Cheetah Chatter, May 22, 2020

May 22, 2020

Important Dates

Friday, May 22~ Virtual ELAC Meeting 1:00-2:00 p.m

Monday, May 25~ No School- Memorial Day

Friday, May 29~ Virtual Principal’s Coffee 3:30-4:30 p.m

Tuesday, June 2~1st-3rd grade Library book drop off 10:00 a.m-1:00 p.m in front parking lot drive-thru bin drop off

Wednesday, June 3~ Kinder, 4th, 5th grade 10:00 a.m-1:00 p.m in front parking lot drive-thru bin drop off

Thursday, June 4~ TK 10:00 a.m-1:00 p.m in back parking lot drop off and memory book pick-up

From the Principal's Desk

Dear Cheetahs,

     I hope you're doing well this Friday afternoon--or at least coping. May is Mental Health Awareness month and yesterday was National Meditation Day. Yes, you read it right...there is such a day! When I found that out, I made a choice to spend some time practicing mindfulness. You may remember I mentioned mindfulness in my communications as well. I really do believe in mindfulness and am working towards making it a part of my life. Mindfulness is nothing but our ability to be present in the moment, being aware of where we are and what we’re doing, and not overly reactive or overwhelmed by what’s going on around us. In the everyday  hustle and bustle of life with Shelter-in-place, with the ever present media, I made a choice today - took a few minutes to sit on a chair with eyes closed, feet firmly planted on the floor, and took a few deep breaths. And, wow, what a difference it made to help me destress. I would like to encourage you to try it out too. No fancy whistles and bells with incense sticks or calming meditation music, it was plain and simple; sitting on a chair to take deep breaths. In this paragraph, I used the word  - ‘choice’ a few times...it was intentional obviously. Choosing one thing over another is something we do all the time without even thinking about it. We give our kids choices, we make choices ourselves all day long. What if we made a choice today to shut down some media noise. All the back and forth discussions on TV or social media about reopening of the state definitely adds more fuel to our thoughts and we start thinking about ‘ifs & thens’.  Well, what if we made a choice today to keep our phones away for an hour or so...what if we made a choice today to spend 10 minutes with ourselves away from devices or the TV? How would that feel? Why not try it out? 

 

I know the end of the year without all the end-of-year activities in person is a bummer. I get it! But, even with Shelter-in-Place nothing will stop us from celebrating our Cheetahs and  we will do our best to have a fun closing of the school year -  we will just do it virtually! We are so excited to celebrate the hard work and efforts of our outgoing 5th grade class of 2020 with a special surprise virtual promotion. So many of our 5th graders started their schooling as Kindergartners here at TH and now they get to be middle schoolers. Many of our 5th graders joined us through the years and made the greatest friends. Now, they are all ready to be secondary students. Gosh, don’t kids grow up too fast?! We are so proud of each and every one of our Cheetahs and the progress they have made this year. It is with extreme pride I say that every Theuerkauf Cheetah has made growth this year, many have even made way more than a year's growth. Way to go, Cheetahs!! 

Thank you to all the parents that signed up for the Focus Group Committee. We had quite a few volunteers and could only forward along a committee of 4 people (consisting of staff members and representative parents/guardians). Nonetheless, all of us will have opportunities to provide input and share our thoughts at school site thought exchanges. We are in the  process of working the details of that. Even though the school year may be over in early June, we will continue to have our parent community meetings to keep you all informed and updated. 

Our office staff and myself hosted a ‘Say Hi to the Office Team’ last week and it was great to see so many of our kiddos/ families. We will be hosting another “Say Hi” session soon. Stay tuned! I am also ready to see you all at the Principal’s Coffee (or should we say, ‘Principal's Afternoon Tea’) scheduled for next week Friday, May 29th, at 3:30 pm. Meeting registration info to follow next week. If you haven’t started following or liked our school Facebook page, please do so as we do Live videos, send messages, helpful tips, updates, etc. through our Facebook page pretty regularly. (https://www.facebook.com/TheuerkaufElem/

    As we slide faster to the school year finish line, just want to say, keep smiling and spreading kindness through the struggles. Our children observe us doing so and take lessons from it for life. We are building tehri character through these times. We are showing them what resilience looks like and what going through struggles looks like. You can do it...We can do it! We will get through this uncertainty...let's all stay positive and be mindful in the moment. Much love and a big hug to all my Cheetahs. I miss seeing you all SO much! 

Love and light to you and yours, 

-Your Principal Dagar

PTA News

Please join us in our first ever virtual PTA association meeting, June 15th 4:30-5:30 pm.

PTA’s Executive Board is now accepting nominations for the following positions:  President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, auditor, fundraising chairman, and historian. Please submit the name of the nominee and 2-3 sentences about you to [email protected]  by June 5th, 2020, to give the association a chance to vote on board members a week before our association meeting.  

Please consider joining our school PTA  to support not only your child but all the wonderful students at our school. Let’s make good things happen together for our students and staff! 


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.

 

Seeking members: School Reopening focus groups

MVWSD is seeking representative groups of parents, students, teachers, and staff members for school reopening focus groups. Four volunteers are needed per school site. The focus groups will explore desires and concerns for school reopening. 

Focus groups will meet twice (once in May and again in June) and each group will focus on a stage:  Schools closed, Targeted opening, Open with Restrictions, Full opening. To apply to be a focus group member, please complete an application found here by May 16 or contact your school principal.

 

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 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

 

Child Care and Resources

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.

 

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.

 

Seeking members: School Reopening focus groups

MVWSD is seeking representative groups of parents, students, teachers, and staff members for school reopening focus groups. Four volunteers are needed per school site. The focus groups will explore desires and concerns for school reopening. 

Focus groups will meet twice (once in May and again in June) and each group will focus on a stage:  Schools closed, Targeted opening, Open with Restrictions, Full opening. To apply to be a focus group member, please complete an application found here by May 16 or contact your school principal.

 

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 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

 

Child Care and Resources

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.
 

 

Chess Tournament

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

 

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

Attachments

Pandemic Benefit 

Social Service Agency 

Community Resources for Parents 

Pandemic EBT 

DRAI Key Facts 

TH Distance Learning Dashboard 

 

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