Madera Mustang Messenger
February 1, 2023
February 1, 2023
Dear Madera Families,
Our theme this month is Excellence. This month we have many activities and events planned. Please look for volunteer opportunities!
Go Mustangs!
Upcoming Important Dates and Events
This month we focus on excellence as we commemorate our Presidents and African American Trailblazers.
2/1-ELPAC and PE testing window opens
2/1-Volleyball tryouts for 4th/5th grade after school 2:30-3:30
2/2-Early Dismissal Day 12:55PM
2/2-LCAP PAC (9:30-10:30)
⅔-Upper grade field day
2/6-5th Grade parents meet with Mr. Rumble in the MPR at 2:30
2/6- Lunch with a loved one letters go home to RSVP
2/7-Lockdown drill
2/7-School Tours 9 AM (every Tuesday in February)
2/9-Drop and cover drill
2/10-Lunch with a loved one letters due
2/13-PTA Council Meeting
2/14-Lunch with a loved one wear red, pink, white
2/14-Fun Run Kick-off assemblies
2/14-School tours
2/15-CPK Night
2/16-Spring Pictures and 5th grade panorama
2-16-School of choice night
2/17- Free shipping on spirit wear starting today (2 weeks)
2/20-No school Presidents Day
2/23-Fun Run Event
Early Dismissal Thursday, February 2nd at 12:55!
Date Change: Spring Conferences/Early Dismissal (12:55) days are March 20/21st.
Lunch with a Loved One
Dear Madera Families,
We would like to invite you to participate in “Lunch with your Loved One” on Valentine’s Day (February 14th). In order to make this event run smoothly, please see the information below.
Here are the details:
Complete the RSVP tear off sheet by Friday, February 10th, 2023. Return this sheet to the school office or your child’s teacher. By completing this form, we will be able to issue a RSVP pass for you as your sign-in for the event. Please complete one form for each of your children. If you do not RSVP by February 10, you will need to complete the full check in process in the office on the 14th.
Plan ahead for food pick up, since there will be many families visiting local establishments and the lines may be long.
You will be allowed into the gates at your child’s designated lunch time. You will be issued a name tag to wear while on campus, based on your RSVP.
Please plan ahead for parking. Parking is limited, but parents may utilize the far back lot and the front lot.
Please proceed to the front gate for check in and entry. NO one will be allowed to enter at any other gate.
Families may bring chairs and picnic blankets to use in the quad. All families may enjoy the quad area with their students.
Once students line up for recess, parents will be expected to exit the campus at that time in order for other families to enjoy lunch with their students. (parking and space is limited)
Here is a schedule of your student’s lunch times:
Lunch I (J/K, T/K, Kinder &1st) 11:25-11:50
Lunch II (Grades 2 & 3) 11:55-12:15
Lunch III (Grades 4 & 5) 12:15-12:35
Teachers will also be taking part in this day as lunch buddies.
If you can’t attend, please consider putting a special note in your child’s backpack or lunch!
Letters will be sent home on February 6th!
Voting Results from We Vote Wednesday
The votes are in from the January We Vote Wednesday. A total of 226 students voted for their favorite animals.
Tigers took the lead at 91 votes.
Elephants 64
Zebra 42
Giraffe 29
Madera Enrollment and Tours
Madera Elementary School is a Civics Leadership Academy that provides students with the necessary skills to participate as active and responsible citizens in a democracy. Our non-partisan approach seeks to implement the six recommended practices of Civic Engagement through classroom instruction, discussion of current events, service learning, extracurricular activities, school governance, and simulations of the Democratic Processes. Our teachers receive special training in Civic Leadership and the Medal of Honor Program. Our monthly character focus helps build strong student leaders for a bright future. Students at Madera actively participate in Student Council, We Vote Wednesday and many service projects. We focus on community and how we can make the world a better place! We are proud of what is happening at Madera Elementary School and we can't wait to share it with you!
If you would like to learn more about Madera, please sign up for a school tour. Tours will be held every Tuesday in February at 9 AM.
Join us for our School of Choice Parent Information Night (in person) on February 16th from 6:00-6:30 PM, or our virtual School of Choice Parent Information Night on February 21st from 4:30-5:00 PM. For the link, please sign up for a tour on our website: https://madera.simivalleyusd.org/
Spring Picture Day is coming!
This year your child will bring home an opt in form. Only students who bring the opt in form back on picture day (February 16th) will be photographed for individual spring pictures.
In addition, 5th grade will be participating in the panorama picture. Order/opt in forms will come home this week.
