Thank you to all of our Veterans and their families for their service to our country. 

Health and Safety. Pool testing is now Tuesdays second period. Since next Tuesday-Friday are minimum days, we might not be able to get to everyone as we have less time. Thanks for your understanding. As a reminder, you can always opt your child in, see past blasts for link. The vaccine appointments at Bayside for 5-11 year olds went quickly. Stay tuned for more district- wide events and, if you are interested, you might also check with your pediatrician or local pharmacy for appointments. 

Volunteers: Thank you to our Book Fair volunteers. The fair was a big success. We’re always looking for more supervision volunteers during lunch or even the end of the day. If you have 15-30 minutes, Ms. Brilhart would love to schedule you in. There was a great article parents shared about dads coming together to volunteer at their children’s school and how much that helped the school climate. They called it “Dads on Duty.” Maybe we can get a “Dads on Duty” chapter here. If interested, please reach out to Ms. Brilhart at jbrilhart@smfcsd.net

Fall Conferences: Next week is conference week! There are minimum days Tuesday through Friday. We do have busses, but they will be delayed picking up here at Borel, especially on Friday. Check out our Fall Conference Webpage and read through all the information to make it as successful as possible. The Sign Up Genius is now closed, but if you want to see if teacher slots are still available please reach out to Ms. Chan or Ms. Russell in the office by 2PM Monday.

Incoming 6th Grade Orientations: Check out our Incoming 6th Grade Orientation Webpage too. Right now we are planning to have one in person Orientation on Wednesday, December 8, 1:30-2:30 and one Virtual Orientation on Wednesday January 12, 5-6PM. Please complete this RSVP so we can plan accordingly. For the in-person option in December, space is limited. There will be Spanish translation at both Orientations. 

Get involved. Please take a moment with your child to check out our Virtual Club Fair. Students will be going over this next week in their homeroom. Our goal is for every student to try at least one club or activity each year. Also, if you have an artist please consider promoting our PTA reflections contest: Great news!! We have extended the deadline for the Reflections Art Program until Friday, 11/19. Did you know you can also get Block B credit for submitting an entry? Please click here for more information or email us at reflections@borelbobcats.org. Check out the Block B card which celebrates students getting involved in Student’s Planners on page 16.

Math Pathway Updates: Cafe con Diego family engagement about math earlier this week had a great turn out. So did our ELAC meeting on Tuesday!If you missed it, here are videos in English and Spanish about the Math Pathways that were shared: 

Video Presentation of Pathways English

Presentación en Video de Itinerarios Spanish

Go to www.yearbookforever.com search for "Borel" to pay with a credit card.

Priority Enrollment (P1) is just around the corner! P1 will be from Nov 30, 2021-Feb 11, 2022. This year we created multiple documents and tutorials to assist the families with the enrollment process (ie: tutorial videos, flyers, slides, pamphlets, etc.). All items are available in 3 languages (English, Spanish, Chinese). Families can complete the entire process electronically, appts are NOT necessary unless they are missing documents or need assistance with completing the enrollment.

Please note: P1 will start on Nov 30, but the SchoolMint form will be turned on Nov 10 for the families to start completing the form. The form will be available on our District website. The Intra District Transfer form will be available starting Nov 30. 

Families can contact our office at enrollment@smuhsd.org if they have any questions.

Parent Pondering:

Mission Hospice Bereavement Support : 650 554 1000

Sutter Health Grief Support: 650 685 2806

Kara Grief Support: 650 312 5272 

The Center for Racial Justice in Education emphasizes that this time of year can exacerbate cultural demarcations of otherness, including the racialization of cultural traditions and celebrations that are not practiced within dominant US culture. They note that feelings of anxiety, sadness, and depression are common and can be amplified for families of color and marginalized communities and encourage educators to be mindful of how this holiday season is impacting young people in their schools. Their Racial Justice Guide to the Winter Holiday Season for Educators and Families provides resources for developing inclusive understanding of holidays and celebrations and strategies for supporting all students.

For more information on these events and how to register, please see the attached fliers English | Español, or go to bit.ly/SELparent  

Borel Bell Schedule:

Please be sure to keep a copy handy.

Parents you may receive other benefits by filling out the free lunch application form by accessing the above link.

You have several ways to listen to the content provided by the District. You can listen on our oneSMFC podcast page, or you can download and subscribe to the oneSMFC podcast by searching for oneSMFC on Spotify or Amazon Music. (Google and Apple will be added soon.) 

Upcoming Important Dates:

SSC meeting 3:05pm

Special Minimum Day--DISMISSAL at 12:48

(teacher pay back)

Thanksgiving Holiday Break

If your child will be absent, please call the school's attendance line 650-312-7669 directly to report their absence.

