We are pleased to be able to provide our students, parents, staff and community with the latest information about our Mt. Pleasant Elementary School District community through this newsletter. Please join us on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube to connect with us daily!
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Dear Mt. Pleasant Community,
I wish you safe and happy holidays, and a wonderful beginning to the new year. May 2022 be a year filled with achievements and new initiatives that support our students, families, and staff.
Thank you so much for your enthusiasm and collaboration in our daily journey to advance our students’ education. You are a valued partner in the strategy to lead the district on a successful path.
I hope the holiday break brings an opportunity to rest and share the spirit of the season with your loved ones. Enjoy the celebrations with safety in mind, and remember that children 5 years of age and older are now eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. Being tested for the coronavirus if you have symptoms is also a good idea, because prevention is key.
Let’s recharge this winter break, so that we can continue our efforts to help the MPESD community thrive. Be well.
In community spirit,
Dr. Elida MacArthur
Superintendent
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Please watch a special message from the Superintendent: |
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The Opportunity to Vaccinate
Children 5+ Against COVID-19
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Since health authorities authorized the vaccination of children starting at 5 years of age, many parents and guardians have taken their kids to clinics to be vaccinated against the coronavirus. At MPESD, we encourage vaccination of all our eligible students, because we know vaccination is a key measure to creating a safe environment at the schools and in the community. The vaccine is safe and effective, and it saves lives.
We want to thank the Santa Clara County Public Health Department team for partnering with us to vaccinate our community! We appreciate the parents, students and staff that participated and got vaccinated at our school events.
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Please watch the video below with pictures of the vaccination clinics organized at Robert Sanders Elementary School. |
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We want to share with you new vaccination opportunities
during Winter Break. Please see the flyer below!
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Encouraging COVID-19 Testing
After the Holidays
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On the last day of school before the holiday break, we will provide each student at MPESD a COVID-19 testing kit to take home, so they can test before returning to class on January 4th, 2022. If students test positive, they must stay home. The increased activities that take place this time of the year bring a higher chance of the spread of coronavirus.
We will also provide COVID-19 testing opportunities for students outside the district office on Monday, January 3, 2022 (one day before students return to school). Tests will be performed on site.
Besides the test kit to take home and the January 3 testing event, we are very fortunate to be able to offer free COVID testing for all students within the Mt. Pleasant School District at each of our school sites when school is in session. The district has hired another nurse to assist with these efforts! We are conducting weekly COVID testing at school for students who have been pre-registered. All students are eligible. With the upcoming holidays, we are encouraging everyone who is eligible to get vaccinated and register for testing, regardless of vaccination status.
We have partnered with COLOR labs who supply and analyze COVID tests in coordination with the California State Health Department. This is a self-test that is monitored by our school nurse and designated staff.
Only students whose parents have registered and provided consent will be tested at school sites through COLOR. All personal information is kept confidential. Although insurance information is requested when registering, it is not required. If you do not have insurance, indicate "No Insurance". If you would like your child(ren) to be tested, you must pre-register each child using the right link for the child’s school site.
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Opportunity to Give in this Holiday Season! |
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Ten years ago, Daniel Patton, MPESD Program Director, started an initiative to collect donations and pre-made meals to support our district families just before the holidays in December.
Inspired by his grandparents, every year, along with MPAS (Mount Pleasant After School Program) and Student Leadership, Mr. Patton has been organizing efforts that result in a joyful event, where families come by and receive presents and a delicious turkey dinner.
This time, the generous event will take place on Monday, December 20. Students and staff have contributed ideas, time and good will to materialize this campaign that honors the true spirit of the holidays: Supporting our community! Congratulations on making this possible.
If you are interested in participating in these efforts by providing gifts for the families already selected, please call Mr. Patton at (408) 314-6406. Happy Holidays!
