Welcome Back, Valencia Park Community!

We are so excited to kick off another amazing school year at Valencia Park Elementary!

This year, our theme is One Pride, One Purpose. As a school community, we are one pride, working together with one purpose: ensuring success for every Valencia Park Lion.

Throughout the year, you will see this theme reflected in everything we do. From strong classroom instruction and academic interventions to attendance, behavior support, and schoolwide activities, every effort is designed to help students reach their full potential. We believe that when students feel safe, connected, supported, and challenged, they are better able to learn and thrive.

Here are a few items to help all of our families and students start the school year strong:

Stay Connected

• To help everyone feel included and informed, we stay connected through our weekly newsletter, The Pride (shared via weekly email) and our school’s Instagram (@valenciaparklions) to stay updated on all the amazing things happening at Valencia Park! 
• Teachers communicate regularly through weekly newsletters, ClassDojo, Google Classroom, Seesaw, email, phone calls, chats at drop off and pick up, and hard-copy notes sent home in your child’s folder or backpack. 
• Visit our school website often—it’s a valuable resource all year long. We invite you to share feedback anytime through our Feedback Form, which is linked at the top of every edition of The Pride newsletter.
• Join our school calendar HERE (all events are also posted on our website, marquee, and The Pride)

New School Office Hours

Beginning this school year, our school office will have new business hours.

Office Hours:
Monday–Friday
7:30 a.m. – 3:30 p.m.

We encourage families to plan school business, including student check-ins/check-outs, attendance questions, and other office needs, during these hours. Thank you for your cooperation as we continue to provide the best service to our students and families.

Encore and State Preschool

ENCORE programming is completely separate from Valencia Park programming. Students who attend ENCORE after school (any of our three programs) will go directly there with ENCORE staff after their school day has concluded. Have questions or issues with anything ENCORE related? Please contact Rocio Contreras, our Site Coordinator at: rocio_contreras@myfsd.org or at 714-943-1452. The office staff cannot call children out of programs, as we are on a different radio frequency.

 

State Preschool programming is completely separate from Valencia Park programming. Have questions or issues with anything State Preschool related? Please contact Maria Alarcon, our Lead Teacher at: maria_alarcon@myfsd.org. Please check out at the gate by scanning the QR code. A notification will be sent to your child's classroom teacher. When your child is ready, they will be accompanied to the gate by a member of the Preschool team. Call our Preschool team at 657-243-2142 if it is after 3:30 P.M. 

Be Involved

We also encourage families to join our fantastic PTA, which organizes many of the fun and enriching activities our students enjoy throughout the year. Come join us on the second Tuesday of each month at 8:30am for food and fun! Becoming a member doesn’t require any volunteer hours—just your support and engagement. PTA Membership includes great discounts to local places and free entrance to our many fun PTA family nights. Thanks so much to our 2026–27 Valencia Park PTA Executive Board:

• President: Maria Lupita Galvan Montoya
• Executive Vice President: Berenice Galicia
• Vice President: Chris Kawagiwa
• Recording Secretary: Nadia Carmona
• Treasurer: Vanessa Martinez
• Financial Secretary: Kenia Jimenez
• Historian: Isabella Villa
• Auditor: Vacant
• Parliamentarian: Vacant

We hope to fill our last two PTA Board positions at our first PTA meeting on August 11 at 8:30am in the MPR. Please use this link to Join Valencia Park’s PTA. 

We’re also proud to be part of the Community Schools Program, which brings students, staff, and families together to strengthen our school. As we grow this partnership, we want to hear from you—your feedback helps shape the support and services we provide. We have meetings and activities throughout the year and families and students are invited!

Families are also invited to participate in two important school advisory groups. While our School Site Council (SSC) membership is currently full, all community members are welcome to attend meetings and provide input as non-voting participants. SSC meetings will be held from 3:00–4:00 p.m. in the MPR on September 10, 2026; October 15, 2026; February 11, 2027; and April 8, 2027.

Our English Learner Advisory Committee (ELAC) welcomes all families, especially families of English learners. ELAC officers (who must be parents/guardians of English learners) are elected annually, and we encourage interested parents to get involved. ELAC meetings will be held from 8:30–9:30 a.m. in the MPR on August 25, 2026; October 6, 2026; January 26, 2027; and March 23, 2027.

We hope you'll join us as we work together to make Valencia Park the best it can be for our Lions!

Feel Belonging

At Valencia Park, student safety—both physical and emotional—is our top priority. Our positive school culture is guided by PBIS (Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports) and the Valencia Park LION Expectations:

These expectations are taught at the start of the year and consistently reinforced. Students earn Pride Cards for positive behavior, which they can use at our Student Store or enter into prize drawings, each held every other week. We welcome your partnership in reinforcing these values at home. 

Upcoming Events

We’re excited for an amazing year ahead and can’t wait to grow, learn, and celebrate together.

With Lion Heart and Pride,

Melanie Carmona, Principal & Susan Ha, Assistant Principal