Back to School Enews August 2017

Post date: Sep 19, 2017 6:12:25 PM

Walnut Acres Back to School Enews * September 5, 2017

Mark Your Calendars

Sept 6: 3rd Grade Back to School Night, 5:45 pm, MUR and classrooms

Sept 7: TK/K Back to School Night, 5:45 pm, MUR and classrooms

Sept 8: Ice Cream Social (note the new date!), 6 - 8 pm

Sept 19: PFC Meeting, 7 pm, Library

Sept 25 & 26: iSmiles School Picture Days

Sept 27: September Sing Outs, 8 - 9 am, MUR

For more key dates 2017-18, click here.

* * * * *

Ice Cream Social - THIS Friday, September 8 - 6:00 - 8:00 pm

Bring the family to join us for our Annual Ice Cream Social to kick off the new school year! You can make an ice cream sundae, buy yourSpirit Wear, and make a donation to the Jaguar Fund, all in one place! And, we will be collecting donations for school supplies for schools that are taking in students who have been displaced by Hurricane Harvey (more details to come).

It's not quite as hot as last week, but we will also have some water activities for the kids (and kids-at-heart) on the blacktop. Come prepared to get wet, but please no water guns on campus.

We'd like to give a special Shout Out to the Walnut Acres Children's Center for providing the ice cream for this fun community event, and to our parents for making it happen!

* * * * *

Emergency Kits - Due NOW!

In case you haven't brought them yet, we are still collecting Emergency Kits (E-kits) for each student to have available in the classroom. Print the form (or get one in the school office) and deliver your student's E-Kits to their classroom by Wednesday. For more information and the form that must accompany the E-kits, see E-Kits on the PFC website. * * * * *

Drive Thru Sign Ups

This year, we are trying something a little different at the Drive Thru. Each month, a different class level will be responsible for opening doors and greeting our students in the morning. We will begin in September with the 5th Grade parents, then the 4th Grade parents will help out in October. Click here for 5th Grade September sign ups and here for 4th Grade October sign ups. We need 4 parents per day, Monday - Thursday. Fridays will continue to be Father Fridays with our awesome dads greeting the kids in the morning. Please sign up now - it's a short commitment - just 20 minutes from 7:40 - 8:00 am, but it makes a huge difference in getting our school days off to a good start!* * * * *

Yearbook Orders

In case you missed it at Jaguar Day, we are doing Yearbook Orders a little differently this year. You can order your yearbooks directly from the Yearbook Order Center and enter our school code 10053. Yearbooks are $25 until October 1st and $30 from October 2 - April 15. April 15th is the last day to order a 2018 yearbook. * * *

And... we are looking for parent volunteers to help us take photographs!

If you are interested, please contact us at yearbook@walnutacrespfc.net or sign up on Konstella to be your child's classroom photography volunteer or a photography volunteer at any of the events coming up at the school. * * * * *

Seeking Lunch Patrol Volunteers

Did you know that we depend on parent volunteers to help our students during lunchtime? Lunch Patrol volunteers assist at lunch and recess between 11:20 am and 1:00 pm. It's a great way to visit your kids and get to know their friends, all while helping out the school. If you are a first grade parent, we encourage you to sign up in September when our newest lunch buddies (the first graders) are getting used to doing lunch at school. They really love seeing mom or dad helping out! We request that each family volunteer for Lunch Patrol at least 3 times per school year. Please sign up on Konstella or email lunchpatrol@walnutacrespfc.net.

* * * * *

Box Tops for Education: Turn your Box Tops into $ for Walnut Acres!

Have you been saving your Box Tops throughout the summer? Bring them to the office (or send them in a ziploc bag with your student) and put them in the Box Tops container. Box Tops collected by September 15 will be turned in for the Fall Box Top collection.

* * * * *

Shop and Earn... Sign up NOW to earn money for Walnut Acres ALL YEAR LONG!

When purchasing items on Amazon, be sure to click on our Amazon Linkbefore you check out. You can also find the link at the bottom left-hand side of your Konstella screen. (You might need to refresh Konstella to see it.) This is a new program that will donate a larger percentage of your purchase to WAPFC. Save this link to your favorites and use it every time you shop with Amazon.

And, be sure you sign up to be a Sports Basement Basementeer. Sign up in the store the next time you go to check out. (They do not currently offer online enrollment in the program.) The Basementeer program gives you an instant 10% off purchases at Sports Basement AND Sports Basement donates another 10% to our school. When you sign up, be sure to designate Walnut Acres Elementary as your beneficiary school.

* * * * *

Volunteer Fingerprinting Information If you are new to our school and plan to volunteer in the classroom or on campus, we suggest you get fingerprinted as soon as possible. It's strongly suggested that you take care of this detail as soon as possible. If you wait, there will likely be a long wait list (and therefore a long delay) for the fingerprinting appointments.

Volunteers are a vital part of Walnut Acres, but only authorized volunteers are able to participate in classrooms and on campus. The MDUSD website offers more volunteer information.

If you have not yet been fingerprinted, please call 925-682-8000, Ext. 4153 to schedule an appointment. Download the volunteer form from the MDUSD site. Bring your TB test results and cash or check to your appointment.

* * * * *

Community Announcements

Check out upcoming Community Events listed on our Community Announcements page.