Dear Didion families,

BUDDY BENCH

Today, we unveiled a beautiful buddy bench in honor of Olivia Chan to our amazing 4th graders, members of Olivia’s family, and past and present staff members. This buddy bench will be a wonderful and lasting memorial to Olivia, and a way for our students to support each other in friendship and kindness moving forward. Thank you to our parent community support and the PTA for making this tribute possible. To see a picture of the new bench, along with artwork from our 4th graders, CLICK HERE.

THANKSGIVING MUSIC CONCERT

Tomorrow, November 18th, marks the return of our Thanksgiving music concert under the direction of Mrs. Elett Ricks-Chambers. This concert features our 4th-6th graders, and will begin at 9:00am in the gym. The doors open for seating at 8:45am. Our middle school will be selling hot chocolate and coffee for $2 (cash) to all attendees to raise money for the 8th grade Catalina field trip. 

LITTLE FREE LIBRARY

Mrs. Rechs is excited to announce the addition of a Little Free Library to our campus . The library is housed in a modified newspaper box and located in the primary hallway next to our Big and Also Free Regular Library! A huge THANK YOU to the Labson family for this awesome resource. 5th grader Colin Labson spent a great deal of time over the summer mastering the art technique he used to decorate the newspaper box that his mom, Amy, was able to secure for our school (CLICK HERE to see a picture!) . The outer space theme is beautiful and reminds us that reading is limitless! The guidelines for our Little Free Library are: 1) take only one book per day 2) leave a book if you can and 3) straighten up the books when you’re done. If you have books you would like to donate to the little free library, please send them to Mrs. Rechs and she will use them to keep the library stocked. 

DRAGON DASH AND DUNK TANK

THANK YOU again to our entire community for your generosity and support of our Dragon Dash fundraiser! Just a reminder that individual student prizes will be distributed in December. Also, since we reached our goal, Mr. Eder is getting into a dunk tank! Weather permitting, the dunking will take place on Monday, November 28th at 11:30am. The whole school will gather out on the blacktop to watch the silliness; parents are invited to attend as well. 

APPLE HILL PIES PICK-UP

If you purchased an Apple Hill pie and did not pick it up today, then you can pick it up from the main office tomorrow (Friday, 11/18). 

DIDION MIDDLE SCHOOL VISITATION DAYS

Visitation days for 6th grade students and families interested in Didion Middle School are scheduled for December 6th and December 8th. There will also be an evening Zoom presentation on December 13th for families and students who cannot attend a visitation day. For more information, CLICK HERE. 

HIGH SCHOOL SPECIALTY PROGRAM APPLICATION WINDOW

The deadline for outgoing 8th graders to apply for an SCUSD High School Specialty Program is November 30th. CLICK HERE for more information. 

LOST AND FOUND

It’s not too late to recover any lost items! Check out the lost and found racks out in front of the school one last time tomorrow. All remaining items will be donated after Thanksgiving break.

SAFETY REMINDERS & SUPERVISION

A friendly reminder that Didion does not provide blacktop morning supervision until 7:45, and there is no supervision after school. Students should be picked up, or make their way home, immediately following dismissal.

CALENDAR REVIEW 

Friday, November 18th and Monday, November 28th are minimum days for grades 1-6. Friday, December 2nd is also a minimum day for grades 1-6 due to the end of the trimester. Also, there will be no school next week, 11/21 – 11/25, because of the Thanksgiving Holiday.

• November 14th-18th & 28th: Trimester 1 Elementary Conferences; Grades 1-6 Minimum Days

• November 18th: Thanksgiving Concert (Grades 4-6), 9:00am, Gym

• November 21st-25th: Thanksgiving Holiday (No School)

• November 28th  :  Dunk Tank for Mr. Eder, 11:30am

• December 2nd:  End of Trimester, Minimum Day for Grades 1-6

• December 6th & 8th :  Didion Middle School Visitation Days

• December 13th: Didion Middle School Informational Zoom Presentation, 6pm

• December 23rd:  Minimum Day for grades 7-8

• December 23rd:  Winter Concert (K-3), 9:00am, Gym

• December 26 – January 6th: Winter Break Holiday