Husky Nation Highlights

The newsletter will be on hiatus for Winter Break and return January 5, 2025! Happy New Year!

Please join Mr. B on Monday, December 16, 2024 at Noon on Zoom as he explains the Monterey Highlands' Single Plan for Student Achievement (SPSA) Goals for 2024-25 (recently approved by the School Site Council).

The Zoom link is - zoom.us/my/mh.principal and the meeting will be recorded and posted on our website. Click the image to join the meeting.

SPSA goals will drive school programming in the areas of: academic achievement, English Learner proficiency, improving school culture and increasing parent/family engagement.

We're proud to announce the homeroom winners for our school-level round of the Scripps National Spelling Bee. These students will compete in the live bee on Wednesday, January 15, 2025 at 1:30pm in the Cafetorium. We can't wait to host our first ever spelling bee! Best wishes! Click the image for study tips.

4/5th Grade Division (1 winner will advance to district-level)

• Olive Ko - 4th Grade - Mrs. Shyu
• Harper Lee - 4th Grade - Mrs. Le
• Vox Prak - 4th Grade - Ms. Perez
• Oliver Chen - 4th Grade - Mr. McNeil
• Allana Ramos - 5th Grade - Mr. McNeil
• Kaely Mekaswarn - 5th Grade - Mrs. K. Wang
• Samantha J. Wong - 5th Grade - Mrs. J. Wang
• Maxwell Worthington - 5th Grade - Ms. Adams

6-8th Grade Division (1 winner will advance to district-level)

• Karsten Lee - 6th Grade - Mrs. Acosta-Martin
• Chloe He - 6th Grade - Mrs. Chen Shammas
• Elizabeth Mejia - 6th Grade - Ms. Kwan
• Takeo Zapata - 6th Grade - Ms. Lim
• Colin Date - 7th Grade - Mrs. Kaur
• Shawn Li - 7th Grade - Ms. Cheng
• Emmett Wong - 7th Grade - Mrs. Vi
• Nicholas Salmeron - 7th Grade - Ms. Guan
• Benjamin Dinh - 8th Grade - Mr. Choi
• Connor Huang - 8th Grade - Mrs. Yu-Chen
• Lucas Qiu - 8th Grade - Mrs. Kawasaki

"Off and Away" is the term for the AUSD and Highlands cell phone policy. Cell phones should be turned off and stored in the backpack during the entire instructional day. This keeps your child and others safe and focused on learning.

AUSD Student Support Services held a poster contest encouraging students to illustrate how this policy helps us be healthier, more present and safer at school. We're thrilled to have TWO winners at our site from this districtwide contest. Congratulations go to:

• Chloe Suh - Ms. Adams 5th Grade Homeroom
• Abby Chen - Mr. McNeil's 4th/5th Grade Combo Class

Eleven (11) individuals are nominees for the five (5) open parent/guardian/caregiver seats on School Site Council (SSC). Nominees that are elected will serve from January 2025 through December 2026 (2-year term). Ballot closes Sunday, December 22, 2024 at 11:59pm.

Ballot Quick Link: https://bit.ly/MH-SSC-2024

Calling all mathletes, problem-solvers, and curious minds!

Date: January 15

Time: 5:30 PM - 7:30 PM

Location: Monterey Highlands Cafetorium

Kick off the evening with our PTA Association Meeting from 5:30-6:30 PM, then dive into an exciting Math Night from 6:30-7:30 PM—brought to you in collaboration with Mathnasium of Monterey Park!

• Delicious Food & Refreshments
• Fun Math Games & Activities
• Awesome Prizes

Come for the numbers, stay for the fun! Let’s make math an adventure for the whole family. Don’t miss it!

🌟 Calling all passionate professionals and Tradespeople! 🌟

Monterey Highlands Elementary PTA is gearing up for an incredible 2025 Career Day, and we need YOUR expertise to inspire our students!

• Are you enthusiastic about your career?
• Do you have a unique story to share?
• We want a diverse range of speakers!

