Wise Word - 10/14/2020

Principal’s Message:

Dear Golden Owls,

Strategic plan: We need your feedback on the framework

As you know, MVWSD is working on a new Strategic Plan. The new six-year Strategic Plan 2027 will be completed and aligned with two cycles of the District’s 3-year Local Control and Accountability Plan (LCAP) and will build on and expand the former plan’s successes and areas of need for students. 

 

In September, parents and staff members completed a districtwide survey. This input, in addition to a strategy session with 60 representative stakeholders, resulted in a strategic plan framework that shows five major goal areas and the general outcomes and themes in each.

 

Next, there are two more opportunities for you to give input in the planning process. We need to hear from you.


1. Please give us input on the “big ideas” in this strategic plan framework.  Please take a few minutes before Friday, October 16 to click on the link below, review the framework, and reply to the survey with your ideas or items that you feel are missing.

https://www.research.net/r/MVWSDStratPlanFramework

The survey is managed by a third-party consultant.  All responses will go directly to them and will be anonymous.  

 

2. Please attend a meeting in which I will present the framework and collect your thoughts.

  • Principal’s Coffee, October 14, 2020  @ 4:00 PM  (Spanish Interpretation available) Register Here

  • School Site Council (SSC)  October 14, 2020 @ 5:30PM  Register Here

  • English Learner Advisory Committee (ELAC) October 16, 2020 @ 4:00PM Register Here

For more information on the process and timeline, please see https://www.mvwsd.org/strategicplan.

 

Thank you for supporting our school and students,

Mr. Taylor


Events Calendar

  • 10/14 - Principal’s Coffee, 4pm - 5pm, Register Here

  • 10/14 - SSC Virtual Meeting, 5:30pm -6:30pm Register Here

  • 10/16 - ELAC Virtual Meeting, 4pm - 5pm Register Here

  • 10/21 - Principal’s Virtual Office Hours, 4pm - 5pm Register Here

  • 10/22 - MVWSD Board of Trustee Meeting, 6pm - 10pm

  • 10/23 - Superintendent Community Check-in, 3:30pm Click here to register

  • 10/28 - Principal’s Virtual Office Hours, 4pm - 5pm Register Here

  • 10/28 - SSC Virtual Meeting, 5:30pm -6:30pm

  • 10/30 - Vargas Spirit Day - Dress as Favorite Book Character

  • 10/30 - Afterschool Virtual Halloween Parade, 2:45pm

  • 10/30 - Principal’s Coffee (Virtual) - 4pm - 5pm

  • 11/4 - Principal’s Virtual Office Hours, 4pm - 5pm Register Here

  • 11/5 - MVWSD Board of Trustee Meeting, 6pm - 10pm

  • 11/6 - End of Trimester - Minimum Day

 


In this Newsletter

School News

  • Golden Ticket Winners 

  • Materials Distribution for: K, 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th grades

  • Spirit Day: October 30, 2020 - Favorite Book Character

  • After School Virtual Halloween Parade 10/30 @ 2:45pm

  • Principal Virtual Office Hours

  • Technology Support 

District News

  • “Enriching the Learning Experience” Symposium

  • Together We Are a Better MVWSD: Special edition: ELECTION! - Flyer

  • How you can protect yourself from COVID: Face masks

  • Police Interactions, Race and “The Talk:” A Panel Discussion

  • MVEF News 


PTA News

  • October is for Membership and Super Powers!  Click to watch our VIDEO!

  • Vargas Spirit Wear

  • Amazon

 


Golden Ticket Winners - Week  10/13/2020
Remy D          RM: 1            Yahir R            RM:11
Suri L              RM: 2            Mya R             RM: 12
Rae N             RM: 3             Ismael C         RM: 14
Kaily L           RM: 5             Soraya P         RM: 15
Julian M        RM: 6            Luis M             RM: 16
Nathan T       RM: 9            Ojas D             RM: 17
Ariel F           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.

Material Distribution for K, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th grades

Please plan to come this coming Thursday, October 15th or Friday, October 16th for material distribution for all grades.


