Art Class - Calle Ocho Campus
Celebrations of Learning (Expo) - February and March
Health & SafetyNEW! Reviewing Existing Covid-19 Policies
NEW! Covid-19 Vaccination Info Session Hosted by Parents - February 15
Weekly Covid Dashboard
Weekly Class Status
City Covid-19 Testing Initiatives
NEW! Free KN95 Face Masks for Pick Up in DC Covid-19 Centers
Communications, Information & QuestionsUPDATED! Engagement Opportunities, 2022: Leadership Office Hours - Feb 25
TransportationREMINDER! Dismissal Bus Lane at Calle Ocho
Extended Day ProgramAdditional Second Grade Extended Day Class at Calle Ocho Campus
Extended Day Unit 3 Program Schedules are now available!
Curious About Extended Day Specials Offered Across the Network?
January Payments and February Fee Schedule for Extended Day
Community AnnouncementsUPDATED! Black History Month - Celebration Continues!
NEW! Revival of MV PADRES/Caregivers Group - J.F. Cook Campus, Feb 8
Affinity Group for Caregivers of Black Students’ Meeting with DCI - February 14
REMINDER! Please Bring Reusable Water Bottles to School
NEW! Looking for Volunteers for KN/KF95 Mask Campaign for Students
School Calendar and Upcoming Events
Feb 21 - Holiday, SCHOOL CLOSED
Feb 22 & 23 - Mid Winter Break, NO SCHOOL for Students & Teachers
Feb 24 - Professional Development NO SCHOOL for Students
Feb 25 - Parent Teacher Conferences, NO SCHOOL for Students
ACADEMICS
The Celebrations of learning have been scheduled for February and March. You will receive the specific date for your grade directly from your child’s teacher.
Celebrations of learning are more than a display of student work and more than a party. These events invite students to reflect on and articulate key aspects of learning: what they have learned, how they learned, questions they answered, research they conducted, and areas of strength and struggles they experienced. They are powerful opportunities to demonstrate publicly their learning at Mundo Verde.
HEALTH & SAFETY
The Department of Health released, on January 31, significant changes in updated Covid-19 guidance for schools. Mundo Verde is currently reviewing the new guidance with an eye to balancing our values of equity and staff capacity. Pending our review, please continue to follow the existing policies we have in place. We will announce any changes prior to returning from February break and ask you to please save your questions until we have completed our review and made any necessary adjustments.
Hosted by Parents
February 15, 7:30pm
Mundo Verde Parent Hosted Covid-19 Vaccination Info Session February 15 at 7:30pm.
Have any hesitation or questions about getting the Covid-19 vaccine for your children? Interested in learning more about the Covid-19 vaccine? Register now for our next Covid-19 vaccine information session led by Mundo Verde parents! This session will provide an opportunity to hear the latest updates about the new Covid-19 vaccine available for kids 5-11, current vaccination rates in the city and at Mundo Verde, and for open discussion with parents/caregivers and subject matter experts. Register here by February 11.
Please reach out to piyengar@gmail.com with any questions.
For up-to-date information and statistics on how we are containing the spread of Covid-19, visit the Health & Safety section on the website.
Rapid Test for PreK and Kinder Families Continues Available
This is only available to PreK and Kinder from the city given the availability of vaccinations for these age groups. Tests are distributed to students every other Friday for the next two weeks.
Rapid test results should be submitted through this reporting portal. The link goes live today, on Sundays mornings, at 6:00am and remains open until Tuesdays at 5:00pm. Parents should administer test to their children on Sundays, report all results (negative and positive) in the portal, and notify the school directly of a positive test result if necessary.
Program for confirmed close contacts of a positive Covid-19 case
Close contacts may request up to two test kits, containing one PCR test each. You may register using this form for close contacts, please fill out a separate form for each kit you request. Click here to see the instructions in English or Spanish.
in DC Covid-19 Centers
Starting last Friday, January 28, DC residents can now pick up two KN95 Face masks free per day at any Covid-19 Center. Click here to find Covid-19 Centers in DC.
COMMUNICATIONS, INFORMATION & QUESTIONS
Leadership Office Hours on February 25
The desire for information and connection has soared due to the uncertainty and isolation brought on by the pandemic. At the same time, many of our informal ways of connecting and communicating, at the playground or in the hallways, have also been reduced for many members of our community. While nothing digital can replace this in-person contact, this month we are adding another digital opportunity for families and caregivers to meet and talk with school leaders. Leadership Office Hours will be offered bi-monthly, providing an informal mechanism for caregivers to engage with a specific school leader. Pending availability and daily responsibilities, various leaders will offer these bi-monthly spaces. We realize that no time is ever convenient for everyone; we will thus rotate the times and day when we hold these spaces.
Our first set of simultaneous office hours will be on Friday, February 25 where Executive Director Kristin Scotchmer, J.F. Cook Principal Roynetta Douglas and Calle Ocho Principal Jenn Koaukeou will each be offering 10 minute 1:1 slots between 9:00-10:10am, followed by a 20 minute block for "walkins" between 10:10-10:30am. Time slots will be offered on a first come, first serve basis. Instructions on how to sign-up will be shared in the next family update. For questions, please contact Olivia Michael at omichael@mundoverdepcs.org
TRANSPORTATION
A friendly reminder that carline is used in the afternoon for bus pick up only, and is not open to parking during dismissal. Families are welcome to continue to use the carline only in the morning for drop off, and park at the parking lots at Providence in the afternoon.
