Enews, September 25, 2018

Post date: Sep 26, 2018 12:10:9 AM

What's Happening at Walnut Acres - September 25, 2018

Mark Your Calendars!9/25-9/26 iClickSmiles School Picture Days10/1 Auction Tickets Go On Sale10/10 Walk and Bike to School Day10/13 Community Service Day10/16 PFC Meeting, Staff Lounge, 8:15 a.m.

10/17 iClickSmiles School Picture Make-up

10/19-20 CUYT's Jungle Book, 7:00 p.m.

10/22-26 5th Grade Walker Creek Trip

10/31 Sing-Out 8:00-9:00 a.m.

For the entire calendar, please see: PFC Key Dates 2018-19

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Last Chance! After School Enrichment Classes Begin this week!

Enrichment classes are starting this week and there is still time to get your kids involved in some fun, engaging after-school activities! Classes that still have space include: After School DodgeBall, After School Hoops, Instrumental Music for 4th & 5th Graders and Legos: Ticket to Ride. To register and find more detailed class information please visit the Walnut Acres PFC website at Enrichment Programs.

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“Midnight in Paris” Auction Tickets Countdown!

In less than a week, tickets to Walnut Acres’ exciting live auction gala go on sale! Don’t miss this fabulous evening of dinner, dancing and celebrating our amazing school on Friday, March 8, 2019!

Now is the time to:

  • Put your babysitter on notice and mark your calendars for March 8

  • Tell your most fun friends to request the same table

  • Brush up on your Parisian accent

  • Buy your tickets online beginning Monday, October 1

Watch for more details coming home and online later this week. Follow us on Instagram @walnutacresauction for the inside scoop!

We are also still asking for donations, and it’s easier than ever to submit online or via email. Visit http://walnutacres.schoolauction.net/auction2019 to register your donation.

If you have connections with local businesses or are interested in hosting a buy-in party or have another great donation idea, please let us know! Email Jon Gomez atauctiondonations@walnutacrespfc.net or visit www.walnutacrespfc.net/fundraisers/auction for more details.

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Drive Thru and Drop Off Your Recycling: October 1 - 5Got Aluminum Cans and Plastic Bottles?

NEXT WEEK, October 1-5, at morning drop-off, we are collecting CRV-labeled aluminum cans and plastic bottles. No need to get out of your car - just hand us the bag (or open your trunk for us) as you go through the drive thru!

Every first week of the month, we will collect CRV beverage containers (please, no glass) from you as you drop your child off at school. Recycled materials will be exchanged for cash at a recycling center and the proceeds will be used for playground supplies, and for Walnut Acres Recycling Club supplies and activities.

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4th Grade Parents! October is Your Month to Host the Drive-Thru!

4th Grade parents! Sign up on Konstella to greet students who use the Drive Thru in the mornings from 7:40 - 8:00 am. This is a quick and easy way to help make a difference in the mornings of both parents and students. CLICK HERE to sign up!

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Walk and Bike to School Day - Wednesday, October 10

Parents and Kids! Leave the car at home and walk, bike, or scooter to school! This is afun way to celebrate safe, non-polluting ways to get to school as well as a way to help build our children's independence! Kids are encouraged to wear their spirit wear and decorate their bike, scooter, or skateboard to win a mystery prize for the best decoration!- Kids will check in when they arrive at school to get a sticker, and enter a raffle to win a $10 gift card to Barnes and Noble!

- Judging for the vehicle decoration will occur during the day, and the winner will find a prize on their bike, scooter, or skateboard after school!

- Volunteers needed to help with the morning's activities! Please sign up now onKonstella.

STREET SMARTS TIPS TO REMEMBER:

- Walk with a buddy

- Use crosswalks to cross the street

- Wear your helmet when riding

- Stop, Look, and Listen before crossing

- Ride on the right side of the road

- Use hand signals when riding

- Walk your bike or scooter when on school campus

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Community Service Day: Saturday, October 13

  • Volunteers still needed: Sign up rate to-date: 75% (30/40 volunteers). We need at least 10-15 more volunteers. We can use many hands, so invite your friends and neighbors too. We also need 2 crew leaders to guide volunteers with projects (1 crew leader for painting; 1 crew leader for landscaping), and 1 person to help at the check-in station.

  • Register Online: Online registration closes on Oct. 10, visit WC Service Day to sign up.

  • When: Saturday, Oct. 13 from 9 a.m.-12 p.m. 7:30 a.m. Start the Day with pancakes and a t-shirt! Free pancake breakfast at Heather Farm Community Center. 8:30-8:45 a.m. Volunteers arrive at the school and check in by the lunch tables in front of main office (waiver mandatory prior to working on projects). 9:00 a.m. Projects work begins.

  • Fun Improvement Projects: projects include gardening/clean up; repainting the map & checkerboard on the playground & buddy benches; painting a red cross on the emergency supplies shed; and cleaning up books in the library.

  • Please wear closed-toe shoes and bring gardening tools, paint brushes, masking tape and work gloves, a hat, and sunscreen.

  • Please contact Caroline Clerempuy if you have questions:communityserviceday@walnutacrespfc.net

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Did you know that the Cub Scouts now offers Family Cub Scouting?

Cub Scouts is now accepting girls! If your family would like to have a single Scouting experience, then Cub Scouts might be for you. Cub Scouting is for children in grades K-5, and the goal is to train youth in responsible citizenship, character development and self-reliance through participation in a wide variety of outdoor activities and educational programs. Our Pack has fun all year participating in service projects, camping, overnighters, and our annual Pinewood Derby! Local Pack 210 will now form girl "Dens", so if you are interested, please contact our Membership Chair, Sarah Waters at sarahsin70@hotmail.com.

