As we wrap up another week filled with enriching activities, we wanted to express our sincere gratitude to each and every student for your enthusiastic participation in Kindness Week. Kindness Week allowed us to witness the incredible impact of small acts of kindness, creating a warm and inclusive environment for both students and staff. Students came together to celebrate kindness, demonstrate compassion, express gratitude, and actively showcase their LOVE in various uplifting ways. Kindness Week is a wonderful example of how our students can learn and demonstrate the importance of compassion and empathy in our daily lives. Your active participation allowed us to earn the recognition of a Kindness Certified School!
Congratulations to all our Sotomayor students who represented their classrooms in our school speech contest! Students shared powerful and creative speeches as part of the 2026 CVESD Contest prompt of, “What makes a strong community?“. Sotomayor is proud of all our participants!
This year’s winners of Sotomayor’s Speech Contest are Avary Abalos, Elaine Xie, and Aria Janus, who will move on to compete in our district speech contest later this month! We are incredibly proud of their accomplishments and wish them the best of luck.
Kids Heart Challenge
We did it! Another big thank you for supporting Our Kids Heart Challenge and its culminating event this past week! Our fundraiser culminated on Sunday, February 2nd and raised $6,979.79 for the American Heart Association, way to go Snowy Owls!
Since we surpassed our fundraising goal of $6,500, we will get to slime our principals, Dr. Garza and Dr. Storch, at an upcoming assembly! Thank you to all students who completed Finn’s Mission and for becoming a community of heart savers!
Snowy Owl Expectation Focus
Our goal at Sonia Sotomayor Elementary School is to create and maintain a positive and safe learning environment for all and hold students accountable for being positive forces within our school community. The Snowy Owl Expectations are taught, modeled, and practiced throughout all grade levels and locations around campus. For the next week, we will continue to focus and reinforce the expected behaviors for restrooms. We appreciate your support in asking your Snowy Owls at home what specific behaviors allow them to be safe, respectful, responsible, and kind at restrooms.
Day with the Chef
Our district chef will be back to prepare a fresh, made from scratch lunch item to serve to our Snowy Owls on Thursday, February 5th. He will be preparing penne pasta in a marinara sauce with meatballs for lunch and a cucumber tomato salad offered as a side option.
We will still offer the other normal choices that are on our lunch menu. We look forward to this fun and delicious opportunity for our Snowy Owl students!
February is Half Price Museum Month
Get 50% off admission to more than 70 San Diego County museums and cultural institutions during San Diego Museum Month in February. There’s so much to see at San Diego museums, historic sites, gardens, zoos, aquariums, and more and the San Diego Museum Council (SDMC) is making it easy for everyone to visit their favorites and discover some new gems by offering half-price admission Feb. 1st to 28th.
Visit the SDMC website for a complete list of participating locations and restrictions. Pick up a pass at more than 80 public libraries in San Diego County or download a pass from the SDMC webpage.
LEAD
LEAD Spring Academy Registration opens Friday February 6th at 6 PM! To ensure a smooth registration process, I recommend creating your Jumbula account before you register. You can create your account using this link: LEAD Academy
If you have any questions about LEAD Academy, please email amanda.wallace@cvesd.org
English Learner Proficiency Assessment for California (ELPAC) Summative Testing Begins
ELPAC Testing (English Language Proficiency Assessment for California) starts this week for students who are identified that English is not their primary language. We will begin with one-on-one testing and complete the bulk of the testing later this month. Click on the links below for parent resources and links to the ELPAC Practice Tests.
Open Enrollment Starts this Month
Whether your student is in transitional kindergarten through 6th grade or a returning student, you can register them for the upcoming year. Select district charter schools also accept grades 7th through 12th grade registrations.
Open Enrollment for the 2026-27 school year will open on February 11th, 2026, at 9 AM. online and Continuing Enrollment for the 2026-27 school year will be May 26th – June 16th.
YMCA 2025-26 Annual Fundraising Campaign
Embrace the spirit of generosity this month by joining hands with the Sotomayor YMCA. Together, we can unlock the power of positive change and support an organization that breathes life into our community.
Your generosity can be the spark that lights up the path to a brighter, stronger community. Give joy, hope, and the gift of making a difference with the Sotomayor YMCA!
Sotomayor YMCA 2025-26 Annual Fundraiser Donation Link
YMCA Programs
We’re excited to share several upcoming opportunities from our partners at the South Bay Family YMCA, designed to support families, provide enriching experiences for children, and give parents some well-deserved flexibility.
💕 Parents’ Night Out – February 13, 2026
Looking for a worry-free evening? The South Bay Family YMCA is hosting a Parents’ Night Out where children ages 3–12 can enjoy a fun-filled night of games, activities, and a movie while parents enjoy time out.
🕓 4:45 PM – 8:00 PM
🍕 Snacks and pizza provided
🚽 Children must be potty trained
💲 $25 per child (membership discounts available)
🌸 Spring Break Day Camp 2026
Make spring break memorable with YMCA Spring Day Camp! Campers will enjoy a full week of arts and crafts, sports, games, and opportunities to make new friends in a safe, engaging environment.
📅 March 23–27 and March 30–April 3
🕢 7:30 AM – 5:00 PM
📍 Locations include Veterans Elementary School and the YMCA Teen Center
💙 Scholarships and financial assistance are available
🛍️ Drop & Shop Child Care
Need time to run errands or do some shopping in peace? Drop & Shop offers supervised care with fun activities for children ages 3–12.
📅 February 14 & 21
🕘 9:00 AM – 12:00 PM
📍 South Bay Child Watch Room
🍎 Snacks provided
💲 $25 per child (membership discounts available)
For more information or to register, please visit ymcasd.org/southbay or ymcasd.org/southbaycamp. These programs are a wonderful resource for families in our school community—we encourage you to take advantage of them!
2025-26 LCAP Survey
The Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) includes a base, supplemental, and concentration grant. Part of the LCFF is the requirement for school districts to create a Local Control and Accountability Plan (LCAP) that lists goals, defines outcomes, details actions, and tracks expenditures to support positive student outcomes that address state and local priorities.
The LCAP provides an opportunity for CVESD to share our story on how, what, and why programs and services are selected to meet our local needs. From January 27 through March 31, 2026, CVESD is conducting our annual survey to gather your input on our Local Control and Accountability Plan, or LCAP, which will shape the district’s goals and guide our budgeting priorities for the remaining year of our 3-year plan. We want to hear from our families, students, staff, and community members.
English: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/WWLP67W
Spanish: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/Q5FZGSN
2026-2027 School Calendar
The 2026-2027 school calendar is here! We have included important dates for the 2026-27 school year. Please plan all fun family events during our school breaks so students are at school every day. Remember we are on a modified year around school calendar. School starts July 22, 2026!
Key breaks include:
- Student Start Date: July 22, 2026
- Student End Date: June 4, 2027
- Fall Break: September 21 – October 2, 2026
- Thanksgiving Break: November 23 – November 27, 2026
- Winter Break: December 21, 2026 – January 11, 2027
- Spring Break: March 22 – April 2, 2027
Sonia Sotomayor Elementary School 