Our annual Student Showcase events are coming! These student performance assessments are a way for you to experience your student’s knowledge/skill integration first hand. The dates this year are:
Kindergarten – April 29 & May 2
First Grade -May 14 & 15
Second Grade -May 21
Third Grade -May 8
Fourth Grade – May 22 (Rms. 17 & 18); May 21 & 23 (Rm. 22)
Fifth Grade – May 23
Please see your student’s classroom teacher for times for each Showcase.
Our annual El Carmelo Auction is this Saturday, April 13th! Be sure to buy your ticket to be ready to be a “Rock Star” (this year’s theme) and support our kids’ education through the PTA!
Spring Break is coming!: the week of April 1-5 is holiday. Enjoy the week, come back refreshed!
Many thanks to Project Cornerstone for the Expect Respect workshop held March 27! The 37 students that attended had a great experience.
Thank you to everyone that attended Stories Under the Stars last Wednesday evening, especially the great PTA organizers!
Here is the link to the Strategic Plan Survey: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/2013_Strategic_Plan_Parent_Survey It has not worked consistently on everyone’s computers from the emails sent out to parents, so please feel free to use this link!
This coming week (March 18-22) is the PTA celebration of Staff Appreciation Week. Thank you, parents, for your kind expressions of appreciation and support for the work of our teachers, instructional aides and support staff at El Carmelo!
Safe Routes to School is a City of Palo Alto/PAUSD partnership to make all of our commutes safer. Interested community members are invited to join us at the first Safe Routes to School event, a Walk About on March 22 at 8:30am. Meet at the MP Room.
“Spring forward” on March 10 with Daylight Savings time!
Thank you to everyone involved in putting on all of these fine February events at El Carmelo!
Thu, Feb. 28 PTA Parent Ed – Love & Logic Parenting, Library at 7pm – Thank you, Janada for the valuable tips! Website: www.janadaclark.com
Thu. Feb. 21 – Bingo Night 6pm
Wed. Feb. 20 – Coffee with the Principal 8:30am
Tue. Feb. 12 – PTA General Meeting and “Reading Tips for Parents” 7-8:30pm
Sun. Feb. 10 – Lunar New Year celebration 2-4pm
Fri. Feb. 8 – Incoming Kinder Parent Visit 9-10am
Wed. Feb. 6 – Latino Parent Dinner 5:30-7:30pm
Sat. Feb. 2 – Pancake Breakfast 8:30-10:30am [What a fun event and so much great food!]
——————————————————–
Remember that next Monday, January 21 is the celebration of Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday. There is no school on that day.
Lego Night is Thursday, January 17. Come enjoy an evening of creativity and fun with Legos!
We’re bringing back Pajama Day on Friday, December 21. Students are welcome to wear pajamas to school on this minimum day (school gets out at 1:30pm) before Winter Break. You are not required to wear pajamas, of course, and if you do choose to wear them, they must include pajamas shirt and pajama pants.
December 3-7 is Inclusive Schools Week. This week we celebrate the variety of students and our desire that every child feel welcome at El Carmelo Elementary. One of the ways that we are a diverse community is in our abilities, so we are exploring how it is to have different strengths and weaknesses. Here is a video made by the Leadership Club about an abilities exercise they tried: Inclusive Schools video
As we go into the weekend before Thanksgiving, we want to wish all of the El Carmelo families a very Happy Thanksgiving! We hope that you enjoy the following days off from school; Wed. Nov. 21, Thu. Nov. 22, and Fri. Nov. 23.
This coming Monday is the observance of Veterans’ Day (Monday, November 12). School is not held that day.
The El Carmelo Site Council would like to invite any interested parents or community members to join us for discussions about the sections of the Safe Schools Plan. Opportunities for topic-specific sharing will be made available through the Carmeletter and eNews.