Volleyball Tryouts
Junior Olympics time is almost here! This year Madera will have a volleyball team if there is enough interest. Mark Donalson, longtime coach of volleyball for Junior Olympics has volunteered to coach. Try-outs for the team are open to all 4th/5th graders. The try-outs will be Tuesday, January 31st and/or Wednesday, February 1st, from 2:30-3:30. Your child must attend one of these try-out sessions in order to be considered for the team. Coach Mark will make his final team decisions by our Field day on February 3rd. Students do not have to have any volleyball experience at all to participate. Please note that your child must be able to commit to 2 after school practices each week from now until April 15th which is Jr. Olympics Day at SVHS. Days for practices will be decided after the team is chosen to account for other practices of team members. Please complete and return the permission slip by Friday, January 27th if your student intends to try out for the team. Permission slips were home Wednesday. Please remember to pick your child up from try-outs promptly at 3:30.
Read all about it! Get your paper here!
As you can imagine, schools use an enormous amount of paper. We are working toward more green options whenever possible, but students still need to be able to practice letters, color, and manipulate things on paper to build fine motor skills and help their learning stick. Please consider donating paper. If you have set up your amazon smiles account to donate a portion back to support Madera, then it's like donating twice!
Our copy machines are quite picky and prefer a particular type of premier paper, 92 bright white, 20lb paper. This paper helps us keep our copiers running smoothly, prevents jams, and prevents more costs associated with repairs. If you would like to donate paper to our cause, please click here to see the allowed paper. For extra convenience, it can be shipped directly to the school.
Visitor Sign ins-ID required
The Simi Valley Unified School District is pleased to announce a new state-of-the-art security system for our schools, Raptor Technologies’ Visitor Management System. All Simi Valley Schools will be using this new technology that was piloted with much success in six of our schools.
The Visitor Management System provides visitor accountability, which increases the overall safety of our students and staff. This web-based software provides a sophisticated check-in and check-out system for all visitors coming to our schools and facilities. In addition to providing a data trail of visitors to our sites, this system will provide details of each visit, produce visitor badges, check-in/out all visitors, and electronically search each visitor’s information against national registered sexual offender databases.
For visitors who are only going to the school office or lobby, no identification will need to be presented. A visitor’s badge is not needed for those coming to our schools to drop off an item in the office or pick up paperwork. For anyone else needing access to the campus or district facility, every visitor entering the office will be asked to present a valid government-issued form of identification, which will be quickly scanned into the software. The software will only search the visitor’s name, date of birth, partial license number, and photo. No additional visitor data will be gathered and no data will be shared with any outside company or organization. Once a visitor’s information is cleared, they will be issued a badge for their visit. Badges will be worn in a visible manner and include the visitor’s photo, name, date and time of arrival, and their destination. In the event of a match in the database, or if another indication is made, the school administrator will provide assistance. At the end of their visit, each visitor must return to the school office to check-out.
If you are interested in learning more about Raptor Technologies Visitor Management System, please visit the Raptor Technologies website (Raptor Technologies Visitor Management System). If you have any questions about how we are implementing this process, please contact your school administrator.
If you are volunteering on campus, you still need to complete the volunteer form in advance. Please allow time for signing in with the system on your visits to campus. Please remember your ID at all times.
Thank you in advance for your cooperation and support to enhance our school safety protocols for the SVUSD. We will always prioritize the well-being and safety of our students, families and staff.
Click on the picture below to join PTA
Other ways to support PTA...add a smile to your Amazon account!
Search in the list of charities for "Madera PTA." and select it to donate 0.5% of eligible purchases to our PTA when you shop.
Lost and Found is Overflowing
Please remind your children to check the lost and found for their items. Items will be donated on February 15th!
Make these actionable steps part of having a Friendly February!
Fun Run Information
Our Madera Fun Run fundraiser, CAMP MUSTANG, will kick off in just 3 weeks on 02/14/2023. Our goal is to raise $20,000 for our Art and Music programs, Makers Space, assemblies, and enrichment programs and to strengthen our school community.
This year our students will embark on a Grand Land adventure through our National Parks! We are very excited for this year’s theme and know the kids will be, too!
Key dates to remember:
● REGISTRATION OPENS - 01/31/2023
Register on MYBOOSTER.COM
● Camp Mustang Madera Fun Run Kick Off - 02/14/2023
● Event Day - 02/23/2023
Donations will go toward supporting our school and can be given throughout the entire experience. There is no pressure to give, but we invite you to help our school by sharing our fundraiser with your family and friends! All of our students are able to participate in our Camp Mustang Fun Run event!
