
Montera Middle School eBulletin
November 10, 2024
Important Dates
Block Schedule: __B - a - AB
Monday, November 11: Veterans' Day - NO SCHOOL
Wednesday November 13, 9:30 - 11:00am: Prospective Family TourThursday November 14, 5:00 - 7:00pm: 8th Grade Family Friendsgiving Potluck
Tuesday November 19:
- 9:15-10am: Coffee with the Principal
- 5:00- 5:45pm: OUSD Math Acceleration Options - Family Info Night
Thursday November 21, 6:30pm: PTO Meeting (via Zoom)
Monday November 25 - Friday November 29: Thanksgiving Break
Saturday December 7, 12:00-4:00pm: Montera Holiday Craft Fair
Wednesday, December 11
- 9:30 - 11:00am: Prospective Family Tour
- 6:00pm: Winter Concert (Band)
Thursday December 12, 6:00 pm: Winter Concert (Choir and Orchestra)
Action Items
School News
Better Together - Coffee with the Principal
Join Dr. Williams for coffee, pastries, and community on Tuesday November 19 from 9:15 - 10am in the MUR.
GET INVOLVED
Prospective Family Tours
Prospective Family Tours: Please let your friends and neighbors know tours are now available for 5th grade students and their families. Sign up for a tour on our website.
Tour Dates:
- Wed, 11/13/24 9:30 - 11 AM
- Fri, 12/6/24 9:30 - 11 AM
- Wed, 12/11/24 9:30 - 11 AM
- Fri, 1/10/25 9:30 - 11am
VOLUNTEERS NEEDED: Sign up to volunteer here
Montera Holiday Craft Fair - Planners & Volunteers Needed
Montera Holiday Craft Fair - Sign Up for a Booth!
We welcome Montera groups, teachers, students, staff and community vendors to join us for a festive community event. This is an opportunity to fundraise for your group/department and/or sell individually to make some holiday money.
Sign up for your booth here! Deadline to sign up: Friday, November 22
Holiday Craft Fair Details:
When: Saturday, Dec 7, 12-4pm
Where: Montera Middle School Gym
Do you want to help make our craft fair happen? We need parent volunteers to help make this a great event, and get the word out! Sign up to volunteer here.
How Can You Help?
- SUPPORT FIELD TRIPS: Montera is looking to expand outdoor education for our students by going on more field trips. We need parent support before, during, and after the trip(s). Complete this form to let us know how you can help.
- VOLUNTEER: Please complete this form and let us know how you'd like to help.
Looking Ahead
HIGH SCHOOL INFO AND TOURS
8th Grade Parents and Guardians - it's time to start touring High Schools! Check out all the school tour information for OUSD High Schools here: Transition to High School
Math Acceleration Options - Family Info Night
On Tuesday, November 19, 2024 OUSD will host a virtual Family Info Night on zoom from 5:00-5:45pm to explore math acceleration options for high school students. While we hope to see many 8th grade families, this info night is open to families of students of all ages. During our info night, we will:
- explore math course options at each grade level in high school
- learn about the various math acceleration options that are offered at each high school
- learn about the options for math acceleration before 9th grade, and hear from our students and teachers their experiences with different Algebra 1 course options
- collect questions from our community
- provide feedback and input around middle school math enrichment opportunities
Please register here for the zoom webinar. To begin the conversation, please submit any questions that you have in this google form.
Thank you,
Courtney Ortega, Secondary Math Coordinator for Middle Schools
Keely Machmer-Wessels, Secondary Math Coordinator for High Schools
Support Our School
Mrs. Dalloway's Fundraiser - ends TOMORROW!
Montera Middle School is taking part in Mrs. Dalloway's 16th Annual School Benefit Fundraiser! When you make purchases at Mrs. Dalloway's Literary & Garden Arts store between November 8-11, online and in person, Mrs. Dalloway's will donate 15% of the pre-tax purchase to our school. We will use these funds to purchase new books for the library. This is a great time to stock up on holiday and birthday gifts, teacher gifts, and maybe something special for yourself! Don't know which books to buy? Get a gift card, which is included in the fundraiser, and save it for later!
Shop in person at 2904 College Avenue in Berkeley or online at https://www.mrsdalloways.com/
Download the flyer ⬇️ for more info.
See's Candies Fundraiser for Montera!
Just in time for the holidays, our See's Candy fundraiser is back! Simply order from the See's Montera Storefront by December 6, and your candy will be shipped directly to your house. Montera receives 20%-50% of the profit which goes toward funding our 8th grade field trip.
Click the link and place your order now: https://www.yumraising.com/secure/monterams_montera_middle_school49/Monpre5958/candy
Invest in Your Children — Invest in Montera
Make your donation today! The 2024-25 PTO Budget is: $215,960. We are asking families to give what they can. Suggested donation is $450 per student. Donations range from $10-$2,000. Make a one-time or monthly donation online via PayPal.
GRADE LEVEL EVENTS
8th Grade Activities for 2024-25 - UPDATED INFO:
- 8th Grade Family Friendsgiving Potluck: Thursday, Nov 14 5-7pm Montera MUR
We invite 8th grade families to eat and spend time together before the holidays. Please RSVP and bring something to share to this multicultural potluck. The whole family is invited. Hope to see you there! RSVP HERE.
