Sea Lion Spotlight

Malibu Elementary Parent Newsletter #3 - August 26, 2024

Principal's Pen

Hello MES Families,

I have been so pleased by the positive energy the children brought with them. They look like they are having a great experience so far.

We opened school this week to our largest enrollment in over six years. Ninety-seven percent (97%) of students that we were expecting showed up the first day. That is a superlative too!

Since June our school has grown over 10%. Since August 15th our Registrar Kim Rivetti enrolled twenty-six (26) students and six (6) of these enrolled the afternoon before school opened. Needless to say, we are humbled and grateful that our parents have selected MES for their child. We are also fortunate to have had enough desks, chairs, instructional materials, and teachers. However, last minute reservations do present logistical considerations. To add to our challenge, we had a few students not show up at all without notice. This gives us new latitude to reconfigure our primary classrooms (1-2-3). After school on Friday, the teachers and I reflected on how we had to pivot the day before school to arrange our finite teacher staffing and students into classrooms. We explored different configurations and now there is a new plan. There will be some changes for a few 2nd and 1st grade students effective immediately this Monday. I am now in contact with those students' parents to inform them of their new placement effect Monday.

Moving forward, we have so much to be grateful for and so much to anticipate as a school community of families and staff. Please examine the calendars and schedules below to see how you can partner with us to create community bonds and maximize your child's growth this school year. Back-to-School Night and the Annual Family PicNic are next up. Looking forward to seeing you then.

I am so pleased that so many parents come to our Friday Spirt Rallies every Friday morning. To help preserve staff parking and to avoid them be unable to report to duty, we will open the Greyfox Gate on Friday mornings from 8 to 8:20. At 8:20 will secure the gate. Anyone left on campus will need to exit through office and walk around. Again, this allows staff to report to duty. With the addition fourteen (14) new staff and dozens of wonderful new families we feel we need to do this. So, we encourage to use the Grayfox Gate on Friday mornings.

Lastly, I am excited to read that Malibu now has it's own Education Foundation (MEF). This group of local parent leaders have created this flier. Check it out!

Thank you for your partnership,

Proud Principal Chris Hertz

Highlights

Below are some recent photos of our amazing students, staff, and parents. There are more photos in the last section of the newsletter! If you have a great photo, please send it to Principal Hertz for consideration. Thank you!

Important Dates Coming Soon

24-25 Academic Calendar

24-25 PTA Calendar

Now: Annual Parent Data Confirmation Open in Aeries (Parents affirm their data.)

Mon 8/26 - First Full Day of School / 1:45 Dismissal for TK-K and 2:45 for 1st-5th

Tues 8/27 - Minimum Day (12:45 dismissal)

Back to School Night for TK-2nd / 5:00-6:00 pm
Fri 8/30 - Annual Family Picnic on the field (during your student’s lunch) (details)

Looking farther forward...

SEPTEMBER

Mon 09/02 - National Holiday (Labor Day / No School)
Tues 9/3 - Minimum Day (12:45 dismissal)

Back to School Night for 3rd - 5th / 5:00-6:00 pm

Thur 09/05 - SSC / 3:30 - 5 @ Zoom (Agenda)
Fri 09/06 - Volunteer Training / 10:30 (Details)
Wed 09/11 - Classroom Complaint Period Closes / 2pm (see article below)
Thur 9/19 - PTA Association Meeting / 8:30 - 9:30 @ https://meet.google.com/qiu-eono-rjc
Fri 09/20 - International Peace Day - Zoe's Lunchtime Theater - Audience: K-5 / 9am @ field
Sat 9/21 - Heal the Bay Beach Cleanup @ Zuma Beach Tower 2. (See flier below)

OCTOBER

Tues 10/03 - Local Holiday (Rosh Hashanah / No School)
10/16/24-10/18/24 - 5th Grade Outdoor School (Pali Camp!)

NOVEMBER

Tues 11/05 - Fri 11/08 - Parent/Teacher Conference Week

Articles for Parents

Back-to-School Nights

5:00-6:00 pm

Tuesday, August 27th - grades TK-2nd
Tuesday September 3rd - grades 3rd- 5th

MES Minimum Days Schedule / 12:45 Dismissal

Aug 27
Sept. 3
Nov 6
Nov 7
Nov 8
May 22
June 11
June 12

Family Picnic / 2nd Friday of the School Year

Parents/Guardians have been invited to have lunch/picnic with their children on the lower field. Some families will come and others won't. We are still serving lunch in the cafeteria. We are still expecting students to return to class afterwards. If a student doesn't know if their parent is coming, then teachers will assume the parent is not coming and direct this student to the lunch courtyard. Please let your child's teacher and Kim know if you elect to check their child out early. I will be supervising the picnic area.

