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Monday, January 4
No School - Teacher Work Day
Tuesday, January 5
First day back to School, Hybrid BLUE students on campus
Wednesday, January 6
Panorama SEL and Cultural Awareness surveys during:
- SMART period, BLUE in-person students
- PE/Elective, Distance Students
"The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How our Government Segregated America....and Menlo Park," MPCSD Speaker Series, 6:30 pm, Zoom
Friday, January 8
Service Team - Wee Care Cereal Drive, collection bins near PAC
(through Friday, January 28)
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Wednesday, January 13
Panorama SEL and Cultural Awareness surveys during:
- SMART period, GOLD in-person students
- PE/Elective, Distance Students
"An Equity Walk through MPCSD," MPCSD Speaker Series, 6:30 pm, Zoom
Thursday, January 14
Service Team meeting, 3:30 pm, Zoom
Friday, January 15
PTO Board Meeting, 8:30 - 10:00 am (new date/time)
Tuesday, January 19
"The Future of Educational Equity in the South Peninsula," MPCSD Speaker Series, 6:30 pm, Zoom
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Quicklinks bottom of newsletter
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Dear Hillview Families,
Happy New Year, and welcome back from what I hope was a safe and restful break! Tuesday, January 5, 2021 will see our BLUE students return to campus as we continue with in-person learning at Hillview. As a reminder, we expect that students who have traveled over the winter break will quarantine per county guidelines for 14 days before returning to school. For BLUE students coming back to campus Tuesday, that means they should have been home by December 21 to quarantine for the full 14 days. GOLD students returning to campus next week, January 11, should have returned home by December 27 for their 14-day quarantine. Independent Study Plans (ISP’s) are available for students during their quarantine (see the “Hillview Heads-Up” section on our website homepage here for details on ISP Requests). We appreciate everyone’s commitment to keeping our school community safe and allowing in-person learning to continue.
A number of families are reaching out to describe what they believe to be safe and responsible travel during the pandemic, and are hoping that we can grant permission for students to return to school without quarantining for the full 14 days. Our response is still black and white: travel is travel. It elevates risk of contracting COVID, and quarantine is the recommendation in every case. We cannot absolve any individual family for their travel plans, despite the precautions they may have taken.
2021 offers a great deal of hope for our community, state, and country. Even as we left for break on December 18, the FDA approved a second vaccine - the Moderna vaccine - for emergency use authorization. You can also look forward to a compelling parent education series this month from MPCSD. Wednesday, January 6, kicks off the first installment of “Race, Prejudice, and Policy: A Three-Part Conversation on Segregation and its legacy on Education around Menlo Park.” Register in advance here for the 6:30 Zoom for The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America & Menlo Park with local groups Menlo Together and Community Equity Collaborative. See “Looking Ahead,” above, for information on the second and third installments of the series. Also, if you missed Hillview’s December 16 Coffee Talk on Student Well Being, you can review the recording here (passcode=+TnJx8!v).
All the best in the New Year,
Willy
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Hillview Fields and Basketball Courts
Did you know that Hillview fields and basketball courts are closed to the public 8:00 am - 3:00 pm Monday through Friday.
If accessing these facilities outside of those hours, remember that you need to wear a mask at all times and physically distance from others.
These facilities are also closed to individuals with pets.
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Courts and fields closed
8:00 am - 3:00 pm weekdays
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Panorama SEL Survey
This week and next week, all of our students, grades 3 - 8 will take the Panorama Social Emotional Learning survey. In addition, our Hillview students will also complete Cultural Awareness and Action questions. We do this survey each year in order to understand how our schools and programs are supporting student wellness.
All families were notified via email from the district office in early December about these surveys. For more information, including a preview of the survey questions, check here.
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High School Placement Assessments
During the month of January, all 8th grade students, regardless of where they plan on attending high school, will take high school placement assessments.
- For English Language Arts, our 8th grade students will take the SRI (Scholastic Reading Inventory) during the weeks of January 19 and January 26.
- For Math, our students will take the MIRA (Mathematics Initiative Readiness Assessment) during the weeks of January 5 and January 12.
