Cheetah Chatter, Nov.20, 2019

Important Dates

Tuesday, November 26~ PTA Assoc. Meeting 8:40 a.m

Wednesday, November 27-29~ Thanksgiving Break- No School

Tuesday, December 3~ District Kinder Info Night (Incoming Kinders) 5:30-6:30 p.m (Spanish) 7:00-8:00 p.m (English) at Castro Elementary School 

Wednesday, December 4~ Parent U – Navigating Mental Health Support, 6:30-8:00 p.m at Graham Middle School

From the Principal's Desk

Dear Theuerkauf Family, 

November is an important time for us all to reflect on the many blessings bestowed upon us.  I am certainly thankful for the many blessings in my life, including working with the amazing scholars, parents/guardians, teachers, and staff at our school. Your thoughts and on-going feedback during conversations with me regarding the positive feel at our school and effective communication between students, parents, and staff support our goal to ensure student - parent connectivity to school. I would also like to express a sincere “Thank You” to the many parent volunteers who have been volunteering in the classrooms, in the STEAM Lab, for field trips, for special projects, for our Walk-a-Thon, for our Fall Festival, and throughout the school. I encourage more parents to get involved: one day, one hour, one field trip or one class presentation in your area of expertise or your area of liking. We appreciate every parent for your continued support and comfort level communicating with our staff.

“Respect your fellow human being, treat them fairly, disagree with them honestly, enjoy their friendship, explore your thoughts about one another candidly, work together for a common goal and help one another achieve it.” This quote by Bill Bradley puts into words what we are accomplishing at Theuerkauf Elementary – a true sense of togetherness centered on all students succeeding. I love your presence at our school and am so grateful to share your child’s educational journey as partners!

News from the Kindergarten Classrooms: 

This week, let’s get a glimpse into our young learners field trip. Ms. Yung’s Kindergarten classroom visited the Fire Station last Friday. They got to explore not just the fire trucks but also got trained by fire department personnel on how they support emergency calls. Oh wait, as Theuerkauf Cheetahs were nearing the end of their field trip, a real emergency call came through and our Kindergarten Cheetahs got to see live action...how cool is that?! (Ms. Linda was able to catch that on camera for us). 

   

Our MUR is renovated and we had a Ribbon Cutting this morning. Two of our students did the honors and helped with the ribbon cutting. What a great way to end our week. We are so grateful to our community for Measure G, which helped with Facilities Improvement. 

   

Wishing you and yours a Happy Thanksgiving! 

In appreciation, 

 

Ms. Swati Dagar

Principal-Theuerkauf Elementary 

School News

i-Ready Diagnostic Assessment

i-Ready is an online program that helps us determine your child’s strengths and areas for growth in mathematics and reading. After Thanksgiving break, students will be taking i-Ready Diagnostic #2. i-Ready diagnostic assessments are administered three times a year in place of the district benchmark assessments used in the past. 

New, and important for parents to know:

  • In January, parents will receive four reports (two for math and two for English language arts): One report will show your student’s overall score and growth since August (take a look here), and a detailed report (look at the report here) will show how your student performed on each grade-level standard, in math and language arts. You can review this information and talk with your teacher about how to support and enrich your child’s learning.

  • Your child can access i-Ready instruction at home online anytime through Clever to supplement, reinforce and enrich his/her classroom learning (exception: i-Ready instruction is not available at home during diagnostic testing). These lessons supplement core instruction, and support and enrich students' learning. They are tailored to students, based on information from their i-Ready assessments. Please ask your teacher if you have trouble accessing i-Ready. 

Please visit www.mvwsd.org/ireadyreport to view sample reports and frequently asked questions. Thank you for your partnership with us in your student’s success.

 

Before School and After School Clubs

Chess Club every Tuesday and Thursday 7:45 a.m in Library 

CSMA Art every Friday 3:30-4:30 p.m in Rm 26  (2nd-5th) Starts 9/13-12/13

CSMA Art every Thursday 1:00-2:00 p.m in Rm 26 (Kinder-1st) Starts 9/12-12/12

Ukulele Class every Monday 3:15-4:15 p.m in Library (3rd-5th) Starts 10/14

Chorus every Thursday 12:45-1:45 p.m 

 

On behalf of the PTA we would like to thank each and everyone of you who helped make the Walk-a-Thon a huge Success! Our next PTA Association meeting is Tuesday, November 26th at 8:40 a.m. We look forward to see you at the meeting.

