News

Phoebe Hearst Principal Search:
Community input is critical in helping us find our next Phoebe Hearst Elementary School principal. We will provide our community with opportunities to help us identify characteristics for our new principal and inform the type of interview questions we’ll use in the process. Please click on the link for more information and how you can add feedback.

Dollar Free Dress Friday, May 6th:
Friday, May 6th is a dollar free dress Friday supporting children in Ukraine.  This Friday will be unique in that we are asking families to donate online rather than bringing money to school.  Here is the link to donate.  Thank you for supporting children in Ukraine. 

Traffic Safety:
May is Bike Month:

The Bicycle Bus starts on Monday! Every morning in May, we will ride from 35th and M St to Phoebe Hearst, leaving at 7:30am. Your rider or roller can join us anywhere along the route. We will do a practice ride this Sunday, leaving 35th and M St at 11am. We would love for your student to join us. If you think your family will be part of the Bicycle Bus, please fill out this form: 2022 Phoebe Hearst Bike Train – Google Forms

PTO Announcements:
Teacher Appreciation Week:
Teacher Appreciation Week is May 2-May 6. This year, rather than orchestrating how families show thanks with schedules and specific tasks, we ask our families to show appreciation in their own individual way. There are so many creative ways to say thank you to your teacher. Here are a few ideas…

• A homemade card, hand-drawn picture, or a letter
• Flowers from your garden
• Offer to bring their favorite coffee drink or snack
• A video message from your kiddo

Home Run Reader:
Please join us at the Rivercats game Friday, May 6th.  Everyone is invited!  Please click the link to buy your lawn seat tickets now.  Please share the link with friends and family too!  https://fevo.me/3JaTgJ4

Students who hit the Home Run level earn one free lawn seat ticket, provided by PTO.  It will be emailed to you by May 5 th.  Please see the attached list of home run level students.

Congrats to our top 20 readers school-wide and our top two kinders. We will email you directly with game day details by early next week. 

Can’t make it on May 6 th? You may go to the Rivercats box office to use your ticket at another Sunday-Thursday game during the 2022 season.

Prizes will be distributed to your student’s classroom the first week in May.

Questions? Please check phoebehearst.org/home-run-reader for details or email  [email protected].

Updated List of HRR Winners 2022

Parents of 6th graders:
For any families headed to Sutter Middle School next year  – a quick reminder to pre-order your Sutter Spirit Wear by Sunday, May 1st. Orders will be ready for pick up the first week in June — just in time for promotion gifts!  

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfW7CwNySUW9-d1gkMcqP3Dch8AYYhZB6tgXtV5h7aYl6oQ6A/viewform

Thank you,
Michelle Pechette
Principal

As we gear up for the home stretch, I wanted to put out a few reminders of upcoming dates as I know there are many questions surrounding the extension of the school year and how that might affect end of year activities.  Please note that our currently scheduled dates will remain no matter when the last day of school falls:

• Open House – May 25th from 5:30pm-6:30pm in-person!
• Book Fair – May 18th – 25th – Open during open house
• CAASPP Testing for 3rd-6th graders – May 9th – 20th 
• 6th grade Dance – June 14th from 6:00pm-8:00pm
• 6th grade Promotion – June 15th from 8:30-9:30
• 6th grade Swim Party – June 16th @ Cabana Club

A message from our Parent Teacher Organization:

Teacher Appreciation Week

Teacher Appreciation Week is May 2-May 6. This year, rather than orchestrating how families show thanks with schedules and specific tasks, we ask our families to show appreciation in their own individual way. There are so many creative ways to say thank you to your teacher. Here are a few ideas…

• A homemade card, hand drawn picture, or a letter
• Flowers from your garden
• Offer to bring their favorite coffee drink or snack
• A video message from your kiddo

Home Run Reader

• Please join us at the Rivercats game Friday, May 6th.  Please click the link to buy your lawn seat tickets now. Please share the link with friends and family too! https://fevo.me/3JaTgJ4
• Please join us at the 8 am line-up on Friday, April 29th, where Dinger will help us recognize the top 20 readers school-wide and our top two kinders. 
• Students who hit the Home Run level earn one free lawn seat ticket, provided by PTO.  It will be emailed to you by May 5^th.  Please see the attached list of home run level students.
• Questions? Please check phoebehearst.org/home-run-reader for details or email [email protected]. Can’t make it on May 6^th? You may go to the Rivercats box office to use your ticket at another Sunday-Thursday game during the 2022 season.