8th grade families were notified via email about the high school placement assessments. For more information, see the information here.
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Yearbook Student Congratulatory Ads |
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Hillview is breaking with tradition! Now all grade levels can purchase a congratulatory ad for their student. Design and submit your ad by February 5.
- 1/8 Page Ad - 6, 7 and 8th grade families - $55.00
- 1/4 Page Ad - 8th grade families ONLY - $100.00
Our flyer here provides information on uploading and designing your page.
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It's time to order the 2020-2021 yearbooks! Families are encouraged to place their orders no later than February 5.
The cost is $45.00 per book. An additional $10.00 and you can have your book shipped directly to your home. Order a yearbook today and use Hillview Number 10070 here.
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Jamf Parent App
An app that offers parents a solution with more control on school devices. You can restrict the usage of applications and internet on student iPads, and you are able to enforce restrictions on weekdays after 4:00 pm and all day on weekends.
Install the free app on your iPhone or personal iPad. Currently there is no Android, Windows, Mac OS or browser based version available. Refer to the JAMF Parent Guide for instructions here. For assistance in using the app, Getting Started with JAMF Parent here.
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Special Focus on Character
Families are spending a lot of time together and using screens, offering opportunities to highlight lessons in perseverance, problem-solving, and empathy here. Modeling is the more impactful way for kids to start to embody these traits and skills, but since we're using screens more frequently due to covid, why not offer up some great examples of character strengths?
There's plenty of media that gives examples of compassion or cooperation here. Parents often worry about kids' sense of responsibility and integrity, but you can use media to open up those conversations here.
We all want our kids to be lifelong learners, inspiring a sense of curiosity can keep your kid going here.
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Menlo Atherton High School music program instrumental audition information here. See Programs & Activities.
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Yearbook 8th Grade Baby Pictures Send us your cute baby pictures for our traditional "Guess the Graduate" section. Submit your 8th grade student's baby picture here. Use code hillviewmiddle21 and for more information see our flyer here.
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Each week a staff member will be randomly selected to share a little bit more about themselves so the Hillview Community can get to know them better.
Jacky Schlegel
Jacky teaches 6th grade humanities core and has been at Hillview for 4 years. When not teaching, Jacky enjoys her time at the barn riding horses. When she was younger she rode horses competitively in a variety of disciplines including show jumping and eventing. She qualified for pony finals, rode in competitions in Kentucky and New York and placed in medal finals. She was offered a scholarship by a New York college to ride on their equestrian team.
Favorite Quote: Michael Scott "I'm not superstitious, but I am a little stitious" (The Office).
Favorite Movie: Elf
Favorite Ice Cream Flavor: Strawberry
Favorite Subjects as a Middle School Student: Creative Writing
Words of Wisdom for Hillview students: Take care of yourself. Self-care is not selfishness and your happiness should be your priority.
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You’ll get the best results from life that way.
What you probably didn’t know about me: I am a lover of all things science fiction! I particularly love Stargate Sg-1, Stargate Atlantis, and the StarTrek series, particularly the Next Generation. However, I’ll never turn down an episode of the Kardashians either, not to be confused with the Cardassians of course....
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One more thing: I grew up in Maine and spent a lot of time in Boston, where much of my family lives. I moved to California in 2010 with my sisters and with nothing but a suitcase. I had zero intention of staying in California for longer than a couple of years and yet somehow I’ve been here for more than a decade! I went to the University of California, Irvine (Zot! Zot! Zot!) and received my Bachelor's and Master's degrees and two teaching credentials. I decided to give Northern California a try and ended up meeting my fiancé within three days of moving to Redwood City! And I’m pretty sure I’ve found my forever home :)
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January Staff Birthdays
Matthew Tom, Isabel Garcia, Alfredo Solache, Helen Poplack and Katrina Hagg
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Cereal Drive for Families in our Community
Service Team Meeting - Cereal Drive, Samaritan House
Thursday, January 14, 3:30 pm, Zoom
Service team is excited to start 2021 with their second annual Project WeeCare here Cereal Drive to help local families in our community.
