Hello Crittenden Families,

 

  I hope you all enjoyed the long weekend and got some well-deserved rest and family time together. Your students have been working hard and the results are showing. Attendance and grades are improving as a whole, which is certainly good news. But, by no means does that mean we are relaxing our vigilance. We know these are difficult times and we can not allow any student to struggle without doing our utmost to help them. If your student is having trouble, a great resource they can take advantage of is the teachers’ office hours on Wednesdays at 8:00. It is a good opportunity to discuss any concerns and get help in areas they may be struggling with. 

 

Beginning next week, we will be providing parent weekly tips to assist your students with executive functioning skills. In addition, our teachers will be reinforcing these skills in their teaching practices. The tips will fall under categories such as paying attention, organization, planning and prioritizing, starting and staying focused on tasks, and self-monitoring. Our hope is that these tools will not only help our students now, but prepare them for high school and beyond. 

 

One of our continuous goals is to create community at Crittenden. Our staff and students have been dedicated to making this happen even when we are not physically together. I am enjoying seeing all the enthusiastic participation in Spirit Week! Twin day, pajama day, and mismatch day have been a lot of fun. Don’t forget to wear your favorite outfit tomorrow- I know I will!

Next week is College week- College Week is a special one-week event led by the Silicon Valley Education Foundation and Santa Clara County of Education to inspire you on how to achieve your college and career journey. Join us in celebration of the 10th Anniversary of College Week 2020! This year’s theme is Superheroes Fight for Education! During the week of October 19-23, we challenge you to dress-up and envision College! Check our fliers or download here: Students College Week 2020.pdf 

 

October is National Bullying Prevention Month- Crittenden is celebrating Kindness (Unity Day) on Wednesday Oct. 21th. Unity Day is a day where we all get along and wear orange to show hope and support. It is a day of kindness! Our leadership students are asking staff and students to wear orange for Unity Day, and participating in a “Something I Like About You” padlet. On this padlet, panthers will post positive messages and say nice things about their peers. OVERPOWER BULLYING WITH THE POWER OF KINDNESS! Also, Wear orange! Support our bright united future!

(See our attached fliers for more information). 

 

Strategic plan: We need your feedback on the framework

As you know, MVWSD is working on a new Strategic Plan. The new six-year Strategic Plan 2027 will be completed and aligned with two cycles of the District’s 3-year Local Control and Accountability Plan (LCAP) and will build on and expand the former plan’s successes and areas of need for students. 

 

In September, parents and staff members completed a districtwide survey. This input, in addition to a strategy session with 60 representative stakeholders, resulted in a strategic plan framework that shows five major goal areas and the general outcomes and themes in each.

Next, there are two more opportunities for you to give input in the planning process. We need to hear from you.

 

1. Please give us input on the “big ideas” in this strategic plan framework.  Please take a few minutes before Friday, October 16 to click on the link below, review the framework, and reply to the survey with your ideas or items that you feel are missing.

https://www.research.net/r/MVWSDStratPlanFramework

The survey is managed by a third-party consultant.  All responses will go directly to them and will be anonymous.  

 

2. Please attend a meeting in which I will present the framework and collect your thoughts.

Principal Coffee (Thursday 10/15  at 4pm. )

 

For more information on the process and timeline, please see https://www.mvwsd.org/strategicplan.
 

Thank you for all of your hard work and partnership,

Crittenden Panthers working together, wherever we are. 

Mrs. Gomez

Principal

 

UPCOMING EVENTS: 

15 OCT, THurs

Coffee with the Principal

registration link

4 – 5pm

 

22 OCT, THU

6 – 7pm

Crittenden ELAC Meeting

 

6 NOV, FRI

End of Trimester One

DISTRICT ANNOUNCEMENTS

Together We Are a Better MVWSD: Special edition: ELECTION! 

Mountain View Whisman School District embraces its role in establishing its commitment to equity in our district. As part of our "Together We Are a Better MVWSD" series, here is a special edition on the Nov. 3 election.

