Important Dates to Remember
Jan. 11 5:30 – 6 pm Cafecito con el Superintendente – Register here
Jan 11 6:30 pm - Our School's Info Night for New Students/Kinders Zoom
Jan 12 5:30/6:30 pm - Choice Schools Info Night mvwsd.org/register
Jan 13 3:30 pm Community Check In Zoom
Jan 16 MLK Day - No School
Jan 18 In-Person Choice Schools Event at Theuerkauf mvwsd.org/register
Feb 1 8:30 am ELAC/Principals Coffee - Staff room
Feb 7 5:30 pm Parent University: Living Our New “Normal” - Register here
Feb 8 6 pm PTA Meeting - Staff room
Feb 13 3:15 pm School Site Council Meeting
Feb 17 End of 2nd Trimester – Minimum Day
Feb 20-24 Winter Break – No School
Landels News
Hello Landels Families,
Happy New Year and welcome back! Teachers spent Monday, January 9th analyzing iReady data and formulating action plans on how to best support students, including our English Learners who will be participating in the ELPAC assessment in just a few weeks. As always, we are committed to providing the best instruction that meets the diverse needs of our student population.
Lunar New Year
Monday, 1/23, we would like to have a Lunar New Year exploration in the MUR for Make-it Monday! All students will be able to participate in the MUR during the play portion of their recess. If this is a holiday you celebrate, we'd love your support! Please reach out to Coach Natalie ([email protected]) and Ms. Bea ([email protected]) if you are interested in sharing with students how you celebrate Lunar New Year (crafts, treats, photographs, etc!).
Don’t forget to give your student the free COVID test on Jan. 16
MVWSD provided at-home COVID-19 testing kits for free to families and staff members so that you may test before returning to campus after the winter break. Please use one to test your student on Monday, Jan. 16 before returning to school on Tuesday, Jan. 17 (after the Martin Luther King Jr holiday). Please see this letter for what to do after testing. Thank you for participating in these measures to help ensure all of our students and staff stay healthy.
Returning students: Enrollment in MVWSD for next year
MVWSD enrollment for next fall for returning students will open soon. For CURRENTLY enrolled students in transitional kindergarten-7th grade: Starting Jan. 24, parents can log on to the PowerSchool Parent Portal to enroll their children for next year. Look for an email in your inbox on Jan. 24. If you have difficulty signing in to PowerSchool, please contact your school office. For more information, call 650-526-3500 or go to https://www.mvwsd.org/register.
Thank you!
Pieter Dolmans
LEAP
Discuss the classes below with your student and have him/her sign up in the office if interested.
Chinese Brush Painting (Grades 3-5, max 15 students)
Tuesday, Jan 24, 3-4:30pm (90 minutes), Room TBD
Come and learn some basics of Chinese Brush painting. Let the brush do the work for you!
- Sign-ups open Thursday, Jan 12
H.I.T.S. Tennis (Grades 4-5, max 12 students)
Thursdays, Jan 26 - Mar 9, 12:30-1:30pm, Blacktop
Learn the fundamentals of tennis through drills and games, and gain life skills like Honesty, Inspiration, Teamwork, and Sportsmanship.
- Sign-ups open Thursday, Jan 12
Coat Drive
One of our former Landels students is organizing a coat drive to help Ukrainian families. We will be collecting coats until Jan 13th.
MVWSD News
Don’t forget to give your student the free COVID test on Jan. 16
MVWSD provided at-home COVID-19 testing kits for free to families and staff members so that you may test before returning to campus after the winter break. Please use one to test your student on Monday, Jan. 16 before returning to school on Tuesday, Jan. 17 (after the Martin Luther King Jr holiday). Please see this letter for what to do after testing. Thank you for participating in these measures to help ensure all of our students and staff stay healthy.
The Board of Trustees will meet on Thursday, Jan. 12 at 6:00 p.m.
Some of the meeting topics include:
· Review of conceptual designs for greening and outdoor learning at Vargas Elementary School
· i-Ready- CAASPP Correlation and Diagnostic 2 Assessment Results
For meeting details and agenda, please click here: https://www.mvwsd.org/trustees.
Superintendent's Community Check In on Friday, Jan. 13
Please join us for our Community Check-In with Dr. Ayindé Rudolph on Friday, Jan. 13 at 3:30 p.m. Bring your questions. Spanish interpretation will be provided. Click here to register: http://mvw.sd/CC113
Cafecito con el Superintendente
Wednesday, Jan. 11, 5:30 – 6 pm
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/C111
Returning students: Enrollment in MVWSD for next year
MVWSD enrollment for next fall for returning students will open soon.
For CURRENTLY enrolled students in transitional kindergarten-7th grade: Starting Jan. 24, parents can log on to the PowerSchool Parent Portal to enroll their children for next year. Look for an email in your inbox on Jan. 24. If you have difficulty signing in to PowerSchool, please contact your school office. For more information, call 650-526-3500 or go to https://www.mvwsd.org/register.
For parents of new students and incoming kinders: There are important new student registration meetings coming up.
Your neighborhood school: Wednesday, Jan. 11 at 6:30 pm. Click here for each school’s meeting link: http://mvw.sd/meetings.
