JLS PTA eNews
May 13, 2019
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Important Dates:
May 13-17 - Lost and Found Items Outside Office
May 14 - PTA Executive Board Meeting | Orchestra Concert
May 14-16 - 8th Grade Exit Interviews
May 15 - Band Concert
May 17 - JLS Night at Stanford
May 22 - All Library Books Due | Choir Concert
May 23 - 7th grade Connections Shakespeare Performance Night
May 24 - Minimum Day
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8th Grade Exit Interviews - *HELP IS STILL NEEDED*
Tuesday-Thursday, May 14-16
Every year the 8th graders have the opportunity to be interviewed by local community leaders such as firemen, private business people, educators, etc. The students are asked to dress up as they would for an interview. The interviews are 20 minutes long. The students are asked questions about their goals/aspirations and get the opportunity to practice interaction with community leaders. Each student gets feedback from their interviewer and is also asked to write a thank you note to their interviewer(s). This exercise helps them focus on the upcoming transition to high school.
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8th Grade Promotion Party
Friday, May 31
The Promotion Party, after the Promotion Ceremony, is an 8th grade tradition at JLS. Typically, 6th and 7th grade parents sign-up to help since 8th grade parents are at the ceremony. When your child is in 8th grade, the 6th and 7th grade parents will return the favor. It's also your chance to preview what's in store for your child at the end of 8th grade. 8th grade parents are welcome to volunteer if they like. Volunteers are needed to help this event run smoothly. Short on time but want to help? You can also sign-up to bring strawberries, marshmallows, etc. for the chocolate fountains, for example.
Please sign-up here.
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8th Grade Promotion Flowers
Help Needed
Thursday, May 30 (evening, after 8 pm)
We are looking for someone to pick up flowers after the Gunn High School promotion on Thursday, May 30 and transport them over to JLS. Volunteer will need a large vehicle like a minivan. Available? Please contact
Joan Scherer, subject line: promotion flowers.
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Lost and Found
The Lost and Found is absolutely overflowing!! All items will be placed on tables outside the front office beginning next Monday, May 13 through Friday, May 17. Please feel free to stop by and/or encourage your student to check for anything they might have misplaced. All unclaimed items will be donated to a local agency.
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Middle Schools Bicycle Skills Classes
Would you like to help your student join the huge numbers (over 50%!) of middle schoolers who bike to school? To ensure students acquire the bike handling skills needed to safely navigate the roadways, Wheel Kids Bicycle Club, Inc. has teamed up with the City of Palo Alto’s Safe Routes to School Program to offer a Middle School Bike Skills Class. Among other topics, students (and accompanying parents) will learn: basic traffic laws, how to navigate busy intersections, the most common types of bike crashes and how to avoid them, and how to position yourself on the road.
This half-day class is offered in June, July and August.
Registration is open; click here for details. Space is limited. Sign up today!
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Stanford Baseball - JLS Night
Friday, May 17, 6 pm
Stanford Baseball invites JLS Middle School families and staff to Sunken Diamond for a Friday night at the ball park! Don’t miss this top-5 matchup vs. the defending champion Oregon State Beavers. The first 250 fans in attendance receive a free pack of 2019 Stanford Baseball trading cards. Discounted Tickets are only $7! Use the code: "
JLS" upon check out, when you
purchase your tickets online.
More details here.
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Back to School Helpers Needed
July-August 2019
It’s the strong community of volunteers that helps make JLS a great place for our children to feel safe, happy and welcome, and for the staff to feel appreciated. A new school year is right around the corner, so we need many hands to get the ball rolling! JLS is looking for parent volunteers to help with back to school (BTS) events, such as form sorting, Jump Start Day, etc. If you'd like to join the team,
please let us know by signing-up. Once the BTS event coordinators have the event sign-ups ready, they will reach out to you so you can select specific shifts. Thanks for helping us plan ahead!
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Help Wanted: JLS eNews Co-Editor and Webmaster for 2019-2020
JLS PTA is looking for a volunteer familiar with Constant Contact who is willing to share editor responsibilities of the weekly JLS PTA eNews for next year. If you are interested, please contact VP Communications,
Anjani Sarma. JLS PTA is also looking for a new webmaster to implement various updates to the JLS PTA website throughout the year. If you are interested, please send an email to
jlsptaemail@gmail.com.