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Welcoming Back Laurie Aknin,
Interim Director of Personnel
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This is a “Welcome Back” to a devoted professional that had been with the district since the 80’s and retired three years ago. Laurie Aknin started her partnership with MPESD in 1984, as a teacher. Later on, she became Vice Principal at August Boeger Middle School, Principal at Robert Sanders Elementary and Ida Jew Academy. Ms. Aknin served as Director of Personnel and Assistant Superintendent of Personnel, and retired in 2018.
Now she is supporting the district again as Assistant Superintendent of Personnel Interim. The school community has always been in her heart. She strongly supports the students, staff and families, and is happy to contribute to advancing the district’s goals. Congratulations!
Please see the picture below with Ms. Aknin, her son Ben
and her puppy Roxie.
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Get to Know your School’s
Family Case Manager
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Our three Family Case Managers work every day to support students and parents at MPESD through a variety of services. All of them are bilingual (English/Spanish). Trudy Martinez serves Robert Sanders Elementary and August Boeger Middle School. She has been working with the district for more than 20 years. Mari Rivera helps families at Mount Pleasant Elementary and Valle Vista Elementary, and has served more than 12 years at MPESD. Miguel Meza works at Ida Jew Academy and has contributed to the well-being of the district’s families for more than 15 years.
The role of the Family Case Managers includes referrals to housing resources, mental health services, food distribution, assistance with uniforms, lunch applications, and more. They support diverse school services such as how to set up meetings with the school staff and support food distribution opportunities. They also provide school supplies, including backpacks for the students.
The Family Case Managers build and maintain a bridge between the parents and the schools. They also organize different activities engaging families in Zumba classes, cooking lessons, and painting sessions (all supplies are provided by the district and are free). Some of the workshops welcome parents and children, developing a strong family bond.
The food distribution initiatives at MPESD have become especially relevant during these challenging times of the pandemic. Every 1st Thursday of the month, from 10am to 2pm or until supplies last, families can pick up free food at August Boeger Middle School. This is the result of a collaboration with Second Harvest of Silicon Valley. The value of the products is at a minimum $250. Families may receive dry goods, fresh produce, dairy, fresh chicken, turkey, ham, eggs, cheese and more. Participants need to register on site, where they’ll receive a member ID number to use during pickup.
“It is OK to ask for help. It is OK not to be OK” says Mr. Meza. “We are here for the students and parents. We are their support.” The referrals and connections are made possible through Santa Clara County Behavioral Health Department, Alum Rock Counseling Center and the Bill Wilson Center. Services are free, regardless of immigration status and income level, explains Mr. Meza.
You can ask for your Family Case Manager at the front office of your school site (they work from 8 am to 4 pm), or you can connect through email or phone. Please see below.
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Values that Define Us:
Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging
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Our mission statement is clear: “The Mt. Pleasant School District is actively committed to transforming district systems and policies to create and model an anti-racist, compassionate and inclusive school culture where every individual is treated with dignity in our diverse community.” Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging (DEIB) are core values at MPESD.
We have developed a DEIB toolkit to promote these values. The DEIB toolkit is a resource for teachers to cover content with lessons designed to incorporate a specific area of focus. Each month will highlight 3 components and includes daily lessons. We will be implementing the use of the toolkit at least 3 days a week, with the flexibility to expand lessons into the other 2 days. There are supporting materials and resources for teachers to use the additional 2 days and/or share with families.
These lessons are part of the efforts to allow for relationship building, academic progress monitoring, character development and supporting students socially, emotionally, and academically. With the DEIB tool kit, our goal is to provide both anti-racist education and character development together, as they go hand in hand for our students’ growth. We want to weave the themes and topics from these toolkit lessons into our daily conversations across content areas. This toolkit provides a starting point and resources to equip all teachers to start these conversations within their classrooms, explains Jessica Tejada, Student Advisor at Ida Jew Academy and Co-Leader of the DEIB Committee.
