Welcome to the 2025-26 School Year

A letter to families from Principal Delarosa regarding important information for the start of the new school year.

August 7, 2025

Hello Castlemont Families,

Welcome to the 2025-26 school year! We are so excited to be starting the year with all of you. Whether your child is a 5th grader starting their seventh year as a Castlemont Dragon or they will be arriving on August 20th for their first day of school, we have a great year in store for you. Perhaps it sounds immodest, but Castlemont is a special place, and our staff and students are the BEST. 

The following is long, but please give it a careful read…

Classroom Assignments will be available on ParentSquare after 4:00pm on August 19th.

8/13  TK / Kindergarten Roundup

• 8:30 ~ 11:30 

• TK and Kindergarten families will receive a letter from our TK/Kindergarten teachers with an appointment time for a short student assessment. If you are unable to attend the appointment, your child will be assessed after school starts. 

• If you do not receive a letter by August 11th, please give our office a call at                    (408)364-4233. 

8/20   First Day of School 

• 8:20 -1:30/1:35

• This is a Wednesday, so we will be on our typical shortened day schedule. 

• We will have our “red carpets” and welcome music at each of our entry gates. Have your phones ready for the photo op!

• 8:30am: TK and Kindergarten parents/caretakers are invited to attend an informational welcome meeting with our principals in our Multi-Use room. 

• Staff will be stationed around campus to help you find your classroom. 

8/22  Annual Back-to-School Family Picnic

• 4:00-6:00pm

• We hope you will join us for this informal, old-fashioned picnic.

Bring your own snack or picnic dinner to the Castlemont field. As always, free popsicles will be provided to all children present. (Fingers crossed for fewer geese this year.)

• Please note that there is no cost for this event! Just come to the field with a blanket or folding chairs and meet other families while our children enjoy some unstructured play time.

8/27  Back-to-School Night

• 5:30pm - TBD

IMPORTANT NOTE: For the safety of our students, please help us limit potential chaos at drop-off and pick-up times by observing the following:

• Unless you have a handicap placard, parking lots are for our staff only (there are a lot of us) and not for drop-off or pick-up. Please park at the curb if you are driving and walking your child onto campus. 

Three Morning Drop-Off Locations

Do Not Leave Your Car Unattended or Park In These Zones

• We have three drop-off areas that are staffed to help unload your children from your vehicle and to keep traffic moving. They are located: 

• Payne Ave-- near the staff parking lot. (This is a morning drop-off area only. 

• Barkwood Ave--  near the crosswalk.

• Castlemont Ave-- parking loop. 

• Bus Zone

• Barkwood Ave. between the drop-off area and the corner of Barkwood and Castlemont Ave. NO PARKING in this area, not even for a short time.

• Crosswalks

• If you park across the street from school, please walk to the nearest crosswalk to cross the street. It takes just a moment of inattentiveness for an accident to happen, and we are trying to teach our children important safety habits.

Two After School Pick-Up Locations

Do Not Leave Your Car Unattended or Park In These Zones

• We have two vehicle pick-up areas. If you arrive before your student has walked out to meet you, please park elsewhere until they arrive.  The pick-up areas only work safely and efficiently when we are able to load students into cars and keep the line moving. 

• Barkwood Ave--  near the crosswalk.

• Castlemont Ave-- parking loop. 

Adults picking up TK-1st grade students typically meet at their classroom door.

Getting Involved-- Volunteering and Community Opportunities at Castlemont

There are many ways to become involved at Castlemont. We need you! Volunteering and attending school-related events are important ways to connect with other families. Here is a list opportunities:

• Home and School Club

• Evening meetings via Zoom once a month

• Fundraising for our classrooms, field trips for each grade level, and monthly schoolwide assemblies

• In charge of our annual Jogathon and Spring Carnival

• Sells school spiritwear

• Volunteer jobs big and small, on and off-campus 

• ELAC (English Language Advisory Committee)

• In-person meetings four-five times a year

• Provides input into our school funding priorities

• In charge of our annual Día de los Muertos and Día del Niños celebrations

• Other volunteer opportunities

• School Site Council

• We have one parent/adult caregiver position open this year

• Monthly meetings via Zoom or in-person

• Provides approval of our school’s Comprehensive Safety Plan

• Provides input into our school funding priorities

• Provides approval of our Local Control Accountability Plan (LCAP)

• Library Volunteers

• A variety of flexible times

• No prior experience needed

• Check books in and out

• Shelving

• Other library tasks

• Garden Familia
• We have a large garden area at Castlemont
• Family volunteers keep our garden and classroom projects going
• Regular weekend garden work parties

Please bookmark our school website to be connected to our school information:

https://castlemont.campbellusd.org/ 

We are looking forward to seeing you soon!

Sincerely yours,

Kristen Kimoto Delarosa

Principal