If your child is heading to Sutter Middle School next school year, we have graduation gift ideas! Fill out this google form and place an order for Sutter Spirit Wear. There are t-shirts, sweatshirts, and socks to choose from and the money supports important Sutter programs. Place your order by April 29th and it should be ready for pick up around the first week in June — just in time for promotion!

Traffic Safety Committee:

Phoebe Hearst Bicycle Bus!

Phoebe Hearst is celebrating May is Bike Month with a Bicycle Bus to school every day. All riders and rollers are welcome.The Bicycle Bus will bike together from 35th and M St at 7:30am; your student can hop on the Bicycle Bus along the route. We can help you get your bikes and riders ready. There will be a free bike mechanic at East Portal Park tomorrow  (Saturday, April 23 from 3 to 4pm) to tune up and fit bicycles. If your student will be taking the Bicycle Bus, please fill out this form:   https://forms.gle/sKk6vXgZHuoHynew7

The Phoebe Hearst Traffic Safety Committee would like to remind all parents that there will be a Parent-focused Traffic Safety Meeting via Zoom on Tuesday, April 26 at 6:00 pm. All parents are encouraged to attend to learn about progress made to improve traffic safety on and around campus, hear about developments of concern for our area, and share their feedback concerning student safety. The registration link can be found here.

Thank you and take care,
Michelle Pechette
Principal

Home Run Reader
Please save the date for our Rivercats Home Run Reader night on May 6th. Please click the link to buy your tickets now!  https://fevo.me/3JaTgJ4 The tickets are all lawn seats. PTO will buy the tickets for the students who hit the home run level. After spring break we will send an update with the list of home run readers. Questions or volunteer opportunity requests? Please check our web page  www.phoebehearst.org/home-run-reader and/or email  [email protected]. 

Phoebe Spirit Wear Store
The spirit wear store’s online ordering deadline has been extended.  The new deadline is Monday, April 11th.   https://phd.ju stprintitink.com/

Open House May 25th @ 5:30 pm
Mark your calendars for our annual Open House on May 25th from 5:30 pm-6:30 pm.  We are so excited to have families back on campus for Open House!

Traffic Safety Updates
Phoebe Hearst will have a Bike Bus every day in May for Bike Month. Students will bike together from 35th and M St to Phoebe Hearst each school morning. We will have events to get our bikes and students ready for the first day. Please fill out our form to give us an idea of how many riders and rollers we will have on the Bike Bus.  https://forms.gle/sKk6vXgZHuoHynew7

The Traffic Safety Committee has been meeting regularly to address some of the issues regarding drop-off and pick-up traffic safety. To update our parents and solicit feedback, we invite you to attend a Traffic Safety Townhall on Tuesday, April 26th at 6:00. The Zoom link is in the email ( https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZMsduCvrzIrH9RRkHDHTzmVM3WPtZIS873y). Additionally, the committee has access to some potential messaging assets and would like to know which options are preferred by our parents. You can share your feedback by completing a short survey. ( https://forms.gle/LwUwHy7kc8NW7YpH8) 

Thank you and have a wonderful spring break.

Michelle Pechette

Principal

Phoebe Spirit Wear Store

The Phoebe Spirit Wear Store is open starting today until
4/4!  There are some fresh, new designs, too! Check out the link to order. 
Orders will be filled by April 29th.  

Minimum Days 3/21-3/25

Dismissal times are as follows:

Kinder – 11:40
1st-3rd – 12:10
4th-6th – 12:24

Grab-and-go lunches will be provided to students needing one as they leave for the day.  Please let your child know if you would like them to be included in the lunch count each day.  

Please make sure you are reading all district emails regarding the planned work stoppage.  

