Encinal Elementary School - Back to School Information

Encinal School
Back to School Information
August 8, 2011

Welcome Back to School Message

From Principal Allison Liner

Dear Encinal Families,

I hope you are enjoying these final weeks of summer with friends and family. Staff members are busy preparing our state-of-the-art campus and we are eager for the return of students' laughter, energy and curiosity. The advent of a new school year is full of excitement and possibility. New friendships and milestones as well as an enriching, challenging educational journey await your children.

As you prepare for the start of school, please mark your calendar with the important dates for the back-to-school events listed below and click on the links in the back-to-school checklist for information on meet and greets, first day procedures, school hours, transportation options and other important messages. Please pay close attention to the transportation information and be sure your child knows the plan and meeting spot for each day. The end of the school day is a busy time and a quick morning review of what to expect will help your child navigate this part of the school day with confidence.

In preparation, please also consider the many ways to contribute to your child's education in the Menlo Park City School District. Our Encinal PTO and the MPAEF are two organizations that truly help create an exceptional school and district. I encourage you to determine the way you can support these organizations to make the greatest impact on Encinal School.

I look forward to welcoming new and returning families as we celebrate the launch of the 2011-2012 school year!

Sincerely,

Allison Liner, Principal

aliner@mpcsd.org

Encinal Back-to-School Checklist

Click on the underlined word for important links for each item in the checklist

Register & Get Ready:

Attend Key Events at the Start of School

NEW! Complete Online Student Re-enrollment with District (Required)

Know What to Bring and Where to Go on the First Day of School

Know School Start and End Times

Review Options for Getting to/from Encinal School

Purchase School Supplies. Encinal receives 10% from Village Stationer
Order Hot Lunch - Hot lunch begins Monday, Aug. 22 (Optional)

Sign-Up for After School Programs

Get INvolved & INvest in Encinal School:

Are You In? Please support the Encinal PTO and MPAEF

INvolve - Please Volunteer Your Time

INvest - Please Join the Encinal PTO & donate or pledge to the MPAEF

Buy Encinal Spirit Wear - show spirit and support the school
Join/Renew for eScrip - our schools earn money on your groceries and more
Collect Box Tops for Education - 1st collection date will be in mid-October

Key Events at the Start of School

Monday, Aug 15 - Class lists posted

Come view the list of students in each class. Kindergarten lists will be posted at 3:00 PM in the kindergarten yard (see school map). All other grades will be posted in the TERC windows next to the District Office at 4:00 PM (refer to map for location of classroom #s, note that teacher names on this map are still being updated). Please keep in mind that teachers are very busy preparing so that classrooms will be welcoming and organized for the first day of school. Please allow teachers to work without interruption and do not visit prior to the scheduled Meet and Greets.

Wednesday, Aug 17 - Garden Work Day

Volunteers work 9-11am. See website for more info. Please allow teachers to work without interruption and do not visit prior to the scheduled Meet and Greets.

Friday, Aug 19 - Meet and Greet, otter pops in the garden afterward

Please bring your child to visit the classroom and meet their teacher to help make the first day more comfortable. School map here. Parents of K-2 students, please also bring your completed Transportation Information Sheet. This document will be mailed to you in August.

1:00 - 1:30 pm Kindergarten
1:30 - 2:00 pm First Grade
2:00 - 2:30 pm Second and Third Grade
2:30 - 3:00 pm Fourth and Fifth Grade

After meeting your teacher, please come enjoy an otter pop in the Encinal garden (next to Middlefield Rd.) and take a look at our garden program. Otter pops for kindergarten will be by the garden in the kinder playground. Encinal spirit wear will be available for purchase. Get your student ready for spirit days! Please bring your checkbook.

Monday, Aug 22 - 1st Day of school and Back to School Coffee

Students start class! See 1st day procedures & school start and end time.

Parents: Visit the Back to School Coffee and Volunteer Sign Up, 8:30-10:30am, large multi. Sign up for classroom, campus, at home, and community-building volunteer positions. Encinal Spirit Wear will be available for purchase so bring your checkbook. Be part of the team! We look forward to seeing everyone!

Tuesday, Aug 23 - Head Room Parent Training

All returning & new Head Room Parent volunteers meet 8:30-10am, TERC (map).