Please contact Kristie Bales at: kbales@smfc.k12.ca.us to send in medical appointment notes.

Dine and Donate: see flyer below to the left.

Our first VOLUNTEER kick-off meeting for the Cultural Fair is 11/15 at 9:30am at Philz Coffee @ 113 S B St,  San Mateo. This meeting will be for planning our 30th annual Cultural Fair, which is a much loved community building event which brings families together to share their heritage, country artifacts, and the wonderful foods representing many cultures. Check our  PTA website for more details. Interested in helping, but can’t make this 1st meeting, please email Jen at  culturalfair@borelbobcats.org.  All help is greatly appreciated - big or small. 

A big THANK YOU to our Borel Bobcats for making our Fall Fundraiser a success! Students sold items totalling over $22K in sales to friends and family, which helped us to raise over $9500 which all goes back to our school.  Huge thanks to Sonya Chan, school teachers and administration for helping this fundraiser. A shout out to my volunteers who helped with distribution day: Adrian Alibudbud, Emma Figari, Sophia Hutton, Lillian Huang, Kara Hwang, Angela Nguyen, Jessica Hsiao, Karina Alibudbud, Edward Hwang and Kristie Bales. Questions? Please email Jen at fundraisingevents@borelbobcats.org.

Sports Basement has partnered with Borel Middle School to give 10% of proceeds back. If you become a part of their Basementeer program  ( one-time cost $25 ) which gives you additional discounts, remember to select Borel Middle School as your beneficiary. Click HERE to sign up as a Basementeer. Already a Basementeer? Email friends@sportsbasement.com to get Borel designated as your beneficiary. Get additional savings with our discount week for Borel Families on November 15 - 21. Use this Sport Basement Flyer in the store or online that week. Some exclusions apply. More details can be found on our Vendor Fundraising page. Questions? Please email Jen at fundraisingevents@borelbobcats.org.

We need your help today! As of Friday, October 29th, we currently stand at 68% of our goal of $140,000 coming in at $95,600.  The Borel PTA helps fund valuable academic support, critical classroom supplies, innovative professional development, and fun, community building events. This is the only Borel fundraiser that supports the entire student body. If you can only give a little, please know it will still help a lot.  Let’s show our teachers and students that 100% of families support our Bobcats.  Donate HERE and join the PTA in “Building a Brighter Future” for ALL our Bobcats.

Get a jump-start on your holiday shopping! Need holiday cards or customizable gifts for family? Start your Shutterfly shopping via this URL: borelpta.shutterflystorefront.com and everything happens automatically after that. 8% of the proceeds goes back to Borel Middle School. Looking for that perfect gift? Shop at Amazon via this URL: smile.amazon.com and select Borel Middle School as your beneficiary. More details on all our Vendor Fundraising can be found HERE . Questions? Please email Jen at fundraisingevents@borelbobcats.org.

Great news, the deadline to submit your work has been extended to Friday, November 19th.  You can also get Block B credits for submitting an entry.  The Reflections Art Program theme this year is "I Will Change the World By..."   For more information and to submit your work online, please visit borelbobcats.org/reflections. Questions?  Please contact Emily or Yumi at Reflections@borelbobcats.org.

Borel parents, save the date for another parent mixer event. This one is on  Saturday, December 4th from 4:30 - 7:30 PM, place TBD.  More information to come on the exact location. If you are interested or would like to RSVP, email Lou at communications@borelbobcats.org  or RSVP HERE.

In November’s Wellness Newsletter, our Wellness Ambassador, Tiffany Klein Wightman, MD, FAAP, shares her thoughts on adolescent dietary habits and how habits formed during this vulnerable time can lead to diet related health problems. She offers some guidelines when talking to your kids about the importance of nourishing their bodies.  Her newsletter is linked  HERE.

Link up with our community of Borel parents on Facebook! Search for us at Borel Bobcat Boosters. This is a great way to get Borel community news and tips relevant to you and your student as well as interact with current Borel parents. Questions, please email communications@borelbobcats.org

LIVE THEATER IS BACK!! Burlingame High School presents Puffs! Please join us for this wonderful show! (BHS originally tried to produce this in March of 2020...and they only got as far as the final dress rehearsal before the world shut down!)

For seven years a certain boy wizard went to Wizard School. This, however, is not his story. This is the story of the Puffs… who just happened to be there too. Follow the story of a young wizard named Wayne and the Puffs—a group of well-meaning, loyal rejects with a thing for badgers in this laugh-out-loud comedy that’s “packed with knowing winks to its source material and a heart all its own!” (Entertainment Weekly)