Hello Crittenden Families,

As if distance learning weren’t enough of a distraction, I’d just like to remind families that the short period between Thanksgiving and December break can be a distraction in itself, with lots of festivities happening and a long break looming in the near future. Please encourage your kids to remain diligent and keep their focus. They have been doing great so far. 

 

MVEF has been a tremendous support for our students and staff. We are fortunate to continue receiving their support for a variety of reasons even through distance learning. Your support is greatly appreciated. Here is how you can support. 

Double your Donation with the MVEF December Challenge Grant.   Throughout December, every dollar donated will be matched dollar for dollar up to $47,000, through the MVEF December Challenge Grant.  The December Challenge Grant has been made possible by generous MVEF donors who are challenging you to join them in supporting MVEF. Donate today to get your donation matched by this challenge!   

https://www.mvef.org/donate 

If your company has a matching gift program, you can triple your impact by donating this month! 

 

Each and every year we rely on generous donors like you to help MVEF fund programming and experiences at every school in the district, ensuring that your child and every child has an inspiring, well-rounded education. 

 

Every dollar donated makes a difference and allows the district-wide programs to be funded which is especially important now, during remote learning.  It takes donations of every size for MVEF to reach their annual goal of $800,000.  

 

These are the programs and activities MVEF is supporting during remote learning because of donors like you:

• Music and Art: CSMA weekly online art and music classes for TK-5th, instrument purchase and repair, and art supply kits for all elementary schools 
• Science:
• Living Classroom environmental education for elementary and middle school.
• Environmental Programs taught interactively for the 4th and 5th grades
• Middle school science supplies for teachers
• TechSmart coding programs from 3rd grade through middle school (through a grant from Tides Foundation)
• Training for Elementary STEAM teachers with Discovery Education
• Additional Middle School funding to support the Elective Wheel classes, redesigned for distance learning!
• Padlet licenses for teachers
• Online apps (Smart Music, Flat.io, and SoundTrap) for Music Appreciation classes, Band, Choir, and Orchestra
• Music books 
• Art Supplies
• Robotics
• Tech Smart coding (through a grant from Tides Foundation)

Even through distance learning, your donations to MVEF continue to fund art, music, and science for every student at every school!  Thank you in advance for your support!

 

Don’t forget to join today’s Principal’s Coffee from 4- 5:00 p.m. We will have a guest speaker Ms. Alayna Park Ph.D who will provide a preview of the free online parenting toolkit classes being offered for the Crittenden community. They will give you a preview of the classes which will provide you with tools for increasing your child’s compliance with your requests and strengthening your relationship with your child. Please pre-register for the meeting using this link: Register for Principal's coffee. We hope you see you there.  

Here is the Executive functioning tip of the week; Skill: Working Memory: Visualization Skills

Does your child have a hard time keeping one bit of information in mind while doing something else? For example, you’re making spaghetti together, and your child’s in charge of the sauce. But your child leaves to answer a text and forgets to come back and stir. Working memory challenges can cause trouble with tasks like these. Working memory refers to how we hold on to and work with information that short-term memory stores. You can help your child improve working memory by building simple strategies into everyday life. One strategy is working on visualization skills. Encourage your child to create a picture in their mind of what they’ve just read or heard. For example, say you’ve asked your child to set the table for five people. Have your child imagine what the table should look like, and then draw it. As kids get better at visualizing, they can describe the image instead of drawing it.

 

Please remember to be on the lookout next week for a detailed email from our Assistant Principal, Ms.Walsh on parent/teacher conferences and how you can sign up. Our teachers are looking forward to meeting with you. 

 

We are thinking of you and we hope that you are all staying safe. 

 

Crittenden Panthers learning together, wherever we are. 

Mrs. Gomez

Principal

UPCOMING EVENTS:       

Dec 10 & 11 (periods 1-5)

iReady Math Assessment

 

Dec 15 & 17 (periods 1-5)

iReady Reading Assessment

 

December 10, 4- 5:00 p.m. 

Principal’s Coffee

 

January 11- 15

Parent/Teacher Conferences: minimum days for students all week. 

