Mar Vista Parent Newsletter
Week of September 21, 2020
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Dear Families,
We are officially entering the sixth week of school and starting to get into a groove! I've had numerous conversations with families and have heard a lot about what works and what doesn't work with Distance Learning. Much of what I hear is that the screen time is long and that the students miss interacting with their peers in an unstructured way. I want to take this opportunity to remind you to discuss with your child's teacher what their needs are in order to have a successful experience. The teachers have some degree of flexibility in how they may be able to support students from the availability of office hours in the afternoon to small group instruction in the mornings and more. We also want to make sure each student has received their "pencil/paper" materials such as journals, whiteboards, curriculum workbooks, etc. Please make sure to visit the distribution times to pick up materials. If you have any challenges making those times, please call our office to schedule a different pick up time. Our office can be reached at (831)761-6177 on Monday through Friday between 7am and 4pm.
To address the peer-to-peer social time, we are bringing back Virtual Recess this week. The recesses will be held at student break times starting at 10:30 and will be supervised by our awesome yard duties. While we encourage a break from the screen as well as a snack and movement, we also recognize the desire for students to simply connect with one another on a personal level. We look forward to being able to offer this break time option.
Lastly, please find information below on Drive 4 Schools. This is our school's biggest fundraiser and we are so grateful to our MVPs for their hard work in making this happen. We look forward to another great year and hope that someone from Mar Vista wins the $25,000!!!
Thank you,
Stephanie Monroe
Mr. J's Academic Coordinator Update
As mentioned in a previous email, 2nd-6th grade students will be taking the NWEA MAP assessment over the next two weeks (with make-ups on the third week). We have worked hard to make sure this is as seamless as possible in the distance learning environment, and we want to help you be informed as well.
It is essential that students do not receive help on the questions as we want the most accurate representation of where they are. This test will present many questions that the students will not know, this is part of the algorithm used to determine exactly where they should be working. It is not only ok but expected that they won't know the answer to many questions and should be instructed to do their best. This idea should be reinforced to the students.
It is very important, as always, that they have a quiet environment to work during the test. They should have scratch paper in front of them to help solve the problems, especially during the math portion. The teachers will be communicating the schedule to their classes.
If your child does not have a district Chromebook, and uses a personal device, pop-ups will need to be allowed! This is crucial for the test to launch properly. If your child does have a district Chromebook then this will automatically happen. Just make sure they have restarted their chrombook recently.
Thank you for your time and support with this! Components of this distance learning process are certainly an exercise in patience and I ask that we keep this in mind especially for this assessment. We want to minimize stress and worry for the students in general, and especially with this assessment. As the document below states, this does not affect their grades, but will give us valuable data for how best to support each student to help them grow!
Upcoming Events
This Week's Spirit Theme: Crazy Hair!
Drive 4 Schools is on Now!!!
9/21: Monday Materials Distributions 8-10 an 3-5
Library Book Distribution 3-5
9/22: MVPs Meeting (Meeting Link)
9/23: English Learner Advisory Committee 5:30-6:30
9/28: Character Awards
Mar Vista News!
Send your Spirit Week student pics to daniel_jacobsmeyer@pvusd.net where they will be shared in next week's Mar Vista News!
Spirit Theme: Crazy Hair!
MVPs - Drive 4 Schools!!!
From the MVPs:
Drive For Schools, our biggest fundraiser kicks off on Friday, September 18th and runs until October 25th.
This will be our best 2020 fundraiser and the Mar Vista Parent’s Club depends on this fundraiser to support the students, teachers and school financially.
In the past we have raised over $40,000.
This year we hope to do as much as we possibly can under the current circumstances.
All sales will be via square: https://checkout.square.site/buy/54QP2FABCES74BZPBRQJPECG
and tickets will be mailed out weekly.
We hope all teachers, students and families will help purchase or sell tickets to family and friends.
Don’t forget, not only does the school get % of all the proceeds- there is a Grand Prize winner of $20,000 as well as hundreds of other prizes!!
The Grand Prize Drawing will be held on November 1, at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk.
Please visit https://checkout.square.site/buy/54QP2FABCES74BZPBRQJPECG to buy tickets and share this link with all your friends & family on social media and beyond! Let’s raise some money for the Mar Vista Community!
Let’s go SEALIONS!!!!
Library Book Curbside Pick Up is Monday 3-5!!!
Hello, Families.
Curbside will happen on Mondays from 3-5 p.m.
-Drive up, please stay in your car
-You must be wearing a mask, everyone in the vehicle, please.
-Place any books to return directly in the white basket Mrs. J will have (soon there will be an outdoor book drop)
-Enjoy your Mar Vista Library books!
Place holds:
2nd-6th grade: Students may check out a maximum of 10 books
1st grade: 7 book maximum
TK/K: 5 book max to start
(If you need more for your family story times, just let me know! We certainly read more than 5 books a week when my kiddos were this age!)
Still have questions? Call or email me:
(831) 406-1359
*Please let children know that placing a hold does not guarantee you will receive that book the next Monday. You may be 3rd on the list or even 23rd! The book may be checked out, missing in covid action, or out for repairs. I will do the best I can to fulfill all your book wishes!
All returned books will be quarantined for the CDC recommended time for library materials and disinfected with the recommended cleaning product before being checked out again.
Virtual Recess
TK/K - 10:30-10:45. Storytime/discussion
1st-3rd - 10:45-11:00 and 12:20-12:40 Storytime/discussion and Social time (sharing and talking)
4th-6th - 12:40-1:00 Social time
Over time, we will introduce more thematic recesses and will be seeking ideas from the students who attend. If your child has a good idea for how Virtual Recess can be spent, have him/her share it with the yard duty staff!
COVID Safety Reminder
Mar Vista Parent Club
The next MVP Meeting is on this Tuesday 9/22 from at 7:00 pm
We are looking forward to another great school year together at Mar Vista! Although we are virtual for the first semester, the MVPs continue to meet monthly virtually and work together to find ways to support the teachers and students during this unique time. We are looking for new people that want to get involved. There are so many different ways you can contribute and get involved with the MVPs, so please reach out or come check out a meeting! We will be in there virtually welcoming you with a smile! Hope to see many new faces soon!
For more information contact us at Aptos-MVPS@gmail.com or follow us on Facebook @MarVistaElementary.
School Site Council Positions still available!
We held our first School Site Council meeting this past Tuesday and are still seeking more parent members. Due to our unique school year, we will only hold 5 meetings this year. If you are considering joining us, please contact me at stephanie_monroe@pvusd.net.
The next meeting will be during the second week of October.
The council will meet to review and analyze the results of school wide assessments and climate data and make important decision on how best to utilize school resources.
Join us and make a difference!
PVUSD School Meals - Fall 2020
CHROMEBOOK SUPPORT
Technology Support
Call the Help Desk at (831) 786-TECH (8324)
Use this option if you need immediate assistance.
The PVUSD Help Desk is open from 7:30 am to 4:30 pm every school day and the help desk technicians can remotely assist you just like being with you in front of your computer.
Mar Vista Distance Learning Webpage
Daily Instructional Schedules
Contact us
Website: marvista.pvusd.net
Location: 6860 Soquel Drive, Aptos, CA, USA
Phone: (831) 761-6177
Facebook: facebook.com/marvistaaptos
Twitter: @MarVista_Aptos