The Dolphin Whistle
December 7, 2016 ISSUE 17
MESSAGE FROM PRINCIPAL LAMBERT
Dear Mariano Castro Parents,
The December Break is almost here! This year school ends on Thursday, Dec. 15th and it is a Minimum Day dismissal at 11:55 a.m. This year we will be making work packets for each student so they can keep up some of their skills over their break and are more ready to jump right back in when they return on Wednesday, January 4th. Please have them work on these packets a little bit each day rather than completing all of the work in a couple of days. Look for the packet in their backpack on Thursday the 15th.
Best regards,
Theresa Lambert
Principal Mariano Castro Elementary
Calendar of Upcoming Events
12/8 Thursday - FEI classes 6:00 p.m - 8:00 p.m room # 20
12/9 Friday - Center of the performing arts 8:30 a.m - 11:45 a.m RM's #15 & 16
12/9 Friday - Spirit wear sale before and after school by room 9
12/12 Monday - School boundaries community meeting 6:30 p.m Castro Elementary
12/13 Tuesday - ELAC meeting 6:00 p.m - 7:30 p.m MUR
12/14 Wednesday - Mountain Vw Public Library Field Trip 8:45 a.m - 10:20 a.m
RM's 20 & 24
12/15 Thursday - FEI Classes 6:00 p.m - 8:00 p.m room # 20
12/15 Thursday - Personal Success Awards 11:15 a.m MUR
12/16 Friday - PTA babysitting night for all parents 6:00 p.m - 10:00 p.m MUR
12/16 PTA Baby Sitting Night - 6:00pm-10:00pm MUR
12/16 - 01/03 December Break -NO SCHOOL
PTA NEWS
Membership Cards
PTA Elections
Want to be the next PTA President or Vice President? Or maybe the PTA Secretary or Fundraising Lead?
No matter what position you are interested in, they will all be open for the 2017-2018 school year. Join us on March 22 at 6:30pm to nominate yourself for any PTA position.
FROM THE DISTRICT
Announcing Parent Access Account Change
There is strong evidence that students do better if their parents check their learning activities and progress, setting students up for success in middle school and beyond. MVWSD provides this ability for parents online through PowerSchool.
Parents: You will soon access your students’ information with your own Powerschool account, instead of sharing an account with your students. In the next two weeks, you will receive an email containing your web access ID and password for your PowerSchool Parent Access Account with instructions for a creating an account.
Advantages of the Parent Access Account:
● MORE FEATURES on the Parent Portal than if logging in with students' credentials.
● VIEW ALL YOUR STUDENTS IN ONE LOGON. Parent/Guardians will see all their students’ information from one account. Each of your students’ names will appear on a button on the top of the screen. Simply click each button to access information about each student.
● PARENTS DO NOT NEED TO SHARE ONE ACCOUNT. Each Parent/Guardian can have a separate account. Parents no longer have to share accounts with other family members.
● YOU CAN OPT IN TO RECEIVE EMAILS OF YOUR STUDENT’S ATTENDANCE. Parent/Guardians can sign up to automatically receive emails of their students’ attendance on a daily, weekly or monthly basis.
● INFOSNAP INSTANT ACCESS Parents can automatically access Infosnap from the Parent Access Account for the annual Student Intent to Return Survey.
● MIDDLE SCHOOL ELECTIVES 5th grade parents can choose their student’s Middle School Electives online via the Parent Portal.
School Boundaries Community Meeting
The Mountain View Whisman School District is hosting community-wide meetings for residents to provide input on potential school boundary changes that will take effect in the 2019-2020 school year when Slater School opens.
School Boundaries Community Meeting
Monday, Dec. 12
6:30-8:30 p.m.
Join your neighbors at one of these. The discussion at each location will center on the impact that each boundary scenario will have on that school:
Bubb Elementary, 525 Hans Ave.
Castro Elementary, 505 Escuela Ave.
Huff Elementary, 253 Martens Ave.
Landels Elementary, 115 W. Dana St.
Theuerkauf Elementary, 1625 San Luis Ave.
Monta Loma Elementary, 460 Thompson Ave.
Slater Elementary held at German International School of Silicon Valley, 310 Easy St.
Childcare will be provided. To help up with planning, please register for the meeting and location of your choice here.
The process: In December 2015, the Board of Trustees voted to reopen a school in the Slater neighborhood. This, along with other growth factors, will have an impact on enrollment and facilities across the District and necessitate a review as well as realignment of the attendance boundaries.
The Dec. 12 meetings are part of the yearlong process outlined by the Student Attendance Area Task Force (SAATF), a working group of community members, to determine how to adjust school boundaries to accommodate enrollment after Slater School is reopened in 2019.
The timeline: The task force, formed last spring, has been reviewing District demographic data. The group has been working in five separate teams to produce several boundary scenarios. The feedback collected at the community meetings will be considered by the SAATF and presented to the Board of Trustees.
In early spring, the SAATF will work to make necessary adjustments to boundaries, reduce the number of working options, and decide on two recommendations. In mid-March, another night of feedback sessions will be held in the community. On April 4, SAATF will present two boundary scenarios to the Board of Trustees for review, and the Superintendent will make a recommendation to be voted on by the Board on May 4.
For more info, see www.mvwsd.org/boundaries.