Quote of the week
“The first wealth is health”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Principal’s Message:
Dear Parents,
This past weekend, as I was going over the dashboard by grade level on the teacher created website, my heart was filled with joy or I would say, “immense Principal pride”, seeing the instructional roll-out by all grade levels. Our teachers have done a phenomenal job taking along the direction provided on the virtual instructional roll-out! Please feel free to reach out to me if you have any questions on what’s on the dashboard or if you need support navigating through this newness.
In the next couple of weeks, we will convene our regular held meetings like Principal’s Coffee, School Council Meetings and ELAC. Be on the lookout for those dates in our next newsletter. All meetings will be done virtually and instructions on how to join will be shared.
As you know, we have several temporary brown portable classrooms on our campus. These were placed here several years ago, funded by Measure G, to relieve overcrowding and serve as swing space during construction. I wanted to let you know that as we are planning classroom space for next year, the District has decided to retain 2 of the temporary portables for general education. We want students to have as much space to play and learn as possible, which means as a precautionary approach as we remove some of the portables, but keep others.
MVWSD has shifted boundaries, relieving some of the enrollment growth. Additionally, we are adjusting our use of portables based on the guiding principle that every classroom teacher and every STEAM teacher have a room. We think students benefit from dedicated spaces for STEAM, intervention, and enrichment.
Work will begin this spring to remove the portables not planned for use next year, freeing up playspace.
Sincerely, Arline Siam
Agenda Cover Contest theme: Hawks at Home (Homebound Hawks)
DUE May 8th (deadline extended)
Draw your best hawk at home doing school work or doing something fun in a letter size paper.
Include the year 2020-2021 in your design.
Please use colors, crayons or markers.
Send final drawing [email protected]
May 4-8 is Teacher/Staff Appreciation Week at Huff!
Our students and parents are particularly grateful for our Huff Teachers and Staff and would like to continue one of our well-loved traditions. Let’s show some love - at a distance - and shine a bright light on our Staff and Teachers’ efforts during this special week. Even though this may look different this year from years past, please look out for communication from your Room Parents as we invite you and your child to participate.
Gift Card Donation
I hope you and your families are staying healthy during this unprecedented time As you may know, there are several families in our district that need help to meet some basic needs. The district is providing 2 meals a day M-F. With kids being home from school, some families need more support for providing dinner and weekend meals. There is a critical need for gift cards for these families to use for food. If you are able, please consider donating a gift card to families in our own district. Thanks so much for your help! Let’s show these families some Huff Love!
Things to remember:
Gift cards should only be for Safeway and should be electronic. (https://www.giftcardmall.com/e-gift-cards/safeway-egift-card)
Electronic gift cards should be sent to our principal, Arline Siam at [email protected] and she will send them on to the district office for distribution.
Families are welcome to donate more than 1 gift card. Each individual gift card should be no more than $20 to make it easier to split them up among many families.
Thank you to the families that have purchased some already!
If you have any questions, please contact Aishwarya Rengan at [email protected].
PTA News:
Huff Yearbook IMPORTANT: Receiving your 2019-2020 Deadline to change your mailing address is Sunday, May 3, 2020!
If you ordered a yearbook early, prior to March 29th, Treering will ship the yearbook free-of-charge to your home! To have your yearbook shipped directly to your home, you will need to log into Treering, go to My Orders, select your order, and edit your mailing address. Deadline to change your mailing address is Sunday, May 3, 2020! Note: If you do not change your mailing address, your child's yearbook will be mailed directly to Huff and will not be available for pick up until the start of the next school year.
Keep in mind, yearbooks this year were not included with your PTA membership and donation. However, it's not too late to order a yearbook! All yearbook orders from March 29th and later will be mailed directly to your home with a reduced shipping fee of $2.99. Take advantage of the lower shipping costs now! Yearbooks will be available and shipped to homes in early June.
