Mountain Family Newsletter
October 2016
Fall is in the air!
This month, the teachers will have a professional development day on Friday, October 7. There will be no school for students on this day. Staff will be learning more about the new reading curriculum, new ways to integrate technology, and behavior management strategies.
October is National Bully Prevention Month. At school, we always strive to prevent bullying. Please don't ever hesitate to contact us if you feel like your child is experiencing bullying at school. This month we will focus on teaching students to stand up and say no to bullying and be a voice for those who may be bullied. Together we can all create a place where everyone feels safe and respected.
October can be a fast, busy month. I want to take a minute to tell you how much I appreciate the support of all the Mountain families, community, and especially the PTA. You make so many of the wonderful learning opportunities possible at our school. We could not do it without you! I look forward to seeing you each at the FUNd Run and Halloween Carnival.
Jennifer Guy
Principal
3rd grade Garden Harvest
Family Breakfast
Dress up Day
Kindergarten Musical "Informances"
Mrs. Martinez's class's families are invited on Monday, October 17 from 10:25-11:05.
Mrs. Whitaker's class's families are invited on Tuesday, October 18 from 10:25-11:05.
Mrs. Kinman's class's families are invited on Thursday, October 20 from 10:25-11:05.
Ms. Cline is looking forward to meeting the families and having them see what the kindergarten students do during a music class. This is a lot of fun for all! We hope you can attend.
October Dates to Remember
October 3 - PTA meeting in the library at 12:10
October 7 - No school - teacher work day
October 10 - No School - Columbus Day
October 11 - Culture Club begins at 7:30 - 8:00 - come and learn about different cultures
October 11 - Study Hall and tutoring for grades 3-6 begins from 3:20 - 4:00
October 11 - 14 Scholastic Book Fair - open everyday 7:45 -4:00
October 15 - Halloween Carnival - 4:00 - 7:00 pm at Mountain
October 15 - Scholastic Book Fair will be open from 4-7 during the carnival
October 17 - Kindergarten Informance - Mrs. Martinez's class 10:25 - 11:05
October 18 - Kindergarten Informance - Mrs. Whitaker's class 10:25 - 11:05
October 19 - FUNd Run - 8:30 - 11:30 at Urban Park
October 20 - Kindergarten Informance - Mrs. Kinman's class 10:25 - 11:05
October 20 - 6th grade PEEC field trip
October 25 - National Mix it Up at Lunch Day - sit with new friends in the cafeteria
October 25 - Picture Retakes
October 26 - Parent conferences from 1 - 3:30 by appointment
October 27-28 - No school - Parent Conferences by appointment
Bully Prevention Month
October is National Bullying Prevention Month!
Mountain Elementary is doing some fun activities to acknowledge Bullying Prevention Month and to help encourage a safe and healthy school climate. This year’s theme is “You are Not Alone. We are Here for You”
For the month of October we will be doing numerous activities to recognize Bullying Prevention.
- Poster Contest – Students will be asked to create a poster using this year’s theme, ”You are Not Alone. We are Here for You”, to display around school. The contest will start Thursday, October 6, 2016 and posters will be due by the end of the day Friday, October 14, 2016. Prizes will be awarded to the winners.
- Unity Day – October 19, 2016 – This is Fund Run day but it is also National Unity day. Wear your Mountain colors and an orange ribbon! Many of the schools in Los Alamos District will be participating by wearing orange to recognize Bullying Prevention.
- Mix it up at Lunch Day – October 25, 2016 (National Mix it up at Lunch Day!)
Join other students across the country by mixing it up at lunch on this fun day!
- Students will mix it up at lunch by sitting with different peers during lunch. We will have random seating assignments for all grades.
- There will be fun “Get to know you” questions on the tables.
- Counselor and Principal will facilitate fun discussions with new peers.
- Bully Free Pledge – Throughout the month of October.
Students will sign a pledge to “Speak Up, Reach Out, and Be a Friend” whenever they see bullying.
Bullying Prevention is always on our minds but it is nice to focus and recognize what we can do to make sure our school is Bully Free
Message from the office:
What an exciting start to a wonderful new school year. We are excited to see each and every one of your children as they walk through our doors every morning. Please know we are here to help you as you settle into this new school year. With that in mind, I would like to share a few reminder and announcements.