District News

PARCEL TAX OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE SEEKS COMMUNITY REPRESENTATIVES

The Mountain View Whisman School District is seeking Mountain View residents to serve on a committee of community leaders : Parcel Tax Oversight Committee.

Representatives monitor, provide oversight and ensure accountability to the funds received by the District, and include an annual report to the Board regarding the actual uses of such funds.

Applications are due December 9, 2019. Applications can be mailed to Mountain View Whisman School District, Attn: Dr. Rebecca Westover, Chief Business Officer, 1400 Montecito Avenue, Mountain View, CA 94043, or faxed to 650-964-8907. Applications are available online at http://www.mvwsd.org/about/committees

Questions? Please call Dr. Rebecca Westover, Chief Business Officer, at 650-526-3500 or email [email protected]

 

Resources for helping students with math homework 

Eureka Math provides a series of free Parent Tip Sheets at the topic level that include suggested strategies and models, key vocabulary, and tips for how you can support learning at home. Available in English and Spanish for grades K-8. To view those tip sheets, click on https://www.mvwsd.org/academics/teaching_the_standards/eureka_math

To access Eureka math videos, curriculum and homework helpers through a free, sign-in parent dashboard, check out nonprofit GreatMinds at https://greatminds.org/math/parents. To access Common Core standards parent roadmaps for math and language arts by grade, click on Parent Roadmaps - ELA and Parent Roadmap - Math

 

School meetings coming up. Open Enrollment for new MVWSD students starts Jan. 13 

For NEW students: Open Enrollment is from January 13-February 7 online. You can register your child for the 2020-21 school year when online registration opens on January 13 here: www.mvwsd.org/register

For CURRENT students in transitional kindergarten-7th grade: Parents will be asked by email to confirm enrollment in January 13 - February 7.

District new student information night, covering the registration process, is on Tuesday, Dec. 3 at 5:30 p.m. (Spanish) and 7 p.m. (English) at Castro Elementary School, 500 Toft St. 

School kindergarten information nights are at 6 p.m. on Dec. 11 for all elementary schools. Please click here for a list of these events.

If your child turns 5 years old between September 2 – December 2 of the current school year, he/she may qualify for transitional kindergarten. TK info night is December 5 at 5:00 PM at Theuerkauf Elementary.

You may click here to confirm your child’s school of residence

For more information, call 650-526-3500 or go to www.mvwsd.org/register. There are a variety of school and program information nights and tours in December at the elementary schools. These nights are good opportunities for new families and for those transitioning to new neighborhood schools to learn about a particular school or program, including choice schools.Please click here for a list of these events.

 

Join us for the new MV Parent U offering: "Navigating Mental Health Support: A Panel Discussion" on Wednesday, December 4 from 6:30-8pm at the Graham Middle School Auditorium.

Presenters: 

Christine Wang, EdM, Heard Alliance

Eduardo Bunge, Ph.D Professor, Palo Alto University, Director, Master of Science in Psychology

Dr. Moira Kessler, Md Clinical Assistant, Professor Stanford Child and Adolescent Psychiatry 

Alicia Carter, MVWSD School Counselor, Crittenden Middle School

Kristin Castillo, Student Services Coordinator, Los Altos High School

Explore these topics, questions and more with our panel of experts:

   What is typical development and behavior?

   Signs and symptoms of depression and anxiety

   Mental health at different developmental stages 

   What are the schools doing to reduce stress, provide support, and promote mental       

   health?

   If a child/adolescent is experiencing an issue, how can you determine if it’s a typical    

   behavior or something more serious?  When should a parent be concerned?

   How can parents have an open conversation on difficult topics with their kids?

   What types of wellness strategies can parents use at home?

 

Childcare and Spanish interpretation will be available. Reserve your seat: navigatingmentalhealth.eventbrite.com


Attachments

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