Office Hours: Monday – Friday, 7:00 a.m. – 3:30 p.m.

Instructional Hours (Transitional Kindergarten and Kindergarten) 
Mondays: 8:00 a.m. – 12:41 p.m.
Tuesdays – Fridays: 8:00 a.m. – 2:08 p.m.

Instructional Hours (Grades 1 - 5)
Monday: 8:00 a.m. - 12:51 p.m.
Tuesday – Friday:  8:00 a.m. - 2:18 p.m.

October 2019

Dear Alamosa Park Families,

I would like to provide you with Alamosa Park Elementary School updates, including family survey, safety, student recognition assemblies, enrichment instruction, Leader in Me Habit for October – Begin with end in mind, WAVE Pact Wednesdays, Hawk Run, VUSD leadership transition, TK & K Early Dismissal, and upcoming events.

Alamosa Park Family Survey

I would like to request your feedback. Specifically, I would like to know (1) which educational programs students and parents are interested in having at Alamosa Park and (2) which parent workshops you would like to have offered at Alamosa Park. When time permits, please click the following link to access this brief survey that will provide valuable feedback to me. Alamosa Park Family Survey

Outstanding Hawk Run Jog-A-Thon organized by our APEF – Friday, October 18

I would like to thank our Alamosa Park Education Foundation (APEF), APEF President, Sonia Rodriguez, and all of our parent volunteers for a fantastic Hawk Run! On Friday, October 18, each of our students and many faculty members participated in the Hawk Run Jog-A-Thon to celebrate healthy lifestyles and fitness. This memorable and exciting event raised funds for our academic and enrichment programs. The excellent organization from our APEF brought numerous volunteers from across the Vista and Oceanside communities to support Alamosa Park students and faculty. I would also like to thank our great students for their hard work in running and securing pledged donations. Our parent community is so very generous for submitting donations to Alamosa Park. Among the prizes for students who reach certain milestones with fundraising efforts, are a Hawk Run water bottle, Super Hero sling bag, and pie in the face for principal. If we reach our goal of $30,000, I will dye my hair red. Final results for the donations will be announced by November. On behalf of the Alamosa Park faculty, I appreciate our APEF and the AP Hawk Community for all of the great support with this very fun and exciting event for our students.

PTA Book Fair (Tuesday – Thursday, 10/22 – 10/24/19)

The PTA Book Fair takes place at Alamosa Park this week in Room 22. Students will be visiting the Book Fair during the regular library visitation time on Tuesday, 10/22; Wednesday, 10/23; or Thursday, 10/24. Thank you for your consideration of your student participating in the Book Fair.

Red Ribbon Week (10/28 - 11/01/19)

During the week of 10/28/19, Alamosa Park students and faculty are celebrating our commitment to a drug-free life by participating in spirit days. For additional information about Red Ribbon Week, sponsored by National Family Partnership, please visit http://redribbon.org.

10/28 – 11/01/19 - Red Ribbon Week

• Monday, 10/28 – “Sock It” To Drugs, Crazy Socks Day
• Tuesday, 10/29 – “Go Green”, Wear Green and Recycle Day
• Wednesday, 10/30– WAVE Pact Wednesday, Wear College Gear Day
• Thursday, 10/31 – Say “Boo” to Drugs Halloween Morning Parade (8:00 – 8:30 a.m.)
• Friday, 11/01 – Hawk Spirit Day! Wear Red Day!

Friday, 11/01/19 – APEF Fall Festival

Please save the evening of Friday, November 1 for a wonderful time of celebration of the Fall Season at Alamosa Park. Our APEF, students, and faculty are collaborating to bring together booths, games, food, and festivities for everyone at our Annual Fall Festival. We hope you are able attend this fun and memorable event.

Student Council Scholastic Pajama Drive (11/04 - 11/22/19)

Alamosa Park Student Council is coordinating a school-wide a Pajama drive the month of November (11/04 - 11/22). Our student council is teaming up with Scholastic Books for a Pajama and book drive. For every pair of pajamas we collect, Scholastic will give the same student a new book. At the end of the drive we will be having a Pajama Spirit Day on Friday, November 22. All of the donated pajamas will be delivered to those in need who live in our area. Thank you for your consideration of donating pajamas for this student council community service project.