If you missed our Fall Picture day – no worries, re-takes will be on October 25th. Order forms will be available in the front office.
If your child is home sick, please call the attendance line at 663-2326. If we do not hear from you, you will hear from us. We want to make sure your child is home and safe, and want to record his/her attendance accordingly.
If your child is late, please take time to walk him/her in and sign in. This helps our attendance clerk know who is on the premises. We do understand about appointments, especially ones made months in advance, and are happy to accommodate as much as we are able. We do ask that you attempt to work around your child’s classroom schedule as much as possible, as this helps with the continuity of the class and the amount of make up work they will have. If picking up near the end of the day, we ask that it not be after 3:00 pm if possible, as this disrupts the end of the day instructions.
Visitors and Volunteers: We are so very thankful for all of you who come throughout each week, and encourage your support. You will be required to provide a valid driver’s license for your first visit. Once you are entered into our system, you will just check in with the office staff. You will need a badge each time you come to volunteer or visit at school. This helps us monitor who is on campus and better ensure student safety.
Please make sure to communicate any special pick up instructions to your child's teacher and to the front office. All children must be picked up by 3:30 each day. Staff is not available to watch students after school.
Checks - If you write a check to the school, please make sure to make the check out to Los Alamos Public Schools instead of "mountain elementary".
Sandra Osborn – School Secretary, 663-2325, s.osborn@laschools.net
Halloween Carnival
HAUNTED HOUSE- BOUNCE HOUSE - CAKE WALK - FACE PAINTING - BOOK FAIR - COTTON CANDY - DAVID'S DOGS - GAMES & PRIZES
Visit our website: http://www.mountainpta.org/halloween-carnival/
Since the 1970s, Mountain's Halloween Carnival has been delighting families with safe Halloween fun and games. This is a fundraiser, but more importantly it's a fun community event.
- Run a booth or sell tickets
- Donate cookies and cakes for the cake walk
- Donate items for the Silent Auction
- Help set up decorations, the games, and the haunted house, and clean up
NEVER RAN A BOOTH BEFORE? It's fun and easy to do!
Updates for 2016: We listened to your comments about last year's carnival and are making changes to improve this year's!
- $5 card has 8 squares. Use 1 square to play a game, 2 squares for the cake walk or haunted house.
- Prize Store: Take your card to the prize store at any time to pick a prize.
- If you have all 8 squares crossed off when you claim your prize, pick a candy from the candy bowl!
- Special for Little Kids: Games more suitable for little kids will be together in one wing. Little kids will receive a treat bag and be able to collect little prizes at each game in this wing.
- Updates to the Haunted House
- Two cake walk rooms
Saturday, Oct 15, 2016, 04:00 PM
Mountain Elementary School, North Road, Los Alamos, NM, United States
FUNd Run - October 19
Wednesday, October 19, 2016
9 - 10 am K-3rd grades
10:20 am-11:30 am 4-6th grades
Urban Park in Mountain School Neighborhood
Go to http://www.mountainpta.org/fundrun/ for more information and forms. We appreciate your support! This events makes many of school activities possible like field trips, student tutoring and clubs, money for classroom activities, family events such as reading and math nights, and other Mountain educational activities that our students and teachers have come to count on. Your support is what makes our school great!
Sunday, Oct 2, 2016, 09:00 AM
Urban Park, Los Alamos, NM, United States
First Grade: Millipedes, snails and rollie pollies oh my!
In Science, the first graders are learning about Organisms. They have already learned that organisms are a living thing. They use energy, maintain themselves by using food, produce waste, reproduce, grow, change or develop, and have a life span (a beginning and an end).
First grade investigators are eagerly awaiting the hands on activities where they will create terrariums, plant woodland plants and moss mats. Then they will add Rollie Pollies and millipedes to their terrariums. Students will also create aquariums where they will add aquatic plants, guppies and aquatic snails.
First grade investigators will get to enjoy the terrariums and aquariums in their classrooms. They will record in their science notebooks predictions, observations and any changes that occur.
Look for pictures in the November Newsletter!