We wish we could erase hunger and homelessness with the flip of a calendar page. Since the pandemic hit San Mateo County, Samaritan House in San Mateo has a client caseload that increased from 15,000 clients to around 23,000 clients and daily food distribution has doubled.
How Can You Support Your Student?
Consider buying extra boxes of your student’s favorite breakfast cereal for them to donate, or encourage students to ask friends and neighbors if they would like to contribute.
Cereal, oatmeal, granola, pancake/waffle mix, cocoa, instant coffee, and creamer can be dropped in the blue bins near the PAC Friday, January 8 - Friday, January 29.
Learn more about the cereal drive and our upcoming monthly projects. Email here with questions.
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Menlo Atherton High School Music Program |
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Menlo Atherton Music Director, Kent Kurrus, spoke to 7/8 class about the Menlo Atherton High School music program: orchestra, concert band, and jazz band. He provided the Menlo Atherton High School instrumental audition information here.
Listen to Menlo Atherton in their Fight Song here.
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Peter Reinman, new choir director and guitar teacher at Menlo Atherton, provided an information-filled video here.
The events of 2020 had an impact on all music programs. Hillview appreciated the opportunity to learn about scheduling, auditions, and school tours at Menlo Atherton High School.
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Get published in the School Newspaper
Friday, January 15 deadline
Send your submission to Hawks Nest for the January publication. The topic areas are: News, Entertainment, Sports, Local, Cartoons, Fun Facts and #LookingForwardandNewYearsResolutions!
Students will earn two Block H points for each submission. Send submissions to student editor, Arhaan Gupta-Rastogi here or to Ms. Slaughter here.
Check out December's Holiday issue right here. Anyone can submit a story! Join us, contribute, share, and provide feedback. We’d love to hear from you!
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Curative COVID Testing
Mondays - Fridays, 10:00 am - 5:00 pm, parking lot, 201 Ravenswood Avenue, Menlo Park
The new Curative kiosk in Menlo Park serves anyone aged 5 and over. Make an appointment on the Curative website here. Y ou may also walk-up during their open hours and start the registration process at the kiosk, or you may pre-complete registration information here and walk-up for a test.
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MPCSD Parent Education Speaker Series |
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A Three-Part Special Mini-Series begins this week:
Race, Prejudice & Policy: A Conversation on Segregation and its Legacy on Education around Menlo Park
"The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America…and Menlo Park"
Wednesday, January 6, 6:30 pm, Zoom here
Join us in conversation with local groups Menlo Together and Community Equity Collaborative to discuss how the policies and practices that segregated America have affected Menlo Park.
We’ll dive into information presented in Richard Rothstein’s book The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America and take a deeper look at our region from a historical and governmental perspective. We will learn, reflect, and discuss how to move toward an equitable future in Menlo Park and beyond.
Register here in advance for this webinar. More details here.
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MPCSD Antiracism Advisory Team members are presenting book clubs as a complement to the speaker series. Seven books and one podcast each focusing on race, racism and antiracism.
Each club will meet two or three times for discussion between January - March, led by a parent-staff team. The holidays coming up may be a perfect time to read and join us in our journey toward becoming antiracist here in MPCSD. The books:
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Caste by Isabel Wilkerson
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The Color of Law by Richard Rothstein
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So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo
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Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates
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Nice White Parents (Podcast)
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Real American by Julie Lythcott-Haims
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Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You by Ibram X. Kendi and Jason Reynolds
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How to Be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi.
Sign-up for a book by completing the form here.
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Thank you for your support!
We want to take the opportunity to show our appreciation for our business and realtor partners in the community.
Bronze
Darcy Gamble, Compass here
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Parenting in Place, 8-Week Masterclass Series (February 17 - April 7): Are you burned out, concerned about your child's well-being and wondering how your family will manage during the winter nearly a year into the pandemic? A Special Live Masterclass Series designed to help you this winter: Parenting in Place: Helping Families Thrive in Challenging Times, with parenting experts - Julie Lythcott-Haims, Jessica Lahey, Janine Halloran, Michele Borba, Madeline Levine, Christine Carter, Ned Johnson and more. Registration for the entire series here.
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