Kinder Expos: “Animal Adaptation”
Investing Families in School Success - From Kristin Scotchmer
AcademicsNEW! Student Led Conferences (Kinder - 5th Grade) - Save the Date! June 14 (Afternoon Only) & June 16 (All Day)
NEW! Parent Teacher Conferences (PreK) - Save the Date! June 14 (Afternoon Only) & June 16 (All Day)
THIS WEEK! Celebrations of Learning (Expos) Continue - JF Cook: June 7 1st Grade & June 9 3rd Grade & Calle Ocho: June 8 3rd Grade & June 9 1st and 2nd Grades
Last Two Weeks of School
Events & ActivitiesField Day Campus Wide - June 13 Both Campuses
NEW! End of the Year Garden Market at J.F. Cook Campus -June 13
NEW! Board Meeting - Save the Date! June 15
Communications, Information & QuestionsNEW! Welcoming New Families During the Summer and Fall
NEW! Help Us Better Understand Families and Caregivers´ Perspectives Around Raising Funds
Academic Structures for SY23-24 - Materials Available
Health & SafetyNEW! Lice Cases Reported - Calle Ocho: PreK & JF Cook: 3rd Grade
School ServicesIt is Time for School Services Payments! Due on the 10th of Every Month
NEW! Used Uniform Shirts Collection - June 13
Purchase Your Children’s Uniform in Advance - And Get Ready for Next School Year!
Community AnnouncementsJ.F. Cook Campus Families: News From Padres (Parent/Caregiver Organized Group)
Calle Ocho Campus Families: News From Comunidad (Parent/Caregiver Organized Group)
Celebración! School Wide - June 10
School Calendar and Upcoming EventsFamily Handbook
SY22-23 School Calendar
SY23-24 School Calendar
MESSAGE
From Kristin Scotchmer
Dear Mundo Verde Families,
A couple weeks ago, in my message Invest in School Success for SY23-24 I shared with our school community how every year our school offers multiple ways for parents and caregivers to engage and participate, and pointed to some specific opportunities for engagement for next school year 23-24. Today, as a continuation to that message, I want to share updates of the efforts school leaders have undertaken this school year to create spaces for engagement and channels that can help improve the collaboration between school leaders and parent/caregiver organized groups. A diverse group of parent/caregiver leaders works to support the success of our students, staff and school in the following organized groups:
COMUNIDAD - Calle Ocho Organized Parent Association
PADRES - J.F. Cook Organized Parent Association
Parents/Caregivers of Black Students
Parents/Caregivers of Students with Special Needs
Parents/Caregivers of Hispanic/Latino students (recently emerging!)
Classroom Liaison Coordinators at each campus
As part of our commitment to enhance our work with organized caregiver groups, in SY22-23 we launched a pilot for a Network Engagement Steering Committee. The space was created by the school as a way to provide a regular space for meeting between executive leadership, campus principals and standing members of organized parent groups leading a variety of efforts in the school. The goal for the Steering Committee this year was to work on an agenda that addressed not only short term and campus specific issues, but school-wide and long-term strategy, school improvement and alignment of the different groups’ initiatives to the school’s mission, strategic plan and organizational priorities. The group met in September, October, December, April and May. During our last meeting with caregivers, we reflected on this pilot. In addition to appreciating its benefits, we reflected on ways we can improve this structure as we plan for next year. You can see a summary of our takeaways in the table below. As school leaders we will continue to reflect on this over the summer as we plan and design engagement structures for next school year.
| Stars (glows) | Stairs (grows) |
|---|---|
|
|
The Network Engagement Steering Committee and the recently developed (and published earlier this year) set of guidelines for volunteer parent and caregiver associations are concrete actions we have taken as part of our commitment to effective and equitable engagement and offer a framework to guide coordination and to streamline collaboration both at the campus and the network level between school leaders and parent/caregivers.
Although the school year is coming to an end, our work around family engagement never stops. We will be active during the summer designing and planning engagement for the next year. We currently have two initiatives currently underway to inform next year’s planning: The first one is a survey that will help us better understand families and caregivers’ perspectives around raising funds, fundraising activities and their views regarding areas of investment so that common efforts can support our campus communities. The second one, summer playdates and other initiatives to help us welcome new families during the summer and into the Fall. Make sure to read all details and find more information in the sections below.
To all of you, for everything you do to support your child, our students and our school - thank you. We are excited to continue this valuable partnership.
In community,
Kristin
ACADEMICS
June 14 (Afternoon Only) & June 16 (All Day)
Student Led Conferences (SLC) are taking place on June 14 (afternoon only) and June 16 (all day).
Student Led Conferences provide a forum in which your child has the opportunity to lead the discussion about their own progress by sharing work and reflecting on their growth.
Teachers are working with each of their students in grades Kinder - 5th, preparing them to present to their family members their progress.
If you have not sign up for your child's conference, please contact your child’s teacher.
June 14 (Afternoon Only) & June 16 (All Day)
Parent-Teacher Conferences in PreK are one-on-one conferences, where teachers share individualized evidence of current strengths and needs, and students are not present. Its purpose is to build strong home to school partnership for academic and social success; and share data on academics and social emotional learning.
JF Cook - June 7: 1st Grade & June 9: 3rd Grade
Calle Ocho - June 8: 3rd Grade & June 9: 1st and 2nd Grades
Students will share with families and the school community what they are learning in their expeditions.
We look forward to see you there!
