MVLA Magazine
June 2024
Dear MVLA Community,
As I retire and begin a new chapter, I want to acknowledge the MVLA community and the wonderful people who support our young people within our district. I came to MVLA hoping to spend more time with students, staff, and families. I enjoyed every event, zoom, and classroom. The relationships and memories of the last five years will last a lifetime.
While I will miss the daily interaction with students, I am optimistic about their futures. Our students exhibit empathy, kindness, and creativity in a way I have never seen. They grasp and grapple with the complex while understanding the impact and importance of decisions on the world around them. This generation does not glide by and expect things to happen for them. Instead, this generation, especially our students, exhibit a leadership that will change the world. I am proud that our board of education and MVLA team have made the student voice significant within our decision-making process. Their voice is responsible for the dual emphasis on academic excellence as well as the skills necessary to lead a fulfilling and impactful life as noted in our Graduate Profile.
I am grateful for your partnership over the last five years as we worked together to make our schools places where students can be themselves, can state their opinions, and can respectfully learn from each other.
With appreciation,
Nellie Meyer
Superintendent
AWARDS AND ACCOLADES
LOS ALTOS HIGH SCHOOL MAY 2024 STUDENT OF THE MONTH - SHREYA GOYALPATEL
Shreya has excelled in AP calculus, physics, biology, and chemistry. Her passion for science flourished during her participation in COSMOS, where she delved into genomics and skeletal muscle dystrophies alongside peers from across California. She co-founded Wundercode, teaching code to elementary students. In Advanced Science Investigation, she conducted cell immortalization research, presenting her findings at the Synopsys Science Fair. After graduation, Shreya hopes to continue to foster her love for Biology and medicine by getting either a Ph.D. or MS in Immunogenetics,. Read more about Shreya here and view her Board recognition here, starting at 28:19.
MOUNTAIN VIEW HIGH SCHOOL MAY 2024 STUDENT OF THE MONTH - CALISTA WO
Calista is serving as the incoming President and current Vice President of Girls Who Code. She excels in Speech and Debate, leading her team to success and organizing programs for younger students. Beyond school, she's a dedicated Lincoln-Douglas debater, winning numerous tournaments and mentoring her team. She has a passion for teaching, and fosters young voices in debate and coding. Notable moments include speaking at TEDxMVHS and enjoying success at the Georgiana Hays Invitational. Calista plans to pursue engineering in California, drawn to biometric security. Read more about Calista here and view her Board recognition here, starting at 16:15.
MVLA STUDENTS WIN TOP HONORS IN NATIONAL JAPANESE EXAM
Students in Minako Walther's class at Mountain View High School, who take Japanese 1, 2, 4, and AP classes, participated in the recent National Japanese Exam, sponsored by the American Association of Teachers of Japanese (AATJ). Twenty-six students got awards. Erica Enrile, Joshua Nishiyama, Rika Tejima and Sofia Dominguez Salcedo got "gold' awards. It is an excellent opportunity to see how one’s understanding of the language progresses compared to students across the US. Congratulations go to all these hard-working students who participated in the NJE! See award photos here!
MVLA CHOIR TEACHER WINS 2024 OUTSTANDING CHORAL EDUCATOR AWARD
Congratulations to Los Altos High School's Lauren Diez who was named the 2024 Outstanding Choral Educator Award recipient by the California Music Educators Association for the Bay Area. The award recognizes and acknowledges the outstanding teaching of music educators who have shown extraordinary success.
Ms. Diez, who joined LAHS in 2019, serves as the school's Choral Music Director and Performing Arts Department Coordinator. Ms. Diez also was recently named the Wholistic Teacher Award recipient by the LAHS PTSA. Congratulations!!!
DISTRICT NEWS
CONGRATULATING MVLA RETIREES
It's never easy to say goodbye to valued colleagues who have served our students, our school, and our community with love, dedication, determination, compassion, creativity, and resilience. This year, we acknowledge 12 very special people, and wish them the best on their next adventure. This year's retirees dedicted a collective 212 years to MVLA, ranging from five to 28 years.
