Principal’s Message:
Hello Golden Owls,
Our Back to School Night is this Thursday, August 25th. At this important in-person event, you will learn more about your child’s teacher and classroom, ways that you can support your child’s learning, and meet other families. We will have two sessions to accommodate families with multiple children and allow them the opportunity to visit more than one classroom that night.
Our STEAM rooms and our Education specialist Mrs. Solorzano I will also be hosting two sessions. Feel free to stop by their rooms as well!
**Please note, the classroom presentations are intended for an adult audience and are child-free. If you must bring your children to the event, we will have staff available to care for your school-aged children in the playground and blacktop area during the sessions. If you have non-school-aged children, they must join you in the rooms.
Some quick reminders:
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If your child completed the Summer Learning Challenge, please have them turn in their logs by this Friday! Students can submit them to the font office.
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Follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter to keep up with the happenings at Vargas
In Partnership,
Principal Vern Taylor
Events Calendar
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24th - Principal’s Office Hours, 4:00 PM Register Here
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25th - Back to School Night
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26th - Principal’s Coffee, 8:30 AM Register Here
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30th - ELAC Meeting, 6:00pm Register Here
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31st - Principal’s Office Hours, 4:00 PM Register Here
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31st - SSC, 5:00pm - 6:00pm Register Here
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5th - Labor Day - No School
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7th - Principal’s Office Hours, 4:00 PM Register Here
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8th - MVWSD Board Meeting,
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9th - Superintendent Community Check-in, 3:30pm Register Here
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14th - Principal’s Office Hours, 4:00 PM Register Here
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19th - DELAC Meeting, 5:30pm - 7:30pm Register Here
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20th - ELAC Meeting, 6:00PM
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21st - Picture Day
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21st - Principal’s Office Hours, 4:00 PM Register Here
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22nd - Family Science Night, 5:30pm -6:30pm
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23rd - Principal’s Coffee, 8:30 AM
In this Newsletter
School News:
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Golden Ticket Winners
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Attendance is important
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Pedestrian and Bike Safety
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Gift Card Donation
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Updating Contact Information
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Help our School - EzSchool Meals are Free
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Principal’s Virtual Office Hours
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Reporting an Absence
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School Supplies and Voluntary Donation Form
Flyers
District News:
PTA News:
Golden Ticket Winners 8/18/2022
Parker H. RM: 1 Connor R. RM: 10
Zella Y. RM: 2 Julian M. RM: 11
Faith T. RM: 3 Martin C. RM: 13
Michael L. RM: 4 Stella L. RM: 14
Reagan R. RM: 5 Jon A. RM: 15
Celeste R. RM: 6 DJ M. RM: 16
Keshav S. RM: 8 Chase D. RM: 17
Jacob C. RM: 9 Ms. Kwon RM: 10
Attendance is important
Research shows that school attendance is a strong indicator of success. It's about students learning what they need to know, belonging to the school community, and being part of the team that is preparing them with good habits for high school.
Regular school attendance is required by the state law, and is included in the District’s Local Control Accountability plan (LCAP) and reported in the California School Dashboard. State law requires MVWSD to notify parents whose students are truant or chronically absent.
What’s an Excused vs. Not Excused absence? Illness (including quarantining due to COVID), doctor’s appointments, bereavement, and certain religious exercises are excused absences. Please see MVWSD board policy for the full list. All other reasons are not considered excused.
Are Vacations / Travel Excused? Unfortunately, family vacation or travel is not excused – even when you inform your teacher or the office. This comes as a surprise for parents. We appreciate you letting us know so that you will not receive a call from the auto-dialer asking you to verify the absence.
When do parents get truancy letters? California law requires MVWSD to notify parents of truancy. Any three unexcused absences and/ or tardies over 30 minutes means a child is truant.
Pedestrian and Bike Safety
Next Monday, our 2nd-5th grade students will participate in the city’s Safe Routes to School (SRTS) program. The program provides our Golden Owls with lots of good information on walking and rolling to school, including these safety tips and rules for riding. Please make sure your child wears a helmet if biking or scooting to school. You can also see MVWSD updated information about safe walking and biking routes to school. (Click Here-look under Vargas)
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. Thanks 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].
