The Roar of the Mountain Lions

Monterey Elementary - September 2024

Principal's Message

Dear Monterey Families,

Welcome to the 2024-2025 school year! I am thrilled to be welcoming your children back to school! We have had a wonderful start to the school year! Our continued commitment to fostering resilience, perseverance, grit, empathy, and the ability to communicate effectively in diverse learning partnerships will undoubtedly help our students thrive academically, socially, and emotionally. Our team will continue to embed critical thinking and collaboration across all content areas. We will also continue working diligently to meet the diverse needs of our students through reading and writing in every subject every day. We will emphasize meaningful, timely feedback to help students work towards academic growth and success. All students in grades K-5 will participate in a specials rotation to experience Music, Art, Library, Physical Education, and Spanish. As our school mission and vision states, at Monterey we support our students in not only their academic growth but also their social and emotional growth. Our deliberate work will be to instill tools for self-regulation and emotional wellness. Practices such as naming emotions, communicating needs, self-advocacy, and breathing exercises help our students have ownership over their responses to their emotions. We use a team approach to learning the personal narratives of each student in our care while working in partnerships with their respective families to determine how best to meet the needs of our students.

One of the greatest characteristics of the Monterey learning community is the genuine care and compassion shared between staff, students, and parents. Monterey Elementary is a place where staff and families come together to ensure that the children entrusted to our care grow to be productive, confident, and compassionate members of a global society. I am looking forward to writing a new chapter of our story this school year!

Sincerely,

Morgan Strother

Proud School Principal of Monterey Elementary

Transportation

At Monterey, we pride ourselves on putting the safety of our students first. This includes their transportation needs to and from school. Our teachers work diligently to ensure that students get home safely. Parents and guardians, if you need to change your child's transportation at any point, please call the office at 540-853-2933 prior to 1:30 PM daily to ensure that we have correct information on any needed transportation changes.

Thank you to students, teachers and guardians who continue to remain flexible regarding school buses. Zum Transportation services is working hard to ensure your child arrives to school and home safely. To stay update with transportation information as well as the Zum App, please click here.

Visitors

All visitors must have a photo ID (such as driver’s license or passport) to enter the building. This includes picking up your child early from school or attending a meeting at the school. Thank you for helping to keep our school community safe!

⚠️School Hours⚠️

School Office Hours: 7:30am-3:30pm
Arrival for students: 7:40-8:00am
Tardy bell rings and instruction begins at 8:00am
Dismissal: 2:35pm

Click Here for Monterey's Snack Donation Wish List

Monterey has a snack closet for students who forget their snack. Please consider donating to the Snack Closet!

Attendance Reminders

If your child will not be at school or will be tardy, please call our main office at 540-853-2933. If your child missed school due to a doctor’s visit, please provide the doctor’s note. We will mark their absence EMD (Excused Medical). The only excused absences that do not count towards “truancy” are excused medical notes and court notes. All other absences are considered unexcused.

The Virginia State Compulsory Attendance Law states that after 5 unexcused absences, the parent will receive an attendance letter from our student support specialist, Mr. Anthony Drakeford. After 10 unexcused absences, a second letter will be sent as well as a meeting will be scheduled with administration and the student support specialist. If your child is experiencing any sick symptoms, please call our school Nurse to discuss a plan of action. Thank you for helping our school community prioritize learning and ensuring that your child(ren) is at school daily.

🚙❗New Car Rider Path❗🚙

Due to the large number of car riders, please follow the car rider pathway on the map below when dropping off your child in the morning or picking up in the afternoon. We try to keep the car rider line moving, but there are times that you may be waiting. If you are waiting on the streets in the surrounding neighborhood, please do not block any driveways. We appreciate you following our procedures to ensure the process goes smoothly and all students arrive and dismiss safely.

Code of VA Safety Drills

Each year, Virginia law requires schools to conduct fire drills and lockdown drills. Within the first month, Monterey Elementary will conduct their first round of required drills. As part of these drills, there will be announcements broadcast throughout the school. We ask that parents speak with their children about the importance of taking these drills seriously and following all instructions. We thank you for your understanding as we work to maintain a safe learning environment for our students. The drills will take place as follow:

One fire drill in the first 10 school days,
A second fire drill at any time within the first 20 school days,
One fire drill every month thereafter for the remainder of the school term,
A lock-down drill at least once during the first 20 days of school, and
Conduct at least two additional lock-down drills during the remainder of the school term.

Beginning of Year Testing

Beginning of the year testing will take place this month! We conduct beginning of the year testing to get a baseline for where students are academically. The data from testing is utilized to ensure that students instructional needs are met. Check out the calendar at the bottom of the newsletter for testing dates.

Clothing Closet Needs

The nurse’s clinic needs new or gently used clothes. All elementary sizes are accepted, but boys’ and girls’ sizes 4T-10 are an urgent need (especially pants). New undergarments in the above sizes are also needed. If you are able to donate, please send in the items and a note with your child or drop off at the office. Thanks in advance for your support!

Planners and Beginng of the Year Forms

Students in grades 2-5 will utilize planners daily to help with organization and communication between school and home. The cost of a planner is $5. If you have not already purchased a planner, please send $5 (clearly labeled for a planner) to school with your child.

All the beginning of the year forms are due as soon as possible! If you have any questions regarding these forms, please reach out to your child’s teacher or call the school office (540) 853-2933.

Message From the PTA

The PTA (Parent Teacher Association) is looking forward to another fantastic year as we partner with our school community! The PTA helps provide teachers and students with supplies, supports technology needs, provides funding for guest speakers and school wide events, and sponsors free family functions at school. There is a $7 fee for each member that joins. A portion of this fee pays for local and state PTA membership fees and a portion goes directly to our school’s PTA. See the link below to join!

Fall Ice Cream Day:

Friday, September 6th is the PTA sponsored Fall Ice Cream Day. A variety of ice cream will be on sale for $1 during recess. Please send in money on Friday only, exact change is preferred. If you would like to send in extra for a child who forgot, it would be appreciated.

Pawathon (Fall Fundraiser)

The PTA will kickoff the fall “Pawathon” fundraiser on September 20th. The Pawathon is a walkathon where students seek donations to sponsor them to walk. Students will earn prizes for funds raised. Please be on the lookout for more information coming home with your child on Sept. 20th

Ways to support the PTA:

Consider linking your Kroger account to Monterey Elementary PTA through the Community Rewards. Kroger will donate a percentage of what you spend to our PTA at no cost to you.

We are always looking for more parent helpers and would love to have your help. Follow the Monterey Elementary PTA Facebook page for information about upcoming meeting and opportunities to help—https://www.facebook.com/montereyelementarypta/

PTA Officers:

There are a few PTA board positions open. If you are interested in serving as a PTA board member, please email afulton@rcps.info.

PTA Meetings:

The next PTA meeting is Sept. 16th at 6pm in the school library. If you have any question about the PTA or PTA meetings, please e-mail Ms. Laughlin at tlaughlin@rcps.info.

Click Here to Join the PTA for $7