Wise Word - 08/26/2020

Principal’s Message:

Dear Golden Owls,

Happy second week of school! As part of practicing the Vargas Way, this week we are focusing on being safe. As you know, staying focused during our  Zoom sessions can be difficult. Our teachers will be providing breaks for students. During these breaks, please encourage students to move away from the screen. Similarly, please remind your children that when they are not actively participating in live instruction, they don’t have to watch the screen. This is the perfect time for your student to be  away from the screen. As parents, if you see that your students are having difficulty, please encourage them to take breaks as well. Please communicate with the teacher so that your teacher knows what is happening. 

Thank you you for supporting our school and students,

Mr. Taylor


Events Calendar

  • 8/26/20 - Principal’s Virtual Office Hours, 4pm - 5pm Register here

  • 8/26/20 - Back to School Night, 6pm - 7:30pm (teachers sending via email)

  • 8/27/20 - Cafecito con El Director Virtual-  Distance Learning Tools, 4pm -5pm Register here

  • 8/28/20 - Principal’s Virtual Coffee- Engagement during Distance Learning, 4pm - 5pm Register here

  • 9/2/20 - Principal’s Virtual Office Hours, 4pm - 5pm

  • 9/3/20 - MVWSD Board of Trustee Meeting, 6pm - 10pm

  • 9/7/20 Labor Day Holiday - No School

 

 


 

In this Newsletter

School News

  • Golden Ticket Winners 

  • Back to School Night

  • Old Chromebooks & Library books from last year

  • Emergency Card

  • Monday Morning Assembly and The Vargas Way 

  • School & Community Engagement Facilitator (SCEF)

  • EZMeal Application Help 

District News

  • Distant Learning Tools - Flyer

  • September announcements for SELPA 1 CAC - Flyer

  • MVEF News

  • Parent U videos

  • MV Parent U on Sept. 9: Increasing Student Engagement with Literacy - Register here

  • Mentor Tutor Connection Volunteer Information Session - September 10th


PTA News

  • General Association Meeting, 8/26/2020

  • Konstella

  • Become a Member

  • Amazon

 


Golden Ticket Winners - Week  8/24/2020

Ayden A              RM: 1          Sophie W            RM:12

Ashley W            RM: 2          Harper F             RM: 12

Pelin G                RM: 3          Stephani A          RM: 14

Danson L           RM: 4           Soraya P              RM: 15

Nika S                 RM: 6           Samantha C        RM: 16

Audrey M           RM: 8           Ashlynn B           RM: 17

Gavin W             RM: 10

You can stop by the office to pick up your prize! You may stop by on Monday or Wednesday from 11:30am to 2:00pm.

 

Back to School Night 

Families, you are cordially invited to our annual Back to School Night on Wednesday, August  26, from 6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. BTSN is an important opportunity for families to learn about their children’s virtual classrooms, grade level programming, and general expectations. We will have two sessions to accomodate families with multiple children and allow them the opportunity to visit more than one classroom that night. Session one will begin at 6:00 p.m. and session two will begin at 6:45 p.m..  See you on August  26! 

Our STEAM teachers, Ms. Bisbee and Ms. Butchko, our Education specialist Mrs. Levy and Ms. Kato, and I will also be hosting two sessions. Feel free to stop by our Zoom rooms!  Teachers should have shared  all links with parents this past Monday.

 

Old Chromebooks & Library Books (Last School Year)

If you have a Chromebook from last year, you should return the Chromebooks by September 4, 2020. We will have a bin outside the MUR for parents to place the Chromebooks, Please come  by between 8am to 2pm all next week.

 

Similarly we will have a box for library book return, if your child has a book from last year please return it.

 

Emergency Cards 

Normally we send out a copy of your child's emergency card during class posting. Due to the circumstances of COVID and starting the year 100% Distant Learning we were not able to send these out and have you return them. If you would like to update your information (phone number, email, emergency contacts, and or address) please email our school staff Ms. Tellez [email protected] or Ms. McElyea [email protected].

 

Monday Morning Assembly and The Vargas Way (repeated from last week)

This week our teachers will be introducing, reviewing, and reinforcing the Vargas Way. The Vargas Way is the school-wide behavior expectations we have for all of our Golden Owls. Please click here to check out our updated school-wide behavior expectations for virtual school. 

 

Parents, we recognize that you will be working with your students, and we would like to extend you the opportunity to give out Golden Tickets as well. To submit a Golden Ticket, use the following link

 

On Monday mornings, we will post our weekly morning message celebrating our students who are showing the Vargas Way. Remind your students to wear their Vargas green and help us recognize students who have earned a Golden ticket for demonstrating the Vargas way--Being Respectful, Being Responsible, Being kind, and being an upstander. 


School & Community Engagement Facilitator (SCEF) -
(repeat from last week)

As part of Vargas’s plan, we have a School and Community Engagement Facilitator who will work to ensure that every student, family, and community member will feel valued and supported while working, learning, and partnering with our school. Here at Vargas, Bea Claas is our School and Community Engagement Facilitator. She specifically focuses on students who are socioeconomically disadvantaged and/or English learners and works to organize parent education, provide translation services, and support positive student behavior. Bea’s overall goal is to increase parent education and engagement, support our PTA and ELAC parent groups, and form strong relationships with students and families. She can be reached at [email protected]

 

EZ Meal Application Help - (repeated information)

Free or reduced price meal benefit status from last year can be used to pay for lunches until Sept. 30. We can assist you  in applying for free or reduced price meal benefits through the National Lunch Program and can process applications quickly. Applications are at http://www.ezmealapp.com.  Deadline is Sept. 21st. 


