School Information

DROP OUT PREVENTION TEAM
The Drop Out Prevention (DOP) Team includes Vivien Lo (DOP Counselor), Pattie Sparks (Health Aide), and Sharon Winters (Registrar).  Its purpose is to identify and intervene with those students who are at-risk due to poor attendance or other issues.

FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL
Channel 4 KRON visited Los Alamitos on the first day of school in August 2000.  Newscaster Karl Sonkin interviewed children, parents and our principal to find out what to expect on the first day of school.  The videotape has been archived on KRON's Website, and you can view it at:  KRON 4 Video.

HOMEWORK
Homework is assigned to students in grades one through five, according to the policy of the Board of Education. Suggested amounts of homework per week are as follows:

• Grade 1    10 – 20 minutes per day
• Grade 2    10 – 20 minutes per day
• Grade 3    15 – 30 minutes per day
• Grade 4    30 – 60 minutes per day
• Grade 5    30 – 60 minutes per day

Students are responsible for the completion of all homework assignments. Assignments that are not handed in when they are due may result in the child having to stay in during recesses or after school to complete the work.

HOMEWORK CENTER
Homework Center is an after-school program for students in need of a quiet place to work. Funded by the City of San Jose, the center can accommodate up to 25 children in grades 3 - 5 on Monday - Thursdays from 3:10 - 4:10 pm. This is not a tutoring program, but is a place for children to get help from fully-qualified, credentialed classroom teachers. Teachers make recommendations to the principal for students who should be included, and the students are selected based on their academic performance and need for a quiet environment, so parent requests cannot be honored at this time. This is a free program - there is no cost for families.

LOST AND FOUND ITEMS
Please label jackets, coats, lunch pails, and all uniform sweaters/sweatshirts with your child’s name to ease the return of such items when "found". A LOST and FOUND barrel will be located in the cafeteria. Lost items, whose owners are unknown, will be placed in this barrel. Before school, at lunchtime and after school please feel free to check the barrel for "lost" items.

Items left in the barrel more than two months will be donated to needy children and families.

LUNCH AND BREAKFAST PROGRAM
A hot lunch will be available daily in our cafeteria for students in grades K-5. The price for students including milk is $2.75 ( if 10 or more lunches are purchased in advance, a free lunch is added to their account).   SEE OUR MENU

Breakfast is notavailable at Los Alamitos.

Milk (1/2 pint) will be available for 50 cents to children who wish to supplement their own lunches.  

Lunch charges will be issued in an emergency. Charges are to be paid for the day after they are issued.

Parents may eat lunch at school with their children whenever they choose. We ask that adult lunches be ordered before 9:00 a.m. on the day that you plan to eat at school. The cost of an adult lunch is $4.50. You may also bring your own lunch on campus. Please check in at the office for a guest pass upon arrival.

Free or reduced price lunches are available for those who qualify. Applications are available in our office. Please make provisions for your child’s lunch until you are notified that your application has been approved. The process usually takes two or three days.

Children are expected to observe rules of good behavior and good manners when eating lunch with their classmates. If children choose to continually break the rules of the cafeteria, parents will be asked to make other arrangements for their disruptive children.

MORNING DROP-OFF

1. Students can be dropped off as early as 8:30 a.m. when supervision is available on campus.
2. Try and leave home "5 minutes early" in order to facilitate a safer and more timely arrival to school.
3. The Bus Zone on Firefly Drive is for buses only - this is not an area to double park or park.
4. Parent volunteers are now available to monitor and assist with proper use of the Bus Zone.
5. The north side of Redmond Avenue should not be used to drop students off unless you have your children walk to the nearest crosswalk. Redmond is not a safe street to have children cross.
6. Please respect our neighbors and do not block or park in driveways.
7. The SJPD is no longer issuing warnings - citations will now be issued, especially for double parking and speeding in school zones.
8. We will explore options with the City of San Jose and the San Jose Unified School District to find secondary, unsupervised but safe drop-off areas.

PARENT CONFERENCES
Parent Conferences are scheduled in November. This conference provides the teacher with the opportunity to discuss individual student progress with parents and for parents and teachers to exchange information which should be helpful to the child’s learning. A second conference may be held in the spring for children who are being considered for retention, who are not progressing satisfactorily, or who have failed a part of the 5^th grade competency testing program. Your child’s teacher will contact you in writing to set up an appointment time for the conference. If you have some concerns before any of these conference times, feel free to contact your child’s teacher and set-up a time when you can discuss them.

PARKING
Please following these parking guidelines to insure our students' safety. Guidelines

PTA
The Los Alamitos PTA is open to parents, grandparents, friends, businesses and neighbors.  This year's membership theme is "Through the Millennium"  We encourage your family to join our PTA.  By joining, you and your family can help make many of our programs possible.  The dues to join are $15.00 per member ($30 per family), and 70% of that money goes directly into our classrooms.  Meetings are held on the 2nd Tuesday of each month at 7:00 p.m., and are open to everyone.

RELEASE OF CHILDREN FROM SCHOOL
No children will be permitted to leave the school grounds during school without parent or guardian permission. Parents will be expected to report in person to the school office to sign out children who need to leave school any time before the regular dismissal time.   We urge you to make medical appointments after school hours to avoid interrupting your child’s instructional day.