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Happy Birthday Wishes on the MarqueeSupport the PFC and put a smile on your child's face! For $25.00, you can say “Happy Birthday (Your Child’s Name)" on the Walnut Acres electronic Marquee from 7am-9pm on your date of choice. To purchase, go to the Birthday Marquee Sales Page in Konstella. The deadline for submitting an order is the 25th of the month prior to your child's birthday. So if your child has a birthday on February 1st, please place your order by January 25th.

Questions? Email Pat Mitsch at marquee@walnutacrespfc.net.

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RECYCLE CLUB News!

With the help of Nathan (our helpful custodian), Marci C. Ekberg, and Monique Pickering (Recycle Club volunteering parents) the Walnut Acres Recycle Club kids have distributed blue recycling bins next to all the trash bins on our campus. And, we expect our composting bins to arrive in the next few weeks.

Please work with your children so that they know the right way to separate the recyclables from the garbage.

Helpful links to what goes in which bin:

https://www.recyclesmart.org/houses/blue-cart

https://www.recyclesmart.org/houses/green-cart

https://www.recyclesmart.org/houses/black-cart

If you have questions or suggestions, contact us at sustainability@walnutacrespfc.net. We are here to help! Thank you for helping to make our school more eco-friendly!

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Do you know about Measure J?

This November, all registered voters within the Mount Diablo Unified School District will have an opportunity to vote on Bond Measure J which will help the district make essential upgrades to ensure student safety and support a 21st-century learning environment in our local schools.

Specifically, Measure J will:

  • Improve student safety and campus security

  • Expand vocational and career technical education classrooms

  • Repair leaky roofs and replace outdated plumbing and electrical wiring

  • Upgrade fire alarm and emergency communications systems

If you’d like to learn more about Measure J, please visit the MDUSD website’s Bond Information web page or Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs).

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Buy your 2018-2019 Walnut Acres Yearbook NOW for $25! Price goes up to $35 after October 31st.

Go to: www.yearbookordercenter.com

Enter school code: 10053 to purchase with credit or debit card.

Want to share your amazing pictures for the yearbook?

  1. go to: www.hjeshare.comEnter school code walnutacres

  2. Click "select images for upload". Click "Browse for Images".

  3. Locate our images, click on them, then click "Open".

  4. Enter the information for each image. Please include "grade(s) of students" and provide the teacher's name if known. For "student(s) shown", type N/A.

  5. Click "upload images".

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Parent School Volunteer Requirements

For the safety of our children, all school volunteers are required to be fingerprinted and successfully pass a TB test. Please visit www.bit.ly/MDUSDVolunteers for more information.

  1. You must have completed a TB test that is less than 60 days old or have a TB test less than 4 years old on file with MDUSD. If you require a new or updated TB test, contact your physician or see the MDUSD website for partner labs here). Remember to plan for the 48 hour test reading requirement (you must return to the lab within 24 hours for the test reading).

  2. You must have fingerprints on file with MDUSD - please click here for details of how to schedule with MDUSD or for their requirements to use outside fingerprint vendors.

If you are unclear of your fingerprinting or TB status, please check in with the Walnut Acres office.

October 6th: Run~Jog~Walk in the YoursHumanly 5K to support education both locally and throughout the world.

PEAK Education Foundation, which supports the 5 Northgate-area schools, and the MDUSD Education Foundation, which supports the entire MDUSD, are each partnering with YoursHumanly, for the 5KBreak a Sweat for Education run on October 6 at Heather Farm. You may register as part of the PEAK Team or the MDUSDEF Team. You'll be supporting education both at home and abroad.

To learn more details about the race, Click Here

When registering, be sure to select either the PEAK Team or the MDUSDEF Team, or when it asks "How Did You Learn about the Race" during the registration process, select the team of your choice.

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Northgate Area Choral Music Festival

October 25, 2018 7 pm

Northgate High School Gym

Please join us for a fun evening of joyful singing featuring choirs from Bancroft, Highlands, Valle Verde and Walnut Acres Elementary Schools, Foothill Middle School and Northgate High School.

Doors open at 6:45 pm; Concert starts at 7:00 pm

The concert will conclude by 7:45 pm

Walnut Acres students in third, fourth, and fifth grade are invited to participate in this event.

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Registration is OPEN for the 26th Annual Forma Turkey Trot - A Community Tradition!

The 26th Annual Forma Turkey Trot, will be here before you know it and registration is open! Register early for best pricing. This family fun event, brought to you by Forma Gym, is a great way to start your Thanksgiving holiday and show support for your schools! There are several races to choose from including Kids Fun Runs, 10K Run* and 5K run or walk, and festival areas with costume contest!

The race takes place Thanksgiving Morning, Thursday, Nov. 22, 8:00 am at Civic Park.

Last year, the Turkey Trot raised over $15,000 for PEAK Education Foundation schools, (Northgate, Foothill, Valle Verde, Bancroft and Walnut Acres) and this year we hope to raise even more by having lots of students and parents participate.

For more information and to register click here.

Volunteers are also needed to help on race day and a few days beforehand. If you are available to help, please email peakoffice@yahoo.com and put "Turkey Trot Volunteer" in the subject line.

Fast & Sweet - you're home in time for football, turkey and pumpkin pie!