EXTENDED DAY PROGRAM
In February, we are opening another second grade class in extended day - 2B at Calle Ocho Campus. Families who are invited to join the program will have the opportunity to start between Feb 14 - Mar 1. Please be on the lookout for an invitation if you are a family at Calle Ocho in 2nd Grade!
Unit 3 runs from Jan 31-Apr 7. Students will explore energy around two guiding questions: what is energy? And, where does energy come from? The craft and science blocks will be dedicated to this exploration as well as the read aloud block.
To see the Unit 3 schedules, click in the following links:
The after school program offers a variety of specials at both campuses.
Calle Ocho Campus
Soccer with Mikias Eticha (PE Daytime Coach):
PreK-A: Monday 4:15-5:15pm
Kinder B: Wednesday 2:00-3:00pm
Music with Loidmary Perenguez (Daytime music teacher):
PreK-C: Monday 4:15-5:15pm
1-B: Thursday 4:15-5:15pm
Chess with “Ziko” of Djuric of International Chess:
1-A: Wednesday 2:45-3:45pm
J.F. Cook Campus
Leadership Project with Peyton Van Winkle and Rachel Saathrop from Break the Norm Leadership to 5-A on Wednesday, 4:15-5:15pm
Chess to 1-A with “Ziko” on Fridays from 4:15-5:15pm
The February Prorated Sliding Scale is now available HERE. Regarding January payments, while we do not normally reimburse absences in our program, we are however reimbursing families this month if their children were not able to participate in our program due to lengthy quarantines and transitions to virtual learning. We are also adjusting monthly fees for families who recently joined the program to reflect their start date.
To access your payment history, please follow this menu on your Parent Portal in Infinite Campus.
COMMUNITY ANNOUNCEMENTS
Celebration Continues!
Last week we had a great time Rockin with DJ TaylorSenpai and exercising our minds during Family Trivia Night, then ending the week with an athletic style street dance originating from African American and Puerto Rican communities, called Breakin’.
Make sure you don’t miss out on the second week’s event:
A night of Capoeira, Brazilian martial arts, with Mestra Bomba of Capoeira Barro Vermelho USA: Wednesday, Feb 9, 6:00-7:00pm (Join Zoom)
Music: Add your favorite songs by Black musicians to hear at drop-off and pick-up here: https://forms.gle/jJ4YUxjxTFiqrufL9
Please take the opportunity to review the program in Spanish and English for more information about each event this week and activities that you can use at home or in the future to help celebrate this month.
Tuesday, February 8, 8:30pm
We are pleased to announce that a group of J.F. Cook Campus families have taken the initiative to explore the possible revival of something similar to the caregivers group known as MV PADRES, which was active before the pandemic.
This planning group will hold a meeting on Tuesday, February 8 at 8:30pm via Zoom. The agenda includes: 1) presenting background information on existing Bylaws, the mission of MV PADRES, and board member roles; 2) discussing potential synergies and complementarities with the equity group “Juntos” (facilitated by Kindred); 3) gathering feedback from the community on their hopes for MV PADRES and how it may be improved; and 4) organizing elections for the end of February to select leadership for the new group.
The organizers invite anyone who would like to get involved to consider several options for meeting other caregivers:
Join the WhatsApp Group
Indicate your interest by signing the letter the organizers recently sent to the school (click here to see the letter) and simultaneously join the email list
Participate in the meeting on Tuesday, February 8 with the following link:
https://zoom.us/j/91416021548?pwd=aTc5dzl2MlhEdms5L1R2Z2p4dHIxUT09
Meeting ID: 914 1602 1548
Passcode: 307108
If you have any questions please contact Claudia Salazar at clausalazar.suarez@gmail.com.
February 14, 6:30–7:30pm
On February 14, members of the Black Student Union at DC International (DCI), their staff advisor, and an administrator will join us to discuss the International Baccalaureate program, student experiences at DCI, and supports for Black students. Affinity group members and their Mundo Verde students are encouraged to attend. DCI has asked that we share questions ahead of the event. Please submit questions here.
Zoom Link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86074376965
Zoom Meeting ID: 860 7437 6965
Bottles to School
Please make sure that your children are bringing their reusable water bottles to school each day. Every time you help your child choose a reusable water bottle instead of a single-use plastic one, you're keeping plastic out of our landfills and out of our oceans – and modelling what it means to be a sustainability leader!. Learn more about the plastic pollution crisis here and be part of the solution by ensuring that your children remember to bring their reusable water bottle to school!
Reach out to our Sustainability Manager Carissa at ctiradomarks@mundoverdepcs.org if you are unable to provide a reusable water bottle for your children.
As another layer of safety, and in response to family interest in making KN/KF95 masks available to all students, we are looking for a diverse set of volunteers to help fund the purchase and support the distribution of masks. To launch the initiative, the school is making an initial investment of approximately $4,500 to order 2 masks for every student. Donations from our community will determine for how long we can continue providing these masks. If you are interested in contributing funds and or volunteering to help with distribution, contact Isadora Carreras at icarreras@mundoverdepcs.org. We will keep our larger community updated with more details as the plan advances.
Upcoming Events:
Feb 8 - Meeting MV PADRES/Caregivers Group
Feb 14 - Affinity Group for Caregivers of Black Students’ Meeting with DCI
Feb 15 - Covid-19 Vaccination Info Session Hosted by Parents
Feb 21 - Holiday, SCHOOL CLOSED
Feb 22 & 23 - Mid Winter Break for Students & Teachers
Feb 24 - Professional Development NO SCHOOL for students
Feb 25 - Parent Teacher Conferences NO SCHOOL for students