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.

Dual Language Immersion (DLI) & Preschool Community Forum – Wednesday, 01/22/20, 6:00 – 7:30 p.m.

On Wednesday, 01/22/20, 6:00 – 7:30 p.m. in the Alamosa Park MPR, there will be a Parent Community Forum regarding Dual Language Immersion (DLI) and Preschool for students at Alamosa Park starting fall 2020. 

Dual Language Immersion (DLI): Mr. Rafael Olavide, Principal of Grapevine Elementary, will be sharing DLI programs and the success of DLI at Grapevine Elementary. Parents will be provided with time for questions and answers. If there is sufficient interest from parents and students, Alamosa Park will offer DLI (English & Spanish) in one or more of the primary grade levels starting next school year, August 2020. Grapevine Elementary School, in Vista Unified, has experienced success with DLI teaching and learning. 

Preschool: Educational Enrichment Systems (EES) has been offering state funded preschool for students at several schools in Vista Unified for the past several years. In May 2019, we had a Preschool Information Night at Alamosa Park to begin discussion with our community plans for offering Early Childhood Education for VUSD community at Alamosa Park. I am currently working with our students, teachers, support staff, community, EES, and VUSD to finalize plans to begin offering Early Childhood Education instruction to children in three full-day preschools at Alamosa Park (one 2-year-old, and two for 3- and 4-year-old children) starting fall 2020.

Early Childhood Education Key Points for Alamosa Park:

Full-Day preschool will allow for Alamosa Park to provide equitable access to learning for all students
Full-Day preschool will bring in 60 new students for 2020-21
Full-Day preschool is fully funded by the state of California at no cost to the district
Full-Day preschool is intended to provide a 2-generation intervention (free preschool access for children 2-4 years and free schooling for parents to retool for new jobs)
Full-Day preschool addresses the VUSD Board Goals and LCAP Targets for closing the equity gap
Full-Day preschool enables Alamosa Park to avoid Prop. 39 facility use by charter schools (Prop. 39 allows for charter schools to potentially utilize unused classrooms)
Full-Day preschool will bring much needed funding to Alamosa Park to improve playgrounds

During the community forum, each of these points, specific plans for EES preschool at Alamosa Park, and time for questions and answers will be provided to our community.

The preschool classrooms will be in three of the current TK and Kindergarten classrooms which are located adjacent to the parking area. Full-day preschools, which require bathrooms inside of classroom, will be in session from 6:30 a.m. – 6:00 p.m., 250 days each year. Starting fall 2020, TK and Kindergarten classrooms will be located in close proximity to the current Kindergarten Playground with bathroom located outside of classroom. The current playground will be upgraded and transformed for optimal use of preschool-, TK- and Kindergarten-age children.

I appreciate your consideration of attending the Community Forum on Wednesday, January 22, 6:00 – 7:30 p.m. in our MPR to learn more about DLI and Preschool for our students at Alamosa Park and in the VUSD community. I am very excited and optimistic of the potential for DLI and Preschool at Alamosa Park. I am honored and most fortunate to be your principal and working with outstanding students, teachers, support staff, and community. If you have any questions at any time about anything related to Alamosa Park, please contact me at (760) 940-0700 or at kyleruggles@vistausd.org.

Magnet Middle School Information Night - Tuesday, 01/28/20, 6:00 p.m. at Mission Meadows Elementary School

Attention Parents of 5th Grade Students: If you are interested in finding out more information about Vista Magnet Middle School (VMMS) or Vista Innovation and Design Academy (VIDA), please attend the Magnet Middle School Information Night at Mission Meadows Elementary School (5657 Spur Ave, Oceanside, CA 92057) on Tuesday, January 28, 2020, starting at 6:00 p.m.

Alamosa Park Yearbook Presale (01/21/20 – 02/03/20) Cost = $15

Starting 2/4/20, cost for yearbook will be $20. Order now!  To purchase a yearbook, please fill out the form that was sent on PeachJar and return it with your money or check to your student’s teacher or the Ed Foundation box in the office.  If you are paying by check, please make the check out to ALAMOSA PARK EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATION or APEF.   You can also order online at www.AlamosaEdFoundation.com.  Any questions - please contact the Ed Foundation at -  alamosaedfoundation@gmail.com  

 School Safety

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 lock down. Each of these drills requires different procedures and all require student attention for proper preparedness. On Friday, 01/10/20, we practiced “Secure Campus” and “Fire Evacuation” drills. In a Secure Campus situation, all doors are locked and classroom instruction can continue as normal. Whereas in a lock down situation, doors are secured, lights are turned off, and students are to remain away from windows and locked doors. Fire Evacuation requires students to follow teacher directions carefully, and then quietly and calmly evacuate the classroom. During the drills today, students followed staff instructions, remained silent and in single file lines as they followed their teachers to the blacktop area. Students and staff did a fantastic job! I appreciate the attention and commitment to safety at Alamosa Park.

Great Kindness Challenge (January 27 – 31)

The Great Kindness Challenge week is dedicated to creating a culture of kindness and compassion on campuses worldwide. Alamosa Park is proudly participating in this proactive and positive kindness initiative. All students will receive The Great Kindness Challenge checklist and participate in various school activities that increase awareness of how Kindness Matters to everyone. Please encourage your child to complete as many acts of kindness as possible. As Monday, January 27 arrives, there will be additional information provided to students and families.

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

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.

VUSD Community Forums – Budget reductions

Please click HERE to see a VUSD video regarding the budget reductions and click HERE for the Community Forum web page. For additional information about VUSD, please visit the VUSD web page at https://vistausd.org/.  

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, February 7, 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 11/12, 12/02, and 12/16. 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 (January Habit #4: Think Win - Win)

During the month of December, we are emphasizing Leader in Me Habit #4, Think Win- Win. 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 spend time on things that are most important and say no to things that we know we should not do. 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.

Upcoming Events

• Monday, 01/20/20 – Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day (No School)
• Wednesday, 01/22/20, 6:00 – 7:30 p.m. – Dual Language Immersion & Preschool Community Forum
• 01/21/20 – 02/03/20 – Alamosa Park Yearbook Presale (please see attached flier)
• Alamosa Park Yearbook PreSale.pdf 
• Week of 01/27/20 – Wheel Enrichment Week
• Week of 01/27/20 – Great Kindness Challenge Week (Kindness Grams for sale – please see attached flier)
• Kindness Gram Flyer 2020.pdf 
• Friday, 01/31/20 – VUSD Professional Development Day (No School)
• Friday, 02/07/20, 8:00 – 8:30 a.m. – Student Recognition Assembly
• Wednesday, 02/19/20 – APEF Dine-Out @ Panda Express (please see attached flier)
• APEF DineOut.Panda Express.pdf 

Go Hawks!

Kyle Ruggles, Ed.D.

Principal, Alamosa Park Elementary School

(760) 940-0700

kyleruggles@vistausd.org