08.26.20

Dear Stingray Parents,

It is hard to believe that we have already been in school for a week and a half. I continue to be impressed with our school community’s commitment to our students during this time of distance learning. Teachers, staff, and parents have shared successes and challenges as we start the year with distance learning. We appreciate the comments and suggestions to help us continually improve as we are on this educational journey together. 

These first few weeks have really reminded me of our core values at Stevenson. I have seen the Stevenson Community come together to make the beginning of the school year successful.  Our teachers’ focus over the first weeks of school has been to build community and relationships within their virtual classrooms. I have also seen our community support each other with welcoming our new families during our first Parent Ed session that occurred last Saturday.  Tonight is another opportunity to build relationships and connect with your child’s classroom community. We hope that you are able to join Back To School Night and continue to grow together throughout the school year.

Sincerely,

Ryan Santiago

Principal, Stevenson Elementary

School Announcements

Back to School Night

i-Ready Online Assessments

Superintendent’s Coffee with Stevenson Parents

ELAC Meeting

School Reopening Checklist

Materials Distribution

Attendance and Absences

Get Connected

Back To School Night - Tonight at 6pm

We are excited to welcome and see our families tonight at BTSN! There are two sessions to accommodate families with multiple children and allow them the opportunity to visit more than one classroom. Session one will begin at 6:00 p.m. and session two will begin at 6:50 p.m. Teachers will be sharing their Zoom link with parents to attend the BTSN sessions.

During the second session at 6:50pm, Principal Santiago will be holding an informal Zoom session with Taraneh Ahmadi (School and Community Engagement Facilitator), Special Education Resource Teacher (Chryssi Blackwell), STEAM Teachers (Theresa Lester and Stan Adermann), and our instructional coach (Brittany Thornton).  Please feel free to stop by our Zoom room to get to know some of our other staff at Stevenson! Please use this link to register and attend the session.

Back To School Night Schedule

Classroom teachers will share their Zoom links with parents.

Session #1: 6:00-6:47pm

*During session #1, a video message from Principal Santiago, PACT Foundation, and MVEF will be presented.

Session #2: 6:50-7:30pm

i-Ready Online Assessments

Next week, we will begin to provide i-Ready Diagnostic assessments to students in grades 1st-5th.  Kindergarten will start the assessments the week of September 8th. Teachers will be able to provide and monitor students online with our i-Ready assessments. Students will be taking the i-Ready Diagnostic assessment for ELA and Math at the beginning, middle, and end of the school year. The data from these assessments gives our teachers and parents insight into each students’ academic progress. We look forward to working together to help each student grow.  Please see the attached letter for more information on the beginning of the school year i-Ready assessments.

Coffee with the Superintendent with Stevenson Parents

Dr. Ayindé Rudolph will be joining Principal Santiago at Stevenson’s next virtual coffee. We look forward to connecting with our stingray community to have a discussion on Distance Learning and other school related topics. We hope that you are able to join!

Thursday, September 3rd at 9:30 a.m.

Register in advance for this meeting by clicking here. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

English Language Advisory Committee (ELAC) Meeting

On Thursday, August 27th at 5pm, Stevenson’s English Language Advisory Committee will be meeting virtually. Parents and Staff come together each month to provide information and discuss school programs and services that support our English learners. All parents are welcome to attend ELAC meetings. We hope that you are able to join ELAC meetings throughout the school year. Please use this link to register in advance of the meeting. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

School Reopening Checklist

The health and safety of our students, staff, and families is our top priority. Stevenson Elementary, and all schools in MVWSD, will be reviewing and posting a reopening checklist weekly on our school website each Friday to help keep our community informed on the safety measures taken due to COVID-19. This Stevenson Reopening Checklist link will be shared in the principal communication each Friday.

Technology Infographic

Here is a link to a technology infographic to help parents and students know the types of distance learning tools and programs that are available for distance learning. We hope you find this resource helpful with virtual learning. 

Materials Distribution

On Monday, we concluded our second rebound of materials distribution.  If you were unable to pick up your child’s materials, please contact Rayland Asuncion at [email protected] or Renae Rhodes at [email protected].

