Hello Golden Owls,
As a result of the pandemic, some students have “unfinished learning” compared to the learning they would have completed in a typical year. MVWSD has a Learning Recovery Plan to support any unfinished learning. As a part of this plan, all students will get more practice on foundational skills through instruction tailored to them based on their academic needs. These additional learning opportunities will come in the form of instruction in the classroom, in addition to access to professional tutors - either in-person or virtually.
Parents, look for an email that was sent to you on Friday, Oct. 15 with information specific to your children. Some of these programs (that happen outside the school day) require you to give permission for your students to participate, so please complete the online form in the link.
Wondering about why you received information for your student and how to learn more? For answers to these and other frequently asked questions, please click here.
You can also join me for my principal's office hours this afternoon at 4:00PM. To register, please click here.
In Partnership,
Principal Vern Taylor
School News:
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Golden Ticket Winners
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Earthquake drill - Oct. 21
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Mayor for a Day
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After school Virtual Halloween Parade 10/29 @ 3:00pm
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Coach’s Corner
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Lost and Found
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Is your child feeling sick?
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Gift Card Donation
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Principal’s Virtual Office Hours
District News:
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Board meeting Preview: Oct. 21 - Agenda
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MVLA Speaker Series with Dr. Michael Bradley - Flyer
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Superintendent's Community Check In on Friday
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Parent University: Supporting Literacy Grades 3-8
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Trick or Treating for Donations with MVEF
PTA News:
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Membership Drive
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Scholastic Book Fair
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PTA Parent Coffee
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Get Involved
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Konstella
Golden Ticket Winners - Week of 10/18/2021
Beverly FRM: 2Luke D. RM: 11
Gissell Z.RM: 3Mila F. RM: 13
Connor R. RM: 4Katherine P. RM: 14
Bryanna Z.RM: 6Declan D. RM: 15
Nate D. RM: 9Sophia K. RM: 16
Mathilda K-F RM: 10Tony M. RM: 17
The Vargas Way - Be Safe, Be Respectful, Be Responsible, Be an Upstander.
What are Golden Tickets?
Students earn Golden Tickets from teachers and staff when they are following the Vargas Way. What is
Earthquake drill - Oct. 21
In coordination with the Great ShakeOut, the District will be conducting its annual earthquake exercise on Thursday, Oct. 21 at 10:21 am. This is an opportunity for staff and students to test our emergency response actions and make improvements.
During the drill, our students will practice duck, cover, and hold. Staff will participate in duck, cover, and hold, and will have additional training about safety protocols at a separate time.
This week is also a good time to go over your family's emergency procedures. We appreciate your support of these efforts to ensure our students’ safety.
Mayor for a Day
We are pleased to announce that our 3rd grade Golden Owl, Aanya, was the elementary school winner for the Mayor for a Day essay contest! You can read more information about her prize-winning essay in the Mountain View Voice article found here. Congratulations, Aanya!
After school Virtual Halloween Parade 10/29 @ 3:00pm
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 25rd. Please include your child’s grade level when submitting your picture. The virtual Halloween parade will take place after school at 3:00 on October 29, 2021. If you would like to join us for the virtual celebration, Please click here. Can’t wait to see OWL of you!
Please note: Our school does not have any school-wide event that asks students to wear costumes during the day of 10/29; however, if students want to wear costumes for Halloween, they can. We are asking, as is standard, not to wear masks or overly gruesome or violent attire. We are also asking that students not bring any accessories that would distract from regular classroom instruction.
Coach’s Corner
An engaging way to encourage fluency with your student is to get creative and make homemade flashcards! In Mathematics, fluency is the ability to quickly recall a common math fact. Learning these math facts help students develop their number sense and it increases their confidence. It also helps them solve more complex problems quickly while reducing cognitive load. Flashcards can be made for addition, subtraction, multiplication, division problems, and more! K-5 Learning also has printable versions of flashcards available.
Lost and Found
Our Lost and Found Rack is seeing nice sweaters, water bottles, lunch boxes that miss their owner. If items are not claimed by the end of this month 10/29 they will be donated.
Our Lost and Found Rack can be found in the following places:
(Repeat) Is your child feeling sick?
Please keep your child home if they are not feeling well. Signs to look for are headaches, runny noses, sore throats, fever etc… If your child has any of those symptoms, we will need a negative COVID test before returning to school. We want to ensure the safety of all children and staff. Thank you for your cooperation in keeping your child home to get the rest they need to recover. For more information about our district and county guidelines for quarantine and COVID testing, click here.
(Repeat) Gift Card Donation
As you may know, there are several families in our district that need help to meet some basic needs. The district is providing meals every day. But some families need more support for providing food, clothes and shoes for their kids. There is a critical need for gift cards for these families. If you are able, please consider donating a Safeway or Target gift card to families in our own district. Thank you so much for your help! Let’s show these families how strong and supportive our Vargas community really is!
Please bring the gift cards to the office. If you have any questions, please contact Ms. Bea, School and Community Engagement Facilitator – SCEF- at [email protected].
(Repeat) Principal’s Virtual Office Hours
Join me today for our informal Principal Office Hours (virtual) from 4pm -5pm. Feel free to drop in if you have any questions or if you just want to chat. For office hours, there is no formal agenda, it is a time for you to stop in to say hello, and for us to get to know each other better! I look forward to meeting you!
