The Dolphin Whistle

Dear Mariano Castro Parents,
The first three days of school have been very smooth. Seeing the excited faces of students makes our days great! Next week is Castro's Back to School Night and we are excited to see the parents as well. Please remember to sign-in and to visit the tables that will be in the main courtyard. I also hope to see Kinder and First grade parents at the PTA Family Potluck on Wed. Aug. 28th.

Thank you to all who are following the traffic and parking rules at Castro and for allowing enough time to walk to school to be here on time.

For student safety after school, all students that are not with their parent must go directly home and may not stay at school playing on the playground.

If at any time you have questions about anything at Castro please do not hesitate to reach out to me.

Warm Regards,

Theresa Lambert

Principal Mariano Castro Elementary

Castro's Back to School Night is Tuesday, August 27. We will have a table in the main courtyard for you to pickup the parent handbook (if you didn't get one at Class Posting) and to complete the donation form for the school, PTA, and the Walkathon T-shirt. Then please join the teacher in the classroom to learn about the activities, routines, and expectations for this year. We will have two sessions: one at 6:00 p.m. and then a repeat at 6:45 p.m. It is important that all families attend this evening. Your attendance also counts toward your Five Star Family status!

Instruction begins at 8:30 a.m. Please aim to have your child at school by 8:20 a.m. and try to walk or bike to school. If you must drive, remember to leave time to account for the traffic lines.

Students line up on the blacktop and picked up by the teachers there at 8:30 a.m. At dismissal, students 3rd - 5th grade students wait on the blacktop and Kinder, 1st, and 2nd grade students wait by their classroom door for parents. Parents can come on campus at 3:00 p.m. and wait by the office for the dismissal bell.

It is not permitted to enter from Escuela Ave. through the Mistral hallways to the playground. Use the field from Latham or the fire lane from Escuela Ave. and do not arrive on campus for pick-up before 3:00 p.m.

Any visitors must sign in to the office after 8:30 a.m. and before 3:00 p.m.

If dropping your child at the curb, remember that drivers must stay in the vehicle and students must be ready to exit the car quickly. As soon as your child has exited the car, please drive away promptly so that traffic in the drop-off zone runs smoothly.

If you are walking into campus with your child, you must find street parking as no parking is allowed in the drop off zone.

In addition to the existing structure we had last year, the new playground structure is ready for students in grades 1-5! Whenever all grades are together for playtime, one structure will be for grades 1-2 and the other structure will be designated for grades 3-5. At lunch time, when the grades are already separated, students will be able to use both structures.

Each year Castro honors the families who have attended five or more school events, activities, or meetings with a dinner hosted by Castro staff. Open House, Walkathon, PTA meetings, holiday activities, etc. all count! Please be sure to sign-in when participating. In late April you will receive your Five-Star invitation. Thank you in advance for giving your time to support both your child's education and the committees and staff that work hard on these events.

The Mountain View Whisman School District, with the financial support of the Mountain View Educational Foundation, is proud to provide a weekly visual and performing arts program for all fifth-grade students. Instruction in both art and music is provided by the Community School of Music and Arts. Starting with the fifth-grade program, students have a choice of art classes, a band instrument, or a string instrument. Students will designate their choice of art or music at the start of school.

Any student who takes band or strings has an option of using his/her own instrument or borrowing an instrument from the Mountain View Whisman School District. If you plan to borrow an instrument for your student’s participation in band this year, please attend these distribution nights to be held at the District Office, 1400 Montecito Ave., Mountain View, CA.

• String instruments, violins, violas and cellos will be distributed on Tuesday, August 20th, 5:00 - 6:30 p.m.

• Brass and Woodwind instruments including, saxophones, trombones, clarinets, flutes and trumpets will be distributed on Wednesday, August 21st, from 5:00 – 6:30 p.m.

• Any instrument left from the previous nights will be available for distribution on Monday, August 26th from 5:00-6:30 p.m.

To view the full catalog of instruments, please click here.

Please remember that the District has a limited number of instruments and distribution is done on a first-come, first-served basis. Also, many instruments come in different sizes so students will be measured to ensure an appropriate fit and a successful learning experience. Please make sure your child has a second choice just in case.

If you have any questions please contact Raquel Hernandez at rvhernandez@mvwsd.org.

CAASPP student score reports are in! If your child is currently in grade 4-8, you will be receiving information about how to access your child's English Language Arts and mathematics scores through PowerSchool. Please watch for the message coming to your email with directions and details.

Welcome back from the Mountain View Educational Foundation (MVEF)!

MVEF is a community supported non-profit that raises funds to provide a competitive, well-rounded education for every child in the district. Thanks to tax-deductible donations from parents like you, MVEF funds important programs including weekly art and music classes at every elementary school, hands-on science field trips for every 4th, 5th and 6th grader, garden-based lessons led by Living Classroom, middle school athletics, science labs, instrument repair and purchase and more! We need your help to meet our goal to raise $800,000. Learn more at your school’s back to school night or donate today at mvef.org.

Food for Thought Truck

MVWSD Food and Nutrition Services is proud to introduce the Food for Thought Truck (flyer attached). This truck was made possible by a grant from Second Harvest Food Bank and Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors. Throughout the year, your students will interact with the truck for nutritional education, as well as for food service. Please visit us on the Truck during Back to School Nights:

Castro Elementary, Aug. 27
Monta Loma Elementary, Aug. 28
Graham Middle School, Sept. 4

Meal payments
If your family is experiencing a financial setback, please contact us so we can help. We can assist you in applying for free or reduced price meal benefits through the National Lunch Program. The 2019-20 online application deadline is September 20, 2019. No citizenship information is collected during the application process. Just as in the past, you will need to reapply annually. Please go to the following website to apply online today. http://www.ezmealapp.com (or applications are available at your child’s school office).

Meal payment: Full or reduced price meals can be paid online throughout the year at www.EZschoolPay.com. For 2019-20, full price meals cost $3.50 for lunch and $2.50 for breakfast (reduced price is 40¢ for lunch and 30¢ for breakfast). You can pay in advance (online, check, or cash) or at the time of purchase.

Please call MVWSD Food and Nutrition Services at (650) 903-6965 if you have any questions.

Lunch menus

Menus are found here: https://www.mvwsd.org/parents/nutrition