Be on the lookout for information about the Mindfulness Fundamentals class that will be offered by El Carmelo parent and teacher Sarah Newman starting Nov. 5 at 8:30am. Sarah recently gave a talk to the PTA on this topic and the class for parents will go into more depth and practice of these anti-stress techniques. For dates/registration information, email Sarah at Sarah@TheMindfulKids.com.
Two Fall events coming up next week are: Pumpkin Project (an opportunity to show off your pumpkins carved at home – bring them to the Courtyard at school the morning of Oct. 30) and our annual Halloween Parade on the morning of Oct. 31. Please remember that costumes should be kid-friendly (no weapons, no blood, no gore).
The annual El Carmelo Ice Skating Party at Winter Lodge is this Friday (10/12)! Don’t forget to sign up with the PTA to attend this great event. Forms are available in the Main Office.
A wonderful time was had at the September 29 Family Night at El Carmelo! The taco bar and mariachi music were fantastic. Many thanks to all of the volunteers working with organizer Svetlana Gamolya for all of the set-up, running and clean up. Everyone we talked to had a great time.
A new page on this website called Student Features will feature student writing on El Carmelo events and on their experiences as El Carmelo students. Click here to read the first feature on the viewing of the Endeavor!
Please remember that this coming Wed., Sept. 26 is a PAUSD holiday – there will be no school that day!
Check out the new School Climate page on the El Carmelo website. It features an assembly preview by Madeline S. and a review of the book “Have You Filled a Bucket Today?” by Brooke W. both of whom are in the 4th grade. The assembly is a play entitled Oskar and the Big Bully Battle. Read Brooke’s book review and Madeline’s assembly preview here !
Don’t forget the Family Night event on Saturday, Sept 29. Dinner and a mariachi band and lots of good company!
September is Grade Level Picnic month (all at EC at 5pm):
- First Grade,
September 6 - Second Grade, September 11
- Third Grade, September 13
- Fourth Grade, September 18
- Fifth Grade, September 19
Thursday, August 30 is Photo Day. Our school photographer, Len Conrad, is online at http://http://lcsp.net/
Thank you to everyone that made this year’s Back to School Nights a success! Here is a link to the powerpoint for the Kickoff meetings on Aug. 28 2012 Back to School Night Kickoff Meeting
Want to follow tweets about El Carmelo events? Try following @ElCarmeloSchool on Twitter: http://twitter.com
El Carmelo’s Back to School Nights are coming up! Next week we begin with Kinder Back to School on Monday, August 27 at 6pm. The evening starts in the MP room and moves to classrooms at 6:30pm. The next night, Tuesday, August 28, Grades 1-5 have there Back to School events as follows:
- Grades 4 & 5: Kickoff at 5:30pm in Library followed by 4th in classrooms & 5th in MP 6-6:50pm
- Grades 1, 2 & 3: Kickoff at 6:30pm in Library followed by 1st, 2nd & 3rd in classrooms 7-7:50pm
Looking forward to seeing you all there.
Thank you to everyone that attended the Spaghetti Dinner on August 19! Special thanks to all of the volunteers that helped prepare and serve dinner under the direction of dinner coordinator Sarah Cornwell!
School begins August 16! Here are some of the upcoming dates to look forward to:
- New Family / Kinder Ice Cream Social on Sunday, August 12 from 2-4pm
- Posting of Class Lists on Tuesday, August 14 at 4pm at Main Office
- First Day of School on Thursday, August 16 at 8:25am
- All-school Spaghetti Dinner on Sunday, August 19 from 5-7pm
- Be on the lookout for even MORE events in August…
2 Summer Fun opportunities in July! The principal and the PTA would like to invite you to these free, co-sponsored events for all El Carmelo families and friends. Please note that they are for families (adults and kids together):
- Friday, July 6 – Family Movie Night at 6:30pm in the MP Room at school with a kid-friendly movie, popcorn and lemonade; no charge. See you there!