  • Kinder - Letter Craft Packet, October Activities Packet, Unit 4, Glue stick, Fun Math Packet, Expo Marker, Letter sound packet, High Frequency Words packet, TCI Science Unit 2


  • 2nd grade - Math Book: MOD 4-5 Succeed and Learn, Benchmark: Unit 4, Plain white paper, Construction paper, Expo Marker, Headphones, Whiteboards, TCI Science Unit 2

  •  3rd grade - Book: James and the Giant Peach, Blank paper, Construction paper, Headphones, Expo Markers, Lined paper, TCI Science Unit 2

  • 4th grade - Cursive Packets, Protractors, Headphones, Expo Marker, Benchmark: Unit 4, Math book: MOD 4, TCI Science Unit 2

  • 5th grade - Book: Blood River Book, Headphones, Expo Marker, TCI Science Unit 2


Please write your child’s first and last name, their grade level on a piece of paper and place it on your passenger window. Please drive up to the MUR; a staff member will greet you with a mask and gloves, and place the items in your trunk.


Please plan to pick up your child’s materials during the following time blocks on Thursday, October 15, 2020         OR                 Friday, October 16, 2020

Time

8:00-9:45

9:45-11:00

11:30-12:45

12:45- 2:00

Last Name

Last Name

A-D

Last Name

E-L

Last Name

M-R

Last Name

S-Z

*The names and times are spaced such that we do not have all families coming to campus at one time. This serves to limit the number of interactions.


Spirit Day: October 30, 2020 - Favorite Book Character

As a way to build community, Vargas will have our first Spirit day on October 30, 2020. Come to your Virtual classroom dressed as your favorite book character. For some inspiration from our teachers, Click here


Afterschool Virtual Halloween Parade 10/30 @ 2:45pm

We are having a virtual Halloween parade! For those wanting to participate, submit pictures of your children in their costumes to [email protected] by October 23rd. Please include your child’s grade level when submitting your picture. The virtual Halloween parade will take place afterschool at 2:45 on October 30, 2020. Our teachers will include the link in the Google classroom. Can’t wait to see OWL of you!


Principal Virtual Office Hour  

Please drop in my Principal Hours today to discuss how to view your child’s i-Ready scores or other questions . Register Here


Technology Support:

If you are having problems with the chromebook you can contact: [email protected] to create a ServiceNow ticket or call the Tech Department at

(650) 526-3252.


If it's not device/hardware related or account related, and more about using a program, please contact Marissa Hamaguchi, Tech Coach, ([email protected]) or call/text (650) 336-5863.

 


District News

“Enriching the Learning Experience” Symposium

The Santa Clara County Office of Education Parent Engagement team is pleased to announce our FREE virtual event "Enriching the Learning Experience: Vision for 2020 and Beyond" which will be held from 10:00am to Noon on Saturday, Oct 17 and 24, 2020. Together with 6th District PTA, we are putting together a Parent Engagement symposium for parents, students, pre-service teachers, classroom teachers, administrators, and liaisons to focus on student success. We have lined up a number of dynamic speakers and 10 workshops each day of the symposium. Here's a sneak peak of our workshops: 

  

Dr. Joyce Epstein, professor of education and director of the Center on School, Family, and Community Partnerships at Johns Hopkins University. She has over one hundred fifty publications, including School, Family, and Community Partnerships: Your Handbook for Action, 4th edition (2019). Her Keynote will address school administrators in the area of parent engagement and her Workshop will address teachers and how they can involve parents in homework. 

  

Ruby Ibarra, local bay area COVID-19 researcher and hip-hop recording artist. Her Keynote will address parents and share her inspiring story of how to channel obstacles into opportunities. She will present a Spoken Word Writing Workshop for students! 

  

Gene Luen Yang, graphic novelist of American Born Chinese, Secret Coders, Avatar: The Last Airbender, and Superman. In 2016, he was the Library of Congress's 5th National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature; he was also the recipient of the MacArthur Foundation Genius Grant in that same year. His workshop for teachers will address adopting a rich, diverse reading curriculum for the classroom. 