Thursday, Aug 25 - Back-to-School Night for All Parents (no children)

Grades 3-5 at 5:30-6:30 p.m., Grades K-2 at 7:00-8:00 p.m.

Everyone is highly encouraged to attend this very important event. Meet in your child's classroom and hear from their classroom teacher and Head Room Parent. Please walk, bike, or carpool with neighbors if you can. Give yourself extra time to find parking if you have to drive. Book your sitter now!

More upcoming events can be viewed on our school website. All information on Encinal school's website is open to the public and you do not need a username or password.

District Online Student Re-Enrollment

This year, the Menlo Park City School District (MPCSD) is handling much of the student Re-Enrollment process online, using a company called Infosnap. During the second week of August, the district will send an email to all families with instructions. Please complete the instructions and submit the mandatory information in a timely manner. If you do NOT receive the District Re-Enrollment information by Aug. 12, please contact registrar@mpcsd.org (preferred) or 650-321-7140 x5600 with your name and your child's name, school, and grade. These are mandatory forms required for all students.

First Day of School
Where to go and what to bring

Where to Go (school map here, map will be updated with new teachers)

Kindergarten students will meet inside the fenced kindergarten playground.
1st, 2nd & 3rd grade students will meet on the large blacktop playground in front of the play structure.
4th & 5th grade students will meet in the courtyard in front of the fourth and fifth grade complex near the lunch tables.
Look for the cone with your child's teacher's name and line up at the cones when the bell rings.

Parents are invited to walk with the line to the classroom, say goodbye at the classroom door and proceed to the new Multiuse Room for the PTO Back to School Coffee and Volunteer Sign-up event (8:30-10:30am).

What to Bring

All teachers encourage parents to send well-rested kids to school! Start those bedtime routines a bit earlier the weeks and days leading up to school.
Full size back-pack labeled with your child's name.
A snack in a separate container to eat at the morning recess.
Lunch - either sign up and order a Hot Lunch in advance or send along a lunchbox or brown bag with your child's name (and maybe a note or smiley face!). Hot Lunch begins on the first day of school.
Label all of your child's items unless you enjoy visiting our Lost and Found.

School Start and End Times

Before School Supervision During the School Year

Yard supervision will be provided for all students beginning at 7:50 a.m. For safety, please do not drop off your child prior to 7:50 a.m. Kindergarten children should proceed to the fenced yard. Students in grades one, two, three, four and five should go to the lunch tables or the playground. The field is closed in the morning. The school bell will ring five minutes before the start of school to signal students to go to their classrooms.

Start Dismissal Dismissal

Grades Time M,T, W, F Thursdays

Primary grades - K, 1 & 2 8:05am 2:30pm 1:40pm

Upper grades - 3, 4 & 5 8:15am 3:00pm 1:20pm

After School Supervision for Primary Students Waiting for Older Siblings

Please note, we encourage families with children in both primary and upper grades to wait until the later dismissal time to pick up children (3:00 p.m. on M, T, W and F). Younger siblings who are waiting for fourth and fifth graders will be supervised by school staff. Upper grade children should meet waiting siblings in the small multiuse room at the front of the campus before proceeding to buses, bikes or the carpool zone. On Thursdays, upper grade children are dismissed earlier than primary students. Older students should arrange to meet younger students in the carpool zone. Questions: Please contact Pam Garcia in the school office at pgarcia@mpcsd.org or 650-326-5164.

Encinal Transportation Options

Walk Bike Bus Car

With over 750 students coming and going each day, Encinal School and the District recognize that the volume of motor vehicle traffic around our campus is a concern to our community. We are working proactively to plan for efficiency and safety and we highly encourage families to consider alternate means of arriving to and departing from school.

Please carefully review the different options and select a transportation strategy that is best for your family. If it is necessary to come to school by car, we encourage families to carpool with friends and neighbors. By carpooling, you can help reduce traffic around school, be environmentally friendly, save $ on gas, and give yourself a break from driving to school each morning and afternoon.

Click here and review important information and instructions on our website:

Transportation Information Sheet - Required for grades K-2
Walking, Biking, and Scooters - Highly encouraged!
Buses and Shuttles - Info on routes, fees, registration, etc.
Afterschool Care Transportation Vans
Car Pick-Up System - Pick-Up Lane card required in your window
Parking

Note: All the information on the school website is open to the public and you do not need a username and password.

