Friday, October 17, 2025

Week of 10/20

There are several upcoming October/November events coming up that you should know about, especially if you are new to Alta Vista. Please read carefully for some important information.

Book Fair
The Book Fair begins on Monday! There are special kindergarten hours on Tuesday the 21st at 1:40-2:30. Only kindergartners and TK students will be in the book fair (with parents) at that time, since the rest of the school is still in session. If you can't make it on Tuesday, you'll have to brave the after school crowds on Wednesday, or return to school on Thursday or Friday at 2:40. The children do not go to the fair during class time, since they need to be with a parent to purchase books. 

Conferences
Thank you, everyone, for signing up for a Fall Conference! Just a reminder that conferences are for parent(s) only so that we can talk openly about your child’s progress, and there is one conference per child. My conference schedule has now been converted to "view only." If you need to change your time, please contact me.

Halloween

Alta Vista will be celebrating Halloween with a costume parade that includes ALL of our TK through fifth grade students. The Halloween Parade will be on Friday, October 31st at 9:00 AM. During the school day, all visitors (Grandma and Grandpa too) must check into our office through our Visitor Management System. Safety remains a top priority for our school and district and the check-in process takes a couple of minutes for each guest. The Halloween Parade has always been a popular event and we are expecting quite a crowd. To help expedite the check in process on Halloween, please help us by pre-registering into our Visitor Management System prior to the 31st. It's a simple process:


1. Stop by the office with your driver’s license anytime the week before Halloween, starting on Friday the 24th, between 8:00 and 3:00. Let Mrs. Keenan know that you would like a visitor’s sticker for the Halloween Parade.

2. Keep the sticker in a safe place until the day of the event. You will need to wear the sticker in a visible place on your shirt when you come for the parade on the 31st.

3. There will be two lines on the morning of the event. One will be for those who have pre-registered and have their sticker on. They will have their stickers checked and let in through the gate closest to the office. The other line will be for those that have not pre-registered for the event.


Please note, if you are unable to pre-register and pick up a sticker during the week prior to the parade, we anticipate a long line the morning of the event. It can take up to 2 minutes in some cases to check in each person. We highly suggest you come early so that you don’t miss the fun. No adult will be allowed on campus without a visitor’s sticker from the office. Thank you for your patience and understanding as we prioritize keeping students safe during school-wide events.


In Class this Week


Language Arts:

Our letters this week are Dd and Ss. These are more difficult letters to form in handwriting, and it's really important to form both letters correctly to prevent reversals. Please check the Fundations letter formation guide for these letters, and reinforce this as much as possible at home.

Our sight words this week are and and to. You can find the sight words we've introduced on the classroom website. Go to the tab called "High Frequency Word List."

Math:

You should have received your child's Module 1 workbook in last week's Wednesday envelope. Please look through the workbook and see if there are any areas your child may need additional support. This week, we begin Module 2, Two and Three Dimensional Shapes. In this module, students analyze and describe two and three-dimensional shapes by considering their attributes. This allows students to identify shapes in the world and create their own examples through building and drawing. By the end of this module, students should be able to identify and list attributes of the following shapes: square, triangle, circle, rectangle, hexagon, cube, cone, sphere, and cylinder. Family Math ideas for Topic A can be found here. You may have noticed that the Family Math letters are also in your child's workbook, so you will have hard copies of the letters when your children bring home the completed workbook.

Clay Glazing

We will be glazing our clay pots this Friday at 10:30. Please do not send your children in any favorite clothes, as the clay glaze does stain. Thank you to Fatemeh, Eva, Claudia, Natharin, Kay, Laura and Mary for helping with the Clay program this year.

**Library books are due on Tuesday each week
**School Spirit Days are every Wednesday-- wear your Alta Vista gear OR your class t-shirt (coming soon!) to show your school spirit.

This Week's Helpers & Activities:
Monday: Centers (Tiffany & Eva)
Tuesday: Return library books, Centers (Mary & Nadia)
Wednesday: Library (Reader: Mary, Checkout: Anda), dismissal @ 1:15
Thursday: Return Weds. Envelopes
Friday: Clay Glazing

Upcoming Events
10/20-10/24: Book Fair
Tuesday, 10/21: Special Kindergarten Hours @ Book Fair: 1:40-2:40
Friday, 10/31: Halloween Parade @ 9:00
Tuesday, 11/11: No School: Veteran's Day
11/13-11/21: Parent-Teacher Conferences
11/24-11/28: Thanksgiving Break