Sea Lion Spotlight

Malibu Elementary Parent Newsletter #4 - August 28, 2023

Highlights

Below are some photos of our amazing students the first days 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

Parent Complete Annual Forms online beginning today (See article below)

Tues 08/29 Minimum Day / 12:45 dismissal

Back-to-School Night for K-2nd / 5 - 6 K-2 (5-5:15 in MPR, 5:15 - 6 in classrooms)

Fri 09/01 Annual Family PicNic (See article below) / 11:30 @ field
Sept 01 - 04 Malibu Chili Cook Off (See article below)
Mon 09/04 Labor Day Holiday / No School
Tues 09/05 Minimum Day / 12:45 dismissal

Basic Comfort Bag Program Begins Again (Parents put child comfort items in a 1 gallon ziplock and send it to the teacher. /details link/sample family note)
Back-to-School Night for 3-5th / 5 - 6

Thur 09/07 School Site Council / 3:30 - 4:45 @ zoom link - Agenda Link

Principal's Message

Hello MES Sea Lion Families,

Go Malibu! Our students were amazing this first week. I was so pleased to see our students learning and remembering school routines, and treating each other so well our first two days together. I enjoyed seeing so many kind faces and reconnecting with you and your kids. We can truly anticipate a special year together.

Much gratitude is owed to our skilled staff for such a polished beginning. Thanks to our PTA...who has already fed us breakfast and lunch, welcomed new families on campus, and is actively planning to raise more supplementary funds necessary to give our students more than the basics. If you haven't already, please join the PTA. See the article below.

To help with order in the parking lot, please put your family surname or child's first name on a placard on your dashboard. Use the crosswalk and sidewalks. Never call children to walk through traffic. Today staff have come up with a new and potentially safer way to dismiss. We are going to practice the procedure during school hours, and if it is indeed safer and more efficient, we will make the change in the coming week or two. TBC.

Enrollment changed a lot the day before school opened! We never received the kindergarteners we anticipated but we did receive more first graders. Additionally it seems we may finally have enough TK students between Webster and MES to warrant both schools having a TK program. I will know more on Monday afternoon. If this happens and considering the Kinder/1st enrollment, I am going to be changing up our kindergarten and first grade configuration. I will be contacting all kindergarten and first grade parents early next week with a plan and timeline. Most likely BTSN for Kinder and 1st may be pushed back to September 5th. I will keep TK, Kinder, and 1st grade parents updated a lot next week on all these developments.

Our new taller school fence will be installed around September 15. This task is the top safety priority of our School Site Council. We hope everyone will take pride when they see that our old rusty fence is gone and our new fence is up.

Throughout the school year, if you have photos you would like me to consider adding to my newsletter, please email them to me and I will try to include several. Thank you for your contributions!

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

Thank you for your partnership,

Proud Principal Chris Hertz

Looking farther forward...

Mon 09/11 "Before-school Power Hour Program" begins / 7:15 - 8 @ Computer Lab (Repeats every Monday and Wednesday through May) (See article below)
Wed 09/13 Classroom Complaint Period Closes / 2pm (see article below)
Wed 09/20 Picture Day (Details coming..)
Fri 09/22 International Peace Day - Zoe's Lunchtime Theater - Audience: K-5 / 9am @ field
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
W-F 10/18 - 10/20 5th Grade Overnight Trip to Pali Camp (Bus rolls at 8am on Wednesday the 18th)
M-Th 11/06 - 11/09 Parent-Teacher Conference Week

Articles for Parents

Back-to-School-Night

We are looking forward to welcoming our parents back to campus. We have two separate evenings planned over the next few weeks where you will get a chance to hear from your child's teacher about expectations and plans for the year. They have great things in store for these kids.

Tue, Aug. 29 Kinder - 2nd Grade

Tue, Sep. 5 3rd - 5th Grade

I will give a brief introduction to the evening in the cafeteria and you'll be off to classrooms to spend some time with the teachers.

5:00pm - 5:15pm: Introduction in the cafeteria

5:15pm - 6:00pm: Meet with the teachers in their classrooms

We really hope to see you there!

* ADULTS ONLY PLEASE

Family Picnic / Friday, September 1

Details - click here

MBGC Information - Week of Aug 28, 2023

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

Medications at School Form

No medications may be given to any student at school without this annual form. If you have questions, please contact School Nurse Daniel Gorton dgorton@smmusd.org. Link to Form

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

Join the PTA!

The simple act of joining the PTA provides instant financial support for our students! It's also a great way to stay informed about what's happening at school, and connect in meaningful ways with other parents. https://www.malibuelementary.org/membership

Malibu Elementary Parent Handbook

This handbook has a wide variety of resources for parents. Link

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..

Instructional Assistant Needed!

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

The position is for three (3) hours / five days (5) 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.

Volunteering at MES / To Be A Cleared Volunteer

Details - click here.

Annual Malibu Chili Cook Off

Details - click here