The Beehive
Issue 28 | 2019-2020
March 18, 2020
An Update from LGUSD

Dear Los Gatos Union School District Families, 
Thank you for your patience and support the past week as we navigate the ever-changing events around COVID-19. The administrative team is meeting to determine the best way to provide learning opportunities during this closure. We appreciate your care for our students and staff. As a community working together, we can support the education of all children in our district.
As you may have heard, a “Shelter in Place” was issued for Santa Clara County Monday, March 16. As a result, all school sites and the district office are closed as of yesterday, March 17. Only essential employees, as designated by the district, will be allowed on campus. Please refrain from going onto school sites. The best way to connect with teachers and the district office is through email. We have limited access to district phones during the closure period. Visit our website for up to date information.  
Remote Learning
We have been anticipating the need to support Remote Learning. Teachers are preparing for a roll-out of Remote Learning to begin next week. Please note that our youngest learners will require consistent support from an adult or older sibling to be able to access online learning tools. The plan below may vary slightly by teacher, but in general, you can expect the following:  
On the evening of Tuesday, March 17, all families were sent a link to access Phase One of the LGUSD Remote Learning plan. You may also click here to to access Phase One.
Phase One :
Wednesday through Friday, March 18 - 20
All teachers in LGUSD have contributed five learning activities that are uploaded to the District's new Remote Learning webpage. These materials are a bank of learning opportunities to help families build routines around at-home learning.  All students are encouraged to participate in lesson/learning activities from these pages. Please note there is also a myriad of resources to help students and individual tutorial links by grade level and subject area.  
Phase Two:
Beginning Monday, March 23
Teachers will communicate via email remote learning links and learning activities for students to complete. The lessons follow the California standards. Teachers will be making connections with their classes through different technology options: Google Meets or Zoom, phone calls, recorded videos via email, etc. All students are encouraged to actively participate in the online lessons.   

Child Nutrition Services -- Free Lunches/Breakfast Sack for all Students 18 years and younger beginning Wednesday, March 18
LGUSD will provide an opportunity for families to pick-up free breakfast and lunch meals for any child 18-years and younger in their family regardless of enrollment in LGUSD. Meals will be available Monday-Friday as a drive-through service. Children must be present in the car to receive meals. LGHS students are eligible to participate in this program. Please visit the  Food Services  webpage for updates.
Meals will be available:
        Location: R.J. Fisher Middle School (for all families)
        Drive through on Roberts Road
        Time:  11 am – 12 pm Monday through Friday
 
Residency Verification and Enrollment
The annual Residency Verification and Enrollment are postponed until further notice. 

School Sites
Our custodial staff is deep cleaning all school sites to prepare for the return of staff and students.
 
This truly is an unprecedented time, where it seems like new challenges emerge daily. I’m a firm believer that adversity can bring out the best in individuals. I know this is true for our LGUSD staff, who are caring professionals that work collaboratively to provide one of the best educations in California.  I have complete confidence in our staff that when we unite and come together, we will maintain a continuity of education for all our students. I ask for your patience and support as we accomplish this together.   

Yours in education,

Paul Johnson
Superintendent 

Important Dates

March

3/20 - Residency Verification Affidavits Due - The annual Residency Verification and Enrollment are postponed until further notice.

4/13 - School resumes 


The H&SC Calendar is Online!

Did you know that our Home & School Club Calendar is online? Click here to see our Google Calendar, which you can subscribe to.

Important School Contact Information
Office: 408-335-2100
Attendance: 408-335-2145
Office Hours: 7:30 am - 3:30 pm (currently closed)
Stay tuned for important changes!
Kudos Korner
Blossom Hill Home and School Club would like to thank Author’s Fair Chair Francine Shore for organizing an amazing visit by Newbery Honor Winning author Gennifer Choldenko. Gennifer gave three very engaging presentations to our students last Tuesday. Students were excited to meet this very entertaining author and to hear excerpts from her books. The Home and School Club also purchased age appropriate copies of Gennifer’s books for each classroom to add to their library. We hope everyone who purchased personal copies of Gennifer’s books are enjoying these wonderful reads.
Thank you also to Safe Routes to School Chair  Kathleen Willey  and District Coordinator  Leah Angelo , with the help of  Carrie Endweiss , for coordinating gifts for our wonderful crossing guards, Anita and Cookie, to celebrate Crossing Guard Appreciation Week. Anita is our crossing guard at Blossom Hill and Cherry Blossom, and Cookie is our crossing guard at Shannon and Cherry Blossom. They work morning and afternoon to help our children get to school safely, and they do it with a smile. Our community is so lucky to have these two amazing protectors of our children.
CALLING ALL VOLUNTEERS!

It is time again to recruit volunteers for the 2020-2021 school year. Each position could be filled by one person or by two or three volunteers working as a team. If you are interested in volunteering in any other areas, please contact Jennifer Shapiro at president@blossomhill.org and we will find the perfect role for you.


