Dear Parents, 

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) sets out the requirements for the protection of privacy of parents and students, including privacy of student records. Generally, parents and/or students must provide written consent before an educational agency may disclose PII (Personally Identifiable Information). However, there are exceptions to this general rule. Specifically, an educational agency must provide PII when ordered by a court, which the California Dept. of Education has been ordered to do in recent litigation.

In the judgment of the Morgan Hill Case, the names, Social Security numbers, addresses and mental and physical assessments of every student attending public school in California since January 1, 2008 must be released by CDE and made available to a court appointed data analyst so it can be reviewed.  For more information see:

http://www.cde.ca.gov/re/di/ws/morganhillcase.asp

Parents/guardians and former students 18-years-old or older may complete and mail-in an opt-out form to prevent the release of their student data. This document must be completed and submitted by April 1, 2016.

If you do not want your student’s personal information (names, Social Security numbers, addresses and mental and physical assessments) released to the plaintiffs in the Morgan Hill Case, you MUST complete the Notice and Objection Form, and ensure that it is received by April 1, 2016. It must be mailed via the U.S. Postal Service. Click on the above link to be guided to the forms and directions.

While submitting a form will not guarantee your student’s information will not be released, it is the only means for expressing an objection to the current order. The court also issues a Protective Order, which prohibits the plaintiff from disclosing any confidential information to anyone other than the parties, plaintiff’s attorneys and/or consultants, and the court. Thus, in no event is the information permitted to be disclosed to the public generally or used for any reason outside of this lawsuit, and all information must be retained by CDE or destroyed at the conclusion of the lawsuit.

Note that Fuente Nueva and the Arcata School District is not a party to the litigation and is not required to disclose any student data. If you have any questions, please contact CDE directly at (916) 319-0800.

All the Best,

Beth

Parent Enrollment Information Night

Thursday, March 10

6:00 – 7:30 p.m.

1730 Janes Road, Arcata | Rm. 9

Limited child-care is offered. Please call to reserve your spot.

Classroom visits by appointment: 822-3348

For further enrollment information, please visit our Enrollment Process section under Parent Resources.

Winter Concert & Dinner Fundraiser this Thursday, January 28th in Leavey Hall.
5:00-6:00pm Soup, Salad, & Bread Dinner Fundraiser hosted by Kindergarten.  Suggested donation of $10/adult & $5/student.  Funds raised will go towards playground improvements!
6:00pm Students required to arrive & report to their classrooms by this time!  Please have students dressed in their assigned costumes.
6:15pm – 7:00pm Winter Concert, enjoy the show!

Dear Fuente Families:

We are excited to announce the start of our own lunch program!

It will begin Monday, January 11^th, a week after we return to school.  We are working to provide meals that are healthful, made from scratch and get the kids to say ‘yum’!  In addition, we want to provide options that meet the needs of our vegetarian and food allergy students (including peanut and nut free menu items). All this while offering a healthy meal with quality ingredients.

The values we have followed in choosing ingredients have been: a) locally sourced, b) organic when possible, prioritizing milk and produce, c) grass-fed or pasture raised meat, eggs and poultry, and d) non-GMO corn and soy products.  To provide this quality of lunches for the children our lunch price will be $3.75 for full pay students. The price will continue to be $0.40 or free for families that qualify for free or reduced pricing.

If you think you might be eligible for free or reduced-rate lunches and previously didn’t get meals at school, you can still sign up!  Please do!  For example, students from a family of three that earns up to $37,167 is eligible for reduced-price school meals (costing only $0.40). Not only does this qualification give students access to meals, but it increases the school’s overall funding.  It is essential that all families that may qualify apply; the office team can assist you in making that happen.

We hope to have as many children participating as possible.  We want them to LOVE school lunch.  We will work to establish a food culture that encourages inquisitive and enthusiastic eaters, as our job is not only to nourish the kids but to also expose them to new foods and tastes.  Science has shown that it takes at least seven tries for people to become accustom to new flavors.  If your child comes home complaining about a new food, please support us and encourage them by saying something like, “Maybe you just haven’t tried it enough. I bet you’ll like it better next time!”

The process for ordering lunch will shift from a daily order and monthly billing to monthly pre-pay orders.  Our process will be modeled after other local schools with similar programs.  By pre-ordering, we are able to keep our costs down and still offer meals on those rare days when a student forgets their lunch.

