October 21, 2020
The Beehive
Issue 12

2020-2021
From the Principal’s Desk 
Dear Blossom Hill Families, 

Fall is in the air! As a friendly reminder, conferences begin on Monday, November 2nd. Please make sure to sign-up for a conference with your child’s teacher. 

Team LGUSD remains committed to making progress towards reopening schools. In order to do this, there are several teachers piloting models so we can learn more about what works and what needs to be modified moving forward. Here is some additional information for you:

What are the considerations for the pilots taking place? Our goal is to ensure that each pilot is replicable, flexible, and expandable. We are also taking into consideration the impact of the pilot on the current virtual classroom while balancing parent choice. Team LGUSD is mindful of parent stakeholders who expressed a strong desire for their child(ren) to remain with their current teacher regardless of being remote or in-person. The pilots will provide us additional information for future planning. 

What safety precautions are in place for students and staff participating in an in-person pilot? Participating teachers and staff members are approaching the pilots methodically and strategically. Families will be provided a daily soft copy of a Covid Symptom Check Form prior to each child entering campus. Upon arrival to campus, participating students will have their temperature checked and will proceed to their intended destination. Students will be required to maintain physical distancing on campus and masks will be required. 

Why didn’t site Principals announce to the community which classrooms are participating in a pilot? As we all know, the topic of reopening schools is one of the most polarizing topics education has been faced with to date. In order to encourage and foster a sense of support in our community, we are asking for your trust while strategic pilots take place at every school site. As we want these pilots to be successful, we will continue to be as transparent and as timely as possible with our communication in a holistic manner. 

Our community is strong and together we will continue to navigate in a cautious and progressive manner. 

Speaking of progressive… All parents are cordially invited to participate in a parent input meeting regarding field and landscaping plans on our campus.

The initial planning meeting is scheduled for Monday, November 2nd at 4:00 PM. This discussion will solicit your ideas on key planning areas including solar installation, playgrounds, and fields. Collected feedback will be incorporated into an initial design and brought back for your review in mid -November.

As a stakeholder we appreciate your support and look forward to working together to modernize the exterior areas of our beautiful campus.

Please contact me if you have questions.

In education together, 
Lisa Reynolds
Principal, Blossom Hill School
Phone: 408.335.2100
IMPORTANT
DATES

October/November


  • 10/26 - 10/30 - Red Ribbon Week*

  • 10/28 - LGUSD Menu Planning/Wellness Committee Meeting, 2pm (online)

  • 10/29 - School Site Council (SSC) Meeting, 2:45-3:45pm (online)

  • 10/30 - Last day to drop off Box Tops 4 Education at school

  • 11/1 - Daylight Savings Time Ends

  • 11/2 - Campus Planning Meeting, 4pm (online)**

  • 11/2 - 11/6 - Conference Week*

  • 11/4 - H&SC Board Meeting, 8-9:30am (online)

  • 11/4 - 11/11 - Yearbook Cover Contest Entries Due*

  • 11/11 - Veteran's Day - No School

  • 11/18 - School Picture Day*
*Scroll down for more details on these events.
**See details above "From the Principal's Desk"
IMPORTANT SCHOOL CONTACT INFORMATION
Office: 
408-335-2100

Attendance: 
408-335-2145

Office Hours: 
7:30 am - 4 pm

If you need a yard sign or want to send a picture of your child with their sign for our bulletin board, please email Jennifer Shapiro at president@blossomhill.org.
Red Ribbon Week - October 26th -30th
Each year, all students in Los Gatos, public and private, kindergarten through high school, look forward to our Red Ribbon Week celebration. This year our theme is "Bee Brave, Bee Healthy, Bee YOU!"
 
Red Ribbon Week is a national campaign against drug abuse which promotes education, prevention and healthy lifestyle choices. CASA sponsors annual participation in Red Ribbon week at local elementary and middle schools. All students will be receiving a special Red Ribbon Week bookmark to remind them to "Bee Brave, Bee Healthy, Bee YOU!"
 
In this unique year, Blossom Hill Elementary is encouraging families to take time to connect and talk about what it means for them to live a healthy lifestyle. Each day of Red Ribbon Week, we will post on our Blossom Hill Home & School Club website (hsc.blossomhill.org) and our Facebook page (https://facebook.com/BHHSC) about a different pillar of health and tips for getting quality sleep, reducing or managing stress, maintaining a healthy diet, getting enough exercise, and connecting with others in creative ways, which can be challenging during Covid-19. We all must be brave in these tough times, continue to make healthy choices, and be true to ourselves.
Harvest Festival Fun!
Hello Blossom Hill Bees! Even though we won't be celebrating the Harvest Festival in person this year, that won't stop us from enjoying the season. We are challenging our students to design a new game for next year's event. Submit your idea to the Harvest Festival organizers and one game will be chosen to be played at next year's Harvest Festival! Since we will miss having our traditional Cake Walk, we decided to host a "virtual" Harvest Baking Showcase. We don't want to miss our students' confectionery creations. You can get all the information about both of these activities and more on our website: https://bhharvestfestival2020.org
The Terraces
Halloween Outreach
Although we are not able to hold our Halloween Parade to the Terraces, we want to let the residents know we are still thinking of them and missing them. We will be collecting hand made Halloween or fall themed cards and pictures to be delivered to the Terraces by the Harvest Festival Committee on October 30th. Please bring your beautiful cards and pictures to your next drop off/pick up day, or drop them off at the office anytime before the 30th.
Help Us Get Offline!
The Blossom Hill Home & School Club is looking for parents to spearhead activities that will get our kids offline and help them connect in appropriate and distanced ways. Games and activities could include augmented reality games, exercise challenges, service projects, “front window” art projects, or community scavenger hunts. Interested parents should email the Home & School Club at events@blossomhill.org.
Save the Date!
Picture Day is Wednesday, November 18th!
Picture Day Information
Generations School Photography will be on campus on Wednesday, November 18th for Picture Day. Individual pictures will be taken (no class photos at this time), so students have been scheduled for their pictures by last name so that families need only make one trip. Picture Day will be quick and easy. More details will be sent out later in the month.
Superheroes Appreciation
Faster than the speed of your broadband!
More powerful than a face mask!
Able to reach growing minds with a single click!
Look! Up on your screen!
It’s a Google classroom master.
It’s a Zoom star.
It’s the Blossom Hill teachers and staff!