 

Upcoming Parent University Events: 

Below are the future Panent University event nights

Wednesdays 5:30-7pm

 

Jan. 20th - Vaping (topic is not confirmed yet)

Feb. 24th - Special Ed 101

Mar. 17th - Understanding Mental Health from a Youth Perspective

Apr. 28th - Preparing your child for Middle School

May 19th - Preparing your child for High School

 

 

DISTRICT ANNOUNCEMENTS

Community Check In on Friday, December 11

Please join us for our Community Check-In with Dr. Ayindé Rudolph on Friday at 3:30 p.m. Bring your questions. Click here to register: http://mvw.sd/Dec11

 

Better Together: Together we can appreciate our abilities (flyers attached to Dec. 7 email)

In December, we are celebrating Abilities Awareness Month. To honor our commitments in moving towards equity and inclusion, help us bring the voices of people with diverse abilities into your classroom or homes, and create a learning environment that rejects ableism. From lessons on art, activism and physical disabilities to education about new developments in Universal Design, these resources will help you and your children embrace diverse abilities and understand the injustices people with disabilities often encounter. Together, we can appreciate our abilities and celebrate our common humanity. See the attached graphics or view them on https://www.mvwsd.org/bettertogethermvwsd

 

Are you curious about the i-Ready platform and how you can support your student at home? Please join us for a virtual i-Ready parent workshop on December 10, 2020 at 5:30 - 6:30 PM.  This session will provide parents with an overview of i-Ready and answer parents’ frequently asked questions about how i-Ready elevates instruction.

Click here to register. Spanish interpretation is available for this workshop. 

We want to answer your questions. In advance of the workshop, please email questions to Ms. Swati Dagar, Interim Director of Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment at [email protected] by Friday, December 4, 2020. 

 

MVWSD’s award-winning Preschool (flyer attached to Dec. 7 email)

Is now enrolling for full-day and part-day for the 2021-22 school year. Information meetings will be held in January. Please see the attached flyer or https://www.mvwsd.org/preschool for more information. 

 

Getting Ready for the ELPAC information sessions, Dec. 15 and Jan. 12

The English Language Proficiency Assessments for California (ELPAC) is administered every year to our English Learner (EL) students. To learn more about this assessment, the role it plays in the education of every EL, and how to help your child prepare, please join us for one of the following meetings: 

December 15 

5:00-5:30 in English: https://zoom.us/j/92673835582

5:30-6:00 in Spanish: https://zoom.us/j/94603257266

January 12

5:00-5:30 in English: https://zoom.us/j/93307939185

5:30-6:00 in Spanish: https://zoom.us/j/93709174683

 

TK and choice schools’ meetings coming up. Open Enrollment for all MVWSD students starts in January

School and District information meetings are coming up in December. Please visit www.mvwsd.org/register for a list of these events and for login information.

• If your child turns 5 years old between September 2 – December 2, 2021, he/she may qualify for transitional kindergarten. TK info night is December 16 at 5:00 p.m online.
• If you are interested in the District's choice schools, information nights are: 
• Gabriela Mistral: Dual Spanish/English Immersion: December 15 at 6 pm
• Stevenson: Parent Child Teacher: December 16 at 6 pm
• Choice schools will also have information at the elementary schools’ info nights (6 p.m. Dec. 9).

For CURRENT students in transitional kindergarten-7th grade: Parents will be asked by email to confirm enrollment from January 18- 22.

For NEW students:  Open Enrollment is from January 11 through Feb. 5, 2021 online. You can register your child for the 2021-22 school year when online registration opens here:  www.mvwsd.org/register 

 

MVEF news: Double Your Donation with the December Challenge Grant! 

Throughout December, every dollar donated will be matched dollar for dollar up to $47,000, through our December Challenge Grant.  The December Challenge Grant has been made possible by generous MVEF donors who are challenging you to join them in supporting MVEF. Donate today to get your donation matched by this challenge! 

 

If your company has a matching gift program, you can even triple your impact by donating this month! 

Every dollar donated makes a difference and allows the district-wide programs to be funded which is especially important now, during remote learning.  It takes donations of every size for us to reach our annual goal of $800,000 together.   https://www.mvef.org/donate