Doña Merced Elementary School

See the attached poster for a great virtual opportunity to learn home-based strategies to help your child experience greater success, provided by our local West End SELPA! February 8, 2022 from 5:30 - 7:30.

We are celebrating the 100th Day of School Doña style!

New Isolation/Quarantine Guidelines and COVID-19 Antigen Rapid Tests Update As communicated to our Staff and Parents/Guardians on Friday, January 14, 2022, the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) has updated the K-12 Guidance for Schools. Students and Staff have the option of continuing with a standard 10 days isolation/quarantine period, or choose to have a shortened 5 days isolation/quarantine period with a negative test and no fever and resolving symptoms. Additional days may be needed for Students or Staff members who are continuously exposed by living with a confirmed positive family member. The new isolation/quarantine protocol may be found on our website (www.centralsd.net) in the COVID-19 section. Our school sites and HR department will continue to assist in calculating the return date for our Staff and Students. If your child is currently in isolation/quarantine and you would like information on how the new guidelines for shortened isolation/quarantine may allow your child to return to school earlier, please call your school. The State provided at-home COVID-19 rapid tests for students attending In-person schooling have been distributed to our schools. Look for communication from your child’s school. Each student will be given 1 kit with 2 tests in each kit. An instructional video on how to administer the iHealth rapid test is on our website (www.centralsd.net) in the COVID-19 section. In addition, residential households in the U.S. can now order one set of 4 free at-home tests from the United States Postal Service (USPS). It is limited to one order per residential address and will ship free starting in late January. To order your free at-home COVID-19 test from the USPS, go to their website at https://special.usps.com/testkits to complete the order form.

As communicated to our Staff and Parents/Guardians on Friday, January 14, 2022, the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) has updated the K-12 Guidance for Schools. Students and Staff have the option of continuing with a standard 10 days isolation/quarantine period, or choose to have a shortened 5 days isolation/quarantine period with a negative test and no fever and resolving symptoms. Additional days may be needed for Students or Staff members who are continuously exposed by living with a confirmed positive family member. The new isolation/quarantine protocol may be found on our website (www.centralsd.net) in the COVID-19 section. Our school sites and HR department will continue to assist in calculating the return date for our Staff and Students. If your child is currently in isolation/quarantine and you would like information on how the new guidelines for shortened isolation/quarantine may allow your child to return to school earlier, please call your school. The State provided at-home COVID-19 rapid tests for students attending In-person schooling have been distributed to our schools. Look for communication from your child’s school. Each student will be given 1 kit with 2 tests in each kit. An instructional video on how to administer the iHealth rapid test is on our website (www.centralsd.net) in the COVID-19 section. In addition, residential households in the U.S. can now order one set of 4 free at-home tests from the United States Postal Service (USPS). It is limited to one order per residential address and will ship free starting in late January. To order your free at-home COVID-19 test from the USPS, go to their website at https://special.usps.com/testkits to complete the order form.

New Isolation/Quarantine Guidelines and COVID-19 Antigen Rapid Tests Update As communicated to our Staff and Parents/Guardians on Friday, January 14, 2022, the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) has updated the K-12 Guidance for Schools. Students and Staff have the option of continuing with a standard 10 days isolation/quarantine period, or choose to have a shortened 5 days isolation/quarantine period with a negative test and no fever and resolving symptoms. Additional days may be needed for Students or Staff members who are continuously exposed by living with a confirmed positive family member. The new isolation/quarantine protocol may be found on our website (www.centralsd.net) in the COVID-19 section. Our school sites and HR department will continue to assist in calculating the return date for our Staff and Students. If your child is currently in isolation/quarantine and you would like information on how the new guidelines for shortened isolation/quarantine may allow your child to return to school earlier, please call your school. The State provided at-home COVID-19 rapid tests for students attending In-person schooling have been distributed to our schools. Look for communication from your child’s school. Each student will be given 1 kit with 2 tests in each kit. An instructional video on how to administer the iHealth rapid test is on our website (www.centralsd.net) in the COVID-19 section. In addition, residential households in the U.S. can now order one set of 4 free at-home tests from the United States Postal Service (USPS). It is limited to one order per residential address and will ship free starting in late January. To order your free at-home COVID-19 test from the USPS, go to their website at https://special.usps.com/testkits to complete the order form.

The day before winter break is always a festive one at Doña Merced! We wish you a Happy Holiday and can't wait to see you back at school on January 3rd!

I am grateful for teachers like Mrs. Armstrong, Mrs. Crocker and Mrs. Webb who helped their students focus on all the things they appreciate in their lives. It was particularly touching to hear one student share with his class that he was thankful for his heart because it is full of love. Happy Thanksgiving!

Doña 2nd graders are celebrating one of their literature stories, Balloons Over Broadway: The True Story of the Puppeteer of Macy’s Parade, by creating their own story character balloons. They will parade their balloons outside for other students to enjoy later this afternoon. Thank you for the wonderful visual treat, 2nd graders!

Click on the video link below to meet some members of Doña's "Gettin Gritty" student team as they share about what it means to show grit. This team will periodically highlight the hard work and stories of GRIT that happen regularly around school. Enjoy! https://www.wevideo.com/view/2449976238

In a show of appreciate and support for United States Veterans, our Student Leadership Team sponsored a "Wear Camo" day. Thank you to all the vets who have served our country over the years!

There was no shortage of creativity and fun today with Crazy Hair, Hat and Sox Day!

Thanks to the PTA for sponsoring a fun family costume, restaurant and movie night!

Does anything look familiar to you here? Did you pay your hard-earned cash on something you see here and you can't find at home? If so, remind your children to head over to Lost and Found to retrieve what belongs to them.

Miss Beckie, our Library Media Tech, is passionate about reading and working with students. Here are some of her wonderful student assistants helping to shelve books, along with a great reminder about the value of reading aloud.

Students and staff had fun celebrating with one of our favorite long-term subs, Mrs. Salmon, as she will be graduating with her Masters Degree this weekend! In addition to subbing, Mrs. Salmon has worked as a volunteer for years at our school and we could not be happier for her!

Join us at our Legend's Burgers Family night tonight between 4:00 and 9:00 p.m.! Students can come dressed in their 50's best, and wear it again tomorrow as we celebrate the 50th Day of School!

Mrs. Gutierrez and a student spend some time in our relaxing atrium. The pathway is lined with friendship rocks painted by students just before school closed in 2020. It is such a beautiful place and we are so grateful for the help of the PTA and staff who worked to revitalize this space.

Miss Misty prepares for her 1st grade morning intervention class. She is a master at helping students learn the building blocks of reading!

Life at Doña Merced - Kinders practice counting with 10-frames, 1st graders learn about the sun and shadows, and both grades get to spend their hard-earned Doña Dollars at their very first Doña Dollar Store. Thanks to our PTA for continuing to sponsor this fun program!

The district is pleased to work with stakeholders to develop a three-year plan to help identify how to allocate one-time federal funds under the Elementary Secondary Schools Emergency Relief funds because of the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. The dates of the survey are from now through October 10, 2021. Please help us by sharing your thoughts on ways we can improve our support to students, staff, and the community. A live link can be found in our News section under ESSER III Plan Survey. https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/HNSX8Q2