If you need help, our office staff is available to help you.  Please email [email protected], [email protected] or [email protected]

 

 


District News

Distant Learning Tools  - Flyer

 

September announcements for SELPA 1 CAC

Upcoming CAC events

SELPA 1 CAC and the Learning Challenge Committee are your groups for special education and broader learning challenge needs. We are ALL having learning challenges right now, and CAC and LCC are here to help. If you have questions about learning challenges and special education

needs, email [email protected] or check out www.selpa1cac.org

 

Our events for September:

August 31, 9 am- General Parent/Community Meeting with Special Ed. Directors & Staff, Zoom at 9:00 am for LCC and 9:30 am for CAC. We will be planning for the year, discussing upcoming programs and discussing distance learning and learning challenges. For our agenda, please join our Google group, https://groups.google.com/g/selpa1cac. For the Zoom link for this meeting, email [email protected].

 

September 8, 10 am - Let’s Talk - IEP/504 support group. Have questions about the process to get help for your child? Have an IEP but are not sure how to make changes? Need to vent? This is your confidential group. Please contact [email protected] for the Zoom link for this meeting.

 

Also on September 8, 10 am - Parent Chat - Support for parents of teens with mental health challenges. A great place for help and support for challenges with your teens. Please contact [email protected] for Google Meet invite.

 

MVEF News

Welcome from the Mountain View Educational Foundation (MVEF)!

MVEF is a community supported non-profit that raises funds to provide a competitive, well-rounded education for every child in the district.  We rely on tax-deductible donations from parents like you to support our students.  

 

In 2020, MVEF-funded programs will continue but look a little different in our connected learning environment.  MVEF will fund: Weekly art and music classes from CSMA delivered online, science through Living Classroom virtual lessons, middle school science supplies, environmental education online lessons, and TechSmart Coding classes.  Specifically, to support connected learning, MVEF will also fund art supplies, instrument repair, elective kits, online learning resources, professional development for teachers in online teaching, and Student Wellness.

 

We need your help to meet our goal to raise $800,000. Please check for the MVEF brochure with your student supply bag or mvef.org for more information.  To join our team of volunteers, email [email protected].  Donate today at  https://www.mvef.org/donate  

 

Parent U Videos

Parent University videos are now on our website!

Did you miss the latest Parent University event? Do you want to review the materials that were presented? Videos and materials are now in English and Spanish on the Parent University website at http://www.mvwsd.org/parent/parent_university

Latest uploads: Mental Health Resources and Distance Learning Support

 

MV Parent U on Sept. 9: Increasing Student Engagement with Literacy - Register here

Join us on Wednesday, September 9 from 5:30 to 7:00 p.m. for our next Parent University event: Increasing Student Engagement with Literacy from Home.

 

MVWSD Instructional Coaches Karen Gordon and Natalie Gallagher will share several resourceful strategies for supporting reading, writing, listening, and speaking at home during distance learning:

  • Easy activities to boost your child's reading engagement 

  • Creative ways to encourage and support writing using four text types (expository/informative, narrative, opinion, argumentative)

  • Fostering listening skills to be able to extract key information

  • Cultivating speaking skills using academic vocabulary

  • Tips to prepare your child for ELPAC testing

 

Mentor Tutor Connection Volunteer Information Session - September 10th

You can change the life of a student!

Come learn about volunteer opportunities to Mentor high school students and Tutor students in grades K-8  in our Mountain View and Los Altos schools.

Becoming a Mentor or Tutor will add joy to your life and help a student in our local community to a brighter future!

There is no obligation to sign up as a volunteer.  You're welcome to just come and learn more about what we do.

 

Please note: Mentor Tutor programs are currently remote and will remain so until students are back in school and the school district permits volunteers in the classroom

 

All volunteers must be high school graduates.  

Date:             Thursday, September 10th

Time:           5:00 - 6:00 pm

Location:     Online via Zoom (URL provided upon registration)

Register:   REGISTER ONLINE  

Questions: [email protected]

Information: MentorTutorConnection.org

 


 Vargas PTA

General Association Meeting

Come to our first General Association Meeting on Wednesday, August 26th @ 4:30pm! Please Pre-register for this meeting.  Members can vote but everyone can join!

 

You are invited to a Zoom meeting.

When: Aug 26, 2020 04:30 PM Pacific Time (US and Canada)

 

Register in advance for this meeting:

https://zoom.us/meeting/register/tJUkceuprz8qHtQ3EVnKTZzmfyfO6-tDLOxk

 

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

 

Join Konstella:  Konstella is a great way for parents/guardians to connect with others in the same grade and classroom, as well as to join social groups and connect with your child’s teacher.  Visit our website for instructions on how to do this.  

Need help?  Contact Nayema at [email protected]


Become a Member!  Visit our webpage for a link or scan the QR code in your PTA guide sent home with your school materials!

 

Amazon

If you shop through Amazon, please shop through the Amazon Smile portal for Vargas: https://smile.amazon.com/ch/90-1257353 A percentage of sales through this link goes back to the school

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