Home & School Club Committee Chair Positions

Parent Directory Chair – This committee chair is responsible for downloading the Home & School Club database at the beginning of the year and maintaining our AtoZ Connect online directory. This job is done at home on your own schedule. Contact:  directory@blossomhill.org

The Hive Co-Chairs – These committee chairs are responsible for planning and executing our spring auction. This fun event is a great team job. Co-chairs oversee the event night planning and run the online auction, as well as coordinating the procurement of auction items. Contact:  hive@blossomhill.org

Laminating Committee Chair – This chair is responsible for laminating materials as requested by teachers. S/he would be trained to use the laminating machine in the workroom and set her/his own weekly schedule. Contact: laminating@blossomhill.org

No Cost Giving Chair ( Box Tops, eScrip, Nob Hill Liaison) – This chair is responsible for our two Box Top collections and for encouraging participation in No Cost Giving programs. Contact: nocost@blossomhill.org

Facebook Manager/Web Content Chair – This chair maintains the Blossom Hill Home & School Club website as well as posting important events and information on our Facebook page. This job is done at home on your own schedule. Contact: facebook@blossomhill.org

Beehive Editor Chair – This chair collects articles from our community and publishes our Wednesday weekly newsletter, the Beehive, using Constant Contact. This job is done at home on your own schedule. Contact: beehive@blossomhill.org

Safe Routes to School Co-Chair – This committee co-chair is needed to help supervise Honeybee Bar Code scanning on Mondays from 7:45am to 8:10am, assist with Walk, Bike and Roll to School weeks and 3 rd Grade Bike Rodeo, and other special event weeks. Contact: saferoutes@blossomhill.org

CASA Liaison Chair – This committee chair is responsible for organizing Red Ribbon Week at Blossom Hill with the support of CASA. This includes decorating the school with ribbons and hanging banners, as well as distributing wristbands and flyers to teachers. Contact:  casa@blossomhill.org

Parenting Continuum Chair – This committee chair is needed to represent Blossom Hill in organizing opportunities for educational enrichment for parents, including movie nights and speakers to address the challenges facing parents today. Contact: parenteducation@blossomhill.org
UPDATE!
Change of Date for the Mamas & Margaritas Sign-Up Party

Due to the Los Gatos Union School District and Santa Clara Public Health Department guidance regarding public events, the Mamas & Margaritas sign-up party will be postponed from Saturday, March 28  to  Saturday, May 16 . Start time and venue is still the same. We know that this could be a potential inconvenience for some people so we apologize. We hope that the majority of mamas can still attend. It will be a perfect time to unwind with a margarita and your favorite mamas at the end of the school year. 
Tickets are still available so grab a mama friend and enjoy a great night of good food, drink and cheer!

When: Saturday, May 16 at 6 pm
Where: Carrie Wei's Home
Donation: $100 per person
Sign Up Here  
 
March’s Cornerstone Corner:
Long Shot 
March’s book is Long Shot by Chris Paul. The focus of this book is to inspire students to find their spark, explore their world, and learn about their passions. We discussed how to set goals and how talk to “Goal Champions” about the steps they can take to achieve their dreams. The goals for this lesson are to: 

  1. Help students explore and discover their spark (interests, dreams, passions, etc.).
  2. Identify their Goal Champions (parents, coaches, siblings, friends, etc.).
  3. Set short and long term goals, steps to get there, and make changes as needed to achieve their dreams.
  4. Reflect upon and identify the support students receive from their peers, family, and community.
  5. Empower students to provide support to their peers, family, and community. 


At home, parents can reinforce March’s Cornerstone theme by helping their children identify, observe, and understand the steps to success that are needed to achieve their goals. We can use our own GPS to find our way:

  • Goal - What is the goal?
  • Path - How are we going to achieve or meet our goal? 
  • Switch – What do we do when there are challenges and our plan needs to change? How do we change our method so that we can achieve success?


Additional books that are relevant to this month’s theme:

What Do You Do With a Chance? by Kobi Yamada; Jabari Jumps by Gaia Cornwall; I Can’t Do That Yet by Esther Cordova; Rosie Revere, Engineer by Andrea Beaty; How To Catch A Star by Oliver Jeffers; A Chair for My Mother by Vera B. Williams.
The H&SC Thanks This Week's
Sponsor Spotlight

It’s not too late to bee-come a Community Sponsor! For more information on this program, click here or email Debbie Bluestone at fab@blossomhill.org.
Blossom Hill Vision Statement – (Abilities and skills we expect our students to acquire and take-out into the world) All students will have the necessary skills to become enthusiastic, life-long learners and productive, empathetic, respectful members of society.

 Blossom Hill Mission Statement – (What we need to do as a school community to ensure this happens) The Blossom Hill School community takes pride in providing an enriched standards-based curriculum in a safe, nurturing environment. We strive to appreciate an awareness of students’ developmental needs to help them progress towards independence. 
Blossom Hill Elementary School
16400 Blossom Hill Road, Los Gatos, CA 95032
Lisa Reynolds, Principal |  lreynolds@lgusd.org
Phone: 408-335-2100 | Fax: 408-356-0887 | Attendance Line: 408-335-2145
Blossom Hill Home & School Club
Jennifer Shapiro, President |  president@blossomhill.org    
Contact and make submissions to The Beehive editor, Christi Zenteno, at beehive@blossomhill.org .
The Beehive is approved by Principal Lisa Reynolds and the H&SC Board to provide pertinent information weekly to the Blossom Hill community.
*The Beehive newsletter is written exclusively to provide the Blossom Hill community with school information. Articles, information, calendars, etc. may not be duplicated or re-printed in any manner without the permission of the Home and School Club or the Blossom Hill school administration.

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