School Safety Drills

School-wide safety is extremely important. Our school-wide safety plan highlights every potential situation and is reviewed and approved by Oceanside Police and Fire Departments. Every month, our students and faculty participate in safety drills including fire evacuation, earthquake, secure campus, and lockdown. Each of these drills requires different procedures and all require student attention for proper preparedness. So far, we have participated in two fire evacuation drills; one on Friday, 08/23 and one on Thursday, 09/05. On Tuesday, 09/17, we conducted an earthquake, secure campus, and fire evacuation drill. The entire drill takes approximately 15 – 20 minutes. With every drill I am reminded of how well our faculty and students are prepared for safety. Students remain calm, organized, and follow teacher instructions. As a result, students and faculty know the procedures. I appreciate the attention and commitment to safety at Alamosa Park.

Parking Lot Safety

I would like to thank our community for continuing to practice safety during every student drop-off and pick-up time period. Please continue to drive slowly, proceed with caution, and our faculty will assist students entering vehicles safely. I would like to remind parents to not leave your car unattended unless you parking in a parking space. If you are picking up your child at the Alamosa Park parking lot, do not park in the center of lot since this area is a thoroughfare for vehicles entering and exiting the lot. The solar panel carport construction is now completed. I greatly appreciate the patience and support from everyone.

Student Recognition Assemblies

Every month Alamosa Park has student recognition flag assemblies that include the Pledge of Allegiance, National Anthem, information related to Leader in Me Habits (September – Be Proactive, October – Begin with the End In Mind, November – Put First Things First, December – Think Win-Win). Our next student recognition assembly is on Friday, 11/01, at 8:00 a.m. in the blacktop area. During Flag Awards Assemblies, students from each class are recognized for exemplifying the Leader in Me Habits and for academic achievement. Students who are recognized receive a special certificate, join me for Principal Pride Luncheon, and receive an ice cream during lunch. We are proud of our students, staff, and community coming together to celebrate positive school-wide character and academic achievement.

Wheel Enrichment Instruction

Since the beginning of the school year, every other week, all of our students participate in enrichment learning time during wheel rotation schedule. For the month of October, students participate in the wheel enrichment schedule during the weeks of 09/30, 10/14, and 10/28. This "every other week" wheel schedule will continue for the remainder of the school year. We are most fortunate to have experienced certificated teachers and our counselor providing these enrichment courses of study which are aligned to our school vision of Leadership, Engineering, the Arts, Design Thinking, and Science (Alamosa Park LEADS the Way). Here is the wheel enrichment schedule for each grade level, every other week:

• Grade 2: Tuesdays, 8:00 – 10:50 a.m.
• Transitional Kindergarten & Kindergarten: Tuesdays, 10:55 a.m. – 2:05 p.m.
• Grades 4 & 5: Wednesdays, 8:00 – 10:50 a.m.
• Grade 3: Thursdays, 8:00 – 10:50 a.m.
• Grade 1: Thursdays, 10:55 a.m. – 2:05 p.m.

During this wheel time, students are engaged in exploration, innovation, and teamwork activities. The wheel time enrichment includes Art (Ms. McCloud), Music (Mrs. Sotelo); Maker Space / Rokenbok Lab (Ms. Dunn); Innovation, Engineering, STEM (Mrs. Larsen); and Leader in Me / Citizenship & Character Building (Mrs. Coccodrilli – Grades 4/5). During this wheel time, the regular grade level teachers are provided valuable collaboration and professional development time. Teachers are currently working together in grade level teams enhance lessons for our new math curriculum adoption, Eureka Math, which is aligned to California Math Standards. I am very pleased with the variety of learning opportunities this wheel time provides for our students and the collaboration time for our regular classroom teachers. Please take time to discuss with your student the learning opportunities during regular class time as well as the time during wheel enrichment.

Leader in Me (October - Habit #2: Begin with the End in Mind)

During the month of October, we are emphasizing Leader in Me Habit #2, Begin with the end in mind. By asking students to reflect on their leadership and focusing their efforts in developing a plan to accomplish certain tasks, they will gain additional leadership skills that will set them up for success. We will be challenging students to plan ahead, set goals, think about their choices and how those choices affect others and their future, become prepared at all times, and do things that have meaning and make a difference. By knowing the leadership habit for this month, you can work alongside of Alamosa Park staff in promoting leadership for your student.

