Weekly Updates & Reminders – March 4th

Dear Ardenwood Families,

Hope you stayed safe and dry during the recent storms!  As we enter our third and final trimester of the school year, I wanted to take this opportunity to focus on two very important topics, safety and academics. 

SAFETY:  Ardenwood’s approach to keeping our Dragons safe is one of collaboration with families, ongoing instruction, incentives and when necessary, consequences.  Please make sure to review our school rules weekly with your student.  Families have the most significant impact on student behavior.  Teachers and staff offer students continued instruction and reminders of school rules.  We also offer many supports and incentives for all Dragons and in the exceptional case, meaningful consequences when students do not follow school rules.  Thank you for your continued support and collaboration in keeping our Dragons safe and helping them in being respectful and responsible!

ACADEMICS:  With regard to academics, our Dragons are working hard in their classrooms, completing homework, engaging in project work and reading more and more.  Please help us by front loading school expectations for your student—focus on classwork and listen to the teacher, complete and return all homework and if you’re so inclined, have them use iReady at home to maintain and increase their reading and math skills.  And finally, ensure you have established and are maintaining a collaborative relationship with the classroom teacher.  All of these things combined support student success.  

Ardenwood Highlights & Happenings

DRAGONS’ BASKETBALL –   Last Wednesday, our boys’ and girls’ basketball teams both ended their seasons with wins over Oliveira—congratulations!  Our boys were undefeated this season and our girls were 5 and 1.  Thanks to our coaches, Mr. Loisel and Mr. Chan, our team manager, Mrs. Gregory and all our families.  Our end of season celebration will be held on Wednesday, March 13th!

READ Across America—Thanks to our amazing librarian, Mrs. Sayd, for organizing this event.  What a huge success!  We saw many students and staff joining in the fun with our spirit days and reading many, many books.  Participating Dragons have read for over 63,000 minutes and the Read-a-Thon has raised over $6,400 (80% will go to our school library).  Also, thanks to all the parent volunteers who came to school and read to our Dragons!  

STUDENT COUNCIL BOOK DONATIONS & SALE:  Student Council thanks everyone who contributed to their book drive.  Next up, they will be hosting a book sale, March 18th – 22nd, to raise funds for our school.  Stay tuned for more details!

PI DAY –  March 14th is Pi Day and I hope your Dragon is looking forward to reciting the digits of Pi.  Ardenwood will have both classroom and schoolwide competitions.  Encourage your Dragon to memorize those digits. Here’s a link for those study sessions:  Pi 800 Digits.

RAMADAN:  STUDENTS FASTING – Ardenwood PTA and our school team will provide a space for students who are fasting during Ramadan. Dragons may go to room 33 to play games, enjoy craft activities and more.   The space will open on Monday, March 11th and be available throughout the month of Ramadan.  

ARDENWOOD SCHOOL CONCERT – We are so excited for the upcoming Annual Ardenwood Music Concert. The event will be held on the evening of March 26 at 7 pm in our MPR.  Join us to enjoy some really wonderful music!

REUSABLES LUNCH PROGRAM:   Dragons have done a great job with the transition to reusable lunch ware.  Thanks to our district’s Child Nutrition Services Team and www.stopwaste.org for all their support!

REGISTRATION & ENROLLMENT 2024-2025 – The season of registration and enrollment are upon us.  Please remember to complete the Annual Residency Verification to ensure your student’s enrollment “rolls over” for the next school year.  Once you have completed the process, you will receive a confirmation email from “InformedK12.”  Questions?  Please reach out to our school office [email protected] or call us at (510) 794-0392.

Calendar of Upcoming Events

March is Women’s History Month!

March 4th

Last Day of Ardenwood’s Read-a-Thon–Keep on Reading!!!

