Monarch Memo
May 15-19, 2017
Staff Appreciation Week
Thank you to Rad and Janal for hosting a wonderful staff party on Saturday night. It was great to see so many in attendance on this Mother’s Day weekend. The food was delicious and company exceptional. It was great to see staff having a great time showing off their ping pong and
Karaoke skills.
A few shout outs to staff, students and parents. Thank you to Joe Garcia and Zack Peck for taking the lead on AP testing this year. We appreciate the AP teachers who have worked with students all year long to prepare them for these important tests. We are honored to have Cambia Babbitt, Class of 2018, as the student representative to the Grossmont District School Board. Congratulations to Iris Gonzales, who was recognized as Monte Vista’s Gold Star Volunteer this year. Kudos to Laura Preble for the first ever Murder Mystery in the library event. She appreciates all the staff members who participated and they raised $184 for the book replacement fund. One.org appreciates your support of their fund raiser last Thursday. Proceeds were split to benefit MVHS families in need and the Mercy Corps for desperate families in Sudan.
What’s new?
2018 WASC Visit Dates Confirmed
We officially received word that our WASC visit is March 11 - 14, 2017. Please remember that the WASC team begins their meetings on Sunday with many of the stakeholders. Please keep these dates
in mind when planning for next year.
AVID Snap Raise Fund raiser
AVID has 13 days left of their Snap Raise fund raiser. All are welcome to support with a donation or by passing the word along. Their goal is to raise $2,000 and they are about ¼ of the way there. Here is the link
Go Guardian Update
At the last Site Governance Meeting we shared that the company GoGuardian had enabled a notification system that was notifying the district 24/7 of any students looking up information that was considered to be related to self-harm. We informed that beginning last week, GoGuardian has suspended the self harm notification feature from the GUHSD GoGuardian account until a support network can be established that meets the needs of students and staff. FYI, the other GoGuardian features, including access to browsing histories and student messaging for explicit materials, will continue.
Safety Update
The Safety Committee has continued to meet and move forward with establishing supports for staff. The most recent being the creation of a reference chart on how to address student behaviors and the steps for intervention. This table was shared with you in a separate email titled, Table of Safety Behavior Interventions. Please feel free to email any of the Administration team members if you have any questions about the chart. Feel free to print this table for your reference.
REMINDERS
- Graduation Volunteers: Please email Denise to notify her if you are willing to help with diploma distribution.
- 2017-2018 MVHS Events Calendar: Email event dates/times/locations to Marietta and Denise. We are working on creating an online system of entering your field trips and events. Please be on the lookout for this. The calendar meeting is on May 23rd from 2:30 - 3:30 p.m. Just a reminder that fieldtrips and events (when possible) must avoid the 2 weeks before finals and the entire testing window.
Congratulations to the following teachers on their selection as Department Chairs.
2017-19 Art Department Chair - Nicole Jenkins
2017-19 English Department Chair - Nicole Thomas
2017-19 Mathematics Department Chair - Christy McAloney
2017-19 Performing Arts Department Chair - Julie Benitez
2017-19 Special Education MH/SH/Transition Department Chair - Kathy Gerstenberg
2017-19 World Languages Department Chair - John Ramirez
Week at a Glance Check Your Mood Week
Monday, May 15 7:15 - 8:00 Safety Committee Meeting, LCR
Senior Field trip to the Zoo
Tuesday, May 16 Presentations in Biology for “Check Your Mood Week”
Gold Crown meeting 3:00 - 4:00 p.m. room 101
The Road Taken, 7:00 p.m. Little Theatre through May 20.
Wednesday, May 17 WASC Minimum Day - Staff meeting at 1:00 p.m.
GEA Staff Luncheon 12:20 - 1:00 p.m. Email to follow.
Thursday, May 18 Student Handbook Meeting 2:00 p.m., Library Community Room
School Site Council at 3:15 p.m in Guidance Conf. Room.
Friday, May 19 Senior Class Elections (11th grade)
Dodgeball at 3:30 p.m.
Saturday, May 20 Relay for Life at MVHS.
Monarchs in Action
Zach Petrie finished in second place in Division II CIF finals for diving on Friday. Monarch seniors Gerardo Perfecto and David Valencia are the Valley League Champions in doubles tennis as they defeated Granite Hills High School. Sophomores Michael McMillan and Juan Rios defeated El Cajon Valley to become third place champs in the Valley League. Senior Kevin Lazo defeated El Cajon Valley to become the fourth singles champion in Valley League. Khadija Hassan's art piece that will be on display the Groff Student Art Show in The City Gallery at City College.
