The Dolphin Whistle

The Board of Trustees will meet on Thursday, Dec. 9 at 6 p.m. Some of the meeting’s topics include:

• Employee Housing Project Update

• Monta Loma Outdoor Areas Improvement Project Update

• Trustees Organizational Meeting

• Approval of each school’s Single Plan for Student Achievement (SPSA). These documents represent a school’s cycle of continuous improvement of student performance. Draft site plans have been available for Board of Trustee and public review through the District website since October 22, 2021.

For meeting details and agenda, please click here: https://www.mvwsd.org/trustees.

MVWSD is partnering with the County of Santa Clara Public Health Department to bring a vaccine clinic to MVWSD. When you and your children are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, it protects your family, your friends, our school, and the whole community.

FREE to all students ages 5 and older and their family members at:

Where: Theuerkauf MUR

Date: Wednesday, December 8, 2021
Time: 3:00pm - 7:00pm

Pfizer boosters and second shots will be available for those who are eligible. Parents or guardians must give their consent for a child to get the vaccine, and should be present. All students and their families are welcome regardless of immigration status. You do not need health insurance. Nurses will be available to answer your questions. The County will have staff who can speak to you in both Spanish and English.

More information and the vaccine registration form can be accessed on https://theuerkauf.mvwsd.org/. For questions about the vaccine clinic, contact (408) 970-2000. For more locations to get vaccinated, visit sccfreevax.org.

As part of its Strategic Plan 2027, the Mountain View Whisman School District is looking for ways to improve its parent education programming and communication strategies. Parents: On Friday, please look in your email for a link to an online exchange of ideas. We are listening for your ideas about how you want your school to communicate with you, interact with you and support you with information to help your children in school. Your participation is confidential. Please share and come back often to rate new ideas until the exchange closes on Dec 19.

Our middle schools are beginning to develop a list of student elective offerings that are a great complement to our core academics. Our goal is to align electives with students’ interests and teachers’ credentials.

In order to gauge students’ interests, and inform the development of the elective catalog for the next school year, students in grades 5-7 will be asked to complete a survey in class on December 14th. This survey will list some possible elective choice areas for 2022-23 and ask students to indicate their level of interest for each of the choice areas. The purpose of this survey is to gauge student interests. Incoming and current middle school students will not formally request electives until the spring of 2022. Please note that students will not be committed to taking the electives they express an interest in. All elective offerings are subject to student enrollment, interest, staffing, and teacher credentialing at the school site.

For more information on the process, and to view last year’s electives catalogs, please click on www.mvwsd.org/MSelectives.

i-Ready is an online program that helps us determine your child’s strengths and areas for growth in mathematics and reading. Teachers use this information to support instruction in core subjects for every student.

Your child will take the second i-Ready Math and Reading diagnostic assessments during the week of December 6th, 2021. Your child’s school will share their specific schedule.

Elementary school families can access their child’s i-Ready Reading and Mathematics score via their Powerschool Parent Portal starting December 17, 2021. Parents will have access to three reports for their child - For Families Report, Common Core State Standards Report (CCSS), and the Diagnostic Growth Report. Here’s how to access PowerSchool Parent Portal i-Ready Reports.

Parents can learn more about the i-Ready platform and how to interpret the various i-Ready reports. Join us for an i-Ready Parent Informational Webinar on December 16th, 2021 at 6:00 - 7:00 pm. Please register in advance via the link .

Please contact your child’s school front office if you have any trouble accessing reports.

Many of our younger students are getting their 2nd COVID vaccine shot this week. When your child's vaccine card has their second shot listed, please upload a copy to Powerschool. Vaccine cards will be referred to in the case of a positive COVID exposure for your student, and MVWSD needs accurate data for decisions about COVID protocols. Click here for a video that shows you how to upload documents: https://vimeo.com/606954357.Thank you in advance for uploading your documents now!