Join us in shaping young minds and broadening horizons. Whether you’re a scientist, artist, entrepreneur, or have a fascinating career journey, we want to hear from you!

Speakers will present to 4-5 classes for 10-15 minutes each, with 5 minutes reserved for questions. Career Day is targeted for our intermediate (4-5) and middle school grades (6-8).

Date: February 21

Time: 8:00-11:00 AM

Interested in being a Speaker? Let us know by simply completing this Form. Let's empower the next generation together!

We are grateful for our volunteers. Here are some of our volunteer needs at this time:

Ongoing PTA Volunteer Opportunities

• Interested in speaking at our Career Day? Let us know by clicking here! (PTA)
• Interested in serving in our nomination committee to assist in identifying candidates for next year’s PTA Executive Board? Let us know by emailing president@mhpta.net (PTA)
• Interested in helping plan and organize our PTA events? Let us know by submitting your interest here! (PTA)

The Associated Student Body (ASB) oversees all fundraising and school activities at Monterey Highlands. The ASB Cabinet meets most weeks to review activity and fundraising requests.

Useful ASB Information:

• ASB Fundraiser Request Form
  
• ASB Approved Fundraisers

ASB produces our monthly Wonderful Wednesday virtual assembly. In the month of December, 4th Grade teaches us how to show Empathy. Our morning PA messages to start the week will also focus on this theme.

Our Wonderful Wednesday video featuring 4th grade is now live on YouTube (and now includes Mr. McNeil's 4th graders)!

Monterey Highlands is always bustling with activity, but this week was extra busy! Here are just some of the many events we had this week:

• Winter Program - Day 1 (Gr TK-2nd) & Day 2 (Gr 3, 4, 7)
• English Learner Reclassification Celebration - congratulations to our students!
• PTA presents Frost Fest - snow, free food, movie and so much fun! Thanks for coming!!
• Highlands Service Club (HSC) students Building Floats for the Rose Parade - thank you to Mrs. Kaur and Ms. Cheng for supervising the students this weekend!
• Makerspace in the Library at Lunch - brainflakes, LEGOs and more hands-on activities available to students in the Library at lunch. Thank you to our Librarian Mrs. Taylor for organizing!

The Adventures Afterschool program publishes a newsletter periodically to update everyone on their fun and exciting programs.

The Apollo Afterschool program publishes a newsletter periodically to update everyone on their fun and exciting programs. Enrollment is open!

• 12/16 & 12/17 - Winter Music Assembly for TK-8th (times will vary)
• 12/17 - Instrumental Winter Concert, Cafetorium @ 6:30pm
• 12/17 - AUSD Board of Education Meeting @ 6pm
• 12/18 - Staff Holiday Luncheon (school office closes at 1:30pm)
• 12/19 - Student of the Month (Empathy), Cafetorium @ 8am
• 12/20 - Minimum Day (school office closes at 1:30pm)
• 12/22 - SSC Parent/Guardian/Caregiver Election Ballot closes @ 11:59pm
• 12/23 to 1/4 - WINTER BREAK - NO SCHOOL
• 1/6 - School Reopens
• 1/9 - Safety Committee Meeting @ 3pm on Zoom
• 1/10 - National Milk Day Celebration - more info forthcoming!
• Mobile Dairy Classroom Presentation featuring a live cow!
• Farmer's Market Activity
• Smoothie Making and Tasting Activity
• 1/14 - AUSD Board of Education Meeting
• Mock Trial Team recognized @ 4pm
• Board Meeting @ 6pm
• Location: 1515 W. Mission Rd, Alhambra, CA 91803
• 1/15 - NO ADVENTURES (Staff Training) - pick up your child at dismissal!
• 1/15 - Husky Nation Spelling Bee, Cafetorium @ 1:15pm
• 1/15 - PTA Association Meeting + Math Night @ 5:30pm
• 1/20 - Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday - NO SCHOOL

📥 Email: highlands@ausd.us
🌐 Website: www.montereyhighlandselementary.org
📍 Location: 400 Casuda Canyon Drive, Monterey Park, CA, USA
📲 Phone: (626) 570-6220