Dear Portola Valley School District Community, Parents, Staff, and Students,

Thanksgiving is a time to pause and consider how much we have to be grateful for within our school district. In PVSD we have students who are thriving in academics and extracurricular pursuits. Our parents generously dedicate time, talent, and resources to our schools. Our teachers, staff, and administrators work tirelessly to provide amazing opportunities everyday for our students, and work to keep our students safe. Our Portola Valley educators are continually seeking new ways to engage students in learning and support their social-emotional growth. PVSD educators nurture each child’s academic, physical, social, and emotional growth by providing a comprehensive curriculum, high quality instruction, and personalized support. I have visited many classrooms this year and am so impressed by the warmth and sound instructional practices that PVSD staff so lovingly share with our children. 

The Portola Valley Schools Foundation generously provides funding for additional teachers, specialists, and programs that make our schools extraordinary places for learning. The Portola Valley Parent-Teacher Organization enthusiastically promotes and supports the education and welfare of our students and strengthens the relationship between home and school by facilitating communication and encouraging cooperation among parents, teachers, administrators, the school board and the community.  We thank both the PVSF and PTO for their extraordinary support of our staff, students, and schools! Together, we are building a community for our students that believes in their boundless potential!

Additionally, we are so grateful to our community for demonstrating such extraordinary support for the 2019 Measure Z 2019 bond to modernize our schools. We are grateful for the community’s years-long commitment to our schools.

Successful districts are the result of strong school board leaders. Please join me in thanking Karyn Bechtel, Brooke Day , Jeff Klugman, and Kimberley Morris Rosen for their service to our district. We welcome new school board member Anne Fazioli- Khiari who will join the board in December. Their support and commitment to our students lays a solid foundation for our District's commitment to the Portola Valley Blueprint for Excellence.

We have much to be thankful for during a time when there is a great deal of suffering in our country and in the world. In that light, we are humbled by our abundance, and grateful to all who have contributed to our district's successes.

With much gratitude,