Sea Lion Spotlight

Malibu Elementary Parent Newsletter #7 - September 18, 2023

Principal's Pen - A message from Principal Chris

Hello MES Sea Lion Families,

Eighty-one (81) students met the 5-Dreambox lessons-a-week Goal this past week. This is the best week of the school year! We celebrate with the Wheel of Names game at our weekly Friday assemblies. Parents can help by setting time aside for their child to practice DreamBox at home. Here are the details for parents who want see how their child is doing. Remember not to do the math for your child as the computer adaptive software will dial the work up and it might too difficult too quickly for your child. Thank you for your help from home.

Attendance is an essential component to a student’s academic success. Student attendance is a very large concern here at MES. Last year nearly 30% of students missed more that 10% of school. The good news is that was better than the year before. Here is the data: MES and MES & all schools. When students miss school, they miss out. They fall behind. The teachers try to catch them up but this takes from the other students. It's dilemma. Preliminary data from a California study found that children who were chronically absent in kindergarten and 1st grade were far less likely to read proficiently at the end of 3rd grade.

Parents can help by scheduling doctor appointments and vacations outside of school hours and school days. To help, my intern is going to start calling parents of students who miss the most days. Calls begin on September 22. These phone calls are intended to provide support and resources to help improve school attendance. Please contact us if you have any questions or concerns. Thank you in advance for your support and cooperation.

"Power-Hour" had a great start last week with eight students joining! My goal is help our students achieve more by giving them access to the computer lab to work on their weekly DreamBox and Lexia lessons. The program requires pre-registration. Here are the details and sign up form. The program repeats each Monday and Wednesday until winter break. I hope my efforts help our students.

Our PTA's first meeting was on Thursday. Members passed the budget. The budget was designed to support the school plan set by the elected School Site Council. Highlights include more Instructional Assistants, year-round supplementary art instruction, marine science aquarium care, learning software, staff recognition & retention, etc. Check out the pie graph here to see where your tax deductible donations go: https://www.malibuelementary.org/donate.

The City of Malibu has been sending out safety information the past weeks about fire protection and earthquake preparation. MES has safety procedures. Please read through our procures. As you examine our plans please pay extra attention to our Reunion procedure (Section 1) and our Excessive Heat procedures (Section 2). Some of the hottest, windiest days of the year come in September and October! On this note, our City is hosting a discussion about school safety. Malibu School Safety is scheduled to be on the September 25 City Council's meeting agenda. The meeting is called for 6:30 p.m. on September 25 at Malibu City Hall, 23825 Stuart Ranch Road within Cross Creek. Information on how to attend virtually can be found here: https://www.malibucity.org/1004/Virtual-Meetings

Enjoy the weekend! I will be in touch with you next week.

Thank you for your partnership,

Proud Principal Chris Hertz

Highlights

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Below are some photos of our amazing students, staff, and parents the first weeks of school. There are more photos in the last section of the newsletter! If you have a great photo, please send it to Principal Hertz for consideration. Thank you!

Important Dates

Full Academic Calendar Link

NOW: Parents Complete Annual Forms online beginning today (See article below)
NOW: Basic Comfort Bag Program (Parents put child comfort items in a 1 gallon ziplock and send it to the teacher. /details link/sample family note

Wed 09/20 Picture Day (Details coming..)
Fri 09/22 Mr. Ken Student-lead performance / 8:30 @ blacktop.
Fri 09/22 Peacetime Performance - Zoe's Lunchtime Theater - Audience: K-5 / 9:00 @ field
Fri 09/22 International Peace Day - Zoe's Lunchtime Theater - Audience: K-5 / 9:15am @ cafeteria
Sat 09/23 Coast Clean Up Day / 8 - 12noon @ Zuma Lagoon/Westward Beach (see article below)
Mon 09/25 Local Holiday - Yom Kippur / No School
Fri 09/29. Heal the Bay Student Assembly / 9 - 9:30 @ cafeteria

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Looking farther forward...

