Hermosa View, Vista & Valley Parent Teacher Organization (HVPTO) is excited to welcome everyone to the 2023-2024 school year! We hope you all had an incredible summer.

My name is Nicole Ellison and, as the returning HVPTO President, I am grateful to be able to serve our district, schools, staff, parents and students. Along with the other 12 HVPTO Executive Board parents, we share this united goal: supporting all HBCSD students and doing all we can to ensure they have the best school experience possible.

HVPTO’s core mission is to cultivate a sense of community – we want everyone to be proud to be part of the HVS family. Through our support and organization of school events like the Back-to-School Picnic, Halloween Carnival, Dolphin Dash, Field Days and more, we strive to create an environment where everyone feels connected and invested in our schools, in addition to being able to fund “extras” for our kids like assemblies, field trips, classroom materials, library books, lunch clubs and new playground and PE equipment.

A note about HVPTO: we are a PTO, not a PTA, which means that all parents, caregivers and staff in HBCSD are members, with no dues or membership requirements. We encourage you all to be as involved as you can be in our unique little district. Volunteer - whether for HVPTO, in your child’s classroom or as a special program docent; attend or help out at school events and fundraisers; support the Hermosa Beach Education Foundation (HBEF); or come join us at any of the Joint HVPTO+HBEF general meetings for an update of district happenings. Last year, I was blown away by all of the amazing volunteers that stepped up to support our schools! Thank you a million times over!

A little bit about me…my husband and I have a 5th grader and 2nd grader. This is my 3rd year serving on the HVPTO Executive Board and 2nd (and final) year in this role. I adore this community we live in and am so proud of our excellent schools! I’d love to hear from you so please reach out anytime - President@hvpto.com.

I wish you a joyful school year and sincerely hope that HVPTO can contribute to making it fun and successful! I look forward to seeing everyone at the HVPTO Back to School Picnic on Friday, September 8th at Valley School from 4:30 - 7:00! When my oldest was in TK, this event made me fall in love with our community! Don’t miss it and come say hi!

Your HVPTO President,

Nicole Ellison

P.S. We love volunteers! Get involved by emailing Jo Fish & Carrie Ferman Smith @ volunteers@hvpto.com.

For the 2023-24 school year, HVPTO is pleased to offer pre-assembled emergency kits to ensure your child has the essentials they need in the event of an earthquake or disaster during school hours. The kits are reusable year-to-year but do typically expire after 3-5 years so if you are a new incoming student, you’ve misplaced your kit from last year or your kit has expired, you can purchase one in person at the following events:

8/23 - TK/K Meet N' Greet - 3:30-4:30pm

9/6 - Valley Back-to School Night - 5:30-7:40pm

9/7 - View Back-to School Night - 5-6pm

9/12 - Vista Back-to-School Night - 5-6pm

Click HERE for more information about Safety & Emergency Procedures

If you ordered your student's back-to-school supplies through 1st Day School Supplies in May or June, relax and enjoy the the last days of summer at the beach because all your student's supplies will be delivered straight to your student's classroom on the 1st day of school. Contact Jennifer Sell if you can't remember if you pre-ordered a kit.

If not, click HERE for a complete shopping list by grade level. Shop at OFFICE DEPOT online or instore (Rosecrans location here) on qualifying school supplies and use either of our Reward ID numbers below at checkout, and HVS will receive 5% back in credits for FREE supplies! When shopping online, look for the "Designate a school" link on the Order Confirmation page or simply provide the number to the cashier when shopping in store.

Valley #70008801

View & Vista #70008802

Beach Cities Health District's LiveWell Kids program features trained parent volunteers who help deliver six interactive lessons in the View, Vista, and Valley school gardens that educate TK-5 students on the process and benefits of growing their own food and making healthy eating choices. Yes, you heard that correctly, the garden program is expanding to Vista and Valley this year!

BCHD needs 1-2 "LiveWell Kids LEAD" volunteers for the VIEW and VISTA campuses for the 2023-2024 school year. Lead Volunteers serve as liaisons between the classroom volunteers and BCHD staff, serving as the “point-people” for the LiveWell Kids Program at the school. They ensure that the classroom Garden Docents' lessons are scheduled, delivered and recorded for tracking. This is a role that can be done with a friend with minimal time commitment that is FUN, especially if you have a green thumb! Learn more about the role HERE.

Without "LiveWell Kids LEAD" volunteers in place at each campus, the garden program will not be able to commence for our students. If interested, please reach out to Jo & Carrie @ volunteers@hvpto.com and they will connect you with BCHD's Mishell Balzer & Tami Kachel.