- Saturday, July 21 – Family Hike at 9:30am at the Arastradero Preserve, 1530 Arastradero Rd. Palo Alto. Families meet Mr. Merritt at 9:30am in the parking lot next to the interpretive station near the trail head. Bring sunscreen and water! I will make sure that there are hike options for all ages.
Site Council vote results: All three candidates have won; Katie Cicero, Maritza Ortiz and Lucy Tompkin have been elected to two-year terms beginning in the Fall. The extra seat was made available by Stephanie Youngquist who is leaves her seat early. Thank you, Stephanie for your service this last year. Katie, Maritza and Lucy are joined by Annette Isaacson and Leanne Fonteyn, our new staff representatives, also serving from 2012-2014.
Last week of school year 2011-12 It has been our pleasure to work with your children this year. We have seen them grow academically and socially, making progress in reading, math, science, social studies, etc. This week is a week of celebration after a season of Student Showcases that featured student performance. Here are a few of the end-of-year activities:
Monday – 5th grade State Fair
Tuesday – Step-Up (next grade orientation)
Wednesday – Jump-a-thon and Student/Staff Volleyball Challenge
Thursday – Kinder promotion. 5th Grade promotion and Early release (1:30pm for all students)
2012 Student Showcase schedule (see teachers for exact times & location):
- Kindergarten – May 15 & 17
- First Grade – May 23 & 24
- Second Grade – May 30
- Third Grade – May 22
- Fourth Grade – May 30
- Fifth Grade – June 4
Thank you to everyone who attended our International Potluck. Many thanks to the coordinators led by Maritza Ortiz and to everyone who brought a bit of their heritage to the party.
Thank you for joining us at the May Fete, Saturday, May 5 2012.
The Math & Science Exploration took place on Sunday, April 29 from 2-4pm. We had fun (Mr. Merritt was in charge of the make-your-own-slime booth).
We will take our annual Rainbow Picture on Tuesday, April 24. This El Carmelo tradition has students dress in the following colors shirts (if you can arrange this):
5th grade – blue
4th grade – purple
3rd grade – green
2nd grade – yellow
1st grade – orange
Kinder- red
Our Spring Book Fair, April 23-27, in collaboration with Bananaseed Books will be held in the MP room.
PTA General Meeting – April 17 at 8:30am in the Library
Thursday 4/12 and Friday 4/13, students will have an opportunity to experience in a small way what it is like to have a physical or perceptual disability. Thank you to Maria Derrick and Tais Schmitt for organizing this lunchtime activity called Inclusive Schools.
Happy Spring Break! – See you again on Monday, April 9.
We enjoyed Family Movie Night on Monday, April 2. Thank you Amy Love and Maria Derrick!
Two reading activities we enjoyed during the week of March 26::
- On March 28, visiting author Cynthia Chin-Lee will speak to El Carmelo students about her child-empowering books and about the process of writing.
- That same evening, 3/28 at 7pm, Stories Under the Stars will take place in the MP Room. Children can bring sleeping bags and pjs to hear read picture books.
This year’s Auction (Saturday, March 10) celebrates the Wild, Wild, West! And to get everyone in the western mood, there will be a western-themed Family Movie Night on Tuesday, February 28 in the MP room at 6pm.
Thanks to everyone that worked at or attended the Annual Pancake Breakfast on Saturday, February 25. It was a great success!
Happy Presidents’ Day weekend. See you back at school on Tuesday, February 21.
PTA General Meeting on Tuesday, February 7 in the Library. Childcare provided.
Latino Families/Padres Latinos – Our meeting is Monday Feb. 6 at 6pm in the Library/Nuestra reunión se celebra el 6 Febrero at las 6pm en la biblioteca.
Thank you, incoming El Carmelo parents for attending the Kindergarten Visitation on February 2 . There is a link on the right of this page with important Registration Information. And thanks to everyone that made Bingo Night such a success on the same day.
Thank you to everyone that attended Kinder Parent Literacy Night on Wednesday, January 25. This annual event has been extremely helpful to many kinder parents in the past.
