Principal’s Message:

Hello Golden Owls,

Welcome back! I hope your break was relaxing and filled with quality time with friends and family. 

We had a very nice start to our first half of the year, and I look forward to continuing with the positive momentum. 

On Monday, our staff had professional development and part of our focus was ensuring that we focus our educational efforts on the whole child-meaning not just our student’s academic needs, but also their behavioral, social-emotional, and mental health needs as well. 

During our professional development, our staff worked towards having a common understanding around how we view students’ behavior. Behavior is the way in which humans communicate. When our students  don’t understand a math or reading concept, we reteach and break down the learning until they can master the concept. Conversely when a student misbehaves (misunderstands social interactions), we punish them with consequences. We want to create that same learning environment for behavior and social interactions that we create for academic success. We have to teach and reteach the expected behavior norms for social interactions with our students. 

One way in which our school will be supporting this is we will be rolling out a new school-wide focus on conflict resolution. Our team will be supporting students in learning essential skills that help them to navigate conflicts when they arise. Our school counselor, Ms. Gove will be leading grade-level training with our students, teachers, and staff that support students in developing various different skills. 

Our first big skill will be identifying the size of problems and distinguishing when we have a problem that students can resolve amongst themselves and ones in which they should ask an adult for assistance. Once we teach our initial lessons on the size of problems, we will be sharing some resources with you so that you can further reinforce these concepts at home.  

Additionally, Please mark your calendars  for Jan. 21.  Open enrollment for ALL students (including returning students) for the fall starts on Jan. 21 and will be open until February 7, 2025. Click on https://www.mvwsd.org/register for all of the details.

In Partnership, 

Principal Vern Taylor

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Events Calendar

January 2025

 

February 2025

 

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In this Newsletter

School News:

Golden Ticket Winners

Mountain View’s Bookmobile will resume January 22!

Parent U Extension: Math Festival

 

Flyers:

2024 -2025 School Year Calendar - Here

2025-2026 School Year Calendar - Here

January Menu - Here

District News:

School/kinder info meetings are Jan 14, Jan 15

MVEF SURVEY 2024-25 - We want your input as we value your opinion! Share your thoughts by taking our survey today!

 

PTA News:

Thank you Vargas community!!

Winter Afterschool Enrichment Classes (Starting January 2025)

 

Community Partners:

Make a Difference in Your Community: Volunteer with Mentor Tutor Connection!

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School News

 

Golden Ticket Winners December 19, 2024

Hanah A.     RM: 1         Perla G.        RM: 11  

Maria B.      RM: 2         Fidan M.       RM: 12

Gael B.        RM: 3         Alondra P.     RM: 13

Kathryn G.  RM: 4         Sohum J.       RM: 14 

Cyrus Z.      RM: 5         Angel L.        RM: 15 

Xanthe O.    RM: 6         Oliver C.       RM: 16 

Jaein S.        RM: 8         Aaron C.        RM: 17 

Astrid R.      RM: 9         Frida O.         RM: 18

Maksim S.   RM: 10       Mrs. Leopold RM: 4

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Mountain View’s Bookmobile will resume January 22!

Mountain View Public Library’s bookmobile will visit Vargas on Wednesday, January 22, at 2:30pm on the blacktop.  The new bookmobile operates fully on electricity and will be recognizable with the eye-catching City colors and library logos. Come check it out!

Parent U Extension: Math Festival

Thursday, January 23, 2025

6:00-7:30 pm - Vargas MUR

Please join us for our math festival at J.A. Vargas Elementary School. This is an opportunity for our community to come together and celebrate the joy of math.

The mission of Julia Robinson Math Festival (jrmf.org) is to help all students build confidence, joy, and a positive identity around math. The students and their families will explore a variety of fun, hands-on, math puzzles and games.

 

We will have a food truck selling food starting at 5pm.

 

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District News

 

School/kinder info meetings are Jan 14, Jan 15

In January, the Mountain View Whisman School District will be opening student enrollment for next fall.

 

For CURRENT students in transitional kindergarten-7th grade: Parents will be asked by email to confirm enrollment from January 21 to February 7.