Need Photos for “Shelter in Place” Coronavirus Page
We’re adding a page to this year’s yearbook called “Shelter in Place.” The most memorable event of your child’s year will be this time at home staying safe from the Coronavirus. Are your kids learning new skills online? Having Zoom calls with their friends or their class? Cooking, playing outside, or going on hikes? Whatever they’re doing, we would love to have your photos. Please upload them here:
https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/folders/1PKO1mVINmYOuZK6cPQPb_WKDtvHKd6iZ
If you don’t want your child to appear in the yearbook, or if you have any other questions please email Dorothy and Kathleen at [email protected]
District News:
MV Parent U: "Angst," raising anxiety awareness
MV Parent U presents "Angst," a 56-minute film that explores anxiety, its causes, effects and treatments on Wednesday, May 6, 2020, 6:00 PM - Wednesday, May 13, 2020, 9:00 PM.
Angst features candid interviews with kids and young adults who suffer, or have suffered, from anxiety and what they’ve learned about it. The film includes discussions with mental health experts about the causes of anxiety and its sociological effects, as well as help, resources and tools.
To reserve your free spot for this online event, please register here by May 6 at noon: https://angstfilm.eventbrite.com
Google grants $200,000 for MVWSD students
MVEF is grateful for Google’s longtime commitment to public education and partnership with our District and foundation. Google recently donated $200,000 during COVID-19 school closure to ensure MVWSD students stay on track with their learning.
As MVWSD assessed the technological needs in our community made even more clear by the COVID-19 school closure, it’s clear the digital divide still exists. Even after the District distributed 900 Chromebooks this year, almost 10% (615) of our students still need a device, and 5% (247) students still need internet access. Google immediately stepped up with a $100,000 grant to provide technology for students, primarily internet hotspots and laptops, to enable our students to access assignments and online conferences with their teachers during distance learning.
Additionally, MVEF was awarded an additional $100,000 grant from Google to fund STEM initiatives next year at MVWSD’s schools, ensuring MVEF can continue to help fund essential Next Generation Science Standards, hands-on science programming at every school.
Superintendent Dr. Ayindé Rudolph shared his gratitude. “We are in uncharted waters in which our daily methods of instruction look very different. Our students and parents continue to look for a sense of normalcy during remote learning and sheltering in place. Despite all of the uncertainty, I am grateful that we can continue to count on MVEF and Google as great community advocates and corporate sponsors. They not only answered our call to reduce the digital divide in our community, but also demonstrated that our path forward through these trying times is together. On behalf of all of our students, I want to thank MVEF for their continued advocacy, and Google for their continued commitment to our students and community,” he said.
MVEF and MVWSD express its deep appreciation for Google, and for the company’s willingness to help provide an excellent education to all of our children in Mountain View.
Free, low cost internet for students
We think that it’s important that each of our students has one Internet-ready device (laptop, iPad, etc) in their house for distance learning schoolwork. There are several ways you can access free/or low cost internet to connect students' Chromebooks. Please see the attached flyer or click on www.mvwsd.org/technology.
Parking lot wifi
While using parking lot wifi, you must remain in your car in order to practice social distancing. Students must have an adult accompanying them.
Incoming middle school parents: Prepare to select electives for 2020-21
Use your PowerSchool Parent Portal Access to select Electives for 2020-21
Beginning April 29, 2020, incoming middle school parents will be able to log on to the PowerSchool Parent Portal to select their fifth- to seventh-graders’ elective choices for 2020-21. You will receive an email when the course catalogs are posted on April 24.
Please make sure you have access to the PowerSchool Parent Portal now by logging on to https://ps.mvwsd.org/public/. You will use the PowerSchool Parent Portal for elective selection, grades, assignments and attendance monitoring, and for downloading state test results.
If you have difficulty signing in, please contact your school office.
2020 Census Paper Questionnaires are on their way to Californians!
If you’re among the 70+ million households who have already responded to the 2020 Census, thank you! If you haven’t completed it yet, paper questionnaires are in the mail headed your way. Households receiving the paper questionnaire can still respond online or by phone, or they can return it by mail in the enclosed envelope. When you respond online, use the Census ID from the letter or provide your address. To respond now, go to https://go.usa.gov/xdKjk.
Please encourage your family, friends, and neighbors to complete it too. It’s something everyone can do while practicing social distancing at home to make a difference today, tomorrow and the next 10 years.
Attachments:
Free Internet Flyer-English