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Summer Camps Info Now Available on PTAC Website
Looking for a summer camp in your neighborhood or at one of our Palo Alto Unified school sites? Now you can find it at the
PTAC website. Camp providers listed on this page host activities/summer camps at PAUSD Schools, and pay rental fees to our district. These rental fees help to defray the cost of running our schools while providing local opportunities for our kids. PTA Council does not endorse one camp over another. This service is offered to give parents an easy way to find out what is being offered and where. Please contact the
PTAC Webmaster to recommend updates to this information. There is no charge to providers to be listed.
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Commuters' Corner
District-wide, approximately 4,000 students bike to PAUSD schools daily, representing 34% of the total student population. With all of these children on the road,
it is imperative that we share our roads safely. Distracted driving is an increasing problem. Please consider taking the DMV's
Distracted Driving Pledge and putting your phone on automatic do not disturb when you're driving.
If you are involved in a collision with a minor, do not leave the scene until the police or a parent has been called and help arrives. Do not take the word of a child that he or she is "OK." To reach the police, you can call 9-1-1 or the
24-hour Dispatch Center at 650-329-2413.
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Each Friday! Superintendent's Weekly Board Update
Read Dr. Don Austin's Weekly Board Update, published new each Friday on the
District website.
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Youth Art Show at the Palo Alto Art Center
Now - May 19, Palo Alto Art Center, 1313 Newell Rd
Reception: Wednesday May 1, 4:30-7 pm with marks at 5:30 pm
The extensive imagination and talent of PAUSD art students will be on display for the public at the Palo Alto Art Center later this week. Exhibit includes work from students in grades K-12. PiE funds art programs in PAUSD.
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Mandarin Parent Workshops - Inter-cultural Dialogue
Thursdays through May 16, 6:30-8:30 pm, Greene Middle School Library
Wellness & Support Services Dept. and Asian Americans for Community Involvement (AACI) are offering a ten-week parenting workshop series, “Inter-Cultural Dialogue,” in Mandarin. An AACI Therapist facilitates the research-based workshops designed to help families navigate the generational and cultural differences in their families.
May 16 – Revision, celebration, and completion
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PTA Council & Latino Parent Network “VTP Meeting & Community Dinner”
Thursday, May 16, 6-8 pm, East Palo Alto Academy, 1050 Myrtle Street, East Palo Alto
Dr Judy Argumedo will provide the community with information about changes to VTP busing and school placement affecting VTP families at Barron Park, Juana Briones, Nixon and Palo Verdes Elementary School. Spanish & Tongan translation provided. Community Dinner provided. You are welcome to contribute a dish. All Welcome!! Please RSVP and direct questions to
outreach@paloaltopta.com.
El consejo de PTA y la Red de Padres Latinos “Reunión del VTP y Cena Comunitaria”
Jueves, 16 de mayo en East Palo Alto Academy de 6:00 a 8:00pm, 1050 Myrtle Street, East Palo Alto
Judy Argumedo PhD proporcionará información a la comunidad sobre los cambios en el bus del VTP y la colocación en las escuelas que afectan a las familias del VTP en Barron Park, Juana Briones, Nixon y Palo Verde. Habrá traducción para el español y Tonga. Cena comunitaria. Usted está bienvenido a contribuir con un plato. ¡¡Son todos bienvenidos!! Por favor, déjenos saber su asistencia y para preguntas entrar en contacto al
outreach@paloaltopta.com.
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2019 PTAC Honorary Service Awards - Congratulations & Thank You!!
The Palo Alto PTA Council honored five outstanding people and one group this year for their amazing service to the Palo Alto community. The honorees are: Stacey Ashlund for her work on inclusion; Ana Reyes for advocacy for the HPV vaccine; David Shen and Susan Usman for leading the Measure Z campaign that passed a $460 million dollar bond to upgrade and enhance our schools; Alva Spence for her work on student nutrition and health; Gunn Culture Connection Club for their volunteer translation services. In addition, incredible volunteers were honored by Palo Alto’s 17 PTAs. Congratulations to these wonderful people whose countless hours of service are greatly appreciated. For the full list of the 2019 PTA Honorary Service Award Recipients, please
visit the PTAC website.