Thank you and have a wonderful weekend.
Michelle Pechette
Principal

I wanted to take a moment to thank our community for your outpouring of support related to the tragedy that occurred last Thursday to one of our Phoebe families.  We have been given permission from the family to share the identity of the mother that passed away as Lupe Jimenez.  Lupe was a light and a gem.  She volunteered countless hours at Phoebe and above all, she loved her children.  We collectively mourn her loss and will work together to support one another through this difficult time.

As a reminder, we will have our crisis team on campus tomorrow to support students and families.   If you feel that your child is in need of speaking with one of our crisis team members, please email me and I will ensure support is given.

This week I will be working with city officials and our district facilities team to discuss the revision of our current traffic flow to ensure that families can travel to and from school safely.  I will keep our community abreast of the progression of improvements and welcome any feedback that you can share with me regarding safety.

Many have asked how to support the family.  We are working on setting up a scholarship fund for Lupe’s children. There will be more information to come on how to contribute to that fund in the near future.  Right now we will be accepting gift cards for food (restaurants, grocery stores, door dash, etc…) so that the family can have meals delivered and maintain their privacy during this very delicate time.  You are welcome to drop gift cards off with our front office staff any time between 7:30-3:30. Our PTO will provide green ribbons for all of our students and staff to wear tomorrow to show support for Lupe and her family.

As always, I am here to support and serve our Phoebe community.
Take care,
Michelle Pechette

I hope you are taking good care of yourselves and each other this Friday afternoon. As you’re aware, there was a car accident on Folsom Boulevard during afternoon dismissal yesterday that resulted in major injuries to a parent of one of our Phoebe Dragons. We learned last night that, unfortunately, this parent did not survive the accident. While we are not yet at liberty to share the family’s information, I know we share a collective shock and grief, and will provide support and care to this family and each other. 

Today, district leaders and the crisis response team were on campus to support our staff and students and will return next week. We met with staff before school to brief them on the available resources and to encourage them to access them for themselves and their students throughout the day. Also next week, our district social emotional learning team will be here to support our teachers and students with community building and healing practices as needed. 

The children and adults in our community will undoubtedly have a range of responses to this situation, based on their exposure, prior experiences, and development, and this incident may trigger other negative memories and emotions. Because there were so many children and families present when the accident occurred, it’s important for you to know that children have been sharing what they saw and what they heard at school today. We are doing our best to check in with and monitor the well-being of your children at school, and I encourage you to check in with them as well, be open to conversations with them, and reassure them that the adults in our community will work together to make coming and going from school as safe as possible. If you’d like some resources for navigating this with your child, these resources may help. Please feel free to reach out to me if you think your child would benefit from working with our crisis team on campus next week. 

As usual, our Phoebe community has been generous and compassionate in response to this tragic accident. I want to thank those of you who responded to the accident yesterday, supported the families involved, and ensured all of our children were safe and cared for. Our office staff, teachers, and I have received countless calls, emails and texts asking how you can be of support. Our PTO is working on a collective way for us to support the family, so please standby for more information on that next week.  On Tuesday, they will provide green ribbons for us to wear in support of our affected student and family. For now, please feel free to leave flowers and mementos for the family at our front gates throughout the weekend.

Superintendent Aguilar and Board Member Garcia asked me to share a few words with you this afternoon as well. 

“We take the safety of our students and families to heart. A tragic accident such as this should give everyone pause to realize the roads around our schools need to be treated with extreme care. We extend our deepest sympathies to our impacted families and we are extending them our full support during this time.” – Jorge A. Aguilar, Superintendent, Sacramento City Unified School District.

“Like you, I am devastated that we lost a member of the Phoebe family in a pedestrian accident.   Parent pickup is often a joyous time as families reunite after a day of school, and it’s easy to forget the dangers of high speed traffic.  I’m committed to work with city officials to thoroughly investigate this accident- and improve street safety. We are grateful to those present who quickly responded to help a fellow parent in their time of need.” – Leticia Garcia, Board Member, Sacramento City Unified School District.

I am endlessly grateful for the kindness and generosity of this community. Please take care of yourselves and each other this weekend. 

Sincerely,
Michelle Pechette
Principal