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
20th - Principal Office Hours - Virtual, 4:00pm - 5:00pm - Register Here
20th - Cafecito with the Superintendent, 5:30pm - 6:30pm - Register here
21st - MVWSD Board of Trustees Meeting, 6:00pm - 10:00pm - Agenda
22nd - Superintendent Community Check-in, 3:30pm - 4:30pm - Register Here
27th - Principal Office Hours - Virtual, 4:00pm - 5:00pm - Register Here
27th - ELAC Meeting, 6:00pm - 7:00pm
29th - Principal’s Coffee, 8:30am - 9:30am
29th - Virtual Halloween Parade - 3:00pm - 3:30pm
1st - Lifetouch Picture Retakes
3rd - Principal Office Hours - Virtual, 4:00pm - 5:00pm - Register Here
4th - MVWSD Board of Trustees Meeting, 6:00pm - 10:00pm
5th - End of Trimester - Minimum Day - Dismissal 11:55am
5th - Superintendent Community Check-in, 3:30pm - 4:30pm
10th - Principal Office Hours - Virtual, 4:00pm - 5:00pm - Register Here
10th - SSC Virtual Meeting, 5:00pm - 6:30pm
11th - Veteran’s Day Holiday - No School
17th - Principal Office Hours - Virtual, 4:00pm - 5:00pm - Register Here
18th - MVWSD Board of Trustees Meeting, 6:00pm - 10:00pm
19th - Principal’s Coffee, 8:30am - 9:30am
19th - Superintendent Community Check-in, 3:30pm - 4:30pm
22nd - 26th - Thanksgiving Holiday Recess - No School
Cafecito con el Superintendente
Wednesday, October 20, 2021⋅5:30 – 6:30pm
This is an informal meeting for Spanish-speaking parents. Translation will be provided. Please register in advance for this meeting by clicking here: http://mvw.sd/cafe10-20-21
Board meeting Preview: Oct. 21
The Board of Trustees will meet on Thursday, Oct. 21 at 6 p.m. Some of the meeting’s topics include:
MVLA Speaker Series with Dr. Michael Bradley - Flyer
The MVLA Speaker Series continues on Thursday, Oct. 21 at 7:00pm. Join us for an evening with clinical psychologist and author of Yes,Your Teen Is Crazy! Loving Your Kid Without Losing Your Mind, Dr. Michael J. Bradley. Dr. Bradley’s respect-based philosophy is at the heart of the presentations he has given to thousands of parents who are seeking ways to communicate with their adolescent children. He takes you inside your teenager’s head and shows you why teens think and behave the way they do, and gives parents real-world advice, strategies, and methods to use. Register at: https://eventbrite.com/e/michael-bradley-yes-your-teen-is-crazy-registration-167808157717
Superintendent's Community Check In on Friday
Parent University: Supporting Literacy Grades 3-8
Date: October 27, 2021 Time: 5:30-7:00pm
“Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body” - Joseph Addison.
Join Instructional Coaches Melanie Stanley, and Katie Stern share creative tips and strategies to better support your child in their literacy skills. By supporting your child’s literacy you can take part in developing their reading ability, comprehension, and language skills. To submit questions prior to the event, go to mvw.sd/questions. We will do our best to address your question during the session.
Note: While this presentation is tailored towards families with children in third grade and above, all are welcome. If you’d like to see a presentation that is aimed more toward families with younger students, check out the recording of last year’s literacy-focused Parent University event.
Learn and Make A-Z Animals: Halloween Edition: Learn about some of nature's creepier creatures just in time for Halloween, on Thursday, October 28th from 4-4:45pm. Are spiders really dangerous to humans? Why are bats associated with vampires? Let's find out together. For children grades 2-5 on Zoom. We will do a craft together at the end of our learning journey. Registration Required: mountainview.gov/librarycalendar.
Day of the Dead Balloon Skull Decoration: In celebration of Day of the Dead/Día de los Muertos the library will host a virtual program on Monday, November 1st from 4-4:40 p.m. on Zoom. Tweens (ages 9-12) will learn about the Day of the Dead and how it's celebrated. Then, balloon skulls will be decorated while festive music is played in the background. Registration Required: mountainview.gov/librarycalendar.
Trick or Treating for Donations with MVEF
BOO! Don't be afraid, you still have time to donate to MVEF! We are trick or treating for donations for MVWSD! Each and every year we rely on generous donors like you to help MVEF fund programming and experiences at your school and every school in the district, ensuring that your child and every child has an inspiring, well-rounded education. MVEF funds Music, Art, Science, Middle School Sports and Electives helping to create a competitive, well-rounded education. Please see our website at mvef.org for more information and to donate online. You can also use your credit card to pay in monthly installments.
Membership Drive
We are still waiting for more families to join our PTA! Memberships cost $11 and additional donations are very appreciated! Donations will help pay for community engagement events, assemblies, author visits, educational subscriptions, teacher reimbursements for classroom materials, field trips, Ms. Bea’s scholarship program, and teacher appreciation. Classrooms that reach 80% membership participation will get a popsicle party and 3 people who register through November 10th will be entered in a draw to win a coupon for Vargas spirit wear. We are at 137 members, so we need your participation to reach our goal! Please join and make a contribution:https://jointotem.com/ca/mountain-view/jose-antonio-vargas-pta
Scholastic Book Fair
Last few days for the bookfair! The Book Fair is virtual and runs until Sunday, 10/17.
You can find all the details and purchase books for your kids, friends and family at this link:
Feel free to share this link with friends and family who may want to purchase books to help us fundraise.
PTA Parent Coffee
On October 29th, 8am to 9am join us after drop-off for a PTA parent coffee at Chetwood Park (345 Flower Ln, Mountain View). Stay and chat or grab a cup and say a quick hello on your way to work!
Get Involved
A great way to get involved this year is to become a room parent. We still need volunteers for room 8, 13, 15, 16 & 17! Sign up here:
Konstella
Konstella is our main communication tool. The PTA will post information about meetings, events and volunteer opportunities. You will also be able to communicate with other families from your child's classroom.
Shannon Lundin, and the Executive Board
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