 

For families enrolling NEW students: Please check www.mvwsd.org/register for details about virtual school information meetings held in January (mvw.sd/Meetings2526), how to locate your neighborhood school, how to explore school options and the four steps to register during the enrollment period held January 21 to February 7. 

 

Virtual school information nights will be held on Jan. 14 (neighborhood schools) and Jan. 15 (choice schools). The transitional kindergarten meeting is on Jan. 22. Click here for meeting details and links: mvw.sd/Meetings2526

 

Click here to learn about which program is right for your young learner: mvwsd.org/kinderready

MVEF SURVEY 2024-25 - We want your input as we value your opinion! Share your thoughts by taking our survey today!

We wish all community members a Happy New Year! It is time to plan ahead for the next school year. We want to hear from you!

Do your students benefit from programs like CSMA art & music, Living Classroom, environmental science field trips, or middle school clubs and sports? How important are smaller class sizes in middle school to you? How connected do you feel to our community?

Please complete the survey by January 21st to help us plan resources for the 2025-26 school year. The survey is available in both English and Spanish and can only be submitted once per recipient. Your feedback is essential in shaping our MVEF programs and priorities. Take just 5 minutes to complete the survey here and share your thoughts! Thank you for your valuable input!

SAVE THE DATE: Virtual “Meet & Greets” in January 2025

Want to learn more about MVEF? Join our Board members and School Representatives to learn about MVEF’s role, how it differs from PTAs, Prop 28, and more. Bring your questions!

Wednesday, January 22, 2025 | 12:00-12:45 pm | Please register here.

Monday, January 27, 2025 | 07:00-07:45 pm | Please register here.

Want to make a difference in our community? Volunteer with MVEF!

Passionate about public education, our local community and want to make an impact? We are actively recruiting new Board members or School Representatives! Learn more here or email [email protected] for any interest!

 

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PTA News

 

Thank you Vargas community!!

On behalf of the PTA, THANK YOU Vargas community for your support and participation in these last few busy weeks! Through your efforts, we raised $1,015.45 through the See’s Candies, Books Inc and Blue Line Pizza fundraisers. All of these funds will go directly towards your student’s enrichment at Vargas. Thank you additionally for supporting Hope’s Corner in the toy and winter supply donation drive. 

 

It was wonderful to see our 22 student and family vendors come together last Thursday for our first ever Winter Holiday Fair to display their creative goods and delicious treats. Thank you to the planning team (Elena H, Kim C, Laura N, Pei-Ching H) for planning such a fun event. As we leave for break, we feel tremendous gratitude to be a part of this amazing community at Vargas.

Winter Afterschool Enrichment Classes (Starting January 2025)

To see a sneak peek of what’s to come in the Winter session, visit our updated Afterschool Enrichment Classes page on our website: https://www.javargaspta.org/winter-after-school-programs

• New in the Winter session: Amusement Park Engineering with Snapology, an Art Class, and Creative Writing class.

• Follow the website for updates.

Kimberly Cheng, and the Executive Board 

[email protected]

 

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From Our Community Partners

 

Make a Difference in Your Community: Volunteer with Mentor Tutor Connection!

Are you passionate about helping students succeed? Mentor Tutor Connection is urgently seeking dedicated volunteers to mentor high school students or tutor K-8 students in math, writing, or reading at local public schools in Los Altos and Mountain View.

 

Why Volunteer with MTC?

• Make a Lasting Impact: Help underserved students reach their full potential, both academically and personally.

• Support Future Leaders: Mentoring high school students or tutoring younger students can help them navigate challenges and build confidence.

• Join a Community of Like-minded Volunteers: Connect with other compassionate individuals and gain a deeper sense of purpose by helping others.

Get Involved: Join us for a Volunteer Information Session on January 10th at 12pm via Zoom. During this session, you’ll learn about our programs, hear from current volunteers, and have the chance to ask questions. 

 

To register for our Volunteer Information Session or to learn more about MTC, please email [email protected] or visit mentortutorconnection.org.