Attendance and Absences

If your child will be absent and not able to attend Zoom instruction, please contact Rayland Asuncion at [email protected] or Renae Rhodes at [email protected], or you may call the front office at 650.903.6951.

Get connected Stevenson Stingray Parents!

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/StevensonElem

School website (Programs, absence reporting and more): https://stevenson.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): https://ps.mvwsd.org/public

PACT Foundation Updates

Parent Ed Session #2 - Saturday, August 29th at 9:30am

Last Saturday, we held our first virtual Parent Ed session.  Thank you to all our new stingray families that were able to join! A special thank you to Brad Greer, Karen Braverman, Elizabeth Eaton, Ms. Park, and Ms. Savitha for organizing and leading our Parent Ed sessions! Our next session is this Saturday, August 29th at 9:30am. Here is the link to RSVP, if you haven't done so before. There's no need to RSVP again if you've already submitted your answer.

Calendar

Wednesday, August 26th at 6pm - Back To School Night 

Thursday, August 27th at 5pm - ELAC Meeting

Saturday, August 29th at 9:30am - Parent Ed Session #2

Thursday, September 3rd at 9:30am - Superintendent & Stevenson Elementary School Coffee

Thursday, September 3rd - i-Ready Assessments begin for 1st-5th grade

Wednesday, September 9th - MV Parent U: Increasing Student Engagement with Literacy

Monday, September 7th - No School, Labor Day

Tuesday, September 8th - i-Ready Assessments begin for kindergarten

Saturday, September 12th at 9:30am

MVWSD News

MV Parent U on Sept. 9: Increasing Student Engagement with Literacy

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

Parent University videos are now on our website!

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

Upcoming CAC events

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 [email protected] 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 [email protected].

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 [email protected] 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 [email protected] for Google Meet invite.

Welcome from the Mountain View Educational Foundation (MVEF)!

 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 [email protected].  Donate today at  https://www.mvef.org/donate  

Childcare

During the time of COVID-19 and Distance Learning, MVWSD has partnered with providers Right at School, YMCA and Newton to provide on-campus, fee-based childcare with prioritization for the children of full-time essential workers. MVWSD students in grades TK-5 may enroll. 

Please note that these are District partners, not MVWSD programs. You may contact the providers with specific questions about their programs and their health and safety protocols. Childcare subsidies may be available for parents through the state of California. Please ask Right at School, YMCA and Newton at time of registration. 

Registration for these programs will be open the week of August 3, 2020. For registration information, please click on https://www.mvwsd.org/childcare.

Meals and Payments

Starting Aug. 17, paid and free and reduced price meals (grab and go during MVWSD Distance Learning) will be available at all school sites for students who registered last year for free and reduced price meals and the National School Lunch program, and full price meals will be available for students who have paid in advance online or have sent a check (including child’s school, child’s name, grade, teacher) to Food Service, Crittenden Middle School, 1701 Rock St., Mountain View, CA 94043.

Free or reduced price meal benefit status from last year can be used to pay for lunches until Sept. 30. We can assist new applicants in applying for free or reduced price meal benefits through the National Lunch Program and can process applications quickly.  The 2020-21 online application deadline is September 21, 2020.  No citizenship information is collected during the application process. Just as in the past, you will need to reapply annually.   Please go to the following website to apply online today.  http://www.ezmealapp.com (or paper applications are available at Gabriela Mistral Elementary School’s lunch service until Aug. 15). To learn more about the process for applying for the free and reduced lunch program, please click on this flyer.

Meal payment:  Full or reduced price meals should be paid online throughout the year at www.EZschoolPay.com.  New this year: You must pay in advance online. No cash or checks will be accepted in person at the meal sites or school offices. No credit will be extended. Full price meals cost $3.50 for lunch and $2.50 for breakfast (reduced price is 40¢ for lunch and 30¢ for breakfast).  

Please call MVWSD Food and Nutrition Services at (650) 903-6965 if you have any questions.