When we return from break, we will send home menus and order forms.  They will also be posted on our website. The first week, meals will continue to be provided by the district and on Monday, January 11^th we will begin serving our own cooked meals. We look forward to walking this new endeavor with you and we know that there will be some adjustments made along the way. Both the office and the kitchen staff welcome your input and ideas.

Wishing you all a wonderful winter break.

All the best,

Beth Wylie and Danielle Stubblefield

Charter Director and Kitchen Manager

This month we are collecting items for families who are in need.  The second grade is leading a can food drive that benefits over 100 families in our local community.  Collection will end on December 11th.  The first grade is leading a collection of new or gently used coats that we will donate to Coats For the Cold. This program collects coats and then distributes them to schools and resource centers throughout the county.  This collection will continue through the end of January.  By participating in these collection drives our students are given an opportunity to practice the character words that we study this month of acceptance, generosity, and caring.  We hope that you can join us in this season of giving.

Hello Fuente Nueva Fans,

This first month has been filled with lots of learning for us all. We are thrilled to have a full teaching staff in place with many familiar faces returning.  As you may know, last year brought a number of unique challenges, but we are all convinced that Fuente Nueva is better for it.  Our Phoenix has risen once again and we are feeling the joy of flight.

We are thrilled to welcome two new teachers to our team.  Mary Setera joins us from Southern California and is excited to have her first classroom assignment.  She has spent several years as a paraprofessional in the education but waited for a position to open up in a more rural area before making the move to teaching.  We are glad she waited and can tell she will make a valuable member of the team. Pablo Clemente Carmona joins us all the way from Spain.  He is one of many educators who went through a rigorous screening process in order to be a visiting teacher in California.  While there are hundreds of teachers from Spain who also came to the states, Pablo is the only teacher to be assigned to Humboldt County.  We are thrilled to be the first school to benefit from this cultural and professional exchange.  Also new to our team is Quinn Pawlick as our Resource Specialist Teacher, and Tigger Custodio as our Art/Music and PE Teacher.  Both bring a wealth of knowledge and a contagious enthusiasm to the team.

Last year we made some significant improvements to our playground.  We aren’t done yet, and over the course of this year we anticipate installing a climbing wall, wall ball court and more.  Be on the look out for ways to get involved starting with two work parties to be held on 10/10 and 10/17.  In addition to improving our playground, we are currently developing a new lunch program that will be cooked right here on our campus.  By doing so we hope to offer a program that features as much locally sourced and organic items as possible.  The plan is to start simple, but in the future we would love to see the children growing food that is then served in the cafeteria!

Thank you to all of you who make our school a learning community for all.  We have had a great first month, which is a sign that the school year will be even better.  With 10 years of instruction behind us, Fuente Nueva is continuing to thrive as a school in the Arcata School District.  If you would like more information about how to get involved or just about our program in general, please don’t hesitate to contact us.

¡Viva Fuente Nueva!

Directora Beth

Thanks to a recent grant and the hard work of teachers, students and parents we now have a map of both the United States and the World on our campus!  In addition freshened up our hopscotch, added four square and a labyrinth.  It is amazing what a little paint can do.  Check out the short video showing how it all came together!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jS1JYV3hTdY&list=UUnrM0ZZY4WjtoxcEFmAyrPQ

this video is not a public youtube video and can only be seen by those who have the link

Join us for our first annual Autumn Makers Fair held featuring local artisans and crafters and their goods.  There will be hands on demonstrations for the kids, snacks, and plenty of ways for you to get your “craft on”.  Hope to see you there. Autumn Makers Craft Fair 9-27-14

We are very excited to have begun our 10th year of instruction as Fuente Nueva Charter School. This year we look forward to further settling into our new site by improving our playground.  The first steps are to paint a map of the United States and the World on our playground.  This is going to be a great learning tool for our students.  One of our parents is going to lead the effort to also paint a labyrinth on the blacktop.  As the year goes on, you will also see a new basketball court, improved sandbox, small field with soccer goals and more.  All of these improvements are being funded by our parent booster club Amigos de Fuente Nueva, family donations and the generous grant award from a private foundation.

These are only the beginning of our vision.  We also plan to expand our wood chip area so that we can install a climbing wall and other equipment.  To do this, we need your help to raise the funds necessary.  The goal is to raise $10,000 by the end of the year.  These additional fundraising efforts will also provide an opportunity to strengthen our community!

On Saturday 9/13 and 9/20 from 10am-3pm we hold work parties to paint the maps and labyrinth.  Wear your painting clothes, bring a brush and some refreshments to share or just show up.   The end result is sure to be a wonderful addition to our little school.

Muchas gracias por todos.