Quetzal News
January 5, 2022
From Ms. O's Desk
Dear Quetzal Families,
Welcome back to another fun school year! I hope that you all had a restful break, and I want to take this time to wish you a healthy, safe, and amazing 2022! As we all know, Covid cases are increasing. It is definitely frustrating and scary at times to feel like we are starting all over, again. However, this practice our growth mindsets and take this opportunity to remember and continue practicing what we have learned during these last two years:
- It's important to focus on the positive-Omicron symptoms are mostly mild.
- Vaccination is critical in order to be healthy-Remember to have your booster shot and vaccinate your children.
- Wearing a mask, washing our hands, and watching our distance, MAKE a difference.
At Gabriela Mistral, we are counting on our community to be extra careful and take care of ourselves and the people around us. If you haven't done so yet, please upload your child's vaccination cards on PowerSchool. If you need help uploading your documents, please contact Michelle Olague at molague@mvwsd.org. We sent Covid Rapid Testing Kits and instructions today in your child's back pack. As always, our common goal is to keep our students and staff stay safe, healthy and stress free. We can do this!
Our value of the month is courage! What a perfect timing to practice this virtue. Let's focus this week on the real meaning of courage: the strength to venture, persevere, and withstand danger, fear, and difficulties. I know sometimes it gets very hard to practice this great asset, so let's use this new challenge as a practice for all of us to learn how to overcome difficulties. Enjoy this article that shares different stories and ways to practice courage, because courage IS a skill.
"Courage is the most important of all the virtues because without courage, you can't practice any other virtue consistently." Maya Angelou
Take care and stay safe!
Ms. Olaciregui, Principal
Calendar
January 6
- Parenting Classes by Palo Alto University at 5:30-6:30pm-Register
January 10 through January 14, 2022
- Conference Week: Minimum Day Schedule
January 11
- School Site Council Meeting @ 6pm-Register
January 17
- Martin Luther King's holiday No School
January 18
- ELAC meeting @ 6pm-Register (Topic:"Making Sense of Difficult Behaviors")
District News
Superintendent's Community Check In on Friday, Jan. 7
Please join us for our Community Check-In with Dr. Ayindé Rudolph on Friday, Jan 7 at 3:30 p.m. Bring your questions. Spanish interpretation will be provided. Click here to register: http://mvw.sd/CCJan7. To plan ahead, please see this webpage for upcoming meeting dates. In case you miss it, a video recording will be posted on this webpage.
Attendance is important: Parent notifications ramp up in January
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.
Letters: beginning in January, MVWSD will send letters to parents of any student who is truant (any three unexcused absences and/ or tardies over 30 minutes means a child is truant). These letters inform parents when students have had three or more unexcused absences and inform families of next steps and any resources or procedures in place to help their family get their child to school regularly.
Calls: In January, MVWSD schools will also begin using an automated system to notify parents when a student is absent from school. This automated call will alert a parent that a student has been marked absent. This is important for the safety of your child and for our attendance accounting. Please ensure we have the reason for your child’s absence.
It’s possible that you might receive a call after you have notified the office of the absence. We apologize for any inconvenience that this additional call may cause. This process helps us to maintain a safe school environment and support your child and family. Thank you for your support.
Parent-Teacher Conferences are Jan. 10-14. Minimum day for students. Sign up for conferences!
Parent-Teacher (Student) Conferences present a valuable opportunity to discuss your child’s progress, strengths and needs, and work with your teacher to help your child have a successful academic experience. Conference week is scheduled for January 10-14, 2022. Every day that week is a minimum day for students.
“Parent University: Effective Parent-Teacher Communication & Tips for Conference Week”
Date: January 5, 2022, 5:30-7:00pm Registration Link: http://mvw.sd/pu010522
Please join us for a thorough discussion on effective communication between home and school and tips on how to have a successful parent-teacher conference. A panel of parents, principals and teachers from Elementary School and Middle School will provide helpful feedback on how to approach difficult topics when talking to your child’s teacher or office staff. Parents will also learn how to read and understand the school report cards.
To submit questions prior to the event, go to mvw.sd/questions. We will do our best to address your question during the session.
