Foothill e-Gazette  

  Published by the Foothill PFA                                                             July 23 , 2018
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Important Dates 

Aug 9 -  Walk-Thru

Aug 10 -
Griffin Tour for incoming 6th graders @ 9:00 am

*New 7th and 8th Graders to Foothill @11:30 am

Aug 16 - First Day of School

Aug 20 & 21 - School Pictures

Aug 22 - Back to School Night

Aug 24 -  Welcome Breakfast for parents @ 7:45 am

Aug 27 - PFA Meeting @ 7 pm in the Library

Sept 03 - No School, Labor Day

For the complete Foothill calendar, click here.

In This Issue
Greetings from Principal Vaiana
Foothill's New Website
2018 Walk Thru Info
Emergency Card Update Process
Walk Thru Volunteers Needed
Attention 7th Grade Parents
Foothill Education and the Foothill Technology Funds
Annual Welcome Back Breakfast
Konstella at Foothill
Volunteer for Events at Foothill
Online Parent Community
Community Announcements
                                                                                                                                                   
Greetings from Principal Vaiana

Happy Summer Griffin Community! As your new principal I would like to share that I am looking forward to meeting you during our Walk Through on  August 9, 1-7 pm.  We are going to have such an amazing year working together and supporting your child's learning.

Please also mark  Wednesday, August 22 at 7 pm  for our Back to School Night;  Friday, August 24 at 7:45  for a Welcome Back Breakfast for parents/guardians and staff; and Wednesday, August 29 at 7pm for the first PFA meeting. These will be informative evenings, and a breakfast to celebrate our new beginnings. Until school begins on  August 16 , the administrative team is working on preparing for a successful start. 
 
Excited to be a part of the Foothill Community. 
 
Kim Vaiana
Principal Foothill Middle School

                                                                                                                                                   
Foothill's New Website (still under construction):


                                                                                                                                                   
2018 Walk Thru is Thursday, August 9

Foothill Middle School and PFA are busy gearing up for Walk Thru on Thursday, August 9. H ere's a quick recap of what to expect. Please click here for details.
  • Walk Thru is August 9 from 1:00 - *7:00 pm Scheduled times will be by last name. Details are posted here. *6:30 is last admittance
  • In order to obtain your child's class schedule, you MUST update your Emergency Card information online using HomeLink by doing what is called Data Verification. You can start the Data Verification process on Thursday, August 2.
  • You will need to bring a printed copy of the Emergency Card (from Homelink) showing proof of that you have updated your child's data in order participate in Walk Thru or you will not be able to get receive your child's schedule that day.
  • Volunteers are needed to help at Walk Thru.  The more volunteers we have the shorter the lines will be for everyone. Please click here to sign up for a shift if you can and see below for more details.    
  • PFA Education Fund and Technology Fund donations can be made online via Paypal or in person at Walk Thru using check or credit card.  Your support via donations is critical to maintaining smaller class sizes, library staffing and technology in the classrooms.  Click on these links to donate to Ed. Fund or Technology Fund, or see below for more information. 
  • New this year - Foothill is moving to an online directory using Konstella.  See below for more information about how to sign up for the directory.  
  • Foothill and ASB contributions will be made in person, so bring a check book with multiple checks (no credit cards or bills over $20.00 if paying with cash).
Enjoy the rest of your summer!
 
                                                                                                                                                   
Data Verification - Emergency Card Process

YOU WILL NEED A PRINTED COPY OF YOUR CHILD'S UPDATED EMERGENCY CARD IN ORDER TO ATTEND WALK-THRU ON AUGUST 9 AND RECEIVE YOUR CHILD'S CLASS SCHEDULE. TO UPDATE YOUR CHILD'S INFORMATION, YOU MUST HAVE A PARENT HOMELINK ACCOUNT.
  
See Foothill Middle School's website for step-by-step instructions on how to do the Data Verification. The window to update your child's data will open on Wednesday, August 2.
  
If you have any questions, please email Ellen Martin: martine@mdusd.org

Thank you!
 
                                                                                                                                                   
Help Needed at Walk Thru  - Volunteer and Avoid the Lines!

  • The more volunteers we have, the shorter the lines will be and the more quickly everyone can complete the process! We need about 60 parent volunteers to staff Walk Thru.
  • Shifts are either from 12 - 3:30 pm or from 3:30pm - 7 pm. You can choose your role and time slot from available openings. 
  • No experience needed.  We will show you what to do and after or before your shift, volunteers will receive a "skip the line" pass so you can complete your Walk-Thru more quickly.
  • If you are unable to help the day of Walk Thru, but want to lend a hand - volunteers are also needed on other days. Be sure to check out the sign up for other opportunities to help.
We appreciate your help with this important day and time of year to get students up and running!
 
If you have any questions, please contact   Melissa Sunbury or   Katie Dresdow 


                                                                                                                                                   
Attention 7th Grade Parents - T-Dap

Now is the time to make sure your 7th grader has his/her T-Dap shot.

The Pertussis Booster Immunization (also called Whooping Cough or more commonly known as Tdap) is required for your student to attend 7th grade.  It is the law (California law AB 354). 
 
All 7th grade students will be required to show proof that they have the pertussis booster immunization aka Tdap.  Without proof, you child will not be allowed to attend school on  August 16, 2018 . 
 