We're pleased to share this poignant retrospective video, honoring our retirees, and produced by Freestyle teachers Leo Florindo and Matt Taylor, and a squad of talented students. Many thanks to team members from throughout the district who helped make the event a memorable success.
CAMPUS NEWS
ENGINEERING CAPSTONE PROJECTS SERVE AS CULMINATION OF CTE ENGINEERING PATHWAY
Engineering Capstone Projects give CTE Engineering Pathway students a chance to demonstrate what they have learned during their time in school, and we may be biased but it's pretty impressive! The projects demonstrate much more than just the technical knowledge of the discipline, it also encompasses other aspects like professionalism, teamwork, communication, and responsibility. In addition, the capstone project shows students' ability to problem solve, persevere, and bring a real-world engineering project from conception to completion. Check out this folder to learn more about the display boards and presentations!
SOARING PRAISE FOR LOS ALTOS S.O.A.R. CAFE
When Los Altos High School invited staff to a soft grand reopening of its SOAR Cafe in December, it didn't take long for the rave reviews to come rolling in. Eagles SOAR (Students Optimizing Abilities Resourcefully) was designed for students with mild to moderate learning needs who thrive in a smaller setting. In addition to the academic component that allowed students to earn credits toward a high school diploma or certificate of completion, the program also offeres a variety of real-world projects and community-based learning experiences on/off-campus to helped develop students' social, daily living, and vocational skills.
This year, students operated a twice-weekly cafe to campus staff. They not only developed life skills and their way around the kitchen, they learned about food safety and earned their food safety certification. Menu favorites have included Kracklin' Kornbread (cornbread with BACON), breakfast burritos, and smoothies. Read testimonials and see photos here!
FREESTYLE ACADEMY SHARES 2023-2024 SENIOR PORTFOLIOS ONLINE
A year's worth of creativity, hard work, imagination, determination, and lots of developing new skills in the communication arts has been carefully curated by Freestyle Academy seniors as part of their senior exhibits and are available online for the community to view. Students have included final projects in several production areas, including Mandalas, 3D Modeling, Music Compositions, Animations, Narrative Films, Aboriginal Art, and "About Me" websites. The galleries can be viewed here!
"Celestial Waves" - Aboriginal Dot Painting by Aditi Biswas
"Out of this World" - World Building Surreal Composition by Kylie Outten
WHAT DO FROZEN TREATS, LAWN GAMES, AND THERAPY DOGS HAVE IN COMMON? SPARTANS PAUSE!
The Spartans May PAUSE event included frozen treats, baked goods, staff vs students volleyball, an inflatable obstacle course, bubbles, lawn games, reps from Youth Community Service, Pacific Clinics, the Allcove, an informative booth highlighting Asian-Amerian Pacific Islander month, plus everyone's favorite therapy dog, Mocha. It was a festive day and a special way to end the year! Be sure to check out the May PAUSE video or the Spartans PAUSE YouTube Channel
An amazing team of parents come together each month to contribute their time and talents. If you would like to get involved with Spartans PAUSE for the 2024-25 school year, please email SpartansPause@gmail.com.
FOUNDATION UPDATE
BOARD UPDATE
At its Regular Meeting on May 20, the Board of Trustees had the following presentations and reports:
- A resolution recognizing May as Jewish American Heritage Month
- Recognition of the May Students of the Month
- An update from the English Language Development Department
- An update on the Local Control and Accountability Plan (LCAP)
- First Reading and Public Hearing for the Mountain View Los Altos High School District Budget For the 2024-2025 School Year
- Approval of the proposed tentative agreement with the District Teachers' Association (DTA) and the District
The Board also announced the selection of Eric Volta as the next superintendent, succeeding Dr. Nellie Meyer who is retiring.
The Board also held a Study Session on May 20 featuring a presentation and recommendations from the MVLA Student Advisory Council. Students organized into several focus groups to study areas of concern, including Wellness, Pathways to Success, Consistency & Alignment, Feedback & Communication, and Equitable Resources. View the recording of the Study Session here, and thanks to the student panelists for their thoughtful and insightful presentations.
