Hello Allen Families and Staff,
We are ready for the 2022-2023 school year. Our brand new solar panels will provide much needed shade out on the blacktop. Concrete and asphalt work has been done over the summer, as well as some painting and renovations across our campus. Deep cleaning occurred in every room and office, thanks to the efforts of our custodial team. Various construction projects are wrapping up on our campus and the school is ready to receive your children!
If you have questions for our staff or need assistance, please call at at (619) 479-3662. Office hours are 8 am to 3:30 pm, M-F.
Please take a minute to download and review the important dates from the school calendar here:
https://allenelementary.org/calendar/
Don’t forget that the first day of school for students is Wednesday, July 20, 2022 and it is a minimum day for all students in grades K-6, with a 2 pm dismissal for all students in grades K-6.
Mr. Greenwell’s Message of the Week
We are excited to welcome the former Daly Academy staff, students, and families to Allen Elementary! Watch Mr. Greenwell’s video update for the first week of school here via this short YouTube video:
Please see our 2022-2023 Family Handbook here: Link to Handbook COMING SOON
A reminder of our school’s Core Values and Common Courtesies:
The Core Value for the first week of school is Caring. The Common Courtesy for that week is “Please...“
Students may earn an Allen Eagle Ticket for demonstrating the Core Values and Common Courtesies each day. Students can redeem these tickets at the Eagle’s Nest Store at the end of each quarter of the school year. Our staff is always looking for ways to celebrate our students!
Kindness counts! Wondering how to support children if they experience a problem with another student? We suggest using “I feel…” statements, moving away from others, and seeking help from an adult nearby. Our staff prides itself in actively monitoring students at all times. What our staff has noticed is that students are learning how to interact with one another and having some problems or conflict. This is not bullying. It may be due to trauma and other sudden social-emotional issues with a child. What is bullying? Check out this document:
See the helpful graphic below:
If you have a concern about another child’s behaviors impacting your child, we suggest you first contact your child’s teacher. Afterwards, please see this page here.
If you need to conduct business with the school office, please contact the school office between the hours of 8 am and 3:30 pm, Monday through Friday, at (619) 479-3662 and we will arrange an appointment with you.
A Look Ahead:
Tuesday, July 19, 2022 – PTC’s Back to School Event at Allen (4 pm to 5:30 pm)
Wednesday, July 20, 2022 – School begins; minimum day dismissal for grades K-6 at 2 pm
Thursday, July 21, 2022 – Minimum Day for Kindergarten only (2 pm dismissal)
Friday, July 22, 2022 – Minimum Day for grades K-6 at 2 pm
Saturday, July 23, 2022 – Community Expo at the ESSC (9 am to 1 pm) for families! See below…
Monday, July 25, 2022 – Minimum Day for Kindergarten only (2 pm dismissal)
Tuesday, July 26, 2022 – Minimum Day for Kindergarten only (2 pm dismissal)
Wednesday, July 27, 2022 – Dismissal at 3:10 pm for all students in grades K-6
Thursday, July 28, 2022
- Dismissal at 3:10 pm for all students in grades K-6
- Back to School Night for all students in grades K-6 from 5:30 pm to 6:45 pm
Friday, July 29, 2022 – Dismissal on Fridays and minimum days is at 2 pm for all students in grades K-6
Monday, August 1, 2022 – Smarty Ants Assessment for all K-2 students
Friday, August 5, 2022 – Family First Friday 8 am to 9 am (free coffee for adults)
PTC Back to School Event
Allen’s amazing PTC (Parent-Teacher Club) invites you to join them on Allen’s campus on Tuesday, July 19 for our Back to School event! Learn about our school, find out who your child’s teacher is, and meet other parents! Please join us from 4 pm to 5:30 pm at Allen!