Thur 10/05 SSC / 3:30 - 4:45 @ zoom (Agenda)
W-F 10/18 - 10/20 5th Grade Overnight Trip to Pali Camp (Bus rolls at 8am on Wednesday the 18th)
Tues 10/31. Halloween Parade / 8:30 @ blacktop (Parents form outer circle!)
Mon 11/06 Pupil Free Day for Parent/Teacher Conferences
M-Th 11/06 - 11/09 Parent-Teacher Conference Week
Fri 11/10 Holiday - Veterans Day / No School
Wed – Fri 11/22-24 - Thanksgiving Break / No School
Fri 12/22 / Last Day of School Before Winter Break
Mon 01/8 / Return to School from Winter Break

Articles for Parents

Instructional Assistant Needed!

We are looking to hire four more Instructional Aides for the 23-24 school year (Job Duties).

The position is for 15 - 20 hours a week position, paid $16.00 - $20.45 Hourly. Ideally the hours are in the morning but we are somewhat flexibible depending on the teacher's schedule.
The Personnel Commission will be scheduling interviews soon. Click here to apply. If anyone may be interested, please have them email me at chertz@smmusd.org. My goal is to fill this position before mid-September.

Instructional Aides are critical to helping teachers run centers, differentiate instruction, prepare supplies, and supervise children at play.

MES 23-24 Power-Hour Form

Do you want to give your child extra time to keep up or get ahead with DreamBox and Lexia? To learn more and to sign up, use this link. Thank you for your interest in MES Power-Hour.

Volunteering at MES / To Be A Cleared Volunteer

Details - click here. Sign up for your training: Link

Volunteer Pick Up Games to Support our Students

Approved volunteers are asked to help organize games at recess and lunch. Kids love structured games and mini tounaments. Basketball? Baseball? Soccer? Four Square? Handball? GaGa? The hours are 8-8:15 (blacktop games only please due to wet grass and more limited supervision), snack recess, and lunch playtime. See the bell schedule below to know the hours for various age groups. So if you an approved volunteer on a fairly reliable schedule, please reach out to Principal Chris.

MBGC Information - September

The Boys & Girls Club of Malibu aims to provide a fun, safe, and creative environment for all Malibu youth to thrive, find support through positive mentorship, develop important life skills, and receive social and emotional support. We are currently offering: Link

Jaxx After-School Theater in Back! - Early Bird Registration Ends September 4

MES is teaming up with Jaxx Theater again to help serve the students of Malibu Elementary. Please see the flier link here for all the details on the theme, dates, and next steps for parents.

First Day Packet - Annual Forms to Complete are Now Digital

Beginning August 24, 2023

ACTION NEEDED: Malibu Elementary’s annual registration process is now completed in the Aeries Parent Portal. We have many important documents and plenty of information for your family within the online registration site, accessed via your Aeries Parent Portal. Note: You must complete data confirmation for each student.

Beginning August 24, 2023:

Log in to your aeries parent portal.
Be sure to read, review, and discuss all the materials with your student.
Very Important: We need to gather information from you for emergency contacts. Please add at least two non-parents. While there are many boxes to fill, at minimum include name, relationship, and phone number.
We also need to gather information from you for health documents.

Note: You may decide to print some of the documents for future reference. For a tutorial on how to complete this process, please click here English

Again, MES and SMMUSD have worked to digitize the compliance and document portions of the “First Day Packet.” The Data Confirmation process is easy for you and your student through Aeries Parent Portal in place of our previous process. This includes items like Emergency Cards, Parent Handbooks and Policies and Authorizations. We have many important documents and plenty of information for your family within the online registration site, accessed via your Aeries Parent Portal. Note: You must complete data confirmation for each student. Please be sure to read, review, and discuss all the materials with your student. We also need to gather information from you for emergency contacts and health documents. You may decide to print some of the documents for future reference.

For a tutorial on how to complete this process, please click here English

Coast Cleanup Day at Zuma Lagoon/Westward Beach

8 - Noon

Saturday, September 23rd

Hello Parents of Malibu Elementary,

I am reaching out to see if you would like to volunteer for our local Coastal Cleanup Day. This is one of the biggest volunteer events of the year nationwide. This year, the City of Malibu is the Captain of the Coast Cleanup Day at Zuma Lagoon/Westward Beach on September 23.

Read more here..