The Roar of the Mountain Lions

Monterey Elementary - November 2024

Principal's Message

Dear Monterey Families:

As we begin the 2nd nine weeks of the 2024-2025 school year, I want to say how proud I am of the growth our students have made so far this school year! Every day, as I visit and check in with classrooms, it is encouraging to see and talk to students who are happy to be in school and look forward to seeing their teachers, other staff members, and friends. Overall, it has been a great start to the school year and our students are reading, writing and discussing relevant learning material in every class throughout each school day!

I want to express our gratitude to you as parents and families for supporting your child’s education and for working with our teachers and schools this year. Every student at Monterey has academic, social and emotional needs to be met. Our continued goal at Monterey is to bridge the gap of unfinished learning from previous school years and address our student’s social-emotional needs. We continue to experience the anticipated frequent student and staff absences that come with the changing of seasons, the spread of the flu, colds, and seasonal viruses. Although unexpected events arise, I encourage all of our families to be diligent in getting their students to school every single day. If your child is sick and needs to stay home from school, please provide a doctor's note when necessary so the unexcused absence can be changed to an excused medical absence. All of the combined efforts of school and home help our students to grow and meet their learning goals. Our teachers, counselors, principals, and other staff are here to support all our students and will continue to work hard with you.

I want to personally thank our students, staff, and families for all their continued efforts to support our entire school community. Just within these past 9 weeks, we have successfully held a Paw-a-thon where we raised over $7,000 which exceeded our goal, held our annual PTA Pumpkin Palooza where many families were able to join us, and we were able to celebrate fall with a theme week. Monterey continues to remain a special place where together we keep kids safe, happy, and learning every day!

Best Regards,

Morgan Strother

Proud School Principal of Monterey Elementary

Save the Date

Picture Information

The deadline for ordering your child's fall pictures is November 16th. Please use the QR code and steps below to order.

Car Rider & Walker Safety Information

It is essential that our families are following the car rider path when dropping their students off at school. The safety and well-being of our students entering and exiting our school premises remains a priority. If families choose to make their students a walker, all cars should be parked legally on the side of the road, and families should be walking their students to and from the doors. At no time should cars make U-turns or block traffic during the arrival and dismissal process. Please be mindful of the neighboring houses/driveways while dropping off, picking up, or waiting in the car rider line. Please ensure cars can enter and exit at any time in the surrounding area.

Transportation Changes

If you need to change your child's transportation at any point, please call the office at 540-853-2933 prior to 1 PM daily to ensure that we have correct information on any needed transportation changes.

Bus Safety

Please be mindful of school bus safety laws. We want all of our students arriving to and from school safely. Reminding neighbors, friends and families of these traffic laws will help keep your children safe.

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!

Click Here for Monterey's Snack Donation Wish List

Holiday Angel Tree Program

The holidays are just around the corner and we are planning to assist some of our Monterey families who are in need. If you, or your organization are interested in helping out with donations, please contact the office for further details (540) 853-2933.

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.

PTA Updates

Paw-a-thon Update:

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! Monterey is fortunate to have terrific teachers and fantastic families. The Paw-a-thon fundraiser this year was our most successful one yet! Our students raised over $7,000. Seeing Mrs. Strother and Mr. Swann get slimed was so exciting! We are grateful to each student and family who contributed. These fundraisers make it possible for us to provide programming (Reading Night, Spring Cookout, and more); provide take-home folders for each student; provide for students with additional needs; and show appreciation to our teachers for their hard work. Thank you again for all of your support.

PTA Meetings:

If you would like to attend any PTA meetings, please e-mail Ms. Laughlin at tlaughlin@rcps.info for more info on how to access our meetings. The next PTA meeting is November 11th at 5:30.

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/

Why should I join the PTA?

As a member of our PTA, you are supporting your student's school and educational successes. You are also a voting member. When you come to a PTA board meeting you can vote on how we should spend funds or how to improve a program. Please consider joining the PTA. 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.

How to Join to PTA?

It is just $7 to join the PTA. Click the box below to join!

Click Here to Join to PTA for $7