The Dolphin Whistle

Dear Castro Families,

As we prepare to take a break from school, meetings, and email in order to spend time with the ones we love, it is important to remember that learning never stops. Winter break is from Dec 20, 2021 to January 3, 2022. During this time off from school, please continue your children’s learning with easy activities that benefit them and the family. The most important activity is for students to read for 30 minutes, everyday. Students can use this reading time to launch other language arts activities like writing their own stories, creating different endings for the story they read, making a poster about the book, writing a summary of the story, or creating a comic strip based on the story. Students can also practice memorizing math facts for addition, subtraction, multiplication, or division depending on their age, or using math in everyday life for shopping, paying bills, making a recipe, or completing a family project. I encourage you to speak with your child about your memories of this time of year, family traditions, or favorite foods for the season; these chats build the student’s oral listening skills, as well as an understanding of who they are, who the family is, and who they could become.

On behalf of the Mariano Castro Staff, I wish you and your family a very happy holiday season!

Sincerely,

Carlos Salcido

Principal, Castro Elementary School

We are excited to present parents with the information Castro Dolphin students have been learning in the first few months of school about identifying zones of emotions and which tools can help them regulate those emotions. These are great skills to practice at home! Please join us for a 2-session series Wednesday mornings from 9-10AM on Dec. 8th and Dec. 15th via Zoom. See flyer attached for more details, and the zoom link.

• December 15, 2021 - Holiday Character ( Wear something with your favorite character on it)
• December 15, 2021 - Toolbox Parent Workshop, 9:00 a.m. - 10:00 a.m. (zoom)
• December 16, 2021 - New Year's Countdown ( Dress in your best )
• December 17, 2021 - Ugly Sweater ( Wear your favorite Holiday Sweater)
• December 17, 2021 - Principal's Coffee, 8:30 a.m. - 9:30 a.m. (Zoom)
• December 20, 2021 - January 3, 2022 - No School ( Holiday Break)

Research shows that school attendance is a strong indicator of success. It's about students learning what they need to know, belonging to the school community, and being part of the team that is preparing them with good habits for high school.

Regular school attendance is required by the state law, and is included in the District’s Local Control Accountability plan (LCAP) and reported in the California School Dashboard. State law requires MVWSD to notify parents whose students are truant or chronically absent.

What’s an Excused vs. Not Excused absence? Illness (including quarantining due to COVID), doctor’s appointments, bereavement, and certain religious exercises are excused absences. Please see MVWSD board policy for the full list. All other reasons are not considered excused.

Are Vacations / Travel Excused? Unfortunately, family vacation or travel is not excused – even when you inform your teacher or the office. This comes as a surprise for parents. We appreciate you letting us know so that you will not receive a call from the auto-dialer asking you to verify the absence

When do parents get truancy letters? California law requires MVWSD to notify parents of truancy. Any three unexcused absences and/ or tardies over 30 minutes means a child is truant.

Letters: beginning in January, MVWSD will send letters to parents of any student who is truant. These letters inform parents when students have had three or more unexcused absences and inform families of next steps and any resources or procedures in place to help their family get their child to school regularly.

Calls: In January, MVWSD schools will also begin using an automated system to notify parents when a student is absent from school. This automated call will alert a parent that a student has been marked absent. This is important for the safety of your child and for our attendance accounting. Please ensure we have the reason for your child’s absence.

It’s possible that you might receive a call after you have notified the office of the absence. We apologize for any inconvenience that this additional call may cause. This process helps us to maintain a safe school environment and support your child and family. Thank you for your support.

MVWSD is seeking a long-term substitute teacher to work every day with a variety of classes ** at our school.** Please consider this flexible, fun, dynamic work that has a big impact on our students!

The permanent substitute teacher rate is $220 per day. Please express interest in the “permanent sub” position when the hiring department reaches out. We appreciate your commitment to our students and community, especially in this time of COVID-19.

Requirements to become a substitute teacher:

* A Bachelor’s Degree

* Completion of Basic Skills Requirement

* Substitute teaching permit or a valid California teaching credential.

* Complete required background check. This can be done by appointment in the MVWSD Human Resources Department.

* A negative tuberculosis test

You may apply online: http://mvw.sd/sub. For information, please email Noemi Herrera at nherrera@mvwsd.org.