 

Participating in elections is one of the key freedoms of American life. Many people in countries around the world do not have the same freedom, nor did many Americans in centuries past. No matter what you believe or whom you support, it is important to exercise your rights. We celebrate the upcoming election cycle by publishing materials for teachers and parents that promote civic engagement amongst students and give resources to parents about how to secure their participation in this year's election. Both the links and QR codes will take you directly to the recommended resources.

 

For a closer look at this graphic, please see attached flyers or https://www.mvwsd.org/BetterTogetherMVWSD

 

How you can protect yourself from COVID: Face masks

Wearing a face mask greatly reduces the chance that you and the people around you will come into contact with respiratory droplets that contain the COVID-19 virus. How you wear and clean masks are huge factors in their effectiveness. Our own MVWSD school nurse Melanie gives important tips in this video. Please review and practice with your family.

 Face masks and social distancing video

 

Police Interactions, Race and “The Talk:” A Panel Discussion

Date: Thursday, Oct. 29, 6:30 p.m. on Zoom: http://mvw.sd/talk

For Black children, the “talk” about how to interact with police is a rite of passage. Join MVWSD for a panel discussion with parents, the Mountain View Police Department and other leaders about what this means for policing for all of our children and families in our community and schools. 

For more information about how MVWSD is working to support equity in our community, please see https://www.mvwsd.org/BetterTogetherMVWSD. For more information about the City’s racial equity and inclusion efforts, please click here. 

MVEF is proud to help bring Living Classroom to all of our school campuses.

Living Classroom brings environmental education for students in elementary and middle school.  Living Classroom started teaching students on 9/8 and taught 62 online lessons in September. 

Living Classroom continues to maintain the school gardens for when garden-based outdoor learning can return to MVWSD, making education come alive and deepening students' connection with nature. Living Classroom lessons empower the next generation by growing environmental champions, inquisitive learners, and healthy eaters.  There are over 200 lessons planned for the fall in our schools.

Your donations to MVEF bring Living Classroom to every school in MVWSD! Donate today!  https://www.mvef.org/donate
 

“Enriching the Learning Experience” Symposium

The Santa Clara County Office of Education Parent Engagement team is pleased to announce our FREE virtual event "Enriching the Learning Experience: Vision for 2020 and Beyond" which will be held from 10:00am to Noon on Saturday, Oct 17 and 24, 2020. Together with 6th District PTA, we are putting together a Parent Engagement symposium for parents, students, pre-service teachers, classroom teachers, administrators, and liaisons to focus on student success. We have lined up a number of dynamic speakers and 10 workshops each day of the symposium. Here's a sneak peak of our workshops: 

  

Dr. Joyce Epstein, professor of education and director of the Center on School, Family, and Community Partnerships at Johns Hopkins University. She has over one hundred fifty publications, including School, Family, and Community Partnerships: Your Handbook for Action, 4th edition (2019). Her Keynote will address school administrators in the area of parent engagement and her Workshop will address teachers and how they can involve parents in homework. 

  

Ruby Ibarra, local bay area COVID-19 researcher and hip-hop recording artist. Her Keynote will address parents and share her inspiring story of how to channel obstacles into opportunities. She will present a Spoken Word Writing Workshop for students! 

  

Gene Luen Yang, graphic novelist of American Born Chinese, Secret Coders, Avatar: The Last Airbender, and Superman. In 2016, he was the Library of Congress's 5th National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature; he was also the recipient of the MacArthur Foundation Genius Grant in that same year. His workshop for teachers will address adopting a rich, diverse reading curriculum for the classroom. 

 

A Financial Literacy Workshop series “Understanding Debt and How to Improve Your Credit Score,” “Rebuilding After a Financial Crisis,” and “Learning the Value of a Dollar” by Excite Credit Union will give good money management tips for students and adults alike.  

 

Registration is open! Visit “Enriching the Learning Experience” event Website to see all 10 workshop descriptions, speaker bios, and registration form.