Principal’s Message: 

Dear families,

 

Thank you for taking the time to join me at last week’s Principal’s Coffee. It was nice seeing you and hope you can join me next week at our last one. This week our fifth grade teachers have been busy working on our fifth grade virtual promotion. We can’t wait to share it with you once it’s done. 

 

Sincerely,

Arline Siam

 

Principal’s Virtual Coffee (Last One for the Year)

You are invited to a Zoom meeting. 

When: May 29, 2020 09:00 AM Pacific Time (US and Canada) 

Register in advance for this meeting:

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

 

Library Books

Please drop off all library books and book bags (if you have any) on Tuesday, May 26. Book bins will be placed outside the library from 8-3PM. Free books will also be available for pickup. 

 

Project Cornerstone

The OK Book, by Amy Krouse Rosenthal and Tom Lichtenheld

    This book focuses on resilience. Resilience is an ability to bounce back, recover from adversity or return to your original form. We can help youth develop resilience. Resilience is built upon 7 building blocks: competence, confidence, support, positive values, contribution to others, coping strategies and personal power. The confidence and support of caring adults gives children the freedom to explore, try new things and find out what they like to do. Belief in the ability to change and grow is called a growth mindset. In this lesson, asset building adults will be spark champions and help youth identify and cultivate a growth mindset. A growth mindset allows a person to view challenging times as temporary. Using the building blocks of resiliency as a cornerstone, youth will be better prepared to overcome the challenges of new and difficult experience 

The link to a reading of the book online: https://youtu.be/JoyD2HUZ6mI 

Discussion questions:

• Does the OK kid have a positive or negative outlook on new experiences?

• What does the phrase "It's okay to be okay" mean?

• What is something you haven't tried before that you would like to try?

•  

Who Moved My Cheese by Spencer Johnson and Christian Johnson

    This book is intended for just the fifth graders to read each year, as a preparation for the changes that happen as they head to middle school, but it works well for any student who feels the burden of all of the changes our community is experiencing these days. Told as a parable, the 4 characters live in a maze and look for cheese to make them happy. Each character represents a different way to manage the changes and challenges they discover in the maze. How they find and eat the cheese defines their resiliency to change. Resilience is an ability to bounce back, recover from adversity or return to your original form. Resilience is built upon 7 building blocks: competence, confidence, support, positive values, contribution to others, coping strategies and personal power. This book will help children understand that change happens to everyone, people can control how they react to change, and changes can lead to new opportunities.

 

Here is the movie adaptation of the book: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jOUeHPS8A8gDiscussion Questions:

• When the cheese gets moved in the maze and the 4 characters can't find it, how do they each react?

• What things are you excited about and worried about for next year?  For which things does it feel easier or harder to focus on the positives?

• Who can you talk to about your feelings for next year?  What positive coping strategies do you have in place to help you feel good in tough times?

District News:

Coffees with the Superintendent

Check this webpage for events in which we can connect on topics that are important to students’ education. Here are two that are upcoming:

 

Check in with the Superintendent

Friday, May 22, 3:30 pm

Register in advance for this meeting by clicking here. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

 

Cafecito con el Superintendente

These are informal meetings for Spanish-speaking parents. Translation will be provided.

 

Wednesday, May 20, 5:30-6:30 p.m.

Register in advance for this meeting by clicking here. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

 

Distance Learning Tips

Here are a few tips that might help you and your student with Distance Learning. Do you have any tried and true methods of helping your students’ school days be more efficient and your family’s life a little easier? Share them here. http://mvw.sd/37PbG

 

 “Caught you being good!”  Set a timer for yourself (15-45 minutes, depending on the age of your kids).  When the timer goes off, positively reinforce your child by noting their focus, independence, and/or perseverance through a challenge.  If you can periodically name, celebrate, and give attention to what they are doing right, they are more likely to keep it up, and less likely to get our attention with undesired behaviors.

 

Multiple kiddos? Go incognito! If you have multiple kids or are trying to access your own Google account while checking out theirs, here is a tip: Hold down COMMAND + SHIFT + N when you are in Chrome. This creates an incognito window, where you are not signed in. This means you can sign in with one account in one window and another account in another. You can do this for as many accounts as you like so that you can flip between windows to look at information from multiple accounts simultaneously.

 

Ask your student for high & lows for the day. Not everything is fixable, but asking and talking about schoolwork will help your student feel supported and understood. 

 

Food benefits

Due to Coronavirus (COVID-19), children who are eligible for free or reduced-price meals at school will get extra food benefits. These food benefits are called Pandemic EBT or P-EBT benefits. P-EBT benefits help families in California buy food when schools are closed because of the coronavirus emergency.

 

Families will get up to $365 per eligible child on their P-EBT card to use on food and groceries. Families with children who get CalFresh, Medi-Cal or Foster Care benefits do not need to apply. Most will get their P-EBT card in the mail during the month of May. P-EBT cards will begin arriving sometime this month

(May).

 

Families with children who are eligible for free or reduced-price meals and who do not get their P-EBT card in the mail, must apply online before June 30, 2020. The online application will launch in late May. https://www.cdss.ca.gov/home/pandemic-ebt

 

17TH ANNUAL MVWSD INTERSCHOLASTIC CHESS TOURNAMENT

17AMICT is forging ahead and will be held this year despite COVID-19!  The tournament will be online this year and will be held Sunday, May 31, 2020, from 11:30 to 5:00.  Full instructions and registration are at tinyurl.com/mvwsdchess.  The registration deadline is May 29.  Come take part in one of the few events this school year going on as scheduled.  Contact Mark Ruzon, Tournament Director, at [email protected] with any questions.

 

InPlay home activities

With extended time sheltering-in-place, InPlay, MVWSD's partner for out-of-school learning, has created a list of home-based, instructor-led programs offered by your favorite local providers to keep your students active and engaged! Please check it out. https://www.inplay.org/r/mountain-view/discover

 

SCCOE Announces New Online Portal for Essential Workers to Access Childcare

 

Santa Clara County Office of Education (SCCOE) in partnership with county and city leaders, community organizations and agencies throughout Santa Clara County has announced a new online portal to provide essential workers, as defined by the Santa Clara County Department of Public Health, access to childcare during the shelter-in-place order. 

 

In addition to this childcare resource, we have a list of resources for families developed by our School Community Engagement Facilitators. Sheltering in place and not being in our regular routines of work and school can be hard on our emotional and mental health, in addition to making access to meals, rent payments and other typical activities more difficult. Click here for info about help with meals, rent, legal issues, emotional support and more.

 

SCCOE webinars

The Santa Clara County Office of Education has developed a Parent Support Webinar series just for parents who have questions on how they can support their kids with learning. 

 

Free Parent Support Webinar series:

May 21    Episode 3: Writing Development Support

May 28    Episode 4: Academic Content Support

 

Audience: Parents & Educators

Dates: Thursdays in May 2020

Time: 1-1:30 PM, PST

Join Live: bit.ly/sccoeparents

Cost: Free

 

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.

 

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

Pandemic EMT

SSA Program Application

Community Resource Guide