CHAC/FIRST 5 Presents: Your
April Overview
Greetings
Families, Partners, and LTI Community
The old saying goes,
“April showers bring May flowers,” and we’re all hoping for lots of rain this
month. Many children are on Spring Break this month and our classes are closed
in line with the school breaks (Mountain View 4/6 – 4/10, Sunnyvale & Cupertino
4/13 – 4/17). We still have many great activities and hope to see you soon!
Here’s this month’s news
You can Support Your Family Resource Center
CHAC is in the process
of applying for a new round of funding with FIRST 5 for our Family Resource
Center Program. Our current agreement is scheduled to end on June 30. You can
help by letting FIRST 5 know how much this program has meant to you. We have a draft
of a letter that you can sign to show your support of CHAC’s four centers:
Mercy Street (Mountain View), Escuela (Mountain View), Vargas (Sunnyvale) and
Canon (Cupertino).
In addition to the
priorities that FIRST 5 has for our centers, our communities also have their
own ideas about what we need and want at our centers. Last year, FIRST 5 hosted
focus groups to hear what your priorities are and will be making some
adjustments where possible within the scope of their services.
We as a community have enhanced
FIRST 5 funded offerings based on community demand. For example, we host more classes of Play and Learn in various languages to continue engaging currently participating families and recruiting several new families, and continue the high quality skills training of our volunteers. We offer
unique, innovative classes, like Science Kids, Children’s Art Studio, and
Family Stressbusters for a cost far below market rate. We support community
partners, like the school districts, with free help registering children for Kindergarten,
and more.
Should our bid for the
next 3-year contract with FIRST 5 be successful, we hope to continue to
collaborate with you on activities that matter to you most. With supplemental
funding, we can do many exciting things together.
Announcing: Spring Family Fun Day
Cost: $5 per child, paid
at the door or to CHAC/FIRST 5 staff.
Register here: http://bit.ly/1D80wSS
by April 24.
Contact us for more
information: 650-967-4813 or email to mercystreetfrc@gmail.com
Washington Park: 840
Washington Ave, Sunnyvale.
Meet in the community
room. Activities start promptly at 10:30am
Let’s Get Moooving in Cupertino!
Where: Wilson Park in
Cupertino (
Cost: $5 per child
Potter the Otter to Visit Mercy Street FRC!
Science Kids at Mercy Street – UPDATE
Science Kids is returning to Vargas FRC in May, with a 4-week sessions. The class will be taught in Spanish. This popular class is sure to fill up, so please register today. Science Kids is a class for science exploration for preschoolers by Aliza Savransky. Includes basics of numbers, shapes & colors; the world around us; science skills: measuring and more.
Class is designed for
children ages 3-5 years old. Siblings who are younger than 3 are not allowed.
Class is on FRIDAYS from 9:30am - 11:00am
Required orientation 5/15, class 5/22 – 6/12 (4 weeks)
Registration is
required. Please register at: http://bit.ly/1hLoh2b
$20 for 4 weeks ($5/class), if you pay by the orientation.
For questions, please
call (650) 967-4813 or email mercystreetfrc@gmail.com
More Spring Family Events From Our Partners
Now is the time to get
back outside and have some fun with the whole family. Here is a list of fun
festivals and events coming up from our Community Partners
Mountain View
- Concerts on the Plaza – Friday, April 3 and May 1, 6:00pm – 7:00pm – 500 Castro Street (Civic Center) The Community Service Department proudly presents Concerts on the Plaza! The concert series will take place on the first Friday of the month on April through September from 6:00 PM to 7:30 PM. Join your friends and neighbors and bring your blanket or lawn chair down to the Civic Center Plaza for a variety of musical performances. IN addition to the music, there will be food trucks, a “Pop Up Park” area for children and adults, beer and wine.
- 37th Annual Spring Family Parade – Saturday, April 25, 12:00pm – 3:00pm. The City of Mountain View Recreation Division presents the 37th Annual Family Parade! The parade will begin on Castro Street at Villa Street at noon and continue into Pioneer Park for crafts, music, food, games and information about camps and classes the Mountain View Recreation Division will be offering this summer. If you or your group would like to have a great time and participate in the parade, please check their website for more information and registration deadlines at www.mountainview.gov/parade or call (650) 903-6331.
Sunnyvale
- Fit ‘n Fun Earth Day Fair – Saturday April 25, 10:00am-3:00pm at Columbia Neighborhood Center. Health and Nutrition, Exhibits, Games, Music, Stunts, Sports Clinic, Kids Activities. For more information call (408) 730-7800
- 26th Annual Sunnyvale Library Storytelling Festival – Saturday, April 25, 2:00pm-4:00pm at the Sunnyvale Library. Stories from around the world told by a variety of storytellers.