Beach Cities Health District (BCHD) is seeking students from grades 8 – 12 who are passionate about their peers' health and wellness to serve on the Youth Advisory Council. The Youth Advisory Council is a youth-led council focusing on the health and needs of their Beach Cities peers. The Youth Advisory Council is part of the Beach Cities Partnership for Youth that works to improve student mental health and well-being and reduce substance use.

Applications will be accepted through Sunday, September 3rd by 5:30pm for the 2023 – 2024 school year. You can learn more and apply HERE.

You can contact Youth Engagement Coordinator, Cindy Carcamo with questions.

Thank you to everyone who helped make Middle School Registration a success last week! A BIG THANK YOU to our event chairs Amy Schauwecker and Laura Fisher who did an amazing job helping Valley Administration organize and run the event. We also couldn’t have done it without Valley’s dedicated Office Staff and the Maintenance and Operations Crew.

And finally, a gigantic thank you to all the parent and student volunteers who gave their time to make it a great day including:

Susie Arjani, Ava Adjani, Heather Baboolal, Crosby Baboolal, Rebekah Barrios, Sebastian Barrios, Taiisa Boughton, Matthew Boughton, Susan Bridges, Shea Bridges, Jennifer Buchsbaum, Caitlyn Buchsbaum, Suzanne Carroll, Charlie Carroll, Kim Ceman, Caden Ceman, Jin Sun Choi, Eunha Kang, Cynthia Choueiti, Noah Conn, Jenn Chrisman, Oliver Levenson, Karin Coye, Kai Coye, Miles Crotty, Miles Crotty, Lauren De Avila, Lilly De Avila, Carrie Dodd, Hudson Dodd, Nicole Ellison, Giuliana Fanucchi-Boyar, Owen Boyar, Henry Fisher, Lindsay Flory, Jack Flory, Danielle Fredrickson, Tanner Fredrickson, Tucker Fulbright, Ellie Gardner, Lisa Vargas Gardner, Veronica Gathercole, Victoria Gathercole, Melinda Green, Miles, Green, Laura Harris, Nolan Harris, Brian Hart, Liam Hart, Katie Hill, Emma Hill, Sarah Hutto, Lily Hutto, Meegan Kenney, Ella Kenney, Carol Kluthe, Erin Kluthe, Abby Knollenberg, Luke Knollenberg, Rachel Kuppinger, Sadie, Kuppinger, Sonya Landgreen, Nora Landgreen, Jack Landgreen, Bryan Libby, Justin Libby, Ramya Lindsay, Salila Lindsay, Tracy Lombardi, James Lombardi, Zack Lombardi, Thu-Ha Loy, Jonsi Loy, Jane Mancuso, Edward Mancuso, Sarah Matzen, Jack Matzen, Katie Matzen, Camie McDowell, Quinn McDowell, Betina Mekhtarian, Gregory Mekhtarian, Raquel Miller, Juliana Miller, Chris Miller, Nicole Moriarty, Leah Horvath, Olivia Mosier, Shauna Mullins, Duke Mullins, Billy Neubauer, Nate Neubaurer, Eric Oakes, Bodie Oakes, Carli Parker, Price Parker, Kristy Robinson, Miles Robinson, Beverly Reader, Benjamin Gurrala, Nancy Renyolds, Henry Reynolds, Tricia Scaglione, Ale Scaglione, Katie Schafer, Gavin Shafer, Jimmy Schauwecker, Becky Scholten, Max Scholten, Estelle Shaw, Odin Shaw, Tara Stabile, Tate Stabile, Tracie Stearns, Sophia Stearns, Brian Gant, Ryker Campbell, Bodie Tallardy, Nicky Tenpas, Arbor Miller, Sandra Thomas, Ashton Thomas, Karla Torres, Dani Torres, Anna Voight, Jack Voight, Kris Voight, Ben Voight, Kashi Walmer, Colton Walmer, Anna Ward, Harper Ward, Kimberly Wasiljew, Declan Wasiljew, Crystal Watson, Rory Merkin, Matthew Weinberg, Misha Weinberg, Scott Winn, Landon Winn, Lisa Woomer, Brooks Woomer, Sherah Wyly, Kieran Wyly, Vanessa Yasment, Oliver Yasment, Robin Zakoura, Lulu Ozmun, Angelica Zavaleta and Michael Zavaleta.

Want to get involved, but now sure how? Here is a summary of upcoming Volunteer opportunities.

You can also reach out to volunteers@hvpto.com to learn about other upcoming HVPTO volunteer opportunities.