Dec 18 1st Grade Materials Pick-up – 12:20-1:20 p.m.
Dec 21-Jan 4 December Break – NO SCHOOL
Jan 5 Students Return to School (Virtual)
Jan 8 ELAC/Principal’s Coffee – 8:30-9:30 a.m.
Jan 11-15 Virtual Parent/Teacher Conference week – MINIMUM DAYS
Jan 12 Landels Community Session on Perimeter Fences – 4:00-5:00 p.m. Register Here
Jan 14 Using Your SEL Tools with Ms. Galassi, Part 2 – 5:30-7:00 p.m.
Jan 18 Martin Luther King Jr. Day – NO SCHOOL
Jan 20 PTA General Assoc. Meeting – 6:30 – 8:00 p.m. Zoom Link
Jan 27 Parent Workshop: How to build academic language with Kate Kinsella –
6:00 – 7:30 p.m. Register: http://mvw.sd/kate
ROARS
· Gabie A. - Rm. 17
· Samual C. - Rm. 7
· Nolan P. - Rm. 1
· Jet K. - Rm. 11
· Taya J. - Rm. 7
· Alistair F. - Rm. 12
· Steffi T. - Rm. 11
· Lucas B. - Rm. 17
· Vivienne J. - Rm. 9
· Milena F. - Rm. 1
Message from our principal:
Hello Landels Families!
This week marks the last school week of the 2020 calendar year. It is definitely something to celebrate! As I reflect on 2020, I have many thoughts but my biggest take away of this year is the resiliency of our children, teachers and community members. We have continued to persevere and not be reduced by our circumstances. Thank you parents and community members for your patience and for partnering with our teachers and staff. You have been graceful and understanding and an important collaborator in our learning team. I wish you a wonderful winter break with loved ones either virtually or in person. We all need to decompress and recharge for the start of our new year!
We will be closed for Holiday Recess from December 19th to January 4th. Teachers will be spending January 4th participating in professional development and planning. We will be welcoming our students back to school when we resume on January 5th. At this point, the results for our iReady diagnostic assessments will be available in your Parent Portal. Please review as they will be discussed during your Parent-Teacher-Student conference during the week of January 11th. As mentioned before, please plan to have your child attend the conference at some point. This is an important part of your child’s educational process when he or she is included.
Safety Team
Hello Landels Lions! The Pride Team knows that your kitchens are filled with the delicious smells of all of the wonderful foods you are creating for Winter, and we wanted to create a place where our entire school can share our favorite recipes- from ones that have been in our families for years to delicious ones we'd like to try! Join us by posting your recipes on the Landels Pride Team Family Cookbook! The padlet is OPEN and you can post on it all the way through the break! Use it to find a new recipe and post a picture of your creations! We look forward to seeing what you share!
This Christmas, the pride team has created a padlet where there are recipes on how to make gingerbread cookies so that you can make your very own gingerbread cookie and take a picture of it for all of Landels to see! Run run as fast as you can because you can already post your gingerbread cookies! Recipes to help you out are there! I’ll hope to see you there!
Perimeter Controls
As you know, we have been exploring perimeter fencing at our school in order to increase safety and security for students and staff during the school day. We will continue to share our fields with the community after school hours. To see the updated plans, please go to www.mvwsd.org/construction and select Landels Elementary.
The next steps: We have scheduled an additional meeting for our school community and neighbors on January 12th from 4:00-5:00pm. Please join us on the Zoom meeting: http://mvw.sd/LN. MVWSD wants to make sure we have heard all of the considerations so that we can further improve the proposed plan and build consensus around a design that works for stakeholder groups.
Reporting Absences
During distance learning students are expected to attend the Zoom meetings and submit assignments in order to be considered present. If your child is absent, please email Barbara Dolan at [email protected] or leave a message at 650-526-3520, press #2. Please include your child’s name, room number or teacher, reason for the absence and the date of the absence.