 

A Financial Literacy Workshop series “Understanding Debt and How to Improve Your Credit Score,” “Rebuilding After a Financial Crisis,” and “Learning the Value of a Dollar” by Excite Credit Union will give good money management tips for students and adults alike.  

 

Registration is open! Visit “Enriching the Learning Experience” event Website to see all 10 workshop descriptions, speaker bios, and registration form. 

 

Together We Are a Better MVWSD: Special edition: ELECTION! - Flyer

Mountain View Whisman School District embraces its role in establishing its commitment to equity in our district. As part of our "Together We Are a Better MVWSD" series, here is a special edition on the Nov. 3 election.


Participating in elections is one of the key freedoms of American life. Many people in countries around the world do not have the same freedom, nor did many Americans in centuries past. No matter what you believe or whom you support, it is important to exercise your rights. We celebrate the upcoming election cycle by publishing materials for teachers and parents that promote civic engagement amongst students and give resources to parents about how to secure their participation in this year's election. Both the links and QR codes will take you directly to the recommended resources.


For a closer look at this graphic, please see attached flyers or https://www.mvwsd.org/BetterTogetherMVWSD


How you can protect yourself from COVID: Face masks

Wearing a face mask greatly reduces the chance that you and the people around you will come into contact with respiratory droplets that contain the COVID-19 virus. How you wear and clean masks are huge factors in their effectiveness. Our own MVWSD school nurse Melanie gives important tips in this video. Please review and practice with your family.


facemask video thumbnail Face masks and social distancing video


Police Interactions, Race and “The Talk:” A Panel Discussion

Date: Thursday, Oct. 29, 6:30 p.m. on Zoom: http://mvw.sd/talk

 

For Black children, the “talk” about how to interact with police is a rite of passage. Join MVWSD for a panel discussion with parents, the Mountain View Police Department and other leaders about what this means for policing for all of our children and families in our community and schools. 

 

For more information about how MVWSD is working to support equity in our community, please see https://www.mvwsd.org/BetterTogetherMVWSD. For more information about the City’s racial equity and inclusion efforts, please click here

 

MVEF is proud to help bring Living Classroom to all of our school campuses

Living Classroom brings environmental education for students in elementary and middle school.  Living Classroom started teaching students on 9/8 and taught 62 online lessons in September. 


Living Classroom continues to maintain the school gardens for when garden-based outdoor learning can return to MVWSD, making education come alive and deepening students' connection with nature. Living Classroom lessons empower the next generation by growing environmental champions, inquisitive learners, and healthy eaters.  There are over 200 lessons planned for the fall in our schools.


Your donations to MVEF bring Living Classroom to every school in MVWSD! Donate today!  https://www.mvef.org/donate

 


Vargas PTA

October is for Membership and Super Powers!  Click to watch our VIDEO!

This month we will be celebrating our Members with FREE coffee and donut holes from Clocktower Coffee on Saturday, October 24th.  How do you get it?

  1. Become a Member of the PTA before 10/24.

  2. Print your student a Vargas Owl to Join the Nest at our school!

  3. Pick up your Clocktower coupon & drop off your owl.

  4. Walk, bike, or drive to Clocktower and enjoy treats on us!

 

Did you know that Saturday, October 24th is also a way to give your student SuperPowers!?!  These activity kits are for ALL STUDENTS so please come and pick them up.  We prefer pick up to be as follows but anytime that works for you is great too!

 Last Names A-M 9:30a-10:30a and Last Names N-Z 10:45a-11:45a

 

Have questions? Please feel free to reach out to Angela @ [email protected] or Sara @ [email protected]


Do you have your JA Vargas Spirit Wear yet?

Do you have your JA Vargas Spirit Wear yet? Lots of great options and make sure your students wear Vargas Green on Mondays to show our school spirit! Here's a link to purchase spirit wear that supports your school! Easy and flexible curbside pickup!


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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