Hidden Valley Hawk Talk Newsletter, Issue #1
Tuesday, September 5th, 2023
Sep 6
Orange and Blue Day
Sep 7
YES Popsicle Social
Sep 8
Western Wear Day
Sep 8
Boots and BBQ, 5:30-8PM
Sep 13
Walk and Roll to School Day, Orange & Blue Day
Sep 15
Deadline to opt-in to non-teacher classroom and PTO communications
Hello Hawk Families,
Be an INcluder
I hope you spent some time this weekend digging out your western wear for the upcoming Boots & BBQ! This event is a wonderful opportunity to meet the parents and caregivers of some of the new friends your child has been talking about.
These elementary school connections for both you and your children are important; they are memorable not only because they begin in formative years. Friends are vital to school-age children’s healthy development. Research has found that children who develop friendships build their emotional well being and life skills. Friendships help children develop emotionally and morally. In interacting with friends, children learn how to communicate, cooperate, and solve problems. They practice controlling their emotions and responding to the emotions of others. They develop the ability to think through and negotiate different situations that arise in their relationships. They feel ready to learn and take risks when they have friends and school is a place they feel known.
Hence, our theme this past week and throughout the year, be an INcluder. Your child has been encouraged to find ways to include others; notice when someone might need a friend, invite someone new to play and interject if they see something unkind. Join us and model how to develop new friendships by inviting new classmates for playdates, join carpools, and reach out to families that aren’t in your typical circle of friends. Be an INcluder. You benefit, your child benefits, and maybe you’ll develop a new friend along with your child.
In Community Together,
Kristi
 |  |
|---|---|
 |  |
 |  |
 |
Hello Hidden Valley Families!
Welcome back to school! We hope you had a wonderful summer. The PTO has a great year in store for you!
Thanks to all of you that were able to make it back to Back to School Night during the first week of school and/or our first PTO meeting this past Friday! By now you should have all received the coveted “blue folder” that is full of information from RVSD and the Hidden Valley PTO!
Some highlights include:
-
Volunteer Information Packet: Parent/Guardian volunteers MUST return this packet and all required information before volunteering on campus.
-
Class Contribution Information
-
The PTO collects class funds, field trip funds and library funds (formerly the Birthday Book program-more on that later)
-
Make your contributions on the PTO website
-
Contributions are voluntary, but suggested to help the PTO defray the costs of certain school supplies, class parties, teacher presents, field trips and new library books
-
-
Classroom Communication QR Code
-
In order to receive communications from the PTO, each family must opt-in to the system
-
Each class has a QR code providing access to a classroom contact list to be used for classroom and PTO purposes only
-
Please opt-in by September 15 in order to receive communications for your Room Parent(s) and the PTO!
-
We have lots of volunteer opportunities available right away! Check out the Boots & BBQ section and Yard Duty sections, below, for immediate opportunities. Be on the look out for Fun Run volunteer opportunities soon!
As always, please don’t hesitate to email the PTO (hiddenvalleyhawksPTO@gmail.com) if you have any questions!
Have a great week!
Team PTO
Jill Nail
Valerie Wingfield
Valerie Six
Annie Andrews
The PTO has a few pressing volunteer needs to fill ASAP!
Kindergarten families! Did you know that Hidden Valley staffs lunchtime yard duty with parent volunteers in order to give our fabulous teachers a much-needed lunch break? WE NEED YOU!
This is a fun way to interact with the kindergarteners outside of the classroom. A kindergarten yard duty shift is from 11:45-12:30, which consists of supervision on the play structure and upper blacktop for 30 minutes and a 15 minute eating period.
We are ideally looking for two parents each day, with a commitment to a weekly time slot for the remainder of the year. With the exception of one Friday slot, ALL volunteer positions remain open. If you can’t commit to a weekly position, you can join our substitute team, which is contacted on an as-needed basis to cover absences of our regular volunteers.
Everyone! We need Room Parents! Please volunteer!
Interested? Email the PTO at hiddenvalleyhawksPTO@gmail.com!
Boots and BBQ Friday, September 8, 5:30-8PM
Howdy Hidden Valley!
We are beyond excited to announce to y'all the family friendly back-to-school bash, Boots and BBQ will be on Friday, September 8 from 5:30 – 8PM at Hidden Valley. This is a great opportunity to welcome new families into our wonderful school community and reconnect with everyone. The PTO provides live music, games, and hosted BBQ entrees. Dust off those boots and join the fun! RSVP here. Also, it takes a village to run this event. Sign up to volunteer here.
THANK YOU to all the Hawk families that already set up their YES Foundation donations and helped us achieve our 40 family participation goal from the YES Foundation Back to School Night Giving Campaign! Get ready for some sweet treats at the popsicle social coming up this Thursday, September 7th!
​
If you haven't set up your donation yet, no worries! Doing so is as easy as clicking below and monthly payment plans are available.
CLICK HERE TO SET UP YOUR DONATION
Unsure if you should donate to the Yes Foundation or why it exists? Please take a look at this amazing video (made by local HV parent Alex Farnum) and read these short and sweet slides to get a bit more background. Please help Yes in funding arts and music education for our Hidden Valley Hawks!
Put your best foot forward this fall! EVERY WEDNESDAY is Walk and Roll to School Day. Join thousands in Marin who WALK, (PARK AND WALK), BIKE, CARPOOL or BUS to school. EVERY STEP YOU TAKE, even if it's once per week, even if you walk a few blocks to school, helps reduce traffic and invigorates your student for a day of learning. Students are invited to come to the Safe Routes to Schools welcome table on the morning of September 13th to receive a prize for walking and rolling to school.
BUDDY UP is a contest to get students to walk (park and walk), bike, carpool or ride the bus together. Now through October 31, sign up your group of two or more students from neighboring families to travel to or from school together. Tell us your success story! Habits are more likely to stick when families support each other. There’s safety in numbers and groups are more easily seen by drivers. Best of all, friendships and fun memories are formed! There will be a $50 award for 5 winning groups. Notifications will be sent out in early November.
​
Introducing the Hawk Weekly Quiz!
Every week we will have a question of the week spanning varied subjects sometime including the content within the newsletter. The first one to respond gets a callout next week.
Week 1 Question:
Which famous detective has a sidekick named Dr. John Watson and lives on Baker Street?
a) Hercule Poirot
b) Miss Marple
c) Sam Spade
d) Sherlock Holmes
​
Please post your answers here
