Monarch Memo

May 8-12, 2017

Happy Mother’s Day - May 14

A big thank you to all for helping out on Friday when we were short staffed with subs and with supervision.  It was great to see staff members step in, watching from classrooms an out during breaks.  Denise was VERY grateful for those who stepped in when several teachers were without a substitute.  We also want to thank the AP secretaries and the Guidance crew for the hours of time they take to prepare, distribute, collect and input registration packets both during and outside of the school day.  It is critical that the enrollment process goes smoothly each year.  We appreciate their collaborative efforts.  

Thank you to  Journey Community Church for the wonderful lunch on Thursday and thank you to Leisa Petrie for coordinating the event.  The staff appreciation celebrations will continue with the GEA luncheon on May 17th before the WASC staff meeting and a PTSA sponsored breakfast before the staff meeting on May 22nd.  

Thank you to all the staff members who volunteered to attend Grad Nite so our Seniors could have this memorable senior event.  A shout out to Liz Liljestrom who coordinated this event one last time for MVHS.  She moved to Arizona in December but continues to come back to San Diego to support our events.  

Please read the student and staff Kudos, congratulations and photos at the end of the Monarch Memo.

What’s new?

IEP Meetings - general education teachers attendance and scheduling process  

In order to hold an IEP and be in compliance, we must secure representation by General Education teachers at these meetings.  The SPED teachers appreciate that Gen. Ed. teachers  have been well represented already.  Thank you for attending when invited. For the ease of inviting teachers and to help Denise find substitute coverage, teachers will be receiving email invitations approximately one week before the meeting from the advocate.  We want to make sure all teachers have ample notice and dates can be secured on the calendar.  The only time we may ask for someone last minute is if the teacher scheduled to attend is absent.  We appreciate your cooperation.  If you have any questions, please ask Martha Bakkedahl.  

“13 Reasons Why” - What you should know  

There has been a lot of conversations lately regarding a popular fictional book and recent Netflix TV show rated MA for mature audiences called  "13 Reasons Why".  Many students at the high school and middle school levels have been watching this.  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.   This show has been criticized as presenting 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 the presence of capable, caring adults who could assist this young adult is noticeably omitted from the show.  The message that the show seems to send is that young adults should try to handle issues on their own.  If you notice any of our students struggling please know that we have a great Guidance staff who can provide support.  Also, we are hosting the SDYS Check Your Mood week which focuses on suicide prevention.   Thank you to Tracy Leota and others who have brought this to our attention.  She forwarded some great resources that you may want to review.  Thirteen Reasons Why Talking points.  13 Reasons Why and Its Unintended Consequences.  Why teen mental health experts are focused on “13 Reasons Why”  

Also, please see this message from the El Cajon Library Branch.  They are hosting an event on Tuesday.

You might’ve noticed that EVERYONE is talking about Thirteen Reasons Why lately. It’s a pretty intense and controversial show/book, and our library wants to give teens the chance to talk about them! Our discussion event is coming up this upcoming Tuesday, May 9 @ 4:30 PM.  We can take the first 20 participants, and we’ll be giving away copies of the books as well. We’re going for open and honest discussion, but we also want to make sure we cover these sensitive and important topics responsibly. That’s why we’ve invited San Diego Youth Services to join us and give information about suicide ideation and bullying.

Miko Osada, Youth Services Librarian, San Diego County Library, El Cajon Branch, 201 E. Douglas Ave., El Cajon, CA 92020

619.588.3718

Check your Mood week May 16 - 19 in Biology classes

Starting Tuesday May 16th, 2017 San Diego Youth Services will facilitate the “Check Your Mood Week along with the Signs of Suicide® Prevention Program for one 51 minute period.  Following each presentation youth 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.  A letter will be given to all participants for parents with an option to opt out.  If you have any questions, please see Tracy Leota.

Safety Committee Update  - "It takes a village."  

This past week we did our best to address students who were out of class when they should not be.  In doing so, we found that some teachers excuse their students early, especially before break, Advisory and lunch. Please make sure all students stay in class until the bell rings.

ADVISORY time is a concern because we have found that students who are not assigned to an advisory will stroll to a class or leave a class early.  It wonderful that teachers accept all students who want help, however, once these students commit to going to advisory, they must stay there.  Why? There are too many students wandering in and out of classes and in the halls without hall passes during Advisory.  

Also, some staff requested more guidance for what steps/interventions should be taken when a student exhibits a poor choice of behaviors. The admin. team has been working with the safety committee to create a resource table for staff.  This will be shared with staff in the near future.

OLR for returning students now required

The District is requiring parents of all returning students to complete and submit an abbreviated Online Registration (OLR) for the 17-18 school year and annually.  This is a quick and easy process for parents and is accessible in the Campus Portal. The Returning Student Registration was opened up on Monday, May 1st. Updates have been made to the district website informing parents of how to use OLR for returning students.  An email campaign to parents/guardians of returning students to inform them of the new protocol will begin this week and continue through the start of school. Arabic and Spanish versions will be posted on the District web site when they are available.  If parents can not access their portal accounts, they can call (619) 956-4357 or email the HELP Desk (applicationsupport@guhsd.net) and they will help them regain access or set up an account.

2017-2018 MVHS Events Calendar:  Email event dates/times/locations to Marietta and Denise.

It is time to start getting events on the calendar for the 2017-2018 school year.  Please think about the events and fieldtrips your department, club or organization schedules each year.  This year we have the Monte Vista Events calendar that is in a traditional calendar format.  While this is very helpful, there were some dates that changed and many events that were not added.  

