Monte Vista Blue Jay Community News
Monte Vista 2023: December 4-December 8
Monthly Principal's Message: Ways to Share Parent Voice
At Monte Vista, besides our ongoing school events, parent/teacher/student conferences, Parent Square and Smore communication, and our annual YouthTruth Family Survey, we are trying to have different ways for our parents to be a part of important school decisions, hear about ongoing events and news, and provide feedback.
One ongoing effort is our School Site Vision Council meetings (parents who have signed up since August to attend a monthly meeting with set agendas and tasks).
Secondly, our occasional General Parent Teacher Organization (PTO) meetings are another way to hear and weigh in on how fundraised monies and human resource efforts are used to support programs, classroom learning, and events at Monte Vista as well as help plan events to make our school more of a community.
Another way historically was our monthly parent information nights which we will now be rebranding starting in January 2024 to a once a month Monday morning coffee, juice, and refreshments chat with a Principal (8:10-8:30AM). First one will be Monday, January 8th. This will be a great way to hear about upcoming events in person and ask questions and weigh in on recent and future decisions and developments, especially as it relates to programs, events, etc.
There is one more way that supports a certain group of parents at our school site to have more of a voice regarding how their students are receiving different supports and programs. This group is our parents of multilingual students, or students who have more than one language spoken in the home. There are 169 students of our 650+ student body that have multiple languages spoken in the home. We look forward to resuming our monthly English Learner (Parent/Guardian) Advisory Committee meetings. Our next will be on Monday, December 4th, from 5:00-5:30PM (in-person before Family STEAM Night) with dinner (bring your children). We will be sharing important information around English Learner related assessments, what is integrated and designated classroom English Language support, and an open forum for other resources and needs our school can provide at this time, including desired topics for future monthly meetings. See image below of what makes up our multilingual student population here at Monte Vista to demonstrate further how important it is to visit these monthly check-ins.
Announcements for the Week
**Winter After-School Enrichment Clubs Interest Forms (January-March session) will be sent this week hard copy and via Parent Square (most likely on Wednesday, December 6th) and due back by Wednesday, December 13th. Club confirmations will be sent around the beginning of Winter Break. This form will also include the grades 6-8 Winter Musical, "Matilda".
1) Family STEAM Night is Monday, December 4th (we have two a year). Picture of the details of the event and sneak preview of STEAM passport for students to earn a takeaway prize is below. Dinner is included. Event window period time is 5:30PM-7PM.
2) Our first on-site English Learners Advisory Committee meeting for all parents of Multilingual students at Monte Vista is Monday, December 4th, just before STEAM Night. Dinner is included. Important information will be shared with how we support multilingual students, and we will also make this a community within a community ongoing feedback, celebrations, support, and sharing of resources month to month.
3) Grades TK-1 Music Concert is this Tuesday, December 5th! See flier further below. Hot chocolate will be sold at the event to support our upper grades instrumental and show choir programs. Below are the performance times for each grade level. Line-up will take place in your child's classrooms at 5:10PM (all grade levels). Performances are on the cafeteria stage.
TK 5:25
K 5:35
1st 5:45
4) Grades 2-5 Music Concert is next Tuesday, December 12th! See flier further below. Hot chocolate will be sold at the event to support our upper grades instrumental and show choir programs. Below are the performance times for each grade level. Line-up will take place in the instrumental music room next to cafeteria (with teachers to support) 10 minutes before their performance time. Performances are on the stage.
2nd Grade: Assemble in Instrument Room: 5:30 Perform: 5:40
3rd Grade: Assemble in Instrument Room: 5:45 Perform: 6:00
(3rd grade parents--Smartboard will be in front of stage--may want to sit to left or right of it)
4th Grade: Assemble in Instrument Room: 6:05 Perform: 6:20
5th Grade: Assemble in Instrument Room: 6:25 Perform: 6:40
5) Grades 6-8 Band and Orchestra and Show Choir performances will be on Thursday, December 14th from 5:30-7:30PM. See flier further below. Show Choir will perform after the band and orchestra towards the end of the evening. Hot chocolate will be sold at the event to support our upper grades instrumental and show choir programs.
6) Please see flier below for Grades 4 and 5 instrumental concerts. Grade 5 is December 13th (8:50-9:30AM) and Grade 4 is December 15th (10:50-11:20AM)--both in the cafeteria.
