The Dolphin Whistle

Dear Parents,

Thank you to everyone that attended Back to School Night! If you have more questions for your child's teacher, please do not hesitate to reach out to them. In addition, although you can reach out to me anytime, I will be holding open office hours Thursdays from 5:00 - 6:00 p.m., where any parent can join me to have a conversation about any topic. The Zoom link for each week is here.

Friday is our first School Spirit Day - Favorite Hat Day! Please post the photo or video here. Let's see which grade level has the most posts!

On Monday, Aug. 31st the food pantry will take place at the MUR and there will be a drawing for two $100 gift cards from Joya Supermarket.

Thank you again for your hard work at home and your support. Together we will make this a terrific year.

Warm Regards,

Ms. Lambert

Theresa Lambert

Principal Mariano Castro Elementary

cell number (831)206-9522

In the next two weeks each student in every grade will be taking the iReady assessment in Reading and Math. They will be taking it with their teacher on the computer. Please help your child to stay on task, however it is very important that parents are not helping their child with the content of the test. Students will take this assessment three times this year and you will see their results and their progress! There is a flyer below that also talks about this virtual assessment. Please let me know if you have any questions about this assessment.

This school year's application deadline for free or reduced meals is September 21, 2020. Just as in the past, you will need to reapply annually. No citizenship information is collected during the application process. Please go to the following website to apply online today: http://www.ezmealapp.com If you need help, please call Castro Facilitator, Kristen Calderon 408-404-8166.

We are serving breakfast and lunch each day for Castro families. Beginning Monday, August 17th, come to the school M-F between 11:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. to pick up the meals.

Wednesday, August 26, 2020- Back to School Night, 6:00p.m.- 7:30p.m.

Thursday, September 10,2020- Principal's Coffee, 3:30p.m. - 4:30p.m.

Monday, September 7, 2020- Labor Day (No School)

Join us on Wednesday, September 9 from 5:30 to 7:00 p.m. for our next Parent University event: Increasing Student Engagement with Literacy from Home.

MVWSD Instructional Coaches Karen Gordon and Natalie Gallagher will share several resourceful strategies for supporting reading, writing, listening, and speaking at home during distance learning:

• Easy activities to boost your child's reading engagement

• Creative ways to encourage and support writing using four text types (expository/informative, narrative, opinion, argumentative)

• Fostering listening skills to be able to extract key information

• Cultivating speaking skills using academic vocabulary

• Tips to prepare your child for ELPAC testing

Register here

SELPA 1 CAC and the Learning Challenge Committee are your groups for special education and broader learning challenge needs. We are ALL having learning challenges right now, and CAC and LCC are here to help. If you have questions about learning challenges and special education

needs, email selpa1cacinfo@gmail.com or check out www.selpa1cac.org

Our events for September:

August 31, 9 am- General Parent/Community Meeting with Special Ed. Directors & Staff, Zoom at 9:00 am for LCC and 9:30 am for CAC. We will be planning for the year, discussing upcoming programs and discussing distance learning and learning challenges. For our agenda, please join our Google group, https://groups.google.com/g/selpa1cac. For the Zoom link for this meeting, email selpa1cacinfo@gmail.com.

September 8, 10 am - Let’s Talk - IEP/504 support group. Have questions about the process to get help for your child? Have an IEP but are not sure how to make changes? Need to vent? This is your confidential group. Please contact selpa1cacinf@gmail.com for the Zoom link for this meeting.

Also on September 8, 10 am - Parent Chat - Support for parents of teens with mental health challenges. A great place for help and support for challenges with your teens. Please contact trudy.palmer@me.com for Google Meet invite.

MVEF is a community supported non-profit that raises funds to provide a competitive, well-rounded education for every child in the district. We rely on tax-deductible donations from parents like you to support our students.

In 2020, MVEF-funded programs will continue but look a little different in our connected learning environment. MVEF will fund: Weekly art and music classes from CSMA delivered online, science through Living Classroom virtual lessons, middle school science supplies, environmental education online lessons, and TechSmart Coding classes. Specifically, to support connected learning, MVEF will also fund art supplies, instrument repair, elective kits, online learning resources, professional development for teachers in online teaching, and Student Wellness.

We need your help to meet our goal to raise $800,000. Please check for the MVEF brochure with your student supply bag or mvef.org for more information. To join our team of volunteers, email contact@mvef.org. Donate today at https://www.mvef.org/donate

Did you miss the latest Parent University event? Do you want to review the materials that were presented? Videos and materials are now in English and Spanish on the Parent University website at http://www.mvwsd.org/parent/parent_university
Latest uploads: Mental Health Resources and Distance Learning Support

You can change the life of a student!

Come learn about volunteer opportunities to Mentor high school students and Tutor students in grades K-8 in our Mountain View and Los Altos schools.

Becoming a Mentor or Tutor will add joy to your life and help a student in our local community to a brighter future!

There is no obligation to sign up as a volunteer. You're welcome to just come and learn more about they we do.

Please note: Mentor Tutor programs are currently remote and will remain so until students are back in school and the school district permits volunteers in the classroom

All volunteers must be high school graduates.

Date: Thursday, September 10th

Time: 5:00 - 6:00 pm

Location: Online via Zoom (URL provided upon registration)

Register: REGISTER ONLINE

Questions: programs@mentortutorconnection.org

Information: MentorTutorConnection.org

Stuck on how to use Google Classroom? Wondering how to best support your student in Distance Learning? This summer, we’ve been at work on a new Parent U resources page full of tips for navigating the tech and procedures of the new school year.

These resources are designed by and curated by MVWSD teachers to be most useful for our parents.

Technology How-To Videos (on Chromebooks, SeeSaw, i-Ready, Clever, Zoom and more)

Supporting Distance Learning (Tips and resources)

Mental Health Tips (Managing anxiety and stress at home)

All are available in English and Spanish at https://www.mvwsd.org/parentu.

Mountain View is a beautifully diverse place where hundreds of languages are spoken. In some instances, children from households where a non-English language is spoken need additional help at school to become fluent in English. To make sure that we identify all such children, all public school districts in California are required to do an initial language assessment called the Initial ELPAC. (English Learner Performance Assessment of California).

A letter was sent out last week to all families with children who meet the criteria for the Initial ELPAC. The letter describes the rationale and details for the assessment and invites families to follow up with any questions they may have. Additionally, the following link is a helpful resource for parents/guardians to understand the test better and to help prepare their children.

A Parent Guide to Understanding ELPAC Initial English (also contains information about the Summative ELPAC, which is a similar test at the end of the school year.)

We understand that the beginning of the school year is a busy time, especially under these extraordinary circumstances. Based on current guidance from the California Department of Education, the Initial ELPAC this fall will be administered remotely. Details to come. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to reach out to Claudia Navarrete via email at cnavarrete@mvwsd.org.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MarianoCastroElem
School website (Programs, absence reporting and more): https://castro.mvwsd.org
Text alerts (emergencies, school closure): Text "Y"or "YES" to 68453 using the cell phone number that the District has on record
PowerSchool (Enrollment confirmation, payments, electives and more): ps.mvwsd.org/public
Updates on academics, FAQs, health and safety during COVID-19: https://mvwsd.org/returntolearn