The Dolphin Whistle

Dear Parents,

Happy New Year! We are all looking forward to a fantastic second-half of this school year. There is much learning and fun ahead and your partnership is critical to your child's success and to the success of the school.

Two amazing presentations are coming soon for all students. We have an author assembly on January 15th. L. Kobie Wilkerson will be presenting to all grades about being an author and about leadership skills with a presentation full of music, movement and memorable stories. In early February, the Try-It Truck from the Bay Area Discovery Museum is coming with their Engineering Extravaganza. Click here for more info: https://bayareadiscoverymuseum.org/educators/try-it-truck .

Finally, I would like to remind all of you that we can always use volunteers at Castro! If you are able to help in a classroom, in the office, or on the playground please contact me. One day a week, one day a month, any amount of time is appreciated and impresses all of the students!

Best Regards,

Theresa Lambert

Principal Mariano Castro Elementary

Jan. 8 - School Site Council Mtg. 5:00 p.m.

Jan. 9 - Project Cornerstone training. 6:30 p.m.- 7:30 p.m. MUR

Jan. 10- Coffee with the Principal. 8:30 a.m. MUR

Jan. 14 - ELAC Mtg. and Annual Title I Parent Mtg. 6:00 p.m. MUR

Jan.14 - Third Grade Field Trip

Jan. 14 - Fifth Grade Field Trip

Jan. 15- PTA- Association General meeting. 6:15 p.m.- 7:15 p.m. MUR

Jan. 16 - Food Pantry 12:00 p.m. - 2:00 p.m. MUR

Jan.23 - FEI Cooking class 6:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m. staff Lounge

For NEW and CURRENT 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.

To make sure you're ready, please check your PowerSchool Parent Portal Access now. On November 21, you received an email with your PowerSchool Parent Portal Account with your username and instructions. Please check now that you have access and that all your currently enrolled students are linked in your PowerSchool Parent Portal.

* Only one PowerSchool Parent Portal account is needed per family.

* If not all of your children are currently linked on your PowerSchool Parent Portal, please contact your school office.

Beginning January 13, parents with students in grades TK-7 will be able to log on to the PowerSchool Parent Portal to enroll their children for 2020-21. Current eighth-grade parents should check their mail for Mountain View Los Altos Union High School District registration information.

MVEF’S Winter Gala and Auction is on Saturday, February 8th! You don't want to miss this fun evening as MVEF goes Full STEAM Ahead to support all MVWSD schools. Attendees will celebrate the new dedicated STEAM classrooms and raise funds to support every child at every school in the Mountain View Whisman School District!

The event will be held at the new Mountain View Community Center from 5:30-10:00 pm.

· Doors open at 5:15 pm, followed by champagne, appetizers, and silent auction preview.

· Sit-down dinner will be served at 6:15 pm, followed by a live auction, and paddle raise for STEAM.

· The evening concludes with silent auction bidding and dancing until 10:00 pm.

The menu is incredible, and the live and silent auctions are filled with amazing items, experiences, and one of a kind opportunities. MVEF anticipates a sellout event so get your tickets today!

All admission tickets are for the entire evening. Gather your friends to make a table, purchase individual tickets or if you know a teacher or staff member who you would like to send, you may choose a Teacher/Staff Ticket and send their name to Melissa, at melissa@mvef.org.

Learn more and purchase tickets here!

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.

PTA General Association Meeting 1/15

Please join us for the PTA Association Meeting on Wednesday 1/15/2020. It will start at 6:15 pm. This is the third PTA Parent Meeting of the school year. Mark your calendar with the date and time to make sure you are there. The PTA will present information and answer questions. There will also be a brief presentation about the upcoming Bond Measure T, and what it is about. The PTA will provide snacks, childcare, and Interpretation in Spanish. We hope to see you there! (Meeting is usually under 1 hr.)

Spirit Wear Sales

Come to the January Spirit Wear Sales! We will have two sales this month, in one week. The dates are Tuesday 1/14 and Friday 1/17. The sales will be held before and after school, near the blacktop. We have Youth and Adult Sweatshirts and Jerseys, Adult V-neck Shirts and T-shirts, Youth Hats, and Stainless Steel Water Bottles. Purchases may be made with Cash or Debit/Credit Card. ($2.00 Fee for Cards) The next sale will be later in February.

Would you like to be a part of the Spirit Wear Committee for Castro?? We need adults to help run the sales, get the merchandise out & put it away, help customers get the sizes needed, and collect the money for each item purchased. We plan to have one sale each month during the school year. The sales are held before and after school on sale days. Contact the Office if you are interested in learning more about this job. You will work with other Castro families, have fun, and you may bring your younger child if necessary.

Book Fair 2020 in February

The PTA would like to announce the Scholastic Book Fair is coming in February this year! Mark your calendar for the week of February 10-14, 2020. We will have sales each day after school in the MUR. There are books for every grade level and fun items such as pencils, pens, erasers, bookmarks, posters, and more. There are some books in Spanish that are also for sale. You may purchase a book for your child’s teacher by choosing a selected item that the teacher “wishes” to have in their classroom library. Every year, the Castro PTA – Scholastic Book Fair gets better and better! We will see you at the Fair.