We are excited to welcome a handful of new staff members:
Please see our staff page for more details: https://allenelementary.org/staff/
Free COVID Antigen Tests
In anticipation of the start of the school year on Wednesday, July 20, 2022, our site has received COVID-19 testing kits for students and staff. We are strongly encouraging parents to test your child on Tuesday or Wednesday morning prior to students returning to campus. If a child tests positive, please make sure you keep them home to avoid exposure to other students and staff. Testing is NOT required, but highly encouraged. We will distribute these at our PTC Back to School Night on July 19th from 4 pm to 5:30 pm.
Families may also come to the school office on Monday and Tuesday between 8 am and 3:30 pm to receive a test. The testing is not a mandate to return to school, but because of how quickly this most recent strand of COVID is spreading, testing before returning is strongly encouraged. Please report any positive cases to our school office at (619) 479-3662.
Families may also request free antigen tests through the US Postal Service here: https://special.usps.com/testkits.
Weekly, voluntary COVID-19 testing will continue on our school campus via COVID Clinic each week. Parents must opt-in to the program and no child will be tested without proper consent. More information is coming soon!
Class Placement for 2022-2023
Per the Allen Family Handbook, “requests for specific teachers are not permitted. However, parents may provide educational information (in written form) about their child before May 1st, in order to assist teachers and school administration with classroom placement. Once classroom rosters are created, students are not moved to another classroom unless student enrollment numbers dictate the necessity to do so.”
Allen Elementary is a small school that feels like a family for many of our students. Most grade levels consist of two classrooms per grade level and may involve a combination classroom (also called a combo class). It is not possible to honor specific classroom requests for these reasons. Class placement will be shared at PTC’s Back to School Night on July 19, 2022 and also emailed to parents before school starts. Please check your SPAM or JUNK folders for this message. For privacy reasons, we cannot post class lists, nor can we share the placement of another child with you.
Bell Schedule for 2022-2023 School Year
Students in Kindergarten through sixth grade will dismiss at 3:10 pm, Mondays through Thursdays and at 2 pm on all Fridays and minimum days.
***Please note that Kindergarten students will be on a minimum day schedule on the following days: Wednesday, July 20 to Wednesday, July 27. Dismissal for Kindergarten students ONLY will be at 2 pm each day.
Beginning Thursday, July 28, all students in grades K-6 will be on a full day schedule with dismissal at 3:10 pm, Monday through Thursday. All Fridays and minimum days have a 2 pm dismissal.
Parent Volunteers
The State Public Health Officer Order of August 11, 2021 requires that all K-12 workers, including volunteers and contractors, provide proof of full vaccination (completion of the initial vaccination series) or submit to weekly COVID-19 testing. This order is still in effect and the CDPH says there are no plans to change it anytime soon. The requirements to sign in and complete fingerprinting will remain the same. All parent volunteers are allowed to volunteer inside the classroom and buildings after having completed the required training with the school principal and meeting the District’s volunteer requirements. Please contact the school office at (619) 479-3662 to be put on the volunteer list.
Community Expo: July 23, 2022
Join us Saturday, July 23, 9 am to 1 pm for CVESD’s Community Expo! District and community services will be on hand to assist families. This event will be held at the Education Support and Services Center (ESSC), located at 84 East J Street, Chula Vista, CA 91910.
Free, MTS Youth Opportunity Pass
A new program provides free public transit for San Diego’s youth: The SANDAG Youth Opportunity Pass pilot program is designed to make transportation easier for San Diego County children (those 18 years of age and under), as well as encourage ridership.
Free MTS and NCTD rides under the Youth Opportunity Pass program will continue to be available until June 30, 2023. To take part in the program, children 18 and under will have to sign up for a Youth PRONTO app account or a Youth PRONTO card. Information on PRONTO can be found at https://bit.ly/3rv3ONd.
Zone Transfers & New Student Registration
Please remember that a Zone Transfer or Intradistrict Transfer may be denied if a child’s behavior or attendance require improvement.
NEW STUDENT registration is ongoing for those who may be:
- Kindergartners who will be 5 years old on or before September 1, 2022.
