Recap of September

School Events & Closures

This Month

For this month, we will be staying in Japan for our Artist of the Month, taking our Fall Photos, dressing up in pink for Breast Cancer Awareness, developing and strengthening skills through professional development, and celebrating Halloween. 

Artist of the Month

The Artist of the Month will be Yayoi Kusama. We will be taking a look at her art called "Pumpkin."

Fall Photos

Our Fall Photos are just around the corner! Please ensure that your child is in full uniform and that you have filled out the form that will have already been passed out in advanced. This form will allow you to choose one solid background (in addition to another background) and the option to do a sibling session. The form will also ask if you want your child to be photographed with a prop from home, but we will not be able to accommodate to this, so please skip this section. In addition, the form also give ideas for outfits, but please have your child dressed in their uniforms. If you have any questions about ordering photos, please contact the admin office and they can assist you. 

Breast Cancer Awareness Month

Breast Cancer Awareness Month (BCAM) is an annual international health campaign organized by major breast cancer charities every October to increase awareness of the disease and raise funds for research into its cause, prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and cure. 

We will be increasing awareness by wearing pink on October 20th!

Staff Development Day (October 25th/School Closure)

For Staff Development, we will be welcoming back Dr. Brett, a cognitive and behavioral psychologist, for part two of "The Calm(er) Classroom" The Gaowa Staff is eager to learn and ready to solidify techniques and practices to help our students. 

3rd Annual Trunk or Treat

Finally, we will be celebrating Halloween with classroom performances and the trunk or treat event along with the best trunk contest. We have begun the decorating process and we cannot wait for it to come all together. We hope everyone has a spooktacular Halloween!

Artist of the Month: Yayoi Kusama

Yayoi Kusama

Yayoi Kusama is a Japanese contemporary artist who works primarily in sculpture and installation, and is also active in painting, performance, video art, fashion, poetry, fiction, and other arts.



Kusama began sketching pumpkins as a child in pre-war Japan as her parents had a seed-farm. She started to consider pumpkins as a symbol of her childhood and of fertility and life, affirming that pumpkins bring her 'poetic peace'.

Reminders

We wanted to give our thanks to all of the families and parents for supporting our policies. Your support and partnership make this school a rewarding, educational and safe experience for the students. This newsletter includes a few friendly reminders: piano lesson price increase, Ms. Rocio's absences, transaction fee for credit card payments, signing in/out students, and pick up policies.

Piano Lessons Price Increase

Piano lessons with Ms. Rocio will increase from $25 to $35 starting in November 1st. We believe that with this modest change in prices, it can adequately support the enriching musical education and equipment we are providing. These private, one-on-one, piano lessons will be charged in the beginning of the month along with the monthly tuition fees. If a student is absent, for any reason, the piano lesson must be paid in full. If you have any questions in regards to our piano program, please contact the administrative office. 

Ms. Rocio's Absences

Due to personal reasons, piano lessons with Ms. Rocio will be canceled from 10/9 - 10/27. Unfortunately, we are unable to provide makeup lessons, but we thank you for your understanding and cooperation. We apologize in advanced for any inconveniences this may cause.

Transaction Fee for Credit Card Payments

Please remember that any payments made with a credit card will incur a transaction fee of 3% of the total amount. If you wish to avoid this fee, please make payments either as cash, check, or sign up as an ACH payment. You should be able to change your payment methods through ProCare as we do not have the capabilities to do so. If you need assistance with this, please contact the administrative office.

Signing in/out Students

All sign in's and sign out's must be done by the parent, guardian or designated person who has brought/removed the child into/from the school. Signing in students must be done once your child is dropped off with a Gaowa Staff member and signing out students must be done once you are in possession of your child. 

Please note that children should not be signed in or out from the parking lot.

For missed sign-in's/out's, a $5 fee will be applied to the account. After the third missed sign-in/-out for the month, the fee will increase to $15. Please remember to sign your child in/out as it is a safety and licensing requirement. For example, if you forget to sign-in your child, it would be as if he/she is not here in case of emergency. 

If you are having difficulties with signing in/out through the ProCare app, please use the physical sign in/out sheet that is in the front.

Please refer to the California Title 22 101229.1 for more information.

Pick Up Policies

For those families on after care, please make sure to pickup your child(ren) no later than 5:20PM. This allows ample time for parents to gather their child's belongings and for staff to clean and lock up the school. If a child is picked up between 5:30PM - 5:40PM, a $15 late pick-up fee will be applied. For every minute after 5:40PM, there will be a $1 charge for each minute until the child is picked up. The pickup time for students on half-day is between 12:20 and 12:30. A late pick-up fee will start accumulating if picked up after 12:40. For full day students, the pickup time is between 2:50 and 3:00 PM. Late fee starts accumulating at 3:10PM. Please always notify the school by phone or message if you are running late and think that you will be late picking up your child(ren).

For more information, please refer to the policies in our parent handbook labeled "Late Pick-Up"

We greatly appreciate your understanding. Thank you.

Family Fun Events