Each month has 3 main areas of focus: Heritage Month, Cultural Celebrations and Holidays, and Character Traits. Bringing awareness about the broader community and initiating rich conversations is a key objective with these lessons. Every lesson is a step forward!
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Free Books Online for Students
and the Gift of Literacy
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As part of State Superintendent Tony Thurmond’s new literacy initiative, students will have free and unlimited access to thousands of digital books and news articles on the Renaissance myON platform from December 1, 2021 through January 31, 2022.
Students can read these books and articles on any digital device that is connected to the Internet, even in low bandwidth areas. myON books can also be downloaded onto mobile devices for offline reading. Here is all you need to know to help your student start reading on myON today!
Logging In:
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Go to: www.myon.com and click on the login button.
- Enter the following information on the login screen.
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- Click the green Sign in button, select a book or article, and start reading!
At Home Reading Activities are Fun!
At-home Family Reading Activities Opportunities to share reading experiences are all around us. Below, find a few suggestions for making the most of reading time!
Reading Corner: Designate an area in your home for a reading corner! Create a sign together that you can hang or display in that area.
Encourage Exploration: Help students choose books on topics that capture their interests or themes that pique their curiosity. What have they been wondering about?
Read to an Audience: Reading to an audience is fun! Have young children read aloud to their stuffed animals, siblings, or you. Choose a scene from the book and act it out.
Main Character: Talk with students about the books they are reading. Ask, “If you were the main character in the story, would you make the same choices?”
Alternative Ending: Before students finish reading a book, ask them to write down what they think will happen at the end—then compare it to what actually happened.
New Hobby: Find a hobby you can share with your student and read books that help you learn about that hobby together.
Family Adventure: Talk with your student about one of your favorite travel adventures. Then read books to learn more about the place you visited and the things you saw.
Reminisce: What was your favorite story when you were your student’s age? Can you find that book or one with a similar story line?
Book Review: Ask students about books they are reading. Did they enjoy the book? What were their favorite parts? What would they change about the book?
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School Consolidation Task Force |
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One of the greatest challenges that our district is facing today is the decline in student enrollment. Public schools throughout California are experiencing this trend that is affecting the funding available to our schools. Unfortunately, the Mt. Pleasant Elementary School District is not an exception.
Student attendance is a critical factor in how public education is funded. The continuous decline in student enrollment is reaching a very difficult level in our district. The number of students currently enrolled for the 2021-22 academic school year is 1,705, which is a decline of 1,258 from the 2008-2009 academic school year.
Last November, District leadership informed the Board of Trustees that an advisory committee would be formed to provide recommendations regarding closing and consolidating schools to help address the fiscal challenges facing the district due to declining enrollment.
The ultimate goal of these efforts is to maintain instructional programs and services that benefit our students, address the needs of our staff, and maintain facilities in good repair. As part of this process, the district created a special committee to take part in this important process.
Community members were invited to join the new committee to make recommendations regarding the closure and consolidation of MPESD school sites due to declining enrollment. While existing programs such as the ALAS Dual Immersion, STEAM, AVID, and other instructional programs will be continuing, the Committee will be considering consolidating programs.
The committee’s makeup has representation from all five schools and includes parents/caregivers, certificated employees, classified employees, union representation, and district administrators. Throughout this process, the district will keep the community informed. Starting on December 13, before every committee meeting, the public will also have 30 minutes to ask questions or provide input before the committee goes into a closed session. Public comment will take place from 5:00-5:30 pm. A Zoom link will be provided.
Before the committee provides the final recommendation/s to the Superintendent, there will be a community meeting to update the public (tentatively scheduled for January 10, 2022). If you have questions, please contact Superintendent Dr. Elida MacArthur by email.
Thank you for your support as we navigate these challenges. Let’s continue to work together with the common goal of supporting our students’ education. For details about this ongoing process, the basic timeline of actions and events, and information about Minutes and Agendas, please visit our website’s special section School Consolidation Task Force.
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