Dear Yerba Buena Families,
Welcome to Yerba Buena! We appreciate you choosing our school to educate and nurture your child. We are honored to have this opportunity to make this year a unique and valuable experience. Your active support and cooperation, combined with our professional efforts, will ensure academic success for your child.
We are proud of each and every one of our staff members. There is a spirit of cooperation and progress at our school and we
look forward to sharing our enthusiasm with you. Our goal is to provide each student with a challenging and rigorous curriculum appropriate to his/her academic level. We will continue to differentiate the curriculum and structure much of our day utilizing RtI, response to intervention, to meet the needs of all of our students. Every child will be provided a quality instructional experience as well as a balanced curriculum including the arts.
Yerba Buena is a community where children are first and education is our number one priority. With parents and teachers working together as a team every child will succeed. We are thankful to have such an active parent community. Educating our children requires that we all work together and the YB family is an outstanding example of teamwork!
21st century learning will be a theme for the Las Virgenes Unified School District. YB will begin this year with a 4/5 learning community, an extended day early bird/later gator kindergarten program, and will be incorporating the arts throughout the day!
As your principal, you can expect that I will do my best to ensure that your child is challenged, nurtured, and provided with a safe and stimulating learning experience. I will continue to have ongoing positive interactions with all of the children. I intend to be visible and accessible. If you ever need to speak to me please do not hesitate at all. I will always make time to respond to your needs. I look forward to a successful 2010-2011 school year!
Sincerely,
Christina Desiderio
Principal
Yerba Buena Elementary School, located in Agoura Hills, California, is one of sixteen schools in the Las Virgenes Unified School District. The district, located in the western end of Los Angeles County, serves approximately 11,600 students. At Yerba Buena, we provide students opportunities to develop their potential intellectually, socially and emotionally. We believe that our public school exists to provide an effective educational program and to offer all students opportunities to develop their capabilities to the maximum of their potential so that they may act constructively as contributing citizens in our changing society. Yerba Buena Elementary School has a strong academic foundation, a parent community that is interested and is actively involved, a faculty professionally skilled and personally committed to meeting the needs of students and a student body motivated to perform well.
Through our RtI model (Response to Intervention) we are implementing a new character development program called
Character Counts! This program teaches that the character and conduct of our youth reflects the character and conduct of society; therefore, every adult has the responsibility to teach and model the core ethical values (trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring and citizenship), and every social institution has the responsibility to promote the develop of good character.
We have also implemented a new system of discipline procedures from the curriculum of
Second Steps. This includes a stronger dress code and behavior referral form which includes parent notification of any incident that may have happened on the playground and a student action plan to help students with a plan on how to avoid future breaking of school rules.
At Yerba Buena, the elementary school day begins at 8:05 a.m. with students lined up on the school playground (basketball area) with their class. The playground is supervised from 7:50 a.m. - 8:05 a.m. so plan ahead to avoid traffic. Please follow the drop-off and pick-up procedures of following the road slowly around the center circle and pull all the way up to the top of the driveway. Students need to be ready to exit the car as soon as you stop. Drivers are asked to NOT leave their car at any time and to proceed carefully around the circle and out the drive through. IF YOU NEED TO OPEN YOUR CAR TRUNK or you need more time to say good-bye to your child, please turn to the right of the upper drive area and pull behind the staff parking spaces along the side of the YB Multi-purpose Room. This will assist us in keeping the drive-through moving without any stoppage. Remember, start out earlier, carpool, walk to school, and make sure that you make plans with your kids prior to coming through the carpool line. Please be patient and courteous to each other and always watch out for children!
As you browse our web site, you will find links to pages that will provide you with information about our school, the calendar and school hours, our Parent Faculty Association (PFA), School Accountability Report Card and specific classroom activities and lessons.
ABSENCES
If your child is absent, you must call the office (818-889-0040) to report his/her absence on the day of the absence and/or follow up with an absence note to the teacher on the day your child returns to school. For students who will miss school due to a religious holiday/observance, the office must be notified prior to the absence and a notification form must be completed. These forms are available on our school website or in the office. Students are deemed truant (in violation of compulsory attendance law) if they have three or more unexcused absences and/or tardies (31 minutes or more in duration) within one school year
(Education Code Section 478260).
TARDIES
It is very important that all students arrive to school on time. Please make sure if you drive your child to school, to drop him/her off no later than 8:04 a.m. If your child is walking, be sure they leave on time. A late student (after 8:05 a.m.)
must come into the office to get a late pass.
EARLY ARRIVALS
Please remember your child may
not come to school before 7:50 a.m. Supervision begins at that time. If you need childcare before 7:50a.m., you may sign your child up with the YMCA on our campus.
TRAFFIC
Please adhere to all traffic laws and follow the direction on all posted signs. This will make drop off and pick up flow smoothly and safely. When dropping off and picking up students, parents are to pull all the way up to the end of the parkway. Your child should be ready to disembark with backpacks in hand. DO NOT EXIT YOUR VEHICLE OR LEAVE YOUR CAR UNATTENDED in this area at any time. Please be mindful of students crossing by the bridge and be alert at all times for the safety of our students! Of course, students and parents are encouraged to carpool and/or walk and bike to school.
LATE PICK UPS
We are having a problem with some parents picking their children up late from school. Be sure to pick up your child on time. You have the option of either signing your child(ren) up with the YMCA or the 27 Minute Club. (The 27 Minute Club is for students in grades 1-3 only.)
EARLY PICK UPS
Any students leaving early must be signed out at the office. Please be sure to write a note to notify the teacher what time to send your child to the office to meet you.
PARKING LOT
Parking in the parking lot is for the YB/Buttercup staff, district personnel and parent volunteers. Please do not park in any "Reserved" spaces or along the red curb, as this is the emergency zone.
FORGOTTEN LUNCHES/HOMEWORK
If your child leaves his/her lunch at home, please bring it to the office. Please let your child know that he/she is always welcome to come to the office to pick up his/her lunch or call home for a lunch. The office will
no longer lend lunch money to students. We recommend that you deposit extra money in your child’s lunch account for emergency purpose. The balance in his/her account carries over from year to year. Your child’s homework is his/her responsibility. Please
do not bring forgotten homework to the office or classroom; the student should bring it to school the following day.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR COOPERATION WITH OUR RULES. IT REALLY DOES MAKE A DIFFERENCE.
California Business for Education Excellence (CBEE) has recognized Yerba Buena Elementary School as one of 1,304 public schools in California to receive the title of 2009 Honor Roll school.
Schools receiving this distinction from California's business community have demonstrated consistent high student academic achievement and have made significant progress toward closing achievement gaps among all their students.
Congratulations and thank you to all the teachers, staff, students, and parents who contributed to this accomplishment!
Visit all of the schools at the award winning Las Virgenes Unified School District.