District News
The 2017 Summer Institute schedule is now available! Join us for a series of learning opportunities that cover CTE, EL, NGSS, assessment, and technology.
- Session 1: July 10 - 14
- Session 2: July 31 - August 4
Most workshops are available during both sessions. Attend either week or both! There are numerous workshop options that cover EL, CTE, technology, NGSS, and assessment topics.
Location:
IDEA Center High School
1600 Cuyamaca St, El Cajon, CA 92020
Click here for a complete list of Summer Institute workshops (https://goo.gl/RXnjTW). Registration forms are available for each day. You must complete a registration form for each session. Certificated staff will be paid hourly at the Professional Activities rate.
Questions about registration? Contact rhoffman@guhsd.net.
Parent message sent home on Sunday, May 14, 2017
Just a reminder that Wednesday, May 17 is our last minimum day. Period 7 dismisses at 12:17 p.m.
Congratulations to Iris Gonzales, Monte Vista parent, who is our Gold Star Volunteer for 2016-2017. Please visit the Superintendent’s Newsline blog to view a nice article on the recipients from all our district high schools. http://newslineguhsd.blogspot.com/
This week our Theatre Department presents “The Road Taken”, three one act plays directed by students. The topics are relevant to the world of young adults and deal with real life issues such as pregnancy, being scared about your future, drunk driving and loss, and finding your purpose in life. Please join us for one of the shows from May 16 - 20 at 7:00 p.m. Advanced ticket sales are $7.00 at the Finance Office. Tickets are $9.00 at the door.
All students, this is your last chance to buy your yearbook before they are sold out. The cost is $90.00. Yearbooks will be distributed the last week in May.
Seniors, Prom tickets are on sale for the cost of $70.00 until Friday, May 19th. Buy now before the price goes up to $75.00. Prom is Saturday, May 27, 2017.
Congratulations to our Monarchs who had successful performances in athletics this past week. Gerardo Perfecto and David Valencia are the Valley League Champions in doubles tennis. Zach Petrie earned 2nd place in diving at the CIF championship for Division II. Thank you for representing Monte Vista.
Monarch moms, we hope you had a wonderful Mother’s Day today. Have a great week Monarchs.
Sent May 11, 2017
Dear Monte Vista Families,
Due to the recent teen suicide at Torrey Pines High school and the buzz about a popular Netflix series about suicide, it is important that I share some important information and resources for families about suicide You may have seen posts on social media regarding the popularity and controversy regarding the recent Netflix series called "13 Reasons Why". Many students at the high school and middle school levels have viewed this series. It tells the story of a teenage girl who chooses to take her own life and then leaves a trail of voice recordings for the people she believes played a role in her decision. Some critics believe this series presents suicide as a heroic or glorified act. In addition to various forms of self-harm, the show graphically addresses other serious and sensitive topics such as sexual assault, drug and alcohol abuse, sexism and bullying. It has also been criticized because lacking in the episodes is the presence of capable, caring adults to assist this young adult. Some parents who have recently become aware of this series have taken the opportunity to have conversations with their children about suicide and/or have decided to watch the series together.
We want Monarch families to know that the adults here at school truly care about the wellbeing of your child. There are staff members, programs, and resources available here at Monte Vista to provide support. Next week, we are fortunate to have San Diego Youth Services (SDYS) on campus to provide “Check Your Mood” week which is a a Signs of Suicide Prevention program. Students in classes scheduled to participate will be bringing home a letter explaining the specific goals of the program. Participating students will view a classroom presentation by SDYS staff. Following each presentation, students will be asked to complete a card stating whether or not they have questions or concerns regarding the presentation for themselves or for a friend. Those students with questions or concerns will be checked in by a San Diego Youth Services staff member. If there are any signs of concern, they will be addressed and parents notified when necessary. If parents do not want their child to participate in the program, they may return the opt out form attached to the letter. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to call us at 619- 660-3000.
We hope families find this information helpful. Attached to the email version of this message are links to articles and hotline phone numbers for your reference. Thank you for your attention.
Suicide prevention organizations “It’s Up to Us” has resources at up2sd.org. For those in immediate need the San Diego Crisis line is (888)724-7240 and the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is (800) 273-8255 or text TALK to 741-741.
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