- NEW students in grades 1st through 6th
- All registrations will take place online. There will be no paper packets. To register please visit our district website: www.cvesd.org
Allen Elementary has space in our Kindergarten class for next year, but has limited openings in our other grades. Please contact our office for questions about space availability at (619) 479-3662.
Verification of Residency will continue throughout July. This is required by CA state law for all students to attend Allen Elementary in the upcoming school year. Please contact our friendly office staff for assistance with this.
If your child will NOT return to Allen Elementary in the 2022-2023 school year, please email michelle.reza@cvesd.org or john.greenwell@cvesd.org. Outgoing sixth grade students do not need to notify the office staff that they are attending middle school next year.
Free COVID-19 Testing
Testing hours and locations may shift over Summer Break.
*** We recommend that you check www.cvesd.org for the most updated times and locations.
Please contact the school office at (619) 479-3662 with questions. Please note that if a child presents with any COVID-19 symptoms, we are required to send that student home until symptoms improve and families provide a negative test result.
Equity and Access for All Students
Learn more about the school and district’s commitment to equity and access for all children! View this page here: https://allenelementary.org/equity-and-access/
COVID-19 Corner: Health and Safety
Vaccines for children aged 5 to 11 are now available. Please understand that the state of California may in the future be requiring children to be fully vaccinated for COVID-19 in order to attend a public school, just as they already do for other diseases (polio, mumps, rubella, etc..). This decision is not a school-based or district-based decision, but rather a state government decision.
The CVESD Board of Education encourages the use of masks indoors at all schools within the Chula Vista Elementary School District, regardless of vaccination status. Masks, although not required, are strongly encouraged for all staff, students, parents, and visitors while indoors on campus. There is an inherent risk of exposure to COVID-19 in any public place where people are present. The school and district strive to reduce this impact to staff, students, and families.
If your child has a chronic health condition, such as allergies or asthma, please contact the school office and download the form below to have your child’s doctor complete and send it back to the school’s nurse. We recommend doing this in advance of a child showing symptoms.
If your child experiences any symptoms of COVID-19, please keep your child home and contact the school office at (619) 479-3662. If any person (regardless of vaccination status) presents with symptoms of COVID-19 while at school, that person will be immediately sent home and may only return with a negative test and no more symptoms. All schools in CVESD must follow the latest County of San Diego COVID-19 Decision Tree (see below) for persons with symptoms associated with COVID-19.
People with COVID-19 have had a wide range of symptoms reported – ranging from mild symptoms to severe illness. Symptoms may appear 2-14 days after exposure to the virus. People with these symptoms may have COVID-19 and should stay home:
- Fever or chills
- Cough
- Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing
- Fatigue
- Muscle or body aches
- Headache
- New loss of taste or smell
- Sore throat
- Congestion or runny nose
- Nausea or vomiting
- Diarrhea
*** Please see the latest COVID-19 Decision Tree here: LINK to Newest Decision Tree
Parent-Teacher Club (PTC) Corner
Visit the PTC website at AllenPTC.org to become a member of the PTC and make a donation to support the latest initiative at the school. Allen’s PTC is a 501(c)(3) organization that supports the school’s educational mission through funding programs and initiatives.
Please help support Allen’s PTC by shopping at smile.amazon.com! AmazonSmile will donate 0.5% of all eligible purchases to the Allen Elementary PTC when you shop on smile.amazon.com and choose Allen Elementary School Parents Teachers Club Inc as your charity.
Simply follow these instructions to turn on AmazonSmile and start generating donations.
- Open the Amazon Shopping app on your device
- Go into the main menu of the Amazon Shopping app and tap into ‘Settings’
- Tap ‘AmazonSmile’ and follow the on-screen instructions to complete the process
Please choose Allen Elementary School Parents Teachers Club Inc by clicking this link for your Amazon purchases: https://smile.amazon.com/ch/95-4403426
Meetings for Families & Staff
Allen School needs parents and legal guardians to support our school through important parent groups, such as the PTC (Parent Teacher Club), the School Site Council (often referred to as SSC), and the English Language Advisory Committee (often referred to as ELAC). The site-based groups work with the Principal, staff, and other community members to ensure that community voice is part of the shared decision making process of a public school.