Cupertino
- Big Bunny 5k - April 4, 2015, 9:00 am, Cupertino Civic Center. The Big Bunny 5k brings members of the entire Cupertino community together to kick-off the start of Spring. The Recreation and Community Services Department looks forward to seeing you and your family as the community takes a step forward for health and fitness. Pre-registration is required on-line or at the Quinlan Community Center. For more information and to register, please go to:www.bigbunny5k.com.
- Earth Day & Healthy Communities Festival - April 11, 2015, 11:00 am-3:00 pm. This annual event is held at Cupertino Civic Center, 10300 Torre Ave. For more information, please call the City of Cupertino Sustainability Division at (408) 777-3200.
- Holi (Festival of Colors) – April 11, 2015, Memorial Park, Time TBA. This is a new event. Further information TBA at http://cupertino.org/index.aspx?page=94
- The Cherry Blossom Festival - April 25 & 26, 2015, 10:00 am-5:00 pm, Memorial Park
The Cherry Blossom Festival, honoring Cupertino's sister city of Toyokawa, Japan, is an annual event held at Memorial Park each April. This event offers a wide selection of Japanese food and beverages, entertainment, demonstrations, cultural exhibits, art, crafts and clothing for sale. All-day entertainment takes place in the park amphitheater.
The festival benefits the non-profit Cupertino Sister City Committee, which promotes friendship and student exchange programs between the two cities. Local non-profit organizations that support services for disadvantaged youth, sports, music and language programs will have booths to raise funds for their groups.
For further information about the Cherry Blossom Festival, contact Asif Kausar, festival coordinator, at (408) 940-5287. You can also visit their website at www.cupertinotoyokawa.org.May
- Cupertino Day - May 2, 2015, 10:00 am-6:00 pm, Blackberry Farm. This annual event celebrates the reopening of Blackberry Farm for the season. Please see Blackberry Farm's web page for more information.
- 20th Annual Bike to Work Day - May 7, 2015 (Tentative). This annual event is sponsored by the Cupertino Bicycle Pedestrian Commission and the Cupertino Library. An Energizer station will be set up in front of the Quinlan Community Center from 6:30 a.m. to 9:00 a.m., offering food and beverages to participants. Please click here for more information.
- World Journal Festival - May 9 & 10, 2015, 10:00 am-6:00 pm, Cupertino Senior Center. For more information, please visit www.worldjournal.com or call Peter Ho at (650) 259-2045.
This month, we’d like to thank the behind the
scenes, non-FRC staff at each of our sites, especially: Joel Wood, the board of
trustees for Trinity & Los Altos United Methodist Church, and Pastor
Michael Love at Mercy Street Family Resource Center; Kim Castro, The City of
Mountain View and the Learning Links staff at our Escuela site; May and Ping
Chen, and their staff at Canon Music School; Principal Annette Grasty, Nancy Rodriguez
and the administrative & janitorial staff at Vargas Elementary; Michele Wilson
and Keith Moody at MVLA Adult Ed; Pam Crider and Michael Dines at Calabazas
Library; Laura Gonzales at Fremont Union
High School District; and Kathleen Heagney at YMCA in Cupertino. Without each
of you, we could not do all we do.
THANK YOU!
Donations
We very much appreciate all of you who kindly
give us gently used clothing, supplies and toys for our classrooms. In order to make sure that we have adequate
space and good use for your donations, please call us first at (650) 967-4813 before
bringing your donations to our centers.
Thank you!
If you would like to make a donation for
supplies, our Amazon Wish List is on the side bar. Monetary donations can be directed
to Program Director Maddi Pascua, made out to CHAC and mailed to: 748 Mercy
Street, Mountain View, CA 94041
Holidays
and Scheduled Closings:
Here is a list of
upcoming days we will be closed and class cancelations. Please watch our
calendars for unexpected closings, such as teacher illness.
April
6 – 10
|
Spring
Break in Mountain View – Office hours only, no classes at Mercy Street or
Escuela
|
April
13 – 17
|
Spring
Break in Cupertino No classes at Vargas Elementary or Canon Music School
|
May
25
|
Closed
for Memorial Day (all centers)
|
Volunteers Needed! Do you have a few hours a week you that you can spare? Do you want to give back to your community? Do you want to make an impact in the lives of young children and their families? Do you want to expand your knowledge of early childhood development? Come join our team. If you are interested and/or want more information on our fabulous volunteer program, please send an email to Nancy Doan at nancydoan5@gmail.com. Thanks for considering – the success of our program depends on Volunteers! Together we make the difference.
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Feedback: Do you have comments that you would like to send the staff? Please send us a note to:mercystreetfrc@gmail.com
