart decision-making skills in our children. And just for fun, we dress up!

Together, we’re planting the seeds of a safe and healthy future for our kids! And, just for fun, we added a spirit week to dress up AND say no to drugs!

Spirit Shirts

All students received their spirit shirts this past week! We strongly encourage our students to end the week in COMMUNITY COUGAR spirit by wearing their shirts on Fridays.

Coyotes

We want to remind everyone to remain vigilant as we have seen an increase in coyotes roaming our surrounding streets, with some entering our campus. The safety of our students and staff is our top priority. If a coyote enters campus, we will initiate our coyote safety protocol, which includes a shelter-in-place procedure. Students and staff will remain inside classrooms or designated safe areas, and all outdoor activities and movement between buildings will stop until the coyote has been safely removed from campus. We will resume normal activities once it is safe to do so. Please remind your children never to approach or interact with a coyote and to immediately notify an adult if they see one. The video below is one shared with teachers to share with students. You may use it to have discussions with your children at home as well.

Winter Academy

January 4-8, 2026

If you are interested in the district's Winter Academy, here is the link to the schools who will be hosting. Our host school is Euclid, but I believe you can request other locations as needed. There are not a lot of options.

If you would like to sign up, click on the application portal below. I am attaching both flyers.

Application Portal

Dismissal

Elementary

Elementary students are dismissed at 2:23 p.m. on Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays, and at 1:23 p.m. on Tuesdays. We need your help with two important reminders:

Please avoid picking up students early unless necessary. Whenever possible, please schedule appointments outside of the school day. Early pickups interrupt classroom instruction and disrupt learning for both your child and their classmates. We appreciate your help in allowing students to remain in class until dismissal.
Please pick up your child on time. We do not have supervision at the gate after 2:30 p.m. Students who have not been picked up will be escorted to the main office to call their families. Elementary students may not wait unsupervised for their middle school siblings to be dismissed. If your elementary student needs to stay on campus until their older sibling is dismissed, please enroll them in the after-school program.

Thank you for your cooperation and for helping us maintain a safe, supervised environment for all our students!

Middle School

Middle school students are dismissed at 3:15 p.m. on Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays, and at 1:28 p.m. on Tuesdays. We need your help with two important reminders:

Please avoid picking up students early unless necessary. Whenever possible, please schedule doctor’s and dentist appointments outside of the school day. Early pickups interrupt classroom instruction and disrupt learning for both your child and their classmates. Thank you for helping us maximize instructional time.
Please pick up your child on time. We do not have supervision at the gate after 3:30 p.m. Students who have not been picked up will be escorted to the main office to call their families and will remain there until they are picked up. For student safety, middle school students may not wait outside unattended. In the event of an emergency, such as a lockdown, fire, or earthquake, students waiting outside without supervision may not receive timely instructions or assistance from staff. We need to ensure that all students are supervised and can respond appropriately to emergency procedures.

Thank you for your cooperation and for helping us keep all our students safe!

Choir

Our music teacher, Ms. Scott has agreed to host choir afterschool on Wednesdays from 2:20-3:20. Students must be picked up promptly at 3:20 at the main gate. She will begin November 4th and have class each Wednesday until Winter Break. If you are interested in joining our after school choir, please complete the interest form and we will send more information to you at a later date.

Join Choir

Read to Achieve

October 26 - December 4

Do you love to read! Log your minutes for the Read to Achieve Minutes Challenge sponsored by the Los Angeles Clippers and win prizes!

All students (Kinder-8th grade) have been registered for the program and will receive a parent letter and their first tracking sheet on Monday. For the next 6 weeks (October 26-December 4), participating students will track the minutes they spend reading and record them on the Minutes Challenge Tracking Sheet provided. As they complete their tracking sheets, please sign off and return to Ms. Gilbreath in the Coordinator's Office. Additional tracking sheets are available in Ms. Gilbreath's office if needed.

Students will be eligible for incentives when they read at least 500 minutes during the program. We look forward to your child participating in this year's Read to Achieve Minutes Challenge. If you have any questions, please reach out to Ms. Gilbreath at k.gilbreath@lausd.net.

Spelling Bee

Grades 4 through 8

Our school-level competition is the first step on a journey that can lead our student champion to regional qualifiers and potentially the National Finals. The school-level competition will be held in the library during the first week of December. To ensure a successful program, please complete this brief interest survey and submit it by October 19th. Please see Mrs. Kopp with any questions.

Candies/Goodie Bags

No Home-Made Food

If you would like to send treats for your child’s class to share, please make sure everything is packaged and store purchased. Send something your child might like to eat or play with themselves and please make sure there is nothing with nuts.

Teacher will help distribute the treats at the end of the school day; however, students will not be allowed to eat any of it at school, during or after. We are asking that students take treats home and go over the contents with an adult at home and you can make the final approval on what may or may not be consumed. Please support us in reiterating this message to your child. If you would rather your child not bring anything home at all, please communicate this in advance to your child’s teacher.

Costumes

Friendly reminder for Friday. All costumes must be school appropriate. Students may not wear the mask on campus, however, they may put it on during the parade. Please do not bring blood or weapons. Shoes should be closed toed and if you do not think your child will be comfortable wearing their costume all day, please send a change of clothes that they can change into themselves after the parade.

The parade will be at 8:30 in the morning on PE Hill. Families welcome!

If you would like your child to not participate in the viewing of the parade, please let your child’s teacher know. They will not be on the yard during the parade.

Storybook Pumpkin

It's that time! Show off your creativity and get in some family time! When you are out shopping this weekend, pick out the perfect pumpkin to decorate for our storybook pumpkin contest. We are looking for 3 winners for elementary and 3 winners for middle school. Voting will happen during the Fall Festival.

Submission Drop Off: October 27th - 30th

Display and Vote: October 30th

Parent Volunteer Orientation

Thank You

Thank you for joining us last week for the student led conferences! You are valued partners in this work and we are grateful for your sharing of your time.

8TH GRADE PARENTS

Zone of Choices and Echoices!

All applications (for Magnet and ZoC programs) are due on Friday, 11/6.

Link for ZoC:
https://zoc.lausd.org/

Link for Magnet Applications:
https://choices.lausd.net/Magnet

All information about inter/intra district/release permits can be found here:
https://pupilservices.lausd.org/apps/pages/Inter-districtPermits

Fall Festival

October 30, 2026

🍂 Fall Festival Volunteers Needed! 🎃

Our Arroyo Seco Fall Festival is just around the corner! Join us on Friday, October 30, from 3:00–6:00 PM for an afternoon of fun, food, and community! The PTA needs parent volunteers and older middle school students to help with food sales during the event. Whether you can give a little time or stay for the entire festival, your help makes a big difference!

Please sign up using the volunteer link below.

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/70A0E4CAAA62EABFA7-66714281-asmsm