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Tap Twice on your iPhones for School Funding
Your voice is needed now! The California legislature is NOW voting on a bill
(
AB 39) to restore CA K-12 school funding back again to the top ten U.S. states (where we were a generation ago). Sign up for PTAC mobile alerts to advance this bill with two taps on your iPhones (Tap 1: Open alert; Tap 2: Message Sacramento). Download the
Click My Cause app, select “Palo Alto PTA Council”, tap “allow” notifications, and tap on your red “act now” buttons in the app. Android users: voice your support for AB 39 to Asm. Berman, Sen. Hill and the CA Assembly Appropriations Committee (
alejandra.garcia@asm.ca.gov).
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PTAC Budget Meeting for 2019-2010 - Making Good Progress
On Wed, May 8, the PTAC Budget Committee met to discuss priorities and ongoing work in all Collaborative Committees. Our total budget was reviewed and line item details gleaned by all the 18-member budget committee. This is the largest budget committee we have ever had. Thank you to all members for their hard work. The draft PTAC budget will be posted for review soon and budget recommendations will be made to the PTAC Executive Board and our General Association. We will vote to adopt this budget at our first meeting of the 2019-2020 school year. Thank you.
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PTAC - Final General Association Meeting & Spring Training
Wednesday, May 22, 9 am, District Office
PTAC will have its final meeting for the general association at 9 am on May 22nd, followed by Spring Training 10:30 am. Congratulations to all our 17 PTAs for electing their new members to serve and to the new members for their willingness to step up. All 17 unit PTA Presidents, EVPs, Secretaries, VPs and Collaborative Committees will have an opportunity to meet in small groups and learn about important items for their office and roles for next year. Please join us for a group photo under our new PTAC banner at the front of 25 Churchill Ave. District Office.
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Mondays at Tacolicious
Didn't get enough Tacolicious earlier in the year? Monday nights in May benefit Greene Middle School and PTAC. PTAC (which includes all the schools, so please go eat!) and Greene Middle School get a percentage of cash totals from customers who eat out on Monday nights at Tacolicious Palo Alto (632 Emerson Street). Help support our schools and local businesses -- it's now so easy to get a quick Monday meal (eat in or take out). Thank you to Audrey Gold and Kory Cogdill and the Palo Alto Chamber of Commerce (Iris Chen) for putting this together.
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Volunteer Opportunity for Parents & Grandparents at Palo Alto Art Center!
September 3, 6, and 10, 9:30 am - 12 pm, Palo Alto Art Center, 1313 Newell Road
The Palo Alto Art Center will be holding new docent training sessions this September. Training will take place September 3, 6, and 10 from 9:30 am to 12 pm. Docents help lead school tours for the
Project Look program. Project Look serves K-5th graders and includes an interactive tour of our galleries and hands-on art activities. This is a great volunteer opportunity for parents, especially art lovers and those who enjoy working with children! Please contact
Grace Abusharkh, Director of Volunteer Engagement, for more information or to sign up.
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Participate in a Stanford Brain Function Research Study
The Early Life Stress and Pediatric Anxiety Program at Stanford is recruiting for a research study exploring brain function. Looking for youth ages of 9-17 who are right-handed and English-speaking: involves two initial and two follow-up appointments (2 hours each) and include completing questionnaires, a short interview, and playing computer games during brain imaging with fNIRS (functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy). Payment up to $120. Sessions are available both during the academic year and summer. For more info, or to enroll in the study, write to
espil@stanford.edu or
audreyho@stanford.edu. For info about participant rights, contact 1-866-680-2906.
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Palo Alto Farmers’ Market Opens
Saturday, May 11, 8 am - 12 pm, Gilman St between Forest and Hamilton
The
downtown Farmer’s market is moving to a year-round schedule. Responding to customer and vendor feedback the market will now be open all year to provide locally grown fresh fruits, vegetables, and flowers, along with other locally produced foods such as fresh eggs, fish, olive oil, crepes, breads, and more. Opening Day, May 11, will include award-winning chocolates by Charlotte Truffles, olive oil from Grumpy Goats Farm, produce from organic farms like Full Belly and Coke, as well as live music.
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City of Palo Alto Summer Camp Fair
Saturday, May 18, 11 am - 4 pm, Mitchell Park Community Center
Summer is just around the corner. Are you still looking for fun activities for your child? Not to worry, it is not too late. Come check out all the open camp options (for kids 3 -17) offered by the City of Palo Alto at our annual Summer Camp Fair. Not only can you meet the instructors and ask questions about the different camps but you can also register on the spot. The free event will also have fun activities: face painting, jumpy house and food trucks.
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