Families may bring their leashed dog onto campus during morning drop off and afternoon pick up. During school hours, however, dogs are not allowed on campus because we have students with allergies or who are afraid of dogs. Thank you for your compliance.

There’s nothing spookier than data insecurity! With the rise of cyber attacks on school databases, it is both prudent and imperative to implement Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) for parent portals on our student information system (SIS) Veracross. MFA is already required for all staff users on the system. If you’d like a head start, here is documentation on how to get MFA started to protect your data in Veracross. You will need your smartphone/tablet and your desktop computer. 

Our goal is to have all accounts to be protected by MFA before T1 report cards are released and because we want to assist those having trouble in a timely manner, we will be rolling MFA out week-by-week by grade levels. Please see the schedule below:

Please note that Multi-Factor Authentication will be enabled for all accounts by November 22. If you do not complete the MFA by this time, you may not be able to access report cards or any other important parent portal function until it is complete. Also, if you need technical support to troubleshoot, response times may be delayed. Please complete your MFA enrollment before or during your grade’s scheduled week. We will send you an email to remind you to get started.

Parent/Teachers conferences will be held on Friday, October 21, and Monday, October 24. There is no school on both days. For grades Kindergarten through 5th, care for your child will be provided in Apple Orchard only during your conference appointment. For parents with Pre-Kindergarteners, you may bring your child with you to your conference appointment. Your child will play under Apple Tree staff supervision nearby in the classroom and in the playard. If you need care for your Pre-K student during an older sibling’s conference time, you may bring them to the Pre-K classroom during that appointment. No prior registration required for either care programs.

The ACDS Thanksgiving feast is a wonderful tradition where the students, teachers and staff enjoy a Thanksgiving meal together. You can imagine what it takes to create a Thanksgiving meal for 500+ people . . . VOLUNTEERS! There are volunteer options to fit every schedule & interest. You can set up the Fisher Event Center for food prep, help the kids make their signature class dishes, set up the blacktop to seat 500, serve food, clean up, carve turkeys or even cook a turkey! Every job is important! Please sign-up on iVolunteer.

Friday, October 28

PUMPKIN CARVING, Pre-K-5th grade
5:30-9:00 PM | Hunt Blacktop

• Do you plan to attend with your family? Please RSVP by using this form.
• The Haunted Hallway is back! Volunteers still needed for event setup, cleanup, and dessert donations. Come have fun with fellow parents! Click here to sign up.

MIDDLE SCHOOL SOCIAL, Grades 6-8
7:00-9:00 PM | Fisher Event Center

The first social of the year is hosted by the 8th grade families. Costumes are encouraged but not required. There will be a costume contest with prizes awarded in multiple categories. More details to be announced closer to the date. Light refreshments will be served in the Ravel Courtyard.

Monday, October 31

HALLOWEEN PARADES

• 8:15 AM - Pre-K & Kindergarten
• 2:10 PM - 1st - 8th Grades
• 2:30-3:10 PM - Elementary Class Parties

Halloween Costume Guidelines

Please note that while we appreciate the creativity and fun this holiday presents, costume masks and weapons are not permissible on campus. We expect costumes to support our goal of kindness toward all and respect for our community's diversity of cultures, ethnicities, religions, and genders. Thank you for being thoughtful.

If your student has any questions about a costume choice, please encourage them to reach out to a teacher or administrator in advance.

ACDS will be participating in the Great California ShakeOut. Please read the information below to learn, or be reminded, how it all works.

On Thursday, October 20, at 1 p.m., we will have an earthquake drill. Everyone will practice how to "drop, cover and hold on." Teachers will discuss the importance of earthquake preparedness. This is a chance for us all to practice what to do during earthquakes to reduce injuries.

In earthquake country, preparedness is a responsibility for all Californians. We encourage you to discuss earthquake readiness with your family at home.

In an actual emergency, a member of our staff will text and email you. Please be sure to keep your emergency contact information current using the ACDS Veracross parent portal. If you have supplied us with multiple phone numbers, you will likely receive our message on more than one phone.

To test our emergency messaging system, we will send out a test text message shortly after the earthquake drill on October 20. If you do not receive a text message on October 20 by the end of the school day, please log in to your Veracross parent portal to update your phone number. Only mobile phones can accept text messages.

To increase security on campus, we are using a new visitor management system from Raptor Technologies. The Raptor kiosk station is in the front office. All visitors will be asked to scan their driver’s license or identification card, which will cross-reference the personal information against nationwide and custom databases. Only the visitor’s first name, last name, and date of birth will be maintained in our system to allow for quick sign in for subsequent visits (which will not require a driver’s license). All parent volunteers will be required to sign in through Raptor when visiting campus during regular school hours. Each visitor will receive a custom name tag to wear for that day. All visitors are required to sign out at the office before leaving campus.

Please note, parents do not need to sign in during regular drop off and pick up times.

A big thank you to our 60+ parent volunteers who helped make Cougar Games such a success last week! Between set up, organizing, facilitating games, taking and uploading event pictures, and tear down, this event was a huge success because of you. Thank you.