Hot Lunch Program

Starts first day of school, Aug. 22

Hot lunch starts the first day of school, August 22. Free and Reduced Lunches are available to families who submit their application and are approved by the district. Click here to apply for free or reduced lunch.

Encinal School has a Hot Lunch service provided by Choice Lunch supplying an incredible number of nutritious and delicious choices for lunch on a daily basis. Order lunches before August 21 to ensure delivery. Visit their website to register using the code "Encinal." Click here for more information and to order.

If you have the opportunity to help serve lunches in the first few days of school,
please email sharon_morgan@btinternet.net

Encinal After School Programs

There are many wonderful afterschool programs offered at Encinal. In addition to the Encinal Sports Teams, there are programs for every day of the week offered by outside vendors on the Encinal campus. Sign-ups are currently open for many of the programs. Please click here for all the details (schedule, price, grades offered, etc.) and check the web page often as more classes may be added.

Encinal Sports Teams - Girls Volleyball, Boys and Girls Basketball
Athletics - Flag Football, Golf, Hoops, Lacrosse, Running, Tennis, Yoga
Arts - Art, Drama, Hip Hop Dance, Line Dancing
Foreign Languages - Spanish, French, Mandarin Chinese
Strategic Thinking - Chess, Math, Robotics

Volunteering - You make a difference!

Volunteering is a wonderful way to connect to the school, make friends, and help your teacher and student. There is a great list of all of the wonderful volunteer opportunities on our website. If you have questions about volunteering, please email volunteer@encinalschool.com.

Back-to-School Coffee and Volunteer Sign Up

We hope you can come to the Back-to-School Coffee and Volunteer Fair on Monday, Aug. 22, 8:30-10:30am, in the large multi. There will sign-ups for all of the committees and you can get all your questions answered.

Head Room Parents Needed

We will need Head Room Parents for every class by the second day of school. If you are interested, please email Kathy Miller and plan to attend the HRP training on Tuesday, Aug. 23, 8:30am in the TERC building.

Hot Lunch Servers Needed

We will also need volunteers to serve Hot Lunch, especially during the first days of school. Please email Sharon Morgan if you can help. You earn lunch credits when you volunteer.

'ARE YOU IN' for Encinal?
PTO & MPAEF working together to support our school

Join the Encinal PTO! The PTO plays a vital role in supporting and enriching our students' daily education. Thanks to your contributions, we fund many necessary and popular activities and services for our children, campus, and the Encinal community. With your volunteer time and your financial help we support field trips, assemblies, enrichment programs and much more. Add your contribution today! Help us inspire every child in every CLASS. Click here to donate.

MPAEF schoolhouse

Pledge or Donate to MPAEF! The MPAEF provides funding for 8% of the district's budget this year, three times expected from the state, to pay for our art, librarian, science, music specialist and more. Can you imagine Encinal without these teachers and programs? Click here to donate.

      Families that donate to the PTO AND pledge or donate to the
MPAEF by September 28 will receive an "I'm In" window cling,
      showing that they support Menlo Park City Schools!
      ARE YOU IN?

2011-2012 Calendar: Compressed School Year

Due to the major construction project at Hillview Middle School and the need to keep all the district schools on the same school calendar, there will be a compressed school calendar this year with fewer breaks as well as an extended summer break next summer.

The last day of instruction for this school year will be June 1, 2012.
The first day of school for the 2012-2013 school year will be Sept. 3, 2012, following Labor Day.
Click here to view a PDF of the MPCSD district calendar.

2011

September 5 - Labor Day - No School

October 13 - Conferences - Minimum Day - 11:20 Dismissal

November 11 - Veterans Day - No School

November 18, 21, 22 - Conferences - Minimum Days - 11:20 Dismissal

November 23 - Minimum Day - 11:20 Dismissal

November 24, 25 - Thanksgiving Break - No School

December 22 - Minimum Day - 11:20 Dismissal

December 3 - January 6 - Winter Break - No School
2012
January 16 - Martin Luther King Day - No School

February 17-20 - Presidents Day Break - No School

March 23 - Staff Development Day - No School

April 2-6 - Spring Break - No School