Enjoy the long weekend! Monday, January 16 is Martin Luther King Jr. Day and a school holiday. Next week is especially short because Friday, January 20 is also a holiday (it marks the end of the first semester at Palo Alto schools). So next week school is in session from Tuesday through Thursday.
Lego Night is this Thursday, January 12 in the MP room at 6pm. Bring your building talent and creativity and join us for a night of Lego fun!
Welcome back from vacation and Happy 2012! Tuesday, January 3rd is our first day back and we are excited to see you and to hear about your winter vacation experiences.
Winter Break 2011-12 begins on Friday, December 16th with a minimum day ending at 1:30pm. This year, since New years Day in on a Sunday, the day that we return from Winter Break is Tuesday, January 3. Have a beautiful, fun-filled holiday!
The Kinder Farm Show was held on Tuesday, December 6 at 6pm. The Kinder parents and others enjoyed this El Carmelo tradition.
The staff of El Carmelo Elementary wishes the entire school community a Happy Thanksgiving filled with fun, family and friends. Have a lovely three days off (Wed-Fri, November 23-25) and we’ll see you again on Monday, Nov. 28!
Many thanks to Wells Fargo Bank (Peninsula region) for your grant of $1,000 to El Carmelo Elementary. The grant will be used to defray the costs of the recent upgrade to the Kindergarden teaching gardens behind rooms 1-4. We will think of you this year as this (so-to-be-replanted) garden grows!
The Scholastic Book Fair is here!! Look for books to browse in the MP room November 4-7.
Thank you to everyone that attended or participated in our traditional Halloween Parade and the Pumpkin Project on Halloween. The costumes and pumpkins were spooktacular!
Congratulations to the cast, tech crew, and parent volunteers of the school play “The Reluctant Dragon.” Special thanks to parent coordinator, Erina Dubois and to Palo Alto Childrens’ Theater director, ej Taylor.
Thank you to all who attended the Parent Event on October 20 featuring Rafael Enriquez, Fulbright fellow and academic dean of the Universidad Tecnológica de la Costa (Nayarit, Mexico). Chuck and Rafael discussed The Characteristics of Life-Long Learners and how we can nurture those characteristics in our children.
Thank you to everyone that presented at and attended the 2011 Back to School Nights: PowerPoint from the grade 1-5 library presentation.
Recently added: Betsy Franco as writer-in-residence under Staff Section
Download a copy of the Welcome Letter.
Welcome Letter 2011 is in the mail!
Be on the lookout for a letter welcoming you back to El Carmelo for the 2011-12 school year. Here are some important dates mentioned in the letter:
August 19 (Friday) – Class lists posted at 4pm; also, PTA packets and snacks
August 21 (Sunday) – Families of New Students Ice Cream Social, Kinder area
August 23 (Tuesday) – First day of class, classes begin at 8:25am. Coffee for parents
August 25 (Thursday) – Kinder parent coffee in front of Room 3
August 30 (Tuesday) – Back to School Night (more details will follow)
August 31 (Wednesday) – Kinder Back to School Night
September 5 (Monday) – Labor Day holiday
Wishing El Carmelo students, families and staff a restful rest of summer!
The 2011-12 school year begins on August 23, 2011. We look forward to everyone coming back rested and restored for the coming school year.
Thank you to everyone that attended the July 31 Memorial Celebration of the Howard/Dias Family at El Carmelo. As a school community, we extend our thanks to the Howard and Dias families for their kindness and generosity in sharing this opportunity with the El Carmelo families and staff. We remember our friends Ana-Maria, Robert, Sam and Veronica with love and gratitude. Their family has created a website with expressions of love and support at http://www.robertandanamaria.com/ .
We encourage everyone who may wish to contact KARA for grief support to visit their website or call 650 321-5272. KARA will continue to partner with us through the beginning of the school year to support children and adults. For more information about KARA activities at El Carmelo, please contact Chuck Merritt at cmerritt@pausd.org.