Hello Panthers! Please read your weekly newsletter below. Here is a quick summary of this week’s message followed with further details:
December 16th, 2021
Crittenden News:
-January Lunch
-Parent Teacher Conferences - Minimum Day
-With Gratitude
-Message from Leadership
District News:
-COVID safety over winter break
-Last day for OKtoReopen screener is Friday
-Attendance is important
-Parent University
-iReady Diagnostic 2 Assessments
-Upload your child’s completed vaccine card
-School meetings are coming up
-December Better Together
-CHAC Resources and Events
Hello Crittenden Families,
On behalf of our staff I would like to extend our gratitude to all of the families who brought food for our staff holiday lunch today. We enjoyed the delicious food. Thank you!
We are concluding the year with our last social emotional lessons on developing a growth mindset where students learned to identify different mindsets and the impact that it has on how we see our capacity to learn and grow. November’s lesson was on anti-bullying where students learned how to address, who to inform and different types of bullying, including the use of slurs. Our lesson to start a fresh year in 2022 will be about identity and understanding the concept of intersectionality, addressing the different privileges that each of us have in regards to the multiple identities that one holds.
Here at Crittenden, we take all forms of bullying very seriously, and address any and all reported instances of bullying and hate speech. At Crittenden, we are proud of our student groups and clubs that allow for students to advocate for their needs. We partner regularly with the advisors of these groups to address student concerns. In the new year, we are excited to implement a student forum to give our students a space to feel heard and included. Ultimately, we can’t do this without the continuous support of our families. We greatly appreciate the trust and kindness that our community has shown us.
We hope you all have a restful and safe break!
Crittenden News:
January Lunch Menu
Please review the January menu.
Parent Teacher conferences
Check your email for a letter from Assistant Principal Jackee Keirns regarding how to sign up for our upcoming Parent Teacher Conferences. They will be held on the week of January 10th, and will give you the opportunity to discuss your students' progress with their teachers. We will be following a minimum day schedule during conference week. Dismissal will be at 12:50pm (M-F).
To help you prepare for conferences, please join us for the MV Parent U session, “Effective Parent-Teacher Communication” at 5:30 pm on Wednesday, Jan. 5 on Zoom at http://mvw.sd/pu010522.
With gratitude
Our leadership teacher Ms.Kovacs and the leadership students would like to give a huge THANK YOU to all of the families who donated toys for the toy drive. In addition a huge THANK YOU to the families that donated coats which will be distributed to our Crittenden families in need.
A message from Leadership
Support our leadership team by eating out! The Crittenden Leadership is being supported by Panda Express. Yum! Please see click here for further details.
Upcoming Events:
December
12/20-1/3 Holiday Break (No School)
January
1/4 Students Back To School
1/10-1/14 Parent/Teacher Conferences Minimum Day
Happy Holidays!
In partnership,
Mrs.Gomez
Principal
What can you do today to help others feel valued, cared for, safe, and included at Crittenden?
District Announcements:
COVID safety over winter break
We strongly encourage families to get tested after the holidays and before returning to school after the holiday, especially if you are traveling. Even as children 5-11 are now starting to get vaccinated, it is still important that we stay vigilant with safety precautions, particularly in light of the variant, Omicron.
- Test for COVID before and after holiday traveling and/or gatherings. https://covid19.sccgov.org/covid-19-testing
- Due to low supplies of test kits, MVWSD cannot provide rapid antigen tests to families. Instead, we are planning a community testing event on Dec. 29 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the District Office, 1400 Montecito Ave. Look for more details by email.
- Please vaccinate all eligible members of your household, especially if you are traveling and/or gathering with family and friends. http://sccfreevax.org/
- Continue to wear a mask
Last day for OKtoReopen screener is Friday
With student vaccination rates increasing for our younger students, on-campus COVID testing and increased awareness in our community about Covid symptoms and protocols, there is no longer need for the OKtoReopen screener. Starting after break when students return on the morning of January 4 , you will no longer receive an email or text message from OKtoReopen. Thank you for your consistent use of the screener in the past months.
Attendance is important: Parent notifications ramp up in January
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.
“Parent University: Effective Parent-Teacher Communication & Tips for Conference Week”
Date: January 5, 2022, 5:30-7:00pm Registration Link: http://mvw.sd/pu010522
Please join us for a thorough discussion on effective communication between home and school and tips on how to have a successful parent-teacher conference. A panel of parents, principals and teachers from Elementary School and Middle School will provide helpful feedback on how to approach difficult topics when talking to your child’s teacher or office staff. Parents will also learn how to read and understand the school report cards.
To submit questions prior to the event, go to mvw.sd/questions. We will do our best to address your question during the session.
Upcoming i-Ready Diagnostic 2 Assessments
i-Ready is an online program that helps us determine your child’s strengths and areas for growth in mathematics and reading. Teachers use this information to support instruction in core subjects for every student.
Elementary school families can access their child’s i-Ready Reading and Mathematics score via their Powerschool Parent Portal starting December 17, 2021. Parents will have access to three reports for their child - For Families Report, Common Core State Standards Report (CCSS), and the Diagnostic Growth Report. Here’s how to access PowerSchool Parent Portal i-Ready Reports.
Parents can learn more about the i-Ready platform and how to interpret the various i-Ready reports. Join us for an i-Ready Parent Informational Webinar on December 16th, 2021 at 6:00 - 7:00 pm. Please register in advance via the link: http://mvw.sd/i-ready.
Please contact your child’s school front office if you have any trouble accessing reports.
Please upload your child’s completed vaccine card
Many of our younger students are getting their 2nd COVID vaccine shot this week. When your child's vaccine card has their second shot listed, please upload a copy to Powerschool. Vaccine cards will be referred to in the case of a positive COVID exposure for your student, and MVWSD needs accurate data for decisions about COVID protocols. Click here for a video that shows you how to upload documents: https://vimeo.com/606954357.Thank you in advance for uploading your documents now!
School meetings are coming up. Open Enrollment for all MVWSD students starts in January
For CURRENT students in transitional kindergarten-7th grade: Parents will be asked by email to confirm enrollment from January 24-28.
For NEW students: Open Enrollment is from January 10 through Feb. 4, 2022 online. You can register your child for the 2022-23 school year when online registration opens here: www.mvwsd.org/register
Please visit www.mvwsd.org/register for more information.
December Better Together Infographic
Better Together
December is Universal Human Rights Month, a time for people in the U.S. and around the world to join together and stand up for the rights and dignity of all individuals. December 10, Human Rights Day, is a global holiday that marks the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by the United Nations in 1948. Together, we can protect the rights of everyone, everywhere. Please see the graphics attached to this newsletter, or visit https://www.mvwsd.org/bettertogetherMVWSD.
CHAC Resources and Events
CHAC Resources and Events
CHAC Distribution
Play and Learn
CHAC Family Resource Centers offer a variety of classes and resources for Santa Clara County residents, including music classes for young children, arts enrichment, groups for Spanish-speaking families, parenting courses, and free diapers and other essential items. For more information, see attached flyers or visit https://www.chacmv.org/frcs.
Thank you for all your support!