Yes, it's the Blossom Hill staff – amazing professionals from out of this world who came to school with powers and abilities far beyond those of mortal instructors. The Blossom Hill Staff – defenders of learning opportunities. Champions of growth mindsets. Valiant, courageous fighters against the forces of the summer slide. They are disguised as mild mannered, everyday people. But to our students, they’re Superheroes!

Fall Conference Week is November 2-6, 2020. The H&SC is excited to continue our long-standing tradition of hosting daily lunches for our “Superhero” staff during conference week. This is a great opportunity to show gratitude and support to all members of the Blossom Hill Staff. As with everything, Conference Week Lunches will be done a little differently this year. Instead of potluck style, we will deliver fully catered box lunches and treats throughout the week. Instead of decorating the Staff Lounge, Staff and teachers will receive a box with desk decorations and tokens of appreciation. 

Support the Superheroes at school daily by making cash donations for catering and other expenses.
Please contact Kristin Hutchinson if you have any questions at staffappreciation@blossomhill.org. Thank you for showing our amazing teachers and staff how much we appreciate them! 
Call for Volunteers!
Do you love the scientific method? Do you enjoy experiments? Do you have website hosting expertise? The Blossom Hill Home & School Club is looking for adult volunteers to help carry out a Virtual Science Fair in February or March 2021. We need people who can:
- Create informative videos and ads to promote science fair
- Identify the best web host for science fair project slides and videos
- Evaluate projects after submission
- And much more!

If you are interested in helping out, contact Science Fair co-chairs Nicole Duke and Melissa Crow at sciencefair@blossomhill.org
Safe Routes to School Tips
It’s a great time to plan your route! SR2S has developed Walk & Roll Maps with suggested routes to the school sites in our program. Head to lgsr2s.org to help plan your route to and from
your school using the Walk & Roll Maps. Parents are responsible for choosing the most appropriate option based on their knowledge of the conditions on the different routes and the experience level of their child.
MOD Pizza Give Back Day
Thank you to everyone who enjoyed dinner at MOD Pizza on October 6th for our Give Back Day. The Blossom Hill Home & School Club will be receiving $137.34. Thank to MOD Pizza for hosting our fundraiser. Look for more Give Back Days to come!
Project Cornerstone
Lesson #1 - The Invisible Boy
Theme: We All Belong –
No One is Invisible Here

Social and Emotional Learning
(Relationship Skills and Social Awareness) 

This book discusses the importance of making everyone feel welcome and included. It helps students develop the ability to establish and maintain healthy and rewarding relationships with a variety of people. Moreover, it allows them to see the perspective of others even if their views, experiences, or culture is different. This story provides an opportunity for children to get to know themselves better in order to empathize with others whose behavior, needs, and self-expression are different than their own.
The goals for this lesson are:
  • Students will invite, include, and make everyone feel welcome.
  • Students will behave and speak in an empathetic manner.
  • Students will understand the importance of each individual in a group.
  • Students will practice inclusive behaviors to create a caring school climate where every voice is heard.

The following questions go along with the Cornerstone video:

Pause 1:
  • What do you notice is different between Brian, and Nathan and Sophie? (Brian is quiet, and Nathan and Sophie are really loud and big. Brian is in black and white, Nathan and Sophie are in color.) 
  • What do you think the author means when she says that Brian doesn’t take up a lot of space? (answers will vary)

Pause 2: 
  • When Madison says, “I’m so glad you guys had fun!” was she talking to everyone at the table? (thumbs up yes, thumbs down no) 
  • Was everyone invited to her party? (thumbs up yes, thumbs down no) 
  • How do you think Brian is feeling? (sad, lonely, left out)

Pause 3:
  • How do you think Brian is feeling while he is drawing? (happy, content, calm)
  • How do you know? (he is smiling, he looks happy, etc. answers will vary)

Pause 4:
  • What did Brian do to make Justin feel welcome? (he wrote him a note)
  • What did Justin do to show Brian he noticed him and wanted to be friends? (he talked to him at recess, he included him in the group project)
Community Sponsor Spotlight 
The Home & School would like to thank this week's Spotlight Community Sponsor, Kumon Math & Reading Center. We appreciate Kumon's continued support of our Home & School Club. If you would like to become a Community Sponsor, please contact Jennifer Shapiro 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  
*The Beehive newsletter is approved by Principal Lisa Reynolds and the H&SC Board and is written exclusively to provide the Blossom Hill community with pertinent, weekly school information. Articles, information, calendars, etc. may not be duplicated or re-printed in any manner without the permission of the Home & School Club or the Blossom Hill school administration.

Submissions can be made to The Beehive editor, Jennifer Shapiro,