Student Programs
The following is a list of the student programs available at Almond School with the names and emails of the contact person(s) for each program.
Community Service Group
Contact: Chris Cummins or Mary Carp
The Almond Community Service Group is a hands-on community service group that allows children to learn the spirit of caring, giving and showing compassion for the people and the community in which they live. Students in grades 3-6 can participate in various projects such as helping at senior and veteran centers, assisting with parks services and clean up, and picking and gathering fruit for food banks. We plan on hosting several events during the 2009-2010 school year.
Chorus
Contact: Jane Bohrer
The Almond Chorus, under the direction of Mrs. Lisa Call, is open to all students in grades 1-6. Chorus meets on Wednesday mornings at 7:30am in the Almond Multi, and will perform both winter and spring concerts.
Cornerstone
Contact: Amy Shelley
Cornerstone is a group of student leaders in grades 3-6. They work closely with student council to foster a positive school climate at Almond.
Cub Scouts – Pack 77
Contact: Chris Webb
Cub Scouting means “doing.” Everything in Cub Scouting is designed to have the boys doing things. Activities are used to achieve the aims of Scouting—citizenship training, character development, and personal fitness. Many of the activities happen right in the den and pack. The most important are the bi-weekly den meetings and the monthly pack meetings.
The Pack 77 web site explains how first- through fifth-grade boys can get involved in Cub Scouting at Almond Elementary.
Debate Club
Contact: Yabo Lin or Durga Kalavagunta
The goal of the Almond Debate Club is to nurture basic debate and viewpoint presentation skills and foster the ability to advocate for and against a given proposition with reasoning and respect. The club began in September, 2008. Its current schedule is that parent volunteers take turns to coach the debaters at one session for about 30 minutes each week. At each session, 5 key elements of persuasive debating are emphasized: structure, logic/facts, presentation, team work/flow, and respect. The students debate a topic at each session. Each team is required to debate for a proposition, and then switches sides to debate against it at the next coaching session. The motto of the debate club is: smarter, louder and debater.
Flag Football
Contact: Vince Giocomini – (408) 892-9193
The LASD After School Flag Football Program is a co-ed recreational program intended to allow your child to have fun, participate in a school related sport and learn some skills in the game of football. Everyone will play!! Flag Football is a minimum contact sport and is open to all 4th, 5th, and 6th grade students in the Los Altos School District. Each Elementary School in the district will field an A Team (5th/6th grade) and a B Team (4th/5th grade). Each team will play the other schools during the Fall season. For more information, see the Los Altos Flag Football Program website.
Freiker
Contact: Jon Simms
Freiker (pronounced fry-ker) is Almond’s bike & walk to school program. This program is open to Almond students of all ages who want to bike, walk or scooter to school. Each child will be issued a Freiker ID tag. Every time they buzz in at the Freikometer they earn credits for riding, walking, or scootering to school that day. Total trips will be tracked on a secure website that can be monitored by the parents. As the number of Freiker trips is tallied, the children earn rewards!!
Girl Scouts
Contact: Lisa Bourgeault
Almond School has active Girl Scout troops for girls in every grade level: Daisies for kindergarten and first grade girls; Brownies for second and third grade girls; Juniors for fourth and fifth grade girls; and Cadettes for sixth grade girls, who will continue on as Cadettes into middle school. What do Girl Scouts do? They are girls who have fun, make friends and discover new places! Girl Scouts go camping, visit museums, care for the environment, sell cookies, help people in the community, and participate in exciting events that change all the time. Girl Scouting gives girls the chance to explore the world and have a lot of fun at the same time!
Junior Olympics
Contact: Karen Townsend and Michelle Le
The Junior Olympics is a district-wide track & field event held in April for 4th through 6th graders from all LASD elementary schools.
Recycle Club
Contact: Diana Fontana
The Recycle club is open to all grades and gives students the opportunity to improve the environment in fun and interesting ways. Students can plan and participate in the Earth Day celebration, learn about composting and vermicomposting (composting kitchen scraps using wiggly red worms), and recycle plastic, aluminum, glass, printer cartridges, water filters, and more. The Recycle Club meets once a month during lunchtime.
Running Club
Contact: Linda Folkman
The Running Club meets M/W/F during lunch recess (12:00-12:45pm). Students run laps around Almond’s grass field. Students can set personal fitness goals using the total number of laps they complete.
Safety Patrol
Contact: Vanessa Jordan
Safety Patrol is a leadership program for 6th graders who greet students and parents as well as offering curbside help at morning drop off. Sign ups are per trimester and 5th graders have the opportunity to work Safety Patrol while the Sixth Graders are at Walden West.
Spring Musical
Contact: Kim Gavenman
Each year, students in grades 3 – 6 have the opportunity to participate in the Spring Musical. Auditions are held in January and students rehearse twice a week after school until the big show. They typically perform in two casts with four live performances for each cast. Parents of cast members are expected to volunteer some time to help with the production. This is a wonderful outlet for the creativity of students and parents alike!
Student Council
Contact: Tammy Kwok
Student council is a group of peer-elected students who represent the student body at Almond. With meetings twice a month, the members discuss school related issues including goals for the school and spirit day themes. Student council fosters leadership and responsibility. Elections are held twice a year for reps and officers.
Talent Show
In its 32nd year, the Almond Talent Show is the longest-running show in the Los Altos School District! Open to every Almond student, the show gives children an opportunity to share their unique talents with friends and family in a professional setting with state-of-the-art lighting, sound and staging technology. Showcasing a breadth of talent from solo instrumentals and group dance ensembles to martial arts and comedy skits, this production provides an encouraging environment where every child feels great about his or her performance.