Family First Friday Meeting
The first Friday of every month is reserved for our Family First Friday, Allen’s version of Coffee with the Principal. Our next Family First Friday will be on Friday, August 5th, 2022 at 8 am. This meeting will be in person at school with a coffee cart available in front of the school.
We encourage parents and legal guardians to join this meeting with a cup of hot coffee or a cold cup of cold brew on nitro and listen to Mr. Greenwell give an update on the school year and meet other amazing Allen families.
English Learner Advisory Committee (ELAC)
Ella B. Allen’s next ELAC Meeting will be in August 2022. Check back here for more information in July 2022.
The school encourages all legal parent/guardian of students designated as an English Learner to attend both of these meetings.
School Site Council (SSC)
Ella B. Allen’s next SSC Meeting will be in August 2022. Check back here for more information in July 2022.
All SSC members are welcome to attend ELAC meetings for additional information.
SCHOOL SITE COUNCIL (SSC) is composed of five elected parent/community representatives and five elected staff/teacher representatives. The role of the SSC is to develop, approve, and monitor the School Plan for Student Achievement.
With a few exceptions, meetings are held the second Monday of every month. Until further notice, meetings will be held online. All parents and staff are welcome to attend. Council members serve for two year terms.
Parent Teacher Club (PTC) Meeting
Allen’s PTC usually meets the second Monday of every month at 6pm. Until further notice, all meetings will be held online via this link. The next PTC meeting is August 8th, online at 6 pm. Please also check out the new PTC website to become a member and make a donation: AllenPTC.org
CVESD Board of Education Meeting
The district’s Board of Education meetings are also being held online and generally occur the second Wednesday of each month. The next regularly scheduled CVESD Board of Education meeting is Wednesday, July 13th at 6 pm. Limited in-person access is permitted, but check the district’s website for more information on this.
To access these public meetings, please click the link here: https://www.cvesd.org/board_of_education/board_meetings
CVESD DAC/DELAC Meeting
District Advisory Council (DAC)
The DAC is composed of parent and staff representatives from each School Site Council. It meets regularly during the school year in open public forum to share information, study instructional issues, approve school planning schedules, and make recommendations to the Board of Education on specific items. District meetings take place once a month, mid-afternoon. Most meetings occur on Tuesdays from 12 – 2 pm, with a parent training beforehand. This is an elected position to serve a one-year term.
District English Learner Advisory Committee (DELAC)
The district will continue to conduct all meetings online until further notice, including all DAC/DELAC meetings. DAC is the District Advisory Committee. DELAC is the District English Learner Advisory Committee. Both of these groups are designed to support and inform parents in a shared communication setting with the district. Parents learn with other parents and district leadership at the DAC/DELAC meetings.
The next DAC/DELAC Meeting will be in August 2022 at 12 noon. This meeting will be in person at the CVESD Education Services and Support Center (ESSC) in room C. The address is 84 East J Street, Chula Vista, CA. 91910.
Below is a schedule of all DAC/DELAC meetings for the upcoming school year. I recommend all parents download this schedule if they are interested in learning more about theses district meetings.
Calendar for the 2022-2023 School Year
The 2022-2023 School Calendar is available online! Click this link to download it. Please reference this when planning vacations or scheduling appointments with your children that may require them to miss school. Excellent attendance is important in student success!
Students in our District are scheduled to start the 2022-2023 school year on Wednesday, July 20, 2022 and end the school year on Friday, June 2, 2023.
Key breaks include:
- Fall Break: September 26 – October 7, 2022
- Thanksgiving Break: November 21 – November 25, 2022
- Winter Break: December 19, 2022 – January 6, 2023
- Spring Break: March 20 – March 31, 2023
Be well Eagles! Stay safe: As a California public school, we encourage everyone to get the COVID-19 vaccine and to test regularly. The health and safety of our students, staff, and community is our number 1 concern!
Ella B. Allen Elementary School 