Principal's Corner

Dear Families, December 2025

Happy winter holiday season! I hope you all are staying cozy. This month our equity theme is respect and our social studies unit is on religious diversity. Students are studying the many varied holidays celebrated in the winter months. 

Announcements:

Peninsula’s Family Night is Wednesday December 17th from 4 to 6 p.m. Join us for a basketball game, a potluck dinner together, and some surprises, too.

Peninsula is hosting another basketball game during our Dec 17th Family Night! This year we want to put a spin on it and have the teams be mixed, students & parents/guardians!

Please fill out this form  by December 8th if you are interested: https://forms.gle/pSts8YWYw2Wd1UY36

If there are more signups than spots, we will select randomly and let you know

If you are on a team either way. 

Peninsula Union School has a few days off coming up! 

Please note, we will be closed to students on the following days this month:

Early Release Friday, 12/19, at 1:40 p.m.

No School for Winter Break, 12/22 -1/2

School resumes January 5th, 2026

There will be no Winter Break Camp this year.

Food Pantry: 

Our food pantry still has food to share! Come get some to help make your winter break more delicious. 

Wellness Center News:

This winter, the Peninsula Wellness Center will begin conducting Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) Screenings with students ages 12 and older. The goal of this screening is to better understand and support the unique needs of each student and family in our community.

The ACEs screening is a confidential, trauma-informed conversation led by a trained Youth Intervention Specialist using the PEARLS (Pediatric ACEs and Related Life Events Screener) tool developed by UCSF. The screening asks about a range of life experiences that can impact health and wellbeing. Information shared through this process helps our team connect students and families to meaningful resources such as counseling, family support services, food and housing programs, and other local partners.

Screenings for students will begin this November. After the holiday season, we will also begin offering caregiver-led ACEs screenings for children under 12. These will be completed together with parents or guardians, either in person or over the phone.

We recognize that questions about past or current challenges can feel personal. Our approach ensures that every screening happens in a safe, private, and supportive setting, and all information is kept confidential in accordance with state and county privacy guidelines.

If you have questions about the ACEs Screening process or would like to learn more, please contact the Wellness Center by reaching our Program Director Vanessa Vrtiak at 707-382-4231.

Together, we’re building stronger, more connected pathways to health and healing for every student and family in our district.

Thank you for all you do to help us all succeed. Stay healthy and do your best for these next 12 days of school. Then have a wonderful break with your families, and we will see you in 2026!

Sincerely,

Principal Raven Coit

Peninsula Union School

707 443 2731

rcoit@peninsulasd.org

Sign up for text announcements from Principal Raven:

To receive text announcements and reminders, please 

Text: @mscoit25 

To: 81010

And follow the directions to sign up. Downloading the app is free!

After School Program

Our after school program is totally free and open to students TK through 8th grade. We serve supper and a snack for all students attending the program, and we are open until 5:30 p.m. Please pick up your students before 5:30 p.m. and be sure to sign them out on the clipboard. Please call us if you have any questions about the after school program.

Biking Safety at Peninsula

We LOVE it when students bike to and from school, and we need them to be safe. Specifically we need them to wear helmets. The ride to and from the apartments isn’t far…but it is dangerous for bicyclists:

• There is typically construction equipment & vehicles with limited visibility

• Unfortunately some folks drive too fast, even past our school

• The roads are damp most mornings making them slippery or they have debris

• We see how fast the kids get going down the hills…it wouldn’t take much for them to fly off their bike. 

A few stats from the Dept of Transportation:

• Each year almost 400,000 children ages 14 and under are treated in emergency rooms

for bicycle-related injuries.

• Universal bicycle helmet use by children ages 4 to 15 would prevent 39,000 to 45,000 head injuries, and 18,000 to 55,000 scalp and face injuries annually.

• Bicycle helmets are 85-88 percent effective in mitigating head and brain injuries, making the use of helmets the single most effective way to reduce head injuries and fatalities resulting from bicycle crashes.

• It is the law: “In California, if you are under the age of 18, you are required to wear an approved, properly fitted and fastened bicycle helmet.”

Here are ways we would like to support:

• If we see (or are told) that a child uses their helmet, they will receive one of our Golden Tickets for EVERY day that they use the helmet on their way to and from school.

• If you are in need of a helmet, we can support getting your child/children one! Just reach out to our office.

• If you can think of additional ways we can support helmet use, please tell us. 

Thank you for being a part of our school community. 

Sincerely,

Principal & Superintendent Raven Coit

Parenting Classes:

Parents in Training:

Love and Logic - directed for parents of all age children 

Contact Information - 707-443-1401

https://parentsintraining.org/

Humboldt County Office of Education:

Parent Project - directed for parents of adoloscent children

(Typically offered in the Spring)

Contact Person - Gillian Wadsworth 

(707) 445-7098

 GWadsworth@hcoe.org 

Arcata Police Department, Diversion Program: 

Parent Project - directed for parents of adoloscent children

Loving Solutions - directed for parents of 5-10 y.o. children

Contact Person - Crystal Perez, Cperez@arcatapd.org

Parenting Resources:

Changing Tides Family Services: 

Parent Cafes - Receive parenting tips and resources and share with other parents

Contact Person - Amanda Steinebach, 707-298-8358

https://www.changingtidesfs.org/community-resources/parent-resources

Manila Community Resource Center:

Contact Person:  Esther Hutton, 707-441-9771

https://www.hnfrc.org/