Character Counts Antelope Hills Elementary School

Antelope Hills Elementary School
Character
Achievement
Respect
Excellence
Preston Fairchild, Principal
Francie Zarate, Assistant Principal
December 2013
Antelope Hills
Elementary School, 36105 Murrieta Oaks East, Murrieta, CA 92562
Phone: (951) 445-4110
Fax: (951) 304-1871
www.murrieta.k12.ca.us/antelope
Character Counts
In April of 1980, I moved out to California with my family from Maryland. It was the end
of my 8th grade year and I was really nervous and unsure of what lay ahead. I remember that
first day at my new school and being surrounded by hundreds of kids in the halls that were
complete strangers. After four periods, the thing I dreaded most was next…lunch. Now if you
have ever been a new student to a junior high or middle school, you can remember the empty
feeling you had having to sit at lunch in unfamiliar surroundings alone for what seemed like an
eternity.
After a while of sitting there by myself eating, I noticed a guy walking over to me. He
didn’t look very imposing, but I figured he was probably sent over, or coming over, to cause me
some grief. I remembered seeing this guy in my history class earlier and began to get a little more
nervous wondering what was going to happen. He stopped right in front of me, introduced
himself and asked me if I wanted to join him and his friends at their table. I was a little hesitant,
but took him up on his offer. He introduced me to his friends and from that day on, we all ate
lunch together. That guy and I became classmates, teammates, and best friends. He was my Best
Man and I was his. He became a teacher, as did I. I moved into administration and so did he. To
top it all off, our wives are great friends and our kids call each other best friends.
Too often in life, we pass up opportunities to extend a hand or offer help to others. We
hardly know our neighbors and no longer try to make new friends, content to be happy with the
ones we have. I always ask myself, what would have happened if my buddy would have never
had the guts to come over and speak to me that April day? How different would things have
been? Caring is one of the six pillars of character that we all need to have in order to be a person
of good character. Give it a try. You just might find that your life really could manage to squeeze
in one more friend.
Remember…no matter where or when….character counts!
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Mr. Fairchild, Principal
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December - Respect - Color Yellow
December 2, 2013
Early Release Monday
December 2 – 6, 2013
Temecula Traveling Museum (library)
December 3, 2013
December 6, 2013
AHES Spelling Bee 8:30
Friday Flag Salute First Grade 8:30 WEAR YELLOW
December 9, 2013
December 9, 2013
AWARDS - SDC 10:30 MPR
Early Release Monday
December 10, 2013
AWARDS 1st Grade 2:10 MPR
December 10, 2013
Family Story Time 6:30 Library
December 11, 2013
AWARDS 4th Grade 2:15 MPR
December 12, 2013
December 12, 2013
Lunch with the Principal Day
AWARDS 3rd Grade 8:45 MPR
December 12, 2013
AWARDS 2nd Grade 2:15 MPR
December 12, 2013
Winter Band Concert 7pm MPR
December 13, 2013
AWARDS and Honor Roll 5th Grade 2:10 MPR
December 13, 2013
December 16 – 18, 2013
Friday Flag Salute 8:30 Ramer– WEAR YELLOW
Fifth Grade Trip to Pathfinder Ranch
December 16 – 20, 2013
ALL KINDERGARTEN comes 8:30-11:55 * all week
December 16, 2013
Early Release Monday
December 18, 2013
December 19, 2013
Kindergarten Annual Christmas Show MPR/QUAD 4:00
Honor Roll Awards - 4th Grade 1:30 MPR
December 20, 2013
Early Release Day * Pajama Day
December 20, 2013
Friday Flag Salute 8:30
Winter Vacation December 23rd – January 13th
Save your box tops and support our school!!
Drop off box located in the Library
Antelope Hills Library Loves Donations
Of books, DVD’s and VCR movies
Next Library Night is December 10th at 6:30
Start saving your used shoes
NOW for our cash 4 shooz drive
January 2014
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A Huge Antelope Thank You
To Jersey Mike’s
For their Awesome Support
And Wonderful Donation!!!
Healthy School Smarts for Parents
He lp ke e p y our ch ild le ar n in g an d g r ow in g t h r oug h out t h e sch ool y e ar . Follow t h e se f our t ip s.
1 . Pr act ice b ackp ack saf e t y .
 A b ackp ack sh o u ld n ever h o ld m o r e t h an w h at ’s eq u al t o 10 t o 20 p er cen t o f yo u r ch ild ’s t o t al w eig h t . If
yo u r ch ild h as m o r e t o car r y, co n sid er a r o llin g b ackp ack in st ead .
 Ch o o se a b ackp ack w it h w id e sh o u ld er st r ap s t h at ar e w ell -p ad d ed .
 Teach yo u r ch ild t o u se b o t h sh o u ld er st r ap s an d t ig h t en t h e p ack so it ’s clo se t o h is o r h er b o d y.
2 . Make t im e f or r e st .
 Do n ’t o ver sch ed u le yo u r ch ild ’s d ay . Allo w f o r u n st r u ct u r ed p layt im e.
 Set a r eg u lar b ed t im e f o r yo u r ch ild , an d f o llo w it o n w eeken d s as w ell as w eekd ays.
 Cr eat e a calm in g b ed t im e r o u t in e, su ch as r ead in g o r list en in g t o so f t m u sic.
3 . Lim it scr e e n t im e .
 Keep t h e TV o f f d u r in g m eals.
 Do n ’t allo w vid eo g am es, TVs, o r co m p u t er s in yo u r ch ild ’s b ed r o o m .
 Ch o o se a d ay f o r t h e w h o le f am ily t o g o scr een -f r ee an d d o so m et h in g act ive t o g et h er in st ead , su ch as
p layin g t ag o r t akin g a w alk.