7) Grades 7-8 Basketball Practice Schedule + Games for the Week Details
Grade 7 Boys Team- Mondays and Thursdays 2:30PM-4PM (lower courts).
AND Wednesdays 12:50-2PM.
Grades 7-8 Girls Team- Mondays and Thursdays 2:30PM-3:30PM (lower courts).
Games for the Week:
Tuesday, December 5th- Grade 7-8 Girls Team 3:30PM @Los Arboles Middle School
Grade 7 Boys Team 4:30PM @Los Arboles Middle School
Grade 8 Boys Team 5:30PM @Los Arboles Middle School
(All three teams have optional bus transportation from Monte Vista leaving @2:45PM)
Thursday, December 7th- Grade 7-8 Girls Team 4:30PM @Carmel Middle School
Grade 7 Boys Team 4:30PM @MLK Jr. School of Arts court, playing Carmel Middle
Grade 8 Boys Team 5:30PM @MLK Jr. School of Arts court, playing Carmel Middle
(Transportation will be available for all three teams leaving Monte Vista around 3:30PM after their normal practice)
7) Join the Virtual Conversation - It's quick. It's easy. It's confidential. Just drop a thought. Join MPUSD’s virtual conversation by submitting a confidential thought and/or rating other anonymous thoughts so the district can develop its 2024-2025 Local Control Accountability plan. This new process allows us to receive in-depth engagement, inclusive and diverse ideas, and quality insight that represent community perspectives. See last year's LCAP here or participate in the exchange today.
Important Dates to Come
December 4th | ELAC Meeting (parents of multilingual students advisory council) 5:00pm-5:30pm
December 4th | Family STEAM Night 5:30pm-7:00pm
December 5th | Grades TK-1 Vocal Music Concert (5:30-6:15PM)
December 4th-8th | Winter Shop
December 12th | Grades 2-5 Winter Vocal Music Concert 5:30-7:30--diff. grade levels, diff. time slots
December 14th | Grades 6-8 Band and Orchestra concert and Show Choir performance. (5:30-7:30PM)
(FYI- Both primary and upper grade theatre clubs will be performing their rehearsed musical numbers during the week of December 11th...towards the end of their regular club class--more details to come)
December 15th | Pajamas Spirit Day
December 18th-January 3rd | Winter Break
Winter Shop Set Up Video
PTO News
Email us: MVEBLUEJAYSPTO@GMAIL.COM
Purchase Spirit Wear: https://mvebluejayspto.wixsite.com/home
Lynch Creek Farm Fundraising We are hosting a passive fundraiser for our school through Lynch Creek Farm. We will earn cash back with every purchase. Please check out the website and join our team. Even if you are not interested in buying, you can share the link in email or Facebook to promote our event. We have until December 10th to sell from this website for our fundraising. Our team code is Q3YT9W and the website to share is https://www.lynchcreekfundraising.com/teams/301328-monte-vista-pto#content
Check out their fundraising brochure: https://heyzine.com/flip-book/622da17435.html
Monte Vista School PTO presents “Kids Winter Shop” - TOMORROW Monday, December 4th-Friday, December 8th - MINI GYM
Monte Vista School PTO presents "Kids Winter Shop," a pop-up shop that the PTO sets up in the Mini Gym to provide students with the opportunity to shop for holiday gifts for their family & friends. The PTO has spent countless hours sourcing affordable gifts to stock the Winter Shop, allowing students a sense of pride and independence as they practice gift-giving.
Please make sure the shopping list is filled out and brought with them on their shopping day. This sheet may also be found in their backpack.
WHEN: Winter Shop will be open Monday-Friday, 12/4 - 12/8 at Mini Gym.
- Grades TK-5 students will have the opportunity to visit during class time on their assigned day.
- Grades 6-8 can visit during lunch/recess on their assigned day. They will only be allowed in on their respective date/time to help with crowd control and to make sure gifts stay with the appropriate teacher/classroom as we keep them and then hand them back wrapped the following week. They will not be allowed to take gifts home that day.
- Families and open shopping for all on Friday 12/8 from 2 - 3:30pm.
PAYMENT:
- Winter Shop items are priced between $1 - $10 with most in the $1 - $5 range.
- CASH simplifies the shopping experience but we can also accept checks. Make checks payable to Monte Vista Blue Jays, Inc. and try to estimate what your student will spend as we will not be able to give change back from checks. There is no tax.
