The San Ramon Valley Unified School District is warning parents about two apparently unrelated incidents over the last few days in which men approached young girls near school grounds and tried to talk to them.

One occurred at Hidden Valley Park near Hidden Hills Elementary School, while the other took place near the corner of Bollinger Canyon Road and Crow Canyon Road, near the elementary school there and, coincidentally, not far from the San Ramon police station.

Terry Koehne, the district's community relations director, has drafted a letter to be sent out by principals, which reads:

"The district has received information about two separate and seemingly unrelated incidents within the past few days, and I wanted to pass this information on to you... Both incidents were reported by parents to local school principals. One occurred near Bollinger Canyon Elementary School, the other near Hidden Hills Elementary School. Both were similar situations - a man in a parked car who rolled his window down and began talking to a young girl. One of the parents reported that the man asked the girl to get into the car. Both incidents were reported to local police.

We bring this to your attention as another reminder to please talk to your children about being aware of their surroundings and to talk to an adult if they see any suspicious behavior in the community. Thank you!"

Koehne notes that, "In both of these situations, we're treating them as separate incidents, things that were reported by the parents to principals.

The warning comes on the heels of recent incidents in Walnut Creek. There, a man who tried on two separate occasions to get a 13-year-old girl from Walnut Creek Intermediate School to get into his car.

That suspect is described as a white male in his 60s. He first approached the victim around 3:30 p.m. on March 14, as she got off her school bus near Tice Valley Boulevard and Crest Avenue, according to police.

He pulled alongside the girl in a faded red older model compact sedan and asked if he could give her a ride. He asked the girl her name and where she went to school, and she initially answered, but when he asked her where she lived, she ran away home and he sped off.

The incident was reported to the Contra Costa County Sheriff's Office and parents and officials at Walnut Creek Intermediate were notified.

The next day, as the 13-year-old was leaving school with a friend at around 3:05 p.m., she spotted the man again waiting by the back gate of the school on Civic Drive. He waved at her and she ran back to the school and called her parents.

The girl's friend confirmed that a man on the trail behind the school appeared to be waving at the girl.

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