WAVE – Pact Wednesdays

In an effort to promote student interest and engagement in college after high school, all VUSD schools participate in WAVE – pact Wednesdays. On “We are Vista Everyday” (WAVE) – pact Wednesdays, we encourage all students, faculty, and parent volunteers to wear college gear. Thank you for considering to participate in wearing college gear every Wednesday.

Letter from VUSD Board President, Rosemary Smithfield - District Leadership Transition

This past week, on Wednesday, 09/25/19, Mrs. Smithfield, our VUSD School Board President, sent the message below to the VUSD community. I just wanted to communicate specifically to the Alamosa Park community to make sure that you have this communication and know about our district leadership transition. With the leave status of Dr. Linda Kimble, Dr. Matt Doyle has assumed the leadership role in VUSD. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at (760) 940-0700, or kyleruggles@vistausd.org.

To All Members of the Vista Unified School District Family:

On behalf of the Board of Education, I share with you the news that Dr. Linda Kimble, Superintendent, is on leave from the district, effective immediately.  During this time, we are grateful that Dr. Matt Doyle, will assume the leadership role in our organization. We are confident that his experience and passion for our students, staff and community will provide a smooth leadership transition. 

We expect to announce a long-term solution to the district’s leadership transition in mid-October.  In the meantime, please join us in thanking Dr. Doyle for stepping into this important leadership role. 

On behalf of the Board of Education, I thank you for your kind attention to this message.

Cordially,

Rosemary Smithfield

TK & Kindergarten Early Dismissal – Thank you!

I would like to thank our entire community for your support with the change in earlier dismissal time for our Transitional Kindergarten (TK) and Kindergarten students. I believe that the earlier dismissal time for TK & K students has allowed for a smoother and safer dismissal time period. As a reminder, here are the new TK and K school hours:

TK and Kindergarten New School Hours

• Mondays: 8:00 a.m. – 12:41 p.m.
• Tuesdays – Fridays: 8:00 a.m. – 2:08 p.m.

I appreciate the support from our community with the new dismissal times for TK and K students.

Oceanside Turkey Trot (Thursday, November 28, 2019)

Attention Alamosa Park Turkey Trotters – If you are interested in running in the Oceanside Turkey Trot, please click https://osideturkeytrot.com/ to register. The date of this fun run is on Thanksgiving morning, November 28, 2019. When you register, please identify Alamosa Park as your team name. Our PTA will receive a $5 donation for each Turkey Trot registration that identifies Alamosa Park as their team. So please consider participating in this fun run, register under Team Alamosa Park, and “move your feet before you eat”. Go Hawks! 

Upcoming Events

Tuesday – Thursday, 10/22 – 10/24/19 – PTA Book Fair

Wednesday, 10/23/19 – APEF Dine Out Night – Rubios

Week of 10/28/19 – Wheel Enrichment Week

10/28 – 11/01/19 - Red Ribbon Week

• Monday, 10/28 – “Sock It” To Drugs, Crazy Socks Day
• Tuesday, 10/29 – “Go Green”, Wear Green and Recycle Day
• Wednesday, 10/30– WAVE Pact Wednesday, Wear College Gear Day
• Thursday, 10/31 – Say “Boo” to Drugs Halloween Morning Parade (8:00 – 8:30 a.m.)
• Friday, 11/01 – Hawk Spirit Day! Wear Red Day!

Friday, 11/01/19, 8:00 – 8:30 a.m. – Student Recognition Assembly

Friday, 11/01/19 – End of Trimester 1 grading period

Friday, 11/01/19 – APEF Fall Festival (please mark your calendars – info to follow soon)

Sunday, 11/03/19 – Daylight Savings Time Ends – Turn clocks back one hour

Tuesday, 11/05/19 – 8:15 – 9:15 a.m. – Morning with Principal Ruggles

Monday, 11/11 – Veterans Day – No School

Tuesday – Friday, 11/12 – 11/15/19 - Parent Conferences - Early Dismissal (TK & K 12:41 p.m. & Grades 1-5 12:51 p.m. all week)

Happy October to everyone in the Alamosa Park Community. Go Hawks!

Sincerely.

Kyle Ruggles, Ed.D.

Principal, Alamosa Park Elementary School

(760) 940-0700

kyleruggles@vistausd.org