The goal is to create and share a Google Calendar for our internal events which are currently on our Events calendar.  Currently there is a Google calendar called Monte Vista Monarchs, that is linked to the website which contains events we want to share with the public.  We also have one called Home Campus Schedules that lists all the home sporting events.  MV Events will continue to be our internal calendar but in Google calendar format.  

You have a few options of how to get your event dates to us. Either email dates/times/locations of your event(s) to Marietta and Denise by May 23rd and/or pop into a calendar meeting on May 23rd from 2:30 - 3:30 p.m. location TBD.  Please put “2017-2018 calendar” in the subject heading of the email so it will be easier for us to track.  If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask.   

REMINDERS

• Last meetings with all seniors not in good standing will be conducted by Rad on Tuesday, May 9 during periods 1 & 2.  PLEASE send the students at the beginning of the period.  This is the 3rd time she is meeting with these students, so it should not be a surprise to any of them. She will provide a list once she is done meeting with all of them.

• 15 week grading window is now open Gracia would like to remind everyone that this is a great tool to inform parents of students who will fail the course at the end of the school year.  Guidance does request if the student is a senior failing your class, PLEASE call the parent.  Thanks for the reminders Gracia.     

• Duplicating Room -  No students can be in there. Maribeth is duplicating finals.  Thank you.

Week at a Glance        AP testing continues this week.

                                       See Home Campus Google Schedule for sports

Monday, May 8
7:15 - 8:00 Safety Committee Meeting

7:30 a.m.  Classified Staff meeting, Library Community Room

7:30 - 8:00 Valedictorian Meeting

8:30  Tech Committee meeting

AP Biology 7:30 a.m.

PTSA Meeting 6:00 p.m.

Tuesday, May 9
AP Calculus AB and BC, 7:30 a.m.

AP Spanish Literature 12:00 noon

GUHSD Board Meeting 6:00 p.m. Gold Star Volunteer recognition

Wednesday, May 10 AP English Language, 7:30 a.m.

AP Macroeconomics 12:00 noon

Impact Virtual Reality Team meeting 12:15 noon. Principal’s office

BTSA Colloquium 4:00 p.m., La Mesa Community Center

Thursday, May 11
AP World History 7:30 a.m

AP Statistics 12:00 noon

WASC Leader meeting 3:00 - 4:00 p.m

Murder in the Monarch library, 5:30 p.m.

Friday, May 12
AP  Microeconomics and Human Geography 7:30 a.m.

CTE Grossmont-Cuyamaca Apprenticeship Fair - FYI

Saturday, May 13
Staff Party at Rad’s House, 5:00 p.m.  4929 Rosehedge Dr.

           La Mesa, CA 91942.  Thank you Rad!

Sunday, May 14
Happy Mother’s Day to all our MVHS moms.

Congratulations and Kudos to our great staff and students

Congratulations to Rob Gorney for being recognized by the Greater San Diego Reading Association.  He was selected by GUHSD from nominees to be recognized for his support of students and literacy.  Brian Carpenter and his wife at the Golden Apple Awards ceremony.  Venus Tyler was awarded the Judge’s Choice award and 1st place at the District Art Show.  Kudos to Zach Petrie who broke the All-Time School Record in 1 Meter Diving. Zach had a score of 252.9 breaking the record by 1 point that was set in 1993.

A shoutout to our MV Colorguard and their amazing performance at the GUHSD Spring Showcase! Can you believe that they're all freshmen? Our choir put on an amazing show last week.  Sarah Klacka does such a great job on the piano as accompaniment.  Saturday, Monte Vista Automotive had three teams of two students and 5 advanced students compete in the Cuyamaca College Automotive Skills Day. In the basic teams division David Garibay and Mario Espinoza took 2nd place. In the advanced division, Monte Vista's Ashley Martinez took 3rd place. All three students took home approximately $400.00 in tools. Congratulations!! So much to celebrate.

Parent message sent home on Sunday, May 7, 2017

Good Evening Monte Vista Families this is Mrs. Minjares with a weekly update.  

All parents are invited to our PTSA meeting tomorrow night, May 8 at 6:00 p.m. in the library.  Please join us.

Important news for parents of 9, 10 and 11th grade students.  All parents or guardians are now required to complete online registration each year for their returning student.  This is new and will be a requirement each year.  If you haven’t already, you soon will be receiving information from the Grossmont District providing specific instructions on how to register online.  Please note that the OLR or online registration is different from the information packets we sent home and collected last week.  This packet information will always be required. If your student still has not returned the packet, they must do so as soon as possible so we can get them processed and scheduled for courses in the fall. If you have any questions about the packets, please do not hesitate to contact us at 660-3000. If you need technical assistance with the online registration please call Application Support at 619-956-4357.

On Thursday May 11, the Reader's Society will be hosting a performance, MURDER IN THE MONARCH LIBRARY, at 5:30 p.m.  Tickets are $5.00. This is an interactive event which means  guests not only attend but they talk to all of the 'suspects' and make their own deductions about who committed the crime. Come join us.  

This is the last week of AP testing.  Students who are testing, please make sure to report on time to the Faith Chapel Church which is 7:30 a.m. for morning tests and 12:00 noon for afternoon tests.

Our last School Site Council meeting is Thursday, May 11 at 3:15 p.m. Thank you to the parents, students and staff representatives who have served this year.  

Next week , May 17, is our last WASC minimum day.  Just a reminder that students get out from period 7 at 12:17 p.m.

On behalf of the Monte Vista Staff, we want to wish all of our Monarch moms a wonderful Mother’s Day next Sunday.  For those who also celebrate Mexican Mother’s Day, enjoy your special day on May 10th. Have a wonderful week.