4 . Ch oose h e alt h y f ood s.
 Keep yo u r kit ch en an d t h e kid s’ lu n ch b o xes st o cked w it h h ealt h y f o o d s. Lo w -f at yo g u r t , w h o le-gr ain
b r ead , f r esh f r u it , h u m m u s, p ean u t b u t t er , car r o t st icks, st r in g ch eese, an d air -p o p p ed p o p co r n ar e gr eat
o p t io n s.

Lim it ju n k f o o d , in clu d in g so f t d r in ks, ch ip s, an d b aked g o o d s.
A huge Antelope Hills thank you
to Bonnie Plants for their wonderful
cabbage plant donation for 3rd Grade!!!
Bonnie Plants (951)331-9449
www.bonnieplants.com
DO YOU SHOP AT TARGET?
We would like to encourage as many parents as possible to link their Target Red
debit card to Antelope Hills!!! Target donates 1% of what you spend back to our
awesome school!!! It is super easy to add our school, just click on the link below and
choose Antelope Hills.
https://www-secure.target.com/redcard/tcoe/enroll
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Important Attendance Matters
Parents and students, please help us maximize instructional time with no tardies or
interruptions!
Our entire staff is committed to meeting the academic needs of ALL students. Help us by getting
to school on time, and by not leaving early.
Our gates open at 8:15 for supervised play and 8:10 for breakfast in the MPR. School starts for
AM Kindergarten and grades 1st – 5th at 8:30. Don’t wait until the last minute as our traffic
increases at 8:15. This includes PM Kindergarten at 11:20. Our school policy is to not interrupt
classrooms with messages during the day. Please try to avoid checking your student out early, as
we try not to disturb the classrooms after 2:30.
Thanks for your help! Together we make Antelope Hills an incredible school!!!
Mr. Fairchild and Mrs. Zarate
Antelope Hills PTA Email
[email protected]
5% Back to School Program AHES School ID #70209549 * All
Parents and Staff purchases made at Office Depot using the AHES ID
gives back to our school with rewards credits   
Good news about health coverage!!! Now, more children and
teens qualify for free or low-cost medical, dental, vision care
coverage programs. Forms available in the office.
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Food Pantry at AHES
Hello Antelope Hills Families,
We appreciate your continued support of our school and generosity for those who are
having difficulty during these economic we times. I wanted to remind all families that
our school Food Pantry (sponsored by Oakstone Community Church) is open and
available to families who may be struggling. The pantry is open on school days from
9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. If you would like to get items from the pantry, please stop by the
office during these hours
Make room in your closet
and help Antelope Hills at the same time
Donate / Shop whatever you need WIN!!! WIN!!!
School Stitch could be a pretty big deal for Antelope Hills Elementary, and we want to
start things off with a bang. So we're offering early access to the site, free shipping on
your first order, $100 of clothes on us * Request a bag and fill it with gently-used
children's clothes. UPS will pick up your bag, free of charge, and Schoola will sort and
sell the clothes, and give up to 40% of the proceeds to Antelope Hills Elementary.
Boom. Check out the website it is VERY COOL!!!!
http://schoola.com/stitch/antelope-hills-elementary-murrieta-ca
Regular Day Hours
8:30 - 11:55 Early Bird Kindergarten
8:30 - 2:45
Grades 1-5
11:20 - 2:45 Late Bird Kindergarten
Early Release Days
8:30 - 11:35 Early Bird Kindergarten
8:30 - 1:40 Grades 1 - 3
8:30 - 1:50
Grades 4 - 5
10:35 - 1:40 Late Bird Kindergarten
School Lunch
You can prepay for school meals and
access your child’s meal account on-line
Visit www.MySchoolBucks.com
Reminder it takes 24 hours for any payment to process.
Lunch $2.25 * Breakfast $1.50
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Antelope Hills Drop off and Pick-up
Morning Drop Off - Please use the main loop by the school office for drop off. School starts
promptly at 8:30 a.m. Students arriving after this time will be marked tardy. The small Bus
Loop (north lot) is only for buses and those with special permits. Vehicles and pedestrians
using this loop must have a special permit.
Afternoon Pick Up – Please pick up students using the main loop in front of the school office.
Obey all traffic laws and respect school procedures and policies. The main parking lot is
chained off at 2:40 each day so if you would like to park in the lot, please arrive before that
time and park only in designated parking spots. Students need to be picked up at the curb in
the loop, or walked to their vehicle by an adult. All parents picking up their children at
dismissal in the front parking lot in a vehicle will need to wait in the actual car loop line or
park in an actual parking spot. Vehicles will no longer be able to wait in a second line in the
parking lot. This small line of cars is blocking vehicles from getting out, as well as blocking
handicapped spots, and leading to problems for all of us. So again, if you are waiting in your
vehicle for a student at dismissal, you must be in the car loop line or a parking spot. The
small Bus Loop (north lot) requires a special permit. We realize that pick up time can be
stressful, especially when you are picking up at multiple schools and we appreciate your
continued patience and support to help keep our students safe. If you have any questions,
please call the school at 445-4110.
Thank you!
The Birthday Book Program
Our Birthday Book donation is an optional program for students, staff members, family members or
community members to donate a book to the library on or near their birthday. The Donors will be
recognized at Friday Flag Salute and the book will be placed in the library with a special label inside
stating who donated the book and the special date of donation.
This is a great way to wish a student a very special birthday and provide a gift to the school that will
be enjoyed by many children for years to come. 
Any questions please contact our Librarian, Mrs. Lee @ 445-4110 ext 3388
Free or low-cost medical, dental and vision care
forms available in the school office
Or Call 1-888-747-1222
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