Second Grade Science
Beautiful Butterflies in 2nd Grade! The last several weeks the second grade rooms have been lucky to observe the life cycle of butterflies. On September, 2nd we received caterpillars for each student. We placed the caterpillars in temporary "homes" with food called mallow. The children were able to watch the caterpillars spin silk with their silk button, form a "J" shape on the top of their cups and form into a chrysalis. After much observation and journaling in our scientific journals, the butterflies emerged. What joy this brought to our rooms as each day more and more butterflies emerged. Finally, came our "release day" and we set our butterflies free!
Time to release
Observing!
Release Day
3rd Grade is busy!
3rd graders
Yummy vegetables
Wow!
4th grade news
The fourth grade has had a great start to the year. In Science, we have added frogs, fiddler crabs and millipedes into our classrooms as part of our Animal Studies Unit. Students have an opportunity to observe these creatures up close, as well as feed and clean their habitats.
Recently to a walking field trip up the Mitchell trail to observe rock formations and terrain with the folks at PEEC. (See Photos) The weather was wonderful and the students collected rocks found in our area and learned how they were alike and different.
Next week our classes will take another field trip to Las Golondrinas a Spanish Colonial site. This is a wonderful opportunity for our students to see how life was over a hundred years ago in New Mexico.
5th Grade Bird Banding
During the month of September, Mountain School fifth grade classes had a unique experience of watching scientists banding birds in order to study migration patterns of birds from countries south of the U.S. Siobhan Niklasson, PEEC Education Programs Director, came to the fifth grade science classes at Mountain to prepare them for the field trip with background information about birds and migration.
The field trip activities the students engaged in were observing scientists actually banding birds which they caught in mist nets, exploring the environment of the birds, and learning about bird migration by playing a migration game involving collecting and graphing the data.
Attention 6th grade families:
Dear Families,
Your children have been busy in science carrying out a roly poly experiment of their own design. There are 18 unique experiments! They are currently analyzing their data by applying mathematics: averaging, mode, percentages, speed of a roly poly, and line graphs. By the end of the week they will be applying lessons on informational writing to the writing of a two paragraph conclusion. The writing assignment will be on Google Classroom.
Some of their new vocabulary includes quantitative, qualitative, inference, objective, accurate and variable.
With this experience under their belt, they will be better prepared to design a unique experiment for the science fair . All students will do an experiment plan/proposal as a class assignment.
I hope your child will choose to take this plan to the next level and participate in the 2017 science fair. It is optional to do the experiment and poster. Students will receive extra credit when they turn in their protocol packet, when they display their board at the Mountain Science Fair, and when they display their board at the County Science Fair. I will do everything I can to help them have a positive experience.
The protocol packet is due to me by October 14th.
Attached is more detailed information as well as a parent response slip. A hard copy will also go home with your child. Please return it by October 4th. There is more information on the Sixth Grade Team web page: http://laschools.net/Page/8499.
Thank you for your support. Please email me with questions.
Mrs. Altherr
Parent Conferences - October 26 - 28, 2016
Parent conferences will be held on October 26-28. The students will not come to school on October 27 -28. This time is set aside district wide to give elementary teachers and parents time to sit down together to discuss their children’s progress and learning needs at school. This is a great opportunity for you to ask the teachers questions, express, concerns, and share information about your child.
Most importantly, please remember that you do not have to wait for district parent conference days to talk to your child’s teacher. Our teachers are always willing to make an appointment and talk with you about your child.
You will get more information soon about appointment times from your child's teacher.
Here are some links to some articles and resources for parents to plan ahead for your conferences:
http://school.familyeducation.com/slideshow/parents-and-school/38585.html?page=1
Tips for a Successful Parent Conference:
1. Talk to your child- Ask your child if there is anything that he/she wants you to talk to the teacher about.
2. Be prepared – create a list of things that you want to discuss before you arrive so that you won’t forget.
3. Be open-minded- the teacher is with your child all day in a different environment so he/she may see different behaviors than you see at home.