One of the projects identified in MVWSD’s Master Facility Plan and the Measure T Bond was the need for security cameras in public areas at all school sites as a way to increase safety for students and staff members by deterring misconduct and preventing vandalism.

Members of the schools’ communities may engage in a series of feedback meetings through Jan. 2022 before the plan for security cameras is finalized. Principals will gather feedback at regularly scheduled meetings such as Principal’s Coffee, School Site Council, PTA, and ELAC.

Additionally, parents and neighbors may attend community meetings:

• Stevenson, Theuerkauf, Bubb, Imai, Landels on December 6 from 4:00-5:00 p.m. Access the online meeting at http://mvw.sd/security12_6_12

• Graham, Crittenden on December 7 from 4:30-5:30 p.m. Access the online meeting at http://mvw.sd/security12_7_12

• Castro, Mistral, Vargas, and Monta Loma on December 8 from 4:00-5:00 p.m. Access the online meeting at http://mvw.sd/security12_8_12

For CURRENT students in transitional kindergarten-7th grade: Parents will be asked by email to confirm enrollment from January 24-28.

For NEW students: Open Enrollment is from January 10 through Feb. 4, 2022 online. You can register your child for the 2022-23 school year when online registration opens here: www.mvwsd.org/register

School info meetings: Check www.mvwsd.org/register for a complete list with login information.

• School kindergarten/new student information nights are online on December 7 at 6:00 p.m. for all elementary schools, and include choice school information. Click here for meeting information: http://mvw.sd/schoolinfo

• If your child turns 5 years old between September 2, 2022 – February 2, 2023, he/she may qualify for transitional kindergarten. TK info night is December 14 at 5:00 p.m online at http://mvw.sd/TK1214

• If you are interested in the District's choice schools, information nights are:

Gabriela Mistral: Dual Spanish/English Immersion: December 14 at 6 pm at http://mvw.sd/MI1214

Stevenson: Parent Child Teacher: December 15 at 6 pm at http://mvw.sd/ST1215

Choice schools will also have information at the elementary schools’ info nights (6 p.m. Dec. 7).

Please visit www.mvwsd.org/register for more information.

We all tend to avoid tasks that we do not enjoy. Unfortunately, many of the tasks that we ask of our kids, such as working on homework or doing chores, are not enjoyable. Shaping can help make some of these tasks more manageable.

Shaping involves rewarding small behaviors that build toward the final behavior you wish to see. To do this:

Try this with a few tasks that your child has struggled to complete. For example, you could try praising your child for working on their homework for 10 minutes, then 20 minutes, and so on. You could also try rewarding your child for completing one step of their chores, then two steps, and so on. With practice and patience, those unenjoyable tasks will become easier and easier to complete.

These tips came directly from the free, online Everyday Parenting program created by parenting expert, Dr. Kazdin.

To learn more parenting tips click here.

Get ready to have fun and get fit while grooving to some sweet Latin beats! We’re going to shake it up with 90 minutes of Zumba awesomeness on Sunday, December 19th at 3 pm - 4:30 pm at the Mountain View Civic Center Plaza (500 Castro Street). Bring water, comfortable exercise clothes, and all your friends. It is going to be a party!

Suggested donation is $20 per person cash or check payable to the Mountain View Educational Foundation.

CHAC Family Resource Centers offer a variety of classes and resources for Santa Clara County residents, including music classes for young children, arts enrichment, groups for Spanish-speaking families, parenting courses, and free diapers and other essential items. For more information, see attached flyers or visit https://www.chacmv.org/frcs.

Join the MV Public Library on Wednesday, December 8th from 7:00pm - 8:00pm on Zoom for a discussion with Masha Rumer, local award-winning journalist and author of the new book Parenting with an Accent: How Immigrants Honor Their Heritage, Navigate Setbacks, and Chart New Paths for Their Children. Her research merges real stories and on-the-ground reporting about multicultural parenting. Registration is required: mountainview.gov/librarycalendar.