Pertussis (Whooping Cough) is a very contagious respiratory disease that can be severe and last for months.  The immunity received from early childhood immunization wears off over time, leaving infants, older students and adults susceptible to pertussis.   
 
Immunization with the T-dap booster shot can protect the spread of the disease to infants that are too young for their shot, students, schools, and communities against pertussis. 
 
Your child may have had their T-dap booster shot.  Please provide proof from your healthcare provider by emailing proof to the Foothill Office:  martine@mdusd.org
 
If your child has not had their T-dap booster shot yet, please contact your healthcare provider as soon as possible to arrange a time for the T-dap booster shot.  After the appointment, please provide proof to the Foothill Office. 
 
Not having proof by Friday August 03, 2018 may affect your ability to participate in Walk-Thru on Thursday, August 09, 2018.   

  
                                                                                                                                                   
What are the Foothill Education and the Foothill Technology Funds?

The Foothill Educational Fund ("Ed Fund") and the Foothill Technology Fund ("Tech Fund") are
administered by the Foothill PFA to help our school bridge the gap between public funding and
the current, true cost of the quality education our students enjoy at Foothill.

These funds pay for programs and staff positions that would be unavailable to our
students through public funding alone.
The Ed Fund provides funding for:
  • Smaller class sizes for math and science in all grades
  • Lunchtime library access for all students
  • Computer lab instructional assistant
  • Crossing Guards
The Tech Fund provides funding for:
  • Progress towards a 1 computer per 1 student ("1:1") ratio in math, science and English
  • classes
  • Educational software updates
These funds are supported by generous donations from you, our Foothill families. Although
donations are not a requirement of enrollment at Foothill, we truly appreciate your generosity.
The goal of these funds is to achieve 100% participation regardless of the dollar amount,
however, suggested donations for the 2018/2019 school year are:

Ed Fund: $325 per student
Tech Fund: $100 per student

You can donate at Walk Through on August 9th, or you can make an online donation now using
the links below:


If you donate online, please print a copy of your receipt to bring to Walk Through to expedite
your way through the Ed/Tech Fund line.

Double Your Donation with Corporate Matching!

The donations you make to the Education and Technology Funds may be eligible for Corporate
Matching Funds. It is usually a very quick process to request a matching request as most
employers offer corporate matching via online portals on your corporate intranet. Typically all
you will need is the following information:

  • Our name: Foothill Parent-Faculty Association
  • Our address: 2775 Cedro Lane, Walnut Creek, CA 94598
  • Our tax ID number: #68-0015686
  • The date and amount of your gift
Please consider asking about whether your employer will match your donation.

** Thank you for your generous support of Foothill Middle School! During these times of
budget constraints in education, we rely on the support of every family to continue to
deliver an outstanding education for Foothill students. **

Anne Foley
2018-2019 Ed and Tech Fund Chair

                                                                                                                                                   
Annual Welcome Back Breakfast for all parents, teachers and staff

Join your fellow parents, teachers and staff at the annual Foothill PFA Welcome Back Breakfast on Friday, 8/24. There will be coffee and breakfast treats that you can enjoy while catching up with friends and teachers you haven't seen all summer.

We also need volunteers to help provide breakfast items for the event. Sign Up Here to bring something. If possible, please have items to the Library between 7:00-7:30 am that morning.
The event starts at 7:45 am.

                                                                                                                                                   
Shop at Amazon to Earn for Foothill

Remember, you can support Foothill every time you shop Amazon.  Foothill's special link earns up to  5% for Foothill each time you shop!

Take a minute,  click this link  and then bookmark it to the top of your browser. Ask your student to help you :)
 
This link is also available on the homepage of the  Foothill PFA website . 

There is more information available on the  Fundraising page of the PFA Website.  Thanks for shopping for Foothill!  
  
                                                                                                                                                   
Student Directory Goes Online - Konstella at Foothill

New this year, Foothill PFA will be moving to an online directory using Konstella.

Go to www.konstella.com, then click on "Find Your School" and type in Foothill.

Enter your email address to receive an invitation and then follow the link to register.  You will be prompted to enter a password as well as add a child.  If you have multiple children at Foothill, you can add each one to their grade.  You will be able to set your privacy preferences to select what information is shared in the directory.

You may also download the Konstella app for your phone so that you can have directory and calendar information on the go.  Konstella also allows you to sync our calendar with your Google, iPhone, or other online calendars.

Besides the directory feature, we plan to use Konstella's calendar feature to keep parents informed of important events.  Consider joining now to be ready for back to school in August.

                                                                                                                                                   
Volunteer for Events and Activities at Foothill
                                                                                                                                                   
Online Parent Community

Need to ask a question, get reminders about upcoming PFA activities or connect with other parents at Foothill? Join the  Foothill Middle School Parents group on Facebook. Once logged in, request to join the group.

                                                                                                                                                   
Community Announcements

If you know of an interesting community event or activity that you think the Foothill Community would benefit from knowing about, please send the information to foothill.enews@gmail.com so we can pass it along. Community Announcements will be included in the regular e-Gazette that is published the first and third Wednesdays of each month.

                                                                                                                                                   

  
The Foothill PFA publishes the e-Gazette the first and third Wednesdays each month. Our goal is to provide information to the Foothill community in a timely manner. To submit an article for review, please send 150 words or less article as text in an email to foothill.enews@gmail.com. Please send picture/clip art that you would like included with your article as an attachment in .jpg format. 

Please click here for the e-Gazette submission deadline and publication dates.