4. Ask Questions
5. Follow up and tell your child what you discussed. Don’t forget to start with the positive.
Technology to Support Learning
We work hard to make sure all students have access to the technology and programs that will support their learning, provide enrichment, and review skills previously taught. Some programs that we have available for the students are Lexia, Typing Without Tears, IXL Math and Language Arts (grades 2-6), and Starfall. We are proud to say that we have a one-to-one laptop to student ratio in grades 3-6, 10 laptops per class in 2nd grade, and an assortment of desktops and tablets in K-1. We also have a full desktop computer lab that all grades can use. Our wireless system was updated over the summer and has drastically improved our Internet connectivity. Your child can access the programs listed below from home. Please ask your child’s teacher if you need help finding these programs or need your child’s log in information. You can also reach our school technology expert, Linda Hand, at l.hand@laschools.net.
Login Information:
Lexia (Grades K-4)
o http://www.lexiacore5.com/?SiteID=5377-0742-4117-4308
o Username: 9 digit student ID
o Password: read
Reading Plus (Grades 4-6)
o Username: 9 digit student ID
o Password: 9 digit student ID
Reflex Math (Grades 1-6)
o Username: Unique, get from teacher
o Password: 1-2 is lion 3-6 is 9 digit student ID
Everyday Math
o http://em-ccss.everydaymathonline.com/g_login.html
o Username: Unique, get from teacher
o Password: Unique, get from teacher
IXL
o https://www.ixl.com/signin/mountainelem
o Username: 1st initial+last name (some students have a number after their last name)
o Password: 9 digit student ID
Keyboarding Without Tears
Login credentials are sent to parent email providing students login information
Clubs and Activities
Clubs and Activities
Encourage your child to explore their talents and interests. Children should try new things! You never know where they will find their passion and hidden talents! A great way for your child to try new things is through school clubs and activities. Positive behavior is expected at all times. Club participants are expected to behave in a respectful, responsible, safe manner. Visit the Mountain webpage and click the "clubs" link for permission forms and more detailed information: http://www.laschools.net/domain/331
Study Hall:
Study Hall for grades 3-6 will be each Tuesday and Thursday from 3:20 - 4:00 beginning October 11, 2016. Teachers and instructional assistants will be there to help the students with their assignments and provide additional academic support.
Fitness Club:
Running/Walking Club: The running walking club is for students and families in all grades. It meets on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday mornings from 7:30 - 8:20 on the upper-grade playground.
Strike-A-Sound:
Musical ensemble for grades 4-6 meets on Wednesday's from 12-12:15 by the crosswalk to eat lunch, then rehearses from 12:15 to 1:00 in the music room. This is a fun opportunity for students to explore music together. No skill level necessary!
Choir:
Choir is a unique opportunity for students from grades 4-6 to get together with others that like to sing! This group meets on Friday morning from 7:30 - 8:20.
Chess Club:
Day: Fridays
Time: 7:45-8:15 am
Location: Mountain School Library
Chess Club will give students the opportunity to learn the game of chess, learn chess strategy, and practice chess skills. Students will also learn and practice chess etiquette. The club will be recreational. Students will enjoy the game of chess without participating in tournaments.
Multi-Cultural Club (all grades):
Day: Tuesdays (Begins Oct 11)
Time: 7:30 - 8:00
Location: Mountain Elementary School
Multi-Culture Club will give students the opportunity to explore different languages and cultures.
Drama Club (grades 4-6):
Day: Mondays (Begins Oct. 3)
Time: 3:20 - 4:30
Location: Mountain Library
Drama club will meet each week and give students an opportunity to explore acting and participate in short plays. Students should bring a quick after school snack.
Math Counts:
MathCounts is beginning on Wednesdays from 12:30 - 1:45 in Portable 1
MathCounts at Mountain Elementary School is for all 5th and 6th graders with at least average math ability who want to work on extra math after school. It is a fun, extra opportunity for students to build math skills and interact with peers who have an interest in math. Students who wish can also prepare for the MathCounts competitions.
Battle of the Books:
Contact: Carissa Pittman (c.pittman@laschools.net) - Begins in December. More information soon.
PTA News
PTA Meeting on October 3 at 12:10 in the Mountain Library. We need lots of help to make the FUNd Run and Halloween Carnival a success. Please come if you can.
PTA WEBSITE:
Get updates on PTA meetings, programs and events by visiting us on Facebook. Just go to https://www.facebook.com/MountainElementaryPTA and click "Like" to get all of our latest info delivered to your news feed.