The Regular Meeting on June 3, 2024, included the approval of the new Superintendent's contract, recognition of our MVHS Spartan Baseball team, our MVLA Gymnastics Team, and our outstanding State finalists in LAHS Swimming and LAHS Track and Field, as well as a budget increase in our Measure E Bond project. All meeting materials are available here.
GALLERY
A special guest at Freestyle Academy's Exhibition on May 23 - former MVLA Superintendent Rich Fischer (1997-2006), who helped establish Freestyle. Mr. Fischer says that in his 40+ years as an educator, Freestyle Academy is the initiative he is MOST proud of in his entire career.
Los Altos High School Jazz Dance and Advanced Jazz Dance classes performed in their annual spring show titled “Dancers on Deck: A Quest for Treasure.” Read more at https://lahstalon.org/spring-dance-show-in-photos/
This Month LAHS Aerie Yearbook selected Martin Acosta as this Month's Special Staff! Martin is our amazing Eagle Custodian!
MVHS recently held its final rally of the year in the main gym. The cheer team and Dance Spectrum performed, and students competed in a clothing-based musical chairs game. At the end, a senior slideshow was played while the other classes symbolically rotated into their future grades.
The MVHS Drama Llamas student-run theatre got RAVE reviews for their production of "Something's Rotten." Set in 1595, the musical commedy follows the Bottom brothers, who struggle to find success in the theatrical world as they compete with the popularity of William Shakespeare.
CAREER OPPORTUNITIES
The Mountain View Los Altos Union High School District is always looking for great, skilled people to join our team.
Right now, we are recruiting for a number of exciting positions in our Adult School, especially for our ESL and GED programs. We also have positions open for several coaching positions, including wrestling, JV cross country, girls varsity flag football, competitive cheer, and dance.
Ready for a career change? See what we have to offer at our Current Openings page or at https://www.edjoin.org/MVLA.
IN THE NEWS
- "Rani Sindledecker’s ‘Mentally Educated’ documentary looks at mental health education in the classroom" - Los Altos Town Crier, 5/28/2024
- "Los Altos softball comes up short in CCS semis" - Los Altos Town Crier, 5/24/2024
- "Mountain View baseball advances to CCS finals" - Los Altos Town Crier, 5/23/2024
- "Longtime East Bay superintendent picked to lead MVLA" - Mountain View Voice, 5/21/2024
- "MVLA selects Eric Volta as next superintendent" - Contra Costa News, 5/21/2024
- "Mountain View high gymnastics repeats as CCS champions" - Los Altos Town Crier, 5/21/2024
- "Los Altos boys tennis stars see individual season success" - Los Altos Town Crier, 5/21/2024
Be sure to check out the student-run Mountain View High School Oracle and the Los Altos High School Talon too!
DATEBOOK
June 3, 2024
Regular Meeting of the Board of Trustees
7:00 p.m.
All meeting materials will be available here
June 5, 2024
Alta Vista High School Graduation
4:30 p.m. - AVHS Multi-Purpose Room
June 5, 2024
MVLA Adult School Graduation
6:00 p.m. - MVHS Spartan Theater
June 6, 2024
Los Altos High School Graduation
6:00 p.m. - Football Field
(Check out list of Senior Activities here.)
June 6, 2024
Mountain View High School Graduation
6:30 p.m. - Spartan Stadium
(See graduation information and senior activities here.)
June 7, 2024
Regular Meeting of the Board of Trustees
11:00 a.m.
All meeting materials will be available here
Additional important dates are available on our campus calendars: Los Altos HS | Mountain View HS | Alta Vista HS | Adult School
Mountain View Los Altos Union High School District
Email: mvlahsd@mvla.net
Website: www.mvla.net
Location: 1299 Bryant Avenue, Mountain View, CA, USA
Phone: (650) 940-4650
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mvlahsd
X: @MVLAHSD
Communications for the MVLA High School District