SAFETY PATROL
The boys and girls serving as members of the School Safety Patrol are selected from the fifth grade. At all times their job is to encourage safety on the streets and sidewalks around Los Alamitos. These traffic assistants are considered a Junior Patrol of the San Jose Police Department. We expect all students to obey and follow the directions of the Student Traffic Patrol with respect and determination. Parents and community support that recognizes the importance of this expectation will help assure the success of our efforts to keep children safe at school crossings. We know that you agree and that you will do your best to help.

SCHOOL SITE COUNCIL (SSC)
The SSC is made up of parents, teachers and other staff members who help write, implement and evaluate a school plan for the use of State funds.  The Council meets on the third Tuesday of each month.  Parents serve a 2-year term, and elections take place in September.

SCHOOLWIDE DISCIPLINE PROGRAM
The Positive Discipline Program is in effect at Los Alamitos. Parents receive a copy of the school-wide behavior rules every year. Parents are asked to discuss the rules with their child and both parent and child are asked to sign and return the form to the classroom teacher.

SCHOOL AND HOME COMMUNICATIONS
Each Friday, during the school year, you should expect your child to bring home a WHITE ENVELOPE which contains the school’s newsletter ("LION’S ROAR"), notes from your child’s teacher, flyers, student work, etc. The LION’S ROAR is sent home each week to keep you informed about upcoming school and district events, dates to remember, reminders about school happenings and news about Los Alamitos’ very active, helpful and involved PTA. Please use the LION’S ROAR to update this calendar as needed.

Remove and review the items enclosed in the WHITE ENVELOPE and sign the front of the envelope, having your child return it to their teacher on Monday, to be refilled and sent home again on Friday.

SCHOOL SUPPLY LISTS
There is a basic supply list for each grade level.  It is helpful if your student has all of his or her supplies on the first day of school.

SECURITY
If you should notice any suspicious activity on school grounds when school is not in session, please call the police to make a report. School vandalism and burglary can be reduced or eliminated if neighbors near the school will report any suspicious circumstances whenever they occur.

STAFF
We have a wonderfully strong and supportive staff at Los Alamitos.  New teachers are carefully recruited, screened and interviewed by a representative team of teachers and principal. Our teachers have energy and and enthusiasm, coordinate skillfully with each other, and welcome parent participation.  See the staff pictures.

TARDIES
It is the responsibility of parents to ensure that their children arrive at school on time every day. Any child who is tardy must report to the office for a pass before going to class. Tardy children should have a note from home stating the reason for the late arrival. We will be in close touch with parents of children who are regularly tardy in hopes of changing this unacceptable pattern. Students who are tardy will be expected to make up the time during or after school.

TRANSPORTATION
Transportation information for eligible student bus riders is mailed out prior to the start of each school year.  Questions regarding transportation should be directed to the SJUSD Transportation Office at (408) 535-6185.

UNIFORM POLICY
Uniforms are required on all school days with the exception of designated school "Spirit Days". On these special days, students will be allowed to dress in accordance to the special theme for that day (e.g.; first Friday of each month, Colonial Day, Gold Rush Day, or other school theme). Students may also wear their scout uniforms (Brownie, Cub, Girl, CampFire, etc.) on the days when they have meetings.

The pants, shorts, shirts and socks are available at any retail store but the girl’s plaid jumper and plaid skirt may only be purchased at Merry Mart.

UNSUPERVISED STUDENTS AFTER SCHOOL

1. Supervision is not provided after-school in playground areas, but is available in the Bus Zone on Firefly Drive and at the front of school in the "valet parking" area. These areas are supervised until 3:30 p.m. daily.
2. Students are to be picked up when school ends (3:00 p.m. for grades 1 & 2; 3:02 p.m. for grade 3; 3:05 p.m. for grades 4 & 5; 12:55 p.m. for Kindergarten).
3. Kindergarten and 1st grade students not picked up at their classrooms by parents within 5 minutes of the end of the day will be taken to the front office. All students should wait for parents at the flag pole if the parent is late and not at the "prearranged meeting place" that you may have established by 3:10 p.m. Unsupervised children should not wait in playground areas or on the blacktop for their parents. There is NO supervision in these areas.

USE OF SCHOOL FACILITIES DURING THE SCHOOL DAY
First and foremost, Los Alamitos is a place of learning from 8:30 a.m. - 3:05 p.m. daily. Use of the playground equipment is not permitted during learning time by any children who are not involved with a structured classroom activity. There are legitimate liability issues related to the use of playground equipment by children under the age of 5 and by students who are not closely watched by parents. Please make use of nearby Jeffrey Fontana Park and Parma Park during the learning time so as to help us provide an atmosphere of undisturbed learning for our children.

VISITORS
Parents are invited to visit classrooms or school grounds to observe their children at work or play at any time. We ask that you always obtain a visitor’s pass from the office so we are able to monitor persons on campus to make sure that only authorized visitors are with us. We would also appreciate a call in advance of your intended visit so that an interruption of special testing or other activities on which children must focus their full attention can be avoided.

If a forgotten lunch, lunch money, glasses, book, homework, etc. is to be brought to school by you or your friend, please remember to do so through the front office.

VOLUNTEERS
We invite them. We want you to volunteer to assist in the classroom. If you are interested in helping, please respond to the request of your child’s teacher and/or the PTA Please review the "Code of Ethics for Volunteers at Los Alamitos…" for more information on volunteering standards.