- Six Flags Trip: Wednesday, April 16th, 2025
- 8th Grade Dinner Dance: Saturday, May 17 2025
- Picnic in the Park: Friday, May 23 2025
- 8th Grade Promotion: May 28, 2025, 3pm* (subject to change)
All activities require VOLUNTEERS! How can you help with an 8th grade fundraiser or activity? Sign up here. We especially need activity leads!
Questions: 8thgradeactivities@monterapto.com
______________________________________________________________________________
8th Grade Washington DC Trip
Trip Dates: March 27 - April 1, 2025 Sign up and view itinerary here
There are only 9 spots left & the trip price increases on November 1st!
Fundraising – Help us meet our goal and provide scholarships to 8th graders to go to Washington next March. Donate here
Apply for a scholarship – If you would like your 8th grader to attend the Washington DC trip and would like to apply for a partial scholarship, please do so in the link here.
Missed the Sept 26th Meeting?
Here's the Recording Passcode: smUhb28^
Download a PDF of the Slide deck here
Questions?: Contact Mr. Cooper, Trip Leader: samuel.cooper@ousd.org
Montera 6th Graders - Trip to Japan!
We are happy to announce a new overseas learning opportunity for this year's 6th graders. We are going to Japan! We will be traveling June 2026.
- Here is the enrollment page for the Japan trip: https://www.eftours.com/tour-website/2817369UF?utm_source%3Daccount-hp
- The Japan meeting recording is here and the passcode is Bm7B%$gx.
We have plenty of room on the Japan trip and look forward to opening it up to parents/adults traveling with students on Oct 23. We want to give students first crack at spots on the trip, so any students wanting to enroll should do so now. Enrolling early means monthly payments stay low! The closer we get, the higher those payments need to be to pay off the trip before July 2026.
Please contact Dr. Emrick: isaac.emrick@ousd.org or Ms. Recco: rebecca.recco@ousd.org with questions.
Montera Sports
REGISTER | INTEREST FORM | DONATE | LEARN MORE
QUESTIONS: martin.price@ousd.org or sports@monterapto.com
Fall sports are winding down - check back next week for end of season info and more about Winter sports.
Boys Flag Football:
Boys flag football finished their regular season undefeated and advance to the playoffs!
Girls Volleyball:
Both Montera Varsity teams won their final game of the regular season. Playoffs start this Saturday November 16!
Toro Pride Pics
QUICK LINKS
PE Uniforms
2024-25 Yearbook
ELT (Afterschool)
These and many more opportunities are available to our Montera community, OUSD, and beyond. Items appear in the eBulletin for 2 weeks. Please click here for the full list of current programs.
Techs on Decks
Whether you dream of saving this planet, exploring others, or maybe just making your community safer, there are a million tech careers out there. How does a teenager choose?
Coming November 16 to the USS Hornet in Alameda, Techs on Decks is a free career exploration event for middle and high school students to:
Reach out and touch a real space capsule or fighter jet, see how ships navigate, experience drone races and underwater robots, build a moon base, or try robotics and 3D printing.
Explore internships, scholarships and early career paths in space exploration, AI, cybersecurity, first response, healthcare, engineering, defense, and more.
Connect with tech, scientific and corporate innovators — with free Domino’s pizza and free student admission!
Held on the decks of the USS Hornet in Alameda (the same ship that welcomed home the Apollo 12 astronauts), Techs on Decks offers the opportunity for students to discover their own 21st century #ApolloMoment.
We especially want to encourage teachers, parents, schools and clubs to organize carpools or other transportation to help students from every community discover their possibilities.
Learn more at Techs on Decks and come join us on November 16th from 10 am - 5 pm in Alameda!
Oakland Devo GRiT Middle School Mountain Biking Fun Ride
Calling all female-identifying and nonbinary middle school riders of all levels! Join Oakland Devo and GRiT (Girls Riding Together) for a fun, try-it-out ride on Saturday, November 16th at 10 am in Joaquin Miller Park. Beginners welcome and loaner bikes available. Please register here (check the box next to the Nov. 16th GRiT ride). Feel free to reach out to mom of a 6th grader and Skyline High School MTB Coach Becky Grigsby at rbgrigsby@gmail.com with any questions. Let's get more girls on bikes!
Skyline Lacrosse Club - FREEE Try-It Day
The Skyline Lacrosse Club is offering a FREE Try-It Day on November 17th. Please share this flyer far and wide. It is a perfect opportunity for girls and boys K-8th to come try the sport of Lacrosse. All equipment will be provided and it is free to register.
The Play That Goes Wrong - Now On Stage at Bishop O'Dowd High School
O’Dowd’s Theater Department is proud to announce our Fall Show....
The Play That Goes Wrong welcomes audiences to the opening night of Cornley University Drama Society’s newest production, The Murder at Haversham Manor. Unfortunately for the Cornley players, things quickly go from bad to utterly disastrous. This 1920’s whodunit has everything you never wanted in a show, from an unraveling set to an unconscious leading lady. Part Monty Python and part Sherlock Holmes, this Olivier Award winning comedy is a global phenomenon that’s guaranteed to leave you aching with laughter! PURCHASE TICKETS HERE
REMAINING DATES:
Friday, Nov 15 at 7pm
*Saturday, Nov 16 at 2pm*
Saturday, Nov 16 at 7pm
Sunday, Nov 17 at 2pm
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Montera Middle School
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We Are Montera. We Are One.
Email: communications@monterapto.com | Website: https://www.ousd.org/montera
Location: 5555 Ascot Drive, Oakland, CA, USA | Phone: (510) 531-6070