March 5th

PTA Founders Day & Association Meeting, 6:30 pm, Ardenwood Library

March 8th

Talent Show Emcee Auditions, 3:00 pm, Room 27    

March 11th

Spring Picture Day

March 12th

City of Fremont Traffic Assemblies

March 13th

Basketball Teams’ Celebration, 1:30 pm, Ardenwood MPR

March 15th

Coffee with the Principal, 8:30 am, Room 33

March 22nd

Fremont Education Foundation Gala, Fremont Event Center, 6:00 pm

March 26th

Ardenwood School Concert, 7:00 pm, MPR

Important FUSD Links

Enrollment 2024-2025

Health Guidelines:  When to Keep Your Dragon Home from School

From Our Ardenwood PTA

Founders’ Day Celebration –  Please join us this Tuesday, March 5th at 6:30 pm in the school library for light refreshments and a celebration of the history of the PTA.  We will also be celebrating our dedicated volunteers.  If you’re curious about how PTA works and want to get involved, Founders’ Day is a great chance to meet officers, chairs and volunteers and hear about PTA!  This event will be followed by our full PTA Association meeting.  

Volunteer for Next Year’s PTA Board – The PTA is looking for parents eager to help during the upcoming 2024-25 school year. Whether you’re looking to take on a big role or contribute in smaller ways, we need you!  No experience? No problem! We’re a small but mighty team, and we encourage and support each other every step of the way. You can view all of the current positions on the PTA website, and more details about each will be shared in the weeks ahead.  Serving on the PTA board means diving into a world of exciting events and initiatives for the students and staff of Ardenwood. From fun events like the Spring and Harvest Festivals, to academic, cultural, and community programs, we’re at the center of it.  We hope you’ll consider joining us!

 Dragons, Unleash Your Talent! – Get ready to take the stage at the annual Ardenwood Talent Show!  Auditions are open now. See the flier below or visit the PTA website for more info.   Audition video entries are due by Monday, March 25, 2024.   Final on-stage performances will be on Thursday, May 2, 2024.  This Friday, March 8th, at 3 pm, the Talent Show Committee will host auditions for our student emcees.  Auditions are open to 4th & 5th graders and the sign up sheet will be right outside the nurse’s station every day after school!

Mark Your Calendars: Spring Festival is Coming to Ardenwood – Save the date!  Our PTA is thrilled to announce that our Spring Festival is blooming into Ardenwood on Friday, April 26th, from 5-7pm. Thanks to the incredible generosity of an Ardenwood parent and their supportive employer, we will be hosting an evening of fun, food, and treats for all our students and families. Stay tuned for more exciting details to come.

School Rule Reminders 

START OF THE SCHOOL DAY – If your student arrives at school before 8:14 am, please remain with them until the 8:14 am bell rings and then they may proceed to the playground (students only, no parents or guardians should come onto campus).  An exception for students who come to school and eat breakfast–they may enter campus at 8:05 am but must head straight to the MPR. They should eat breakfast, dispose of their trash and remain in the MPR until 8:14 am.  At that time, students may proceed to the playground where staff is supervising until the 8:24 am bell.   When the bell rings, students should walk to their line up location.  For your review, here again is our Rainy Day Procedure.

DROP OFFS – Teachers and staff are focused on supporting our 600+ Dragons each and every day.  Consequently, we ask that you refrain from dropping off lunches, water bottles and other items for delivery to students.   A reminder–all Dragons have access to free breakfast and lunch as well as water fountains here on campus–we recently had a new water bottle filling station installed!  If your child forgets their homework, please have them check-in with their teacher regarding late submission.  Of course, if you need to drop off eyeglasses or any type of medication for your student, please let us know as we will certainly make exceptions for these items.  Please support our Dragons in following our Ardenwood school rule of being responsible.  

TRAFFIC SAFETY  – Thanks to all families who have helped us increase safety on campus by focusing on traffic rules.  Local authorities continue to visit our campus regularly to support us in this area and in some cases, they issue traffic citations.  Please follow traffic safety rules and comply with regulations.

Have a great week and Go Dragons!

Glynis Mason, Principal