TK & Kindergarten parents should go to the classroom to gather up their child to then bring them down to the lowerfield.

Friday Lunch Times

11:45 -12:15 1st-5th Lunch
12:00-12:30 TK & K Lunch

MBGC Information - September

The Boys & Girls Club of Malibu aims to provide a fun, safe, and creative environment for all Malibu youth to thrive, find support through positive mentorship, develop important life skills, and receive social and emotional support. We are currently offering: Link

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REPRINTS Below

Join the PTA!

The simple act of joining the PTA provides instant financial support for our students! It's also a great way to stay informed about what's happening at school, and connect in meaningful ways with other parents. https://www.malibuelementary.org/membership

Free School Guarantee

Students enrolled in MES are not required to pay any fee, deposit, or other charge for participation in an educational activity offered by the school or the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District, except as authorized by law and consistent with the California constitution and Hartzell v. Connell (1984) 35 Cal.3d 899. Donations are sought and accepted for various activities and supplies, and are at times critical to the continued success of classes and activities, but donations are always voluntary, and no child will be denied the right to fully and meaningfully participate in any activity because he/she has not donated money or supplies. For more information, go to http://www.smmusd.org.

School Supplies

Parents will not have to purchase basic supplies. Office staff have worked with teachers and we have received all the supplies already! Thanks to our PTA, each teacher has additional funds to purchase supplementary supplies. Again, parents do not have to provide basic supplies for their students.

Illness Prevention

We encourage parents to be informed about illness prevention as we start the new school year. The Los Angeles County Dept of Public Health has these recommendations: English / Spanish. Note the only current masking requirement is to mask for 10 days following a positive case of Covid-19. The most up to date COVID instructions are also on our website located here: https://www.smmusd.org/Page/4059. The District has some supplies of masks for any staff who requests. Please check with our School Nurse Marion Mayer mmayer@smmusd.org. Our new District Coordinating Nurse is Priscilla Guzman, pguzman@smmusd.org.

Medications at School Form

No medications may be given to any student at school without this annual form. If you have questions, please contact School Nurse Marion Mayer mmayer@smmusd.org . Link to Form

Spirit Wear!

Parents are encouraged to purchase spirit wear. Our PTA has two different collections of wear: Classic Collection and the Akaway Collection. Wearing spirit wear, especially on Fridays sends a message to one another that you are invested in the greater good of our school. Our colors are blue and green so if you don't yet have PTA Spirit-Wear, please consider showing up on the first day of school in these hues.

Class Lists/ Complaints

Class assignments will be emailed Wednesday, August 21st in the afternoon. Please help us embrace the new year with enthusiasm and positivity. We want your child’s return to school to be met with joy, curiosity, and wonder. Children look to you for guidance and if they see you are excited about the new school year, they too will feel good about the year to come. We believe deeply in all our teachers here at MES. No changes to class assignments will be made during the first three weeks of school and we prefer not to make changes at all. Read more here.

Free and Reduced Meals Applications

Families should submit the Free and Reduced Meals application by Friday, October 4. Although California provides free meals for all students, this application is crucial for determining eligibility for additional programs and resources, including Title 1 school designations for the 2025-26 school year. The state uses this form to assess which families qualify for benefits beyond free meals, so widespread participation is essential. To support this effort, please use the application link below:

Application Link: https://bit.ly/MealApplications-SMMUSD
You can view and download the flier here.

Malibu Elementary Parent Handbook

This handbook has a wide variety of resources for parents. Link

School Hours

School opens everyday at 8am. Teaching and learning begin at 8:15. Dismissal times vary by grade level and day of the week. Take a look at our Bell Schedule so you can remind your child when snack time and lunchtime are. There a few special "minimum days" too for events such as back-to-School Night and conference week.

Malibu Elementary Safe Student Drop Off and Pick Up Plan

Link

Volunteering at MES

Link

Annual Parent Data Confirmation or Revision - Aeries Parent Portal

Beginning August 12, 2024

ACTION NEEDED: Malibu Elementary’s annual registration process is completed in the Aeries Parent Portal. You must complete data confirmation for each student.

Beginning August 12, 2024:

Log in to your Aeries Parent Portal: https://santamonicamalibu.aeries.net/
Be sure to read, review, and discuss all the materials with your student.
Very Important: We need to gather information from you for emergency contacts. Please add at least two non-parents. While there are many boxes to fill, at minimum include name, relationship, and phone number.
We also need to gather information from you for health documents.