Updating Contact Information - (Repeat from last week)
It is important we have your most current contact information (phone number, email address, emergency contacts). If you have a change or want to add an authorized person to pick up your child, please email our front office staff Mrs. Antunez at [email protected] or Ms. McElyea at [email protected] with any changes or updates you may have.
School meals are free, but fill out the EzSchool Meals application to help your school -(Repeat from last week)
MVWSD will continue to provide free meals to all students as part of California’s universal meal program. Breakfast and lunches are available daily.
We ask you to please Apply at EzSchool Meals to help MVWSD receive additional funding to support students who are in need, and may help your family.
This Free and Reduced Price Meals benefit is not limited to meals only. If your child is eligible for free and/or reduced-price meals, your family could get medical benefits, housing benefits, utilities benefits and more.
Students who qualify for free and/or reduced-price meals may be eligible for P-EBT cards. The more applications your school gathers at the start of each school year, the more additional funding it can receive for all kinds of programs that help children at your school.
If you are currently out of work, you may qualify and help your school, regardless of your financial situation. Apply at https://secure.ezmealapp.com/ or call your school office.
Principal’s Virtual Office Hours -(Repeat from last week)
I will again be hosting Principal Office Hours virtually on Wednesdays 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!
Register in advance for this meeting.
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
Reporting an Absence - (Repeat from last week)
Please call the office at (650) 903-6952 or email [email protected] to report an absence or late arrival. Provide the following information: date of absence, student’s name, grade and room number, reason for absence, name and relationship of the person reporting the absence.
School Supplies and Voluntary Donation Form - (Repeat from last week)
We will be furnishing all basic school supplies and textbooks for all students. Donations of items and funds for this purpose are appreciated, but not required. For those able to donate, please fill out this form and bring it to the front office, along with your donation, and our front office staff will provide you with a receipt. Sharing of supplies between students will be limited.
District News
August/September CAC Events
Happy Back to School! 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
We encourage families to learn about the sensory needs all children: Try a Sensory Diet
August 29, 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. Register here.
September 14, 10 am Morning 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. Register here.
Please Support Our Students!
MVEF raises money to provide all MVWSD students with an educational experience beyond what is possible with public funding. Help us fund programming for your child and every child in the district! We hope you saw the MVEF brochure (which doubles as a donation envelope) or watched the video during Back to School. Please see the website at mvef.org for more information and to donate online using ACH (from your bank account) or credit card. You can sign up to pay in monthly installments. Please consider joining our team of volunteers. Email us with any questions at [email protected]. Thank you for your support!
PTA News
Back to School Night 8-25
The PTA will have a welcome table at back to school night. Come and say hello! We will also be selling Vargas Spirit Wear.
Movie Night 9-16
Save the date! We are planning our first community welcome back event - an outdoor movie night! On Friday, September 16th. Stay tuned for more details.
Volunteering
We have many opportunities for parents to be involved in the PTA. From board positions to room parents to helping out with events. Check out this link and fill out an interest form. https://tinyurl.com/VargasVolunteer2022
Membership
Joining the PTA helps our organization to support our Vargas students, teachers and families and builds parents' connection to their school community. https://jointotem.com/ca/mountain-view/jose-antonio-vargas-pta
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.
Use this link to register: https://www.konstella.com/cd/XGJHYL
To Join a Classroom
Web: Click your name at the top left corner. Click “Your Children” to add/modify your children.
Mobile App: Click the Settings icon at the top left corner. Click “Your Children”. Membership
Spirit Wear
Mondays are spirit days at JA Vargas, wear green and show your school spirit. Check out our selection of green spirit wear. Place your order online and pick it up on designated days at the office.
https://www.javargaspta.org/ja-vargas-store
Website
Find links to membership, Konstella, gear shop and volunteer opportunities on our website.
https://www.javargaspta.org/home
Shannon Lundin, and the Executive Board
[email protected]