Please Upload Your Child’s Completed Vaccine Card
Many of our younger students are getting their 2nd COVID vaccine shot this week. When your child's vaccine card has their second shot listed, please upload a copy to Powerschool. Vaccine cards will be referred to in the case of a positive COVID exposure for your student, and MVWSD needs accurate data for decisions about COVID protocols. Click here for a video that shows you how to upload documents: https://vimeo.com/606954357.Thank you in advance for uploading your documents now!
Preschool Information Meetings: Jan. 12 and Jan. 26
The award-winning MVWSD Preschool Program is currently accepting applications for full- and part-day for the 2022-23 school year.
All 4-year-olds residing in the Castro School boundaries are now eligible for FREE, part-day state preschool at Latham.
Our preschool offers age-appropriate early math, language, literacy and science inquiry instruction, as well as social-emotional development in either part-day and full-day classes.
*** Join us for an info meeting on January 12 at 3:30 pm (Spanish) at Zoom link: http://mvw.sd/PK112 or January 26 at 3:30 pm (English) at Zoom link: http://mvw.sd/PK126 ***
Children who will be 3- or 4-years old at any time during the school year are eligible. Priority enrollment is for children who will be 4 years old by Sept. 1. Full day is 8 a.m.- 3 p.m., part-day is 3 hrs in the morning or afternoon.
Now accepting applications for full- and part-day spaces. Enrollment appointments begin in March. For more info go to www.mvwsd.org/preschool or call 650-526-3560.
Parent University: Managing Stress and Fostering Resiliency
Date: 1/19/22 Registration Link: http://mvw.sd/pu011922
Does hearing about stress make you feel stressed out? Let’s face this universal phenomenon together. This presentation will:
Identify common stressors and the effects of stress
Explore tips for stress management for oneself
Provide tips on how to support our kids with stress management
To submit questions prior to the event, please click here. We will do our best to address your question during the session.
Open Enrollment for all MVWSD students starts in January
For CURRENT students in transitional kindergarten-7th grade: Parents will be asked by email to confirm enrollment from January 24-28.
For NEW students: Open Enrollment is from January 10 through Feb. 4, 2022 online. You can register your child for the 2022-23 school year when online registration opens here: www.mvwsd.org/register
Please visit www.mvwsd.org/register for more information.
MVEF Gala Save the Date - March 19, 2022!
The MVEF Gala Committee is hard at work ensuring that our Annual Gala on March 19th will be a fun evening that raises funds for our schools. We are still working out all the details as current conditions shift - so stay tuned! We do know that Trivia will be back as will our annual raffle. If you'd like to join the planning committee, please contact Andrea Maes at andrea-m@mvef.org.
Mentor Tutor Connection Volunteer Information Session - Jan. 11th
You can change the life of a student! Come learn about volunteer opportunities to Mentor high school students and Tutor students in grades K-8 in our Mountain View and Los Altos schools. Becoming a Mentor or Tutor will add joy to your life and help a student in our local community to a brighter future! There is no obligation to sign up as a volunteer. You're welcome to just come and learn more about what we do.
Date: Tuesday, January 11th
Time: 12:00 - 1:00 pm
Location: Online via Zoom (URL provided upon registration
Register: REGISTER ONLINE
Questions: programs@mentortutorconnection.org
Information: MentorTutorConnection.org
If you are interested in learning more about the program but cannot attend the information session, please email programs@mentortutorconnection.org for information on how to proceed.
Mountain View Community Shuttle EXPANDED HOURS
Thanks to new VTA funding, the City of Mountain View is pleased to announce that the Mountain View Community Shuttle will expand weekday hours to better serve our community.
Beginning Monday, January 3, 2022, the Shuttle’s weekday hours will be 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Weekend service hours will remain 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. For more information, please call Customer Service at: 855-730-RIDE (7433) or check MVCommunityShuttle.com.
MVPL Event: How to Make Comics with Gabriela Epstein
Come meet Gabriela Epstein, a New York Times best selling illustrator known for the Baby-Sitters Club middle grade graphic novel adaptations and more, on Wednesday, January 12, 2022 from 2:30pm - 3:30pm. In this free program, Gabriela will share with us how to utilize a three act structure in comics, and do an interactive comic making demo with us. For children ages 7-12. Registration is required: mountainview.gov/librarycalendar.