- Please only send money on your student's assigned shopping day.
BRINGING GIFTS HOME: Students will have the option to have their gifts wrapped. All gifts will be placed in a plastic shopping bag for students to bring home no later than Friday, 12/15. Students may not open purchased items during school.
VOLUNTEERS NEEDED!: We need volunteers to help make this event successful. Please sign up here if you are available to help. There's even help you can do from home! CLICK HERE TO VOLUNTEER! - WE NEED HELP!
https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0E4AA5AF2EABFBC70-46108537-winter#/
The class schedules are as follows and we will also send out a reminder the evening before each class has their day to shop.
Monday: Pina, Gregory, Chopyk (homeroom), Jauregui (homeroom) and Nix
Tuesday: Tarantino, Wessel, Johnson, Simpson (homeroom), Hamilton (homeroom), Weseloh and Gnibus.
Wednesday: Cooper, Lazare, Adamson, Taylor (homeroom), and Wade (homeroom)
Thursday: Weller, Ottmar, Cowardin, Fay (homeroom), Bilse (homeroom), and Riedl
Friday: Nimmons, Agro, Pierce, Underwood (homeroom), and Madden
Link to parent square post: https://www.parentsquare.com/feeds/26622036
Monte Vista PTO - Modified Cookie Exchange - Thursday, December 14th
It's time to spread some holiday cheer! As a way of thanking our incredible staff at Monte Vista School for their hard work all year, the PTO (which includes all Monte Vista School families) is hosting a modified cookie exchange. On Thursday, December 14th, we will load up the Teachers Lounge with dozens of holiday cookies and treats and ask the staff to take home a variety of cookies (and maybe sample a few!)
Not only is this a great opportunity to express our appreciation to our teachers and staff, but we also would love to see how each family celebrates the holidays. Willing families are to bring in 8 dozen of their favorite holiday cookies/ treats to share with the staff in disposable containers. Please indicate what type of cookie you will be bringing when you sign up via Parent Square. Please bring cookies/treats on Wednesday, December 13th and leave in the main office. We would also like you to share your recipe with us at MVEbluejayspto@gmail.com - so we can pass them on to the teachers and staff, so they can replicate your delicious treats over the break.
If you don't have time to bake cookies or make treats, consider donating money instead. PTO Board members will use the funds to purchase items from a local bakery for the exchange. You can submit the donation here: https://monte-vista-blue-jays-pto.square.site/shop/Donation/3?page=1&limit=60&sort_by=category_order&sort_order=asc
Link to parent square post: https://www.parentsquare.com/feeds/26634588
December Staff Birthdays
December 12th - Jennifer Nix (Kindergarten Teacher)
December 13th - Becky Tarantino (5th Grade Teacher)
December 25th - Piroj Mayekar (Accelerated Learning Specialist)
Pics from Week of November 27th-December 1st
Islands Restaurant Dining Out Event
Islands Restaurant Dining Out Event
Islands Restaurant Dining Out Event
Winter Shop Set Up - See PTO message for more details!
Winter Shop Set Up - See PTO message for more details!
Winter Shop Set Up - See PTO message for more details!
Winter Shop Set Up - See PTO message for more details!
Winter Shop Set Up - See PTO message for more details!
Winter Shop Set Up - See PTO message for more details!
Winter Shop Set Up - See PTO message for more details!
Winter Shop Set Up - See PTO message for more details!
Winter Shop Set Up - See PTO message for more details!
Cooking Club- Veggie Delights
Cooking Club- Veggie Delights
8th Grade Zoom Virtual Fieldtrip at NASA's Goddard Space Center (explaining how the James Webb Telescope was made)- more pics in 8th Grade OSS folder
7th grade English Language Arts Debate preparation
7th grade English Language Arts Debate preparation
7th Grade Ozobots task
5th grade fun with Blooket
2nd graders taking care of nearby plants from Mrs. Hidas's A6 garden
2nd graders taking care of nearby plants from Mrs. Hidas's A6 garden
Monterey Tree Lighting (at Colton Hall)
Saturday Academy fun
Saturday Academy fun
Saturday Academy fun
Saturday Academy fun
Saturday Academy fun
Saturday Academy fun
Ocean Guardians at work
6th grade Blue Zones visit: Gardening for Sustainable Monterey County
6th grade Blue Zones visit: Gardening for Sustainable Monterey County