Read Across America Information Coming Soon
Next month we will celebrate Read Across America Week! We will prepare this month by Reading, Reading, Reading! A reading log will go home with your student this week. Please record or have your student record how much they read this month. Please sign the log and have your student bring it back to school by February 28th. Any student who reads 100 pages this month will be put into a special drawing for a T-shirt.
In addition, please begin to think about what books you might want to donate to the book exchange! We will begin collecting elementary age appropriate books at the end of the month.
Madera Handbook
This is a great source of information for absences, dress code, cell phones, birthdays, the health and wellness policy, personal items, and volunteerism. Click here or on the picture for the handbook.
Family Calendar click on the photo!
Communication is key to good planning! Please mark the dates on your calendar. All dates/times/events subject to change based on health and safety regulations. Family Calendar Link
Health and Safety
Please perform a passive screening for symptoms of illness at home.
At this time, wearing a mask is not required, but students may wear protective face coverings if they prefer.
Hand-sanitizing stations are available around campus.
Hand washing is encouraged!
Parent Handbook Quick View
Every week I would like to share one small piece of the parent handbook to keep you informed. This week the topic is:
Emergency Preparedness:
Fire, earthquake, lockdown, and emergency evacuation drills are necessary for the safety of the
students and staff. Practice drills will occur throughout the school year. Specific information is posted
in each classroom. School safety plans are available in the main office. In the event of an actual
emergency, parents will be contacted via Parentlink, the district phone messaging system, with
updated information.
Community Resources and Events
Shelter and Food Resources
With cooler weather comes the opening of the Samaritan Center's PADS ("Public Action to Deliver Shelter)" Information about the shelter can be found at the bottom of the Dinner Site calendar as well as on the Samaritan Center Website. Families who wish to use the shelter need to meet with a caseworker at Samaritan Center to set this up.
Food Pantries: Samaritan Center and Still Waters Cafe continue to serve as our local food pantries. Please note that the Samaritan Center Food Pantry hours have changed.
Area Housing Authority of the County of Ventura Will Be Accepting Public Housing Applications
- Date: 02/01/2023 8:00 a.m. - 02/15/2023 4:00 p.m.
The Area Housing Authority of the County of Ventura (AHA) will be accepting applications beginning February 1, 2023 for the Public Housing Program from low income households.
Applications will be accepted online beginning Wednesday, February 1, 2023 at 8:00am and will close on Wednesday, February 15, 2023 at 4:00pm. Applications will be accepted via an online portal at onlineportal.ahacv.org.
WHAT YOU NEED TO APPLY
- An email address is required to submit the online application. Please ensure you have an email address before beginning the application process.
- Name, date of birth, social security number of each household member
- Annual household income amount
For more information on the Public Housing program, its requirements, and how to submit an application, please visit http://tinyurl.com/33r4ub7a.
If you require assistance or if you are a person with a disability and require an accommodation in order to complete an application, please contact the AHA office at (805) 480-6010 or send an email to WL.info@ahacv.org. For assistance for individuals with hearing impairment, please contact the AHA using TTY (805) 480-9119.
Visit the City of Simi Valley's Website
Operation School Bell is a resource for clothing. Vision for the Future with a referral, students may receive an eye exam and frames/lenses if needed. Please reach out for details.
Simi Valley Education Foundation
We are thankful for supporters like you, who make helping our
Simi Valley public schools possible.
With your support and by working with our sponsors, we’ve been able to accomplish amazing things to help our students thrive this year.
Because of you, the Simi Valley Education Foundation can support our teachers’ wide-ranging efforts to improve our students lives through meaningful and sustainable projects in their classrooms,
and provide scholarships to high school seniors.
Your gifts are more than donations.
They bring much needed resources to our public schools.
There is still time to make a year-end donation.
Please join us by making your gift through one of our
online donation opportunities:
Happy New Year and know that we are truly grateful for your support.
5th Grade Parents meet Mr. Rumble from Sinaloa
Taking the next step to middle school can be both exciting and scary for kids and parents. If you are like me, you have many questions. Join Mr. Rumble, the principal of Sinaloa on Monday, February 6th, at 2:30PM, in our Madera MPR . This is your chance to get those questions answered in some one on one time with Mr. Rumble. No reservations needed.
Madera Vision Statement
Madera’s mission is that we will develop thoughtful citizens and empower young leaders to become active members in their school, community and government.
We accomplish this through integrated classroom instruction, school-wide events and community partnerships.
Student Services Clerk: Julie Killian (Bilingual--Spanish) julie.killian@simivalleyusd.org
Office Manager: Maritza Berreondo maritza.berreondo@simivalleyusd.org
Principal: Tracie Bowden tracie.bowden@simivalleyusd.org
(805) 520-6740