Urbain H. Plavan Elementary School
www.plavan.fvsd.us

Plavan PTO:
Panther Pride-Issue 1 September 10, 2022
Panther Pride is a monthly newsletter that is shared with our community on the second Saturday of each month - 10am. Stay connected and enjoy!
You can also follow us on Instagram: @plavanpanther and visit plavan.fvsd.us to review our school calendar and important schedules.
Message from Dr. Ham

Dear Plavan families,
 
Welcome to the 2022-20223 school year! I am excited to have our school community come back together as we continue our journey back towards "normalcy" and to bring great joy to your child's instructional experience.

In the past two years, we successfully transitioned all of our students and staff back to full time, in-person instruction. It was a challenging task when you consider more than 40% of our student body were either new (Transitional Kinder, Kindergarten, or new enrollees) or returning back to Plavan after a year of remote learning. With the support of our staff and our PTO, our students experienced a wonderful school year filled memorable events (hosted by our PTO and teachers) and quality instruction that Plavan is known for.
 
Last year Plavan students performed well above state, county, and FVSD averages (~ 80% meeting or exceeding standards) on both the ELA & Math, and 5th Grade Science on the California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CAASPP).
 
Excellent instructional outcomes is just one goal here at Plavan. Our ultimate goal is to support our parents in developing the "whole" child so your partnership with us is extremely important.  
 
We are aware that you have educational options for your child. We thank you for choosing and trusting us with your most valued treasures.
 
Warmly,
 
Patrick Ham, Ed.D.
Principal
Plavan Elementary School
Back to School Night is this Thursday, 9-15
Introducing our New Grade Level Teams, & Our New PTO Board
Transitional & Kindergarten Team:
(Left to Right)
Lauren Voss-K
Kristi Manthorne-TK
Autumn Heredia-K
Jennifer Andrews-K
2nd Grade Team:
(Left to Right)
Kristen Booth
Liz Madden
Julie Gonzales
4th Grade Team:
(Left to Right)
Tara Wilson
Andrea Benson
Britanya Hughes
1st Grade Team:
(Left to Right)
Kim Kha
Becky DeJulio
Tracy Querry
Sibel Yilmaz
3rd Grade Team:
(Left to Right)
Summer Questel
Heather Spenser
Cheryl Panzella
5th Grade Team:
(Top to Bottom)
Morgan Mowrey
Lindsey Copley
Kelly Rutter
Stephanie Reza
Our new PTO Board for 2022-2023:
Thank you for your leadership and partnership!!!
President: Huy Tran
VP of Fundraising: Thao To
External VP: Steve Nguyen
Internal VP: Tran Nguyen
Treasurer: Wendolyn Dao
Secretary: Loc Nguyen
Parliamentarian: Phu Nguyen

Front Office Reminders:
Hello Plavan Panther Parents! Welcome to the new 22/23 school year! It’s been a great 1st Week!
A couple of reminders:
1)     School drop off begins at 8 a.m., please do not drop off students in any grade earlier than 8 a.m. There is no campus supervision and we want your student to be safe when they are at school.

***K-5 students will proceed straight to their classrooms starting week 2 at the 8am bell. Staff will be available to assist if needed.

2)     School begins at 8:15 a.m., that is when our late bell rings. If students are not in class with their materials out and ready to learn, they run the risk of being marked absent for the day and/or being sent all the way to the office for a tardy slip. Your help is needed to either park and walk your student(s) into the office for a tardy slip on those days you may run late, or get here to allow enough time for your student to get to class materials in hand ready to learn (at least 3-5 minutes).

3)     Dismissal time is 2:05 p.m. for our grade TK, K, 1, 2 students and dismissal is 2:45 p.m. for our grade 3, 4, 5 students. Those students not picked up within 10 minutes are brought to the office for us to call parents (and a late pick up is logged in your student's attendance record). Please answer our call when you see our number(s) on the caller ID. 714-378-4230, 714-378-4231 or 714-378-4232. If you have an emergency, call us as soon as you can so we can relay the information to your child who may be scared or worried that you aren’t at school to pick them up.

4)     We operate a closed campus, as such any items forgotten (chromebooks, homework, packed lunches, water bottles) need to be dropped off on the cart nearest the office prior to recess time 10 a.m.. Please do not try to enter classrooms. Items are taken to classrooms right before recess time. Please do not drop off fast food lunches as they are not allowed on our campus for students. Please refer to our Food Services guidelines on the district website for more information.

5) Please label everything with your child's first name if possible, so we may return items to their rightful owner. We do have a lost and found, so if your child is missing an item have them ask their teacher to visit the lost and found to look for an item.

Important Dates:
September 15, 2022 - Back to School Night
October 21, 2022 - Picture Day
Plavan Panther's Counselors' Corner
Meet our new Elementary School Counselors for the 2022-2023 school year!
"Some of the best gifts are things we already have, but don't need, and can give to someone who does. It's good for the wellness of our planet too!"
Meet our New Physical Education Teachers to Plavan Elementary School!
Meet our new PE Teachers to Plavan. They will be here all day Thursday to teach PE to all of our students.

(Left to Right):
Troy Jacobs, Princeton Nguyen, Ricky Carillo, Carly Bishop, Larry Turner
Photos from Opening Week...