Note: You may decide to print some of the documents for future reference. For a tutorial on how to complete this process, please click here English

We have worked to digitize the compliance and document portions of the “First Day Packet.” The Data Confirmation process is easy. This includes items like Emergency Cards, Parent Handbooks and Policies and Authorizations. We have many important documents and plenty of information for your family within the online registration site, accessed via your Aeries Parent Portal. Note: You must complete data confirmation for each student. Please be sure to read, review, and discuss all the materials with your student. We also need to gather information from you for emergency contacts and health documents. You may decide to print some of the documents for future reference.

For a tutorial on how to complete this process, please click here English

Early Release Fridays

Every Friday, beginning August 25th, students are dismissed at 12:45 pm. The remainder of the school day is reserved for teacher and staff development meetings and trainings.

Jaxx After-School Theater is Back - Wizard of Oz

Here are the dates for Jaxx. There will again be a first semester and a second semester show. The first semester show is the Wizard of Oz. Linked here is the Flier with details.

Jaxx Dates 2024 - 2025

MES 1/10 & 1/11

Auditions: 9/16

Classes: 9/23, 30

10/7, 14, 21, 28

11/4, 18, 25

12/2, 9, 16

Tech Week: 1/6, 7, 8, 9, 10

Shows: 1/10 & 11 @ 6PM

Load Out: 1/25

MES 5/30 & 31

Auditions: 2/3

Classes: 2/10, 24

3/3, 10, 17, 24

4/1, 22, 29

5/5, 12, 19

Load In: 5/27

Tech: 5/27-30

Shows: 5/30 & 31

Load Out: 5/31

Thank you!

Colin Tracy

Production Manager

Student Birthday Parties (from the Parent Handbook)

Such observances must be coordinated with the classroom teacher and should occur after lunch or at the end of the day. Food may be distributed at school. Healthier options should be encouraged. Cakes or very sweet treats (Sugar-based foods) are NOT allowed. All-natural popsicles are the ONLY choice for birthday celebrations. Our SMMUSD Food and Nutrition Services Wellness Policy calls for staff to limit student consumption of sugar at school. No nuts, if there is a peanut allergy in the classroom. Party favors are ok to distribute. Birthday invitations for parties away from school may not be distributed unless every student in the class is invited.

Candy/sheet cakes/cupcakes/cookies at school: Staff, students, and parents may not distribute these at school.

Student Snacks and Lunch - Message from the Cafeteria

This year meals will be free to all of our students again. We are still encouraging parents to fill out the meal application. Families deemed eligible for free or reduced priced meals can also benefit by receiving discounts for some of the district and some outside agency programs.

Meal application packets will be mailed out to all families via the U.S Mail by the end of next week. In addition, we have the 2024-25SY meal applications available online, they can be printed and submitted or parents can complete the application online. Lastly, meal packets will be sent to school site offices and cafeterias at the beginning of the school year in case they’re requested.

Application link: https://www.smmusd.org/domain/112

Should anyone have any questions or concerns. I am more than happy to assist.

Thank you kindly,

Estella Mata

Administrative Assistant

SMMUSD – Food & Nutrition Services

310.450.8338 x70-228

5th Grade Pali Camp Overnight Field Trip - Donations Needed

We are excited for our 2024 - 2025 5th grade class to again have the opportunity to attend outdoor school in October 2024. Outdoor school is perhaps the greatest highlight of elementary school for many students and is a sort of rite-of-passage. We are asking 5th grade parents to donate now so that we may make our next installment payment.

Thank you to teacher Tracy Kooy for leading the annual fourth grade parent orientation to outdoor school back in April. Thank you to all the parents who turned out. Parents decided to not fundraise, but rather to make voluntary donations to cover the $20,795 trip.

Thank you to the twenty (20) families who have donated. So far we have collected $10,880. We need at least sixteen (16) more donations to be able to make our third installment of $8,200 by the September due date. See Group Payment Schedule below for more details.

All or None

If we don’t raise enough funds for ALL students to participate, we will ask the PTA to fund the difference. If there is not enough available funds or support from PTA, then the trip will be canceled; we will refund all donations but lose our original PTA deposit. Also, to help prevent canceling the trip, any families who won’t be able to voluntarily contribute the full $520 will be asked what if anything they can donate. Perhaps $300, $200 or $50? Anything helps. Finally if there are families who would like to cover another student, we will accept donations above and beyond $520.

Trip Date

Trip date: 10/16/24-10/18/24.

Group Payment Schedule

MES must make installment payments dates to Pali Camp:

June ($7,315)
September ($8,200)
October we pay for the charter bus ($3700)

Two Ways for Parents to Donation

Please visit the PTA store. Select Pali Donation: https://www.malibuelementary.org/shop PLEASE make your Voluntary Donation now.
4th grade parents also have an option to pay via zelle to malibuestreasurer@gmail.com or using the Zelle QR Code link. PLEASE make your Voluntary Donation now.

Informational Websites