MVWSD choice schools: Thursday, Jan. 12. Gabriela Mistral Elementary at 5:30 p.m. and Stevenson Elementary at 6:30 p.m. Click here for each school’s meeting link: http://mvw.sd/meetings. There are also in-person school exploration events: Wednesday, January 18 from 1:30 - 4 pm at Theuerkauf for parents of Theuerkauf Transitional Kinders, Preschool and for the public. Wednesday, January 25 from 2- 4 pm at Castro Elementary for parents of Latham Preschool and for the public.
Here’s how you can be ready for the meetings
➤ First, check your residency to determine your neighborhood school: https://www.mvwsd.org/residency
➤ Learn about choice schools and neighborhood schools at https://www.mvwsd.org/register
➤ Click here https://vimeo.com/777468041 for a video about how the choice school lottery process works. (Spanish video: https://vimeo.com/781925589).
➤ Click on this video for Day in the Life of a Kinder: https://vimeo.com/765116449 (Spanish video is here: https://vimeo.com/775870587)
Is your student too young for kindergarten?
Click here to learn about the right program for your young learner: https://www.mvwsd.org/kinderready
➤ The information meeting for transitional kindergarten is January 19 at 6:30 p.m. at this Zoom link: http://mvw.sd/TK119
➤ The preschool informational meeting is January 19 at 3:30 pm (English) at this Zoom link: http://mvw.sd/PK119 and February 1 at 3:30 pm (Spanish) at this Zoom link: http://mvw.sd/PK21.
Student registration starts soon!
Open enrollment for all students (including returning students) for the fall starts on Jan. 24. Click on https://www.mvwsd.org/register for all of the details.
Parent University: Living Our New “Normal”: Tips for Families on How to Thrive Post-Pandemic
Date and Time: Feb. 7, 2023 5:30pm Registration Link: https://mvw.sd/pu020723
The last three years have been difficult on parents and children. How do we keep going and continue to show up to support our families?
Together, we will be able to:
· Identify what the “New Normal” means to us.
· Learn tips and strategies to manage stress and navigate our “New Normal”
· Commit to take one action to address a personal goal
MVEF January Updates
Thanks to the generous support of MVEF donors and volunteers, MVEF achieved the incremental goal to raise $800k by Jan 1, 2023! This achievement represents almost 70% of this year's annual goal of $1,200,000 raised during the first half of the fiscal year. Thank you MVEF donors and volunteers for your tireless support of MVEF and Mountain View Whisman School District!
SAVE THE DATE for the MVEF Gala: MVEF will hold its Annual Fundraising Gala benefiting the current school year on Saturday, April 29, 2023. The MVEF Gala is an opportunity for residents, district parents, business leaders and community members to come together to support local schools. This year’s event will include dinner, fundraising activities (including a raffle and silent auction), and dancing (subject to county health guidelines). More details about the Gala will be shared soon.
Mentor Tutor Connection Volunteer Info Session
Come learn about volunteering as a Mentor or Tutor! Help a local student to a brighter future. VOLUNTEER INFORMATION SESSION - January 19, 12:00-1:00 pm, El Camino YMCA, 2400 Grant Road, Mountain View. To register go to www.mentortutorconnection.org/events - or email [email protected].
Health and Wellness Parenting Tip: Belly Breathing
Our mood is influenced by physical sensations in our body. When we feel stressed, we tend to take quick and shallow breaths. By taking slow and deep breaths, we can signal our body to relax.
Watch this video to learn more about how belly breathing can help your child (or you) feel more relaxed.
To belly breathe:
1. Choose a comfortable position, such as sitting on a chair or laying on your back.
2. Place one hand on your belly.
3. Take a deep breath in through your nose while you count to four. As you breathe in, your belly should rise.
4. Hold your breath while you count to five.
5. Breathe out through your mouth while you count to six. As you breathe out, your belly should flatten.
You may need to repeat these steps for 5-10 minutes before you start to feel relaxed. By practicing these steps, you can learn to relax after stressful situations.
MVLA Parent Ed Speaker Series: Raising Body Positive Youth on Jan. 19
Join MVLA Parent Ed on Thursday, Jan. 19 from 7pm - 9pm (LAHS Eagle Theater) for an evening with Wendy Sterling, Shelley Aggarwal, and Signe Darpinian – co-authors of No Weigh! and Raising Body Positive Teens – as they discuss how to raise confident eaters, in a home free of judgment. Wendy, Shelley, and Signe will discuss down-to-earth ways parents can help their kids take proactive actions in promoting a friendship with food, and preventative actions to minimize the risk factors for the development of eating disorders, particularly when early signs of disordered eating, excessive exercise, or body dissatisfaction have been noticed. Click here to register for the event.
PTA News
It's time to turn in those Winter Reading Challenge forms!
We hope your student was able to fill out the Winter Reading Challenge form (see attached if you misplaced the one that came home in your student's backpack) to help them keep track of each day
they read for at least 20 minutes over winter break.
The classroom with the highest participation rate wins a holiday party and the PTA Board is excited to tabulate the returned forms and see who the winning classroom will be!
We hope you had a book-filled, relaxing winter break.
Oh yeah, we'd also love to see you at the PTA Association meeting in the staff lounge this morning starting at 8:30am. Come on by or join virtually (https://yougov.zoom.us/j/96191968679?pwd=YUlEYjVBSzdpb0MwdGNveG11cXZtdz09)!
Warm regards,
Sam Perkins
Flyers
January Lunch Menu
Mentor Tutor Connection Volunteer Info Session
MVLA Parent Ed Speaker Series: Raising Body Positive Youth
Landels Winter Reading Challenge
Landels PTA Meeting Schedule 2022/2023