October 2025
Dear Families,
October is a long month in the school year filled with celebrations, activities, and awareness. This month we are still observing Latinx Heritage Month as well as Filipino American History Month. Our team continues to engage students in activities and learning about our communities and cultures. October is also Mental Health Awareness month. We continue to work with you all and your students to center their wellness, advocacy, and care with any difficult emotions they may have. We further have some updates and special events to look forward to below:
SOCCER
We have our first official Soccer game next Friday, October 17th at 11am. If any of your students are on the team, we invite you all to come to our game against James Baldwin Academy. The game will be held at Shorty Garcia Park, which is on 7th street near our school site.
COLD & FLU SEASON
As we enter cold and flu season, we want to remind everyone of the importance of keeping our school community healthy. If your child is not feeling well—especially if they have a fever—please keep them home to rest and recover.
We also encourage everyone to practice good hygiene by:
Washing hands frequently with soap and water
Covering coughs and sneezes with a tissue or elbow
Avoiding sharing drinks, food, or personal items
Thank you for helping us keep our students, staff, and families healthy during this season.
FAMILY/TEACHER CONFERENCES
The week of 10/20-10/24 students will have an early dismissal at 1:45 pm each day for family/teacher conferences. Teachers will be connecting with you to schedule a time to meet with them to discuss your students grades and academic progress.
SKATE CLUB FIELDTRIP
For students who are in skate club, Rob Skate Academy will be hosting a field trip at their indoor skate park on October 23rd in San Leandro. They will be providing our students with a one hour lesson for that day. Please be on the look out for a field trip for if your student is eligible to attend.
SPIRIT WEEK & HALLOWEEN
Spirit week will be the week of 10/27-10/31. Below is a list of the different days students can have fun and dress up with our team.
Monday: Pajama Day
Tuesday: Sports Day
Wednesday: Crazy Hair Day
Thursday: School Spirit Day
Friday: Halloween
On Halloween, we will have some fun activities for students to engage in and be in community together. If your student would like to dress up for Halloween and is need of help in getting a costume, please let someone on our team know and we can support them in getting one.
END OF THE QUARTER
The end of the quarter for our students is on 10/31. We encourage students to check their grades to make sure they are on track to pass their classes this quarter. We will also be holding our Quarter Assembly to give out three awards around Confidence, Compassion, and Community.
Please feel free to reach out to us if you have any questions about the events or updates coming up this month.
Thank you,
Grace Alvarez
Principal/Director
(510) 362-3602
grace_alvarez@senecacenter.org
Angelica Juarez
Assistant Director of Clinical Services
(510) 999-2874
angelica_juarez@senecacenter.org
Alden Hiller
Assistant Director of Transitional Services
(510) 496-9618
Mark Balleza
Assistant Director of Milieu Services
(510) 914-1630
Steve Moreno
Assistant Director of Educational Services
(510) 362-4624
steve_moreno@senecacenter.org
September 2025
Dear Families,
We have a couple of upcoming events this month and opportunities for your students. Please see the announcements below for further information.
BACK TO SCHOOL NIGHT
We would like to invite you all to our annual back to school night on September 17, 2025 from 5pm-7pm. We will have food, beverages, and a raffle for some gift cards for your attendance. This is an opportunity to learn more about our school and meet your student’s staff and teachers. If you would like to attend and need assistance with transportation, please connect with us and we can provide you transportation to the event. We hope you all can join us next week!
LATINX HERITAGE MONTH FIELDTRIP
Latinx Heritage month starts on September 15th and goes until October 15th. To kick off the celebration, students will have an opportunity to attend a field trip at Maya Angelou Academy for an Aztec performance on September 19th. Permission slips will be going out soon.
CLUBS
We have a few clubs this quarter and wanted to remind you all as your students have been engaging in them. This year we’re offering a chess club, weightlifting club, soccer club, music club, anime club, and a skating club led by Rob Skate Academy. In order for students to be able to attend clubs, they need to make sure they don’t have any after school time or relationship work. We’re excited this year for this opportunity for our students and are looking forward to possible field trips associated with each club.
SOCCER TEAM
We’re excited to announce that our Fall sport this year will be soccer. If your student is interested in joining the team, we encourage them to join the Soccer Club to let their coach know about their interest. Once we establish our team, we will start practice and let you all know when the games will be.
Again, we are excited to start off this school year with your support and collaboration with us. Please feel free to connect with anyone on our team if you have any questions about the announcements.
Thank you,
Grace Alvarez
Principal/Director
(510) 362-3602
grace_alvarez@senecacenter.org
Angelica Juarez
Assistant Director of Clinical Services
(510) 999-2874
angelica_juarez@senecacenter.org
Alden Hiller
Assistant Director of Transitional Services
(510) 496-9618
Mark Balleza
Assistant Director of Milieu Services
(510) 914-1630
Steve Moreno
Assistant Director of Educational Services
(510) 362-4624
steve_moreno@senecacenter.org