MVWSD News
Free children’s meals continue during the holidays
MVWSD free meals for children are available during the holidays. Meals will be available the weeks of December 21 and 28 at the Gabriela Mistral Elementary (505 Escuela Ave) location only on Monday and Tuesday from 11:30 a.m. -1 p.m. On Monday, bags of Monday's and Tuesday's breakfasts and lunches are available. On Tuesday, meal bags for Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday are available. Regular meal service resumes on the week of Jan 4. Please note that facemasks are required when approaching the meal distribution area, and recipients must maintain 6-foot social distancing while waiting for meals.
Better Together: Together we can appreciate our abilities
In December, we are celebrating Abilities Awareness Month. To honor our commitments in moving towards equity and inclusion, help us bring the voices of people with diverse abilities into your classroom or homes, and create a learning environment that rejects ableism. From lessons on art, activism and physical disabilities to education about new developments in Universal Design, these resources will help you and your children embrace diverse abilities and understand the injustices people with disabilities often encounter. Together, we can appreciate our abilities and celebrate our common humanity. See the attached graphics or view them on https://www.mvwsd.org/bettertogethermvwsd
Tester and Interpreter/Translator positions available
Looking for a part-time job with a positive social impact? MVWSD is now hiring organized and friendly individuals to administer English Language proficiency assessments to the district’s K-8 English language learners. To find out more, click here: https://www.edjoin.org/Home/DistrictJobPosting/1310195
Can you speak or write in a language other than English? MVWSD is always looking for qualified interpreters and translators. If you enjoy helping families and children and are fluent in English and one of the languages below, click on https://www.mvwsd.org/jobs and then click on “Support Staff - Hourly”. We are currently looking for the following languages: Arabic, Cantonese, Farsi, French, German, Korean, Mandarin, Tagalog, Vietnamese.
MVWSD’s award-winning Preschool
Is now enrolling for full-day and part-day for the 2021-22 school year. Information meetings will be held in January. Please see the attached flyer or https://www.mvwsd.org/preschool for more information.
Recording: Virtual i-Ready parent workshop
Are you curious about the i-Ready platform and how you can support your student at home? Please view this recording of the session that provides parents with an overview of i-Ready and answers their frequently asked questions about how i-Ready elevates instruction. https://vimeo.com/490839110
TK and choice schools’ meetings are this week. Open Enrollment for all MVWSD students starts in January
School and District information meetings are coming up in December. Please visit www.mvwsd.org/register for a list of these events and for login information.
· If your child turns 5 years old between September 2 – December 2, 2021, he/she may qualify for transitional kindergarten. TK info night is December 16 at 5:00 p.m online.
· If you are interested in the District's choice schools, information nights are:
Gabriela Mistral: Dual Spanish/English Immersion: December 15 at 6 pm
Stevenson: Parent Child Teacher: December 16 at 6 pm
Choice schools will also have information at the elementary schools’ info nights (6 p.m. Dec. 9).
For CURRENT students in transitional kindergarten-7th grade: Parents will be asked by email to confirm enrollment from January 18- 22.
For NEW students: Open Enrollment is from January 11 through Feb. 5, 2021 online. You can register your child for the 2021-22 school year when online registration opens here: www.mvwsd.org/register
Save the date!
Parent workshop: How to Build Academic Language with Kate Kinsella
Virtual presentation on January 27 at 6:00 pm
Hosted by Huff, Landels and Jose Antonio Vargas elementary schools
Register: http://mvw.sd/kate
Presenter Kate Kinsella, Ed.D. will talk about:
• After school conversation tips to use with children to encourage thoughtful responses
• Strategies to help increase students' academic language and listening skills
Kate Kinsella, Ed.D., is a teacher educator at San Francisco State University and a highly sought-after speaker and consultant to school districts throughout the United States regarding development of academic language and literacy across the K-12 subject areas. Her 25-year teaching career focus has been equipping children from diverse backgrounds with the communication, reading, and writing skills to be career and college ready.
For more information, please visit http://drkatekinsella.com/about-us/
CSA food distributions
Community Services Agency (CSA) will have three additional food distributions that families throughout Mountain View are welcome to come and pick up. Please see attached flyers in Spanish and English for details.
Getting Ready for the ELPAC information session: Jan. 12
The English Language Proficiency Assessments for California (ELPAC) is administered every year to our English Learner (EL) students. To learn more about this assessment, the role it plays in the education of every EL, and how to help your child prepare, please join for the following meeting:
· January 12
5:00-5:30 in English: https://zoom.us/j/93307939185
5:30-6:00 in Spanish: https://zoom.us/j/93709174683
MVEF news: Double Your Donation with the December Challenge Grant!
Throughout December, every dollar donated will be matched dollar for dollar up to $47,000, through our December Challenge Grant. The December Challenge Grant has been made possible by generous MVEF donors who are challenging you to join them in supporting MVEF. Donate today to get your donation matched by this challenge!
If your company has a matching gift program, you can even triple your impact by donating this month!
Every dollar donated makes a difference and allows the district-wide programs to be funded which is especially important now, during remote learning. It takes donations of every size for us to reach our annual goal of $800,000 together. https://www.mvef.org/donate
CHAC offers free mental health support to parents and students
For parents: CHAC, a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing affordable and accessible mental health services, supports parents in several ways. Please see the attached flyers for more information.
For students: PLUGGED IN - Social and Emotional Learning Skills Programs
CHAC is excited to offer two new Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) Skills Programs to 3rd and 5th grade students. Both programs are a fun and enriching way to help students navigate the unique challenges they face in these extraordinary times.
1. CHAC's Weekly Virtual Group meetings focus on social interaction between participants. Through collaborative lessons and fun activities students will learn emotion regulation skills, problem solving skills as well as healthy coping and self-care skills.
2. CHAC's Independent SEL Curriculum teaches students essential social and emotional learning skills through entertaining video lessons and a variety of fun activities that students complete independently.
The parents who request the PLUGGED IN Independent Curriculum will have it emailed to them immediately.
The parents who would like their child to join a PLUGGED IN virtual group, will be contacted about scheduling options and asked to complete an online permission slip. Groups are expected to start in early January.
Parenting in a pandemic: Free 6th district PTA speaker series
Wednesday, December 16, 7 PM. Teaching self regulation. Inclusion collaborative.
Cost: free. For more information and to reserve your seat visit www.capta6.org/parenting_in_a_pandemic/
MVLA Speakers series presents “Middle School Matters” with Phyllis Fagell
Thursday, Jan. 14, 2021 - 7:00 - 9:00pm | Live Online
Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor and Certified Professional School Counselor Phyllis Fagell helps parents use the middle school years as a low-stakes training ground to teach kids the key skills they’ll need to thrive now and in the future, including making good friend choices, negotiating conflict, regulating their own emotions, acting as their own advocates, and more. To answer parents’ most common questions and struggles with middle school-aged children, she combines her professional and personal expertise with stories and advice from prominent psychologists, doctors, parents, educators, school professionals, and middle schoolers themselves.
Audience: Parents of kids grades 4 - 8
Register: To register for this free event at https://mvla2020-21-phyllisfagell.eventbrite.com
Books: https://www.booksinc.net/book/9780738235080
Video Available!
Michael Reichert – How to Raise a Boy - Event Recording from 11/17/2020
Dr. Reichert has graciously allowed us to share the How to Raise a Boy recording with parents, teachers, and other caretakers of children and teens (K - 12) within our community. The recording will be available until December 17th. The link is https://youtu.be/K7aAVmHSd2Y
Video Available!
Marc Brackett – Permission to Feel - Event Recording from 10/29/2020
Dr. Brackett has graciously allowed us to share the Permission to Feel recording with parents, teachers, and other caretakers of children and teens (K - 12) within our community. The recording will be available through December 10th. The link is https://youtu.be/dyGMXo8iH0s