J.F. Cook Campus
1st Grade: June 7, 9:00-10:00am
3rd Grade: June 9, 9:15-10:15am
Calle Ocho Campus
1st Grade: June 9, 1:45 to 2:45pm
2nd Grade: June 9, 2:30-3:15pm
3rd Grade: June 8, 9:30-10:30am
We want to remind families that the last week of school is a half week as has been in previous years.
Tuesday, June 13: Field Day - Regular school day
Wednesday, June 14: PTC/SLC (afternoon only) - Regular school day and dismissal time at 1:00pm
Friday, June 16: PTC/SLC Conferences (all day) - No school for students
Monday, June 19: Holiday, SCHOOL CLOSED
Wednesday, June 21: Last Day of School - dismissal time at 1:00pm
EVENTS & ACTIVITIES
June 13 - Both Campuses
As we approach the end of SY22-23, it's time to celebrate. Let's have some fun in community!
Please make sure your child comes prepared with:
Water bottle: Although there will be water stations, having a water bottle ensures that students are well-hydrated.
Sunscreen: Please make sure to apply sunscreen to your children before arriving at school.
Extra clothes: We plan to have water games and lots of fun playing outside.
Please see below details by campus:
JF Cook
Location: New York Ave Playground
Schedule: Each grade will have a 2 hour block. To see your children schedule, click here
Volunteers: For volunteer opportunities, please contact your child's teacher.
Calle Ocho
Location: Turkey Thicket Park
Schedule: Each grade will have a 2 hour block. To see your children schedule, click here
Volunteers: For volunteer opportunities, please contact your classroom family liaison.
June 13, 3:30-4:30pm
Join Mundo Verde's 5th grade interns on June 13 from 3:30-4:30pm for one last Garden Market of the school year before they move on to middle school!
They will be selling produce, sharing free samples of something delicious, dancing to our kid-curated market playlist, and having a great time together.
We hope to see you there!
June 15, 6:30-8:30pm
The Mundo Verde Board of Directors will be holding a regular Board meeting on Thursday, June 15. All regular and special board meetings are open to the public, providing the opportunity for stakeholders to observe board operations. The meeting will take place virtually from 6:30pm to 8:30pm.
For questions related to the meeting, email board@mundoverdepcs.org.
COMMUNICATIONS, INFORMATION & QUESTIONS
We are grateful to families currently enrolled at both Calle Ocho and JF Cook Campus who have reached out to express desire to help coordinate summer playdates and other opportunities in the fall to welcome families of students who will be joining us for SY23-24. This is a wonderful way to bring to life the spirit of Crew! If you would like to be involved and help coordinate or support these efforts, please fill out this brief form Volunteer to welcome new families SY24
We have carefully designed a survey that will help us better understand families and caregivers’ perspectives around raising funds and their views regarding areas of investment so that common efforts can support our campus communities while aligning to our Mundo Verde Guidelines for Financial Support and Fundraising and our equity principles. The value of everyone responding to this survey is the ability to share your perspectives as parent/caregiver, regardless of whether you have or will give financially or contribute time to fundraising efforts. The more responses we receive the more comprehensive findings will help guide fundraising efforts in SY23-24. The survey is being administered by our partner Possip, it is bilingual and it is campus specific so make sure you click on the appropriate link corresponding to your campus. Make your voice heard and encourage others to do so! Surveys will only be active for a short time so respond now so you don't miss out.
Calle Ocho Survey English / Spanish
JF Cook Survey English / Spanish
On May 23, families joined Executive Director Kristin Scotchmer and other school leaders to talk about how the school is looking to best structure and improve the sustainability of Academic Leadership on campus.
Please find the presentation and recordings below:
HEALTH & SAFETY
Calle Ocho - PreK
J.F. Cook - 3rd Grade
SCHOOL SERVICES
Due on the 10th of Every Month
School Services payments allow us to offer quality services, it is time to make your monthly payments to avoid receiving payment alerts.
To learn how to pay for snacks, lunch, and extended day program, visit the Paying for School Services section in the Family Portal on our school website.
Tuesday, June 13
Did you know that every year the textile industry uses 1.3 trillion gallons of water to dye clothing? Most of this water, mixed with harmful chemicals from the dye process, flows into rivers and streams, contaminating waterways. Let's work together to reduce the need for more shirts by sharing uniforms!
In an effort to be more sustainable, the school will begin collecting used Mundo Verde uniforms from students to wash over the summer and have them available in August. If you have uniforms you no longer wear or want, please drop them off at the front desk on Tuesday, June 13 - the same day as Field Day!
For any further questions, please email Carissa, Sustainability Manager, at ctiradomarks@mundoverdepcs.org.
And Get Ready for Next School Year!
Getting uniforms right before the school year starts is always a hassle.
This year, parents and caregivers are encouraged to consider placing uniform orders today from the school store. Orders will be accepted until June 30 to help ease the demand throughout the summer.
COMMUNITY ANNOUNCEMENTS
Padres Elections Get Out the Vote
The nominees are in! Jacqueline Walters (VP), Erin Fackler (Treasurer), Ketsela Tekletsadik (Community Lead). Please read their bios and vote here. Even though the seats are currently uncontested, it is critical to show that Padres leadership has a strong and diverse support from across the school. Your vote matters!
Padres All-Hands Meeting
Tuesday, June 6 at 8:45am at Zócalo
Join Padres leadership for their last in person meeting. Coffee will be provided out front at 8:15am. The final agenda will include: (1) Meet the new Padres Board, (2) Review the budget (show as budget!), (3) A year in review, (4) Hear about the priorities for the end of year and next year, (5) Updates. Please send topics you would like to see discussed to mvpadrescomms@gmail.com.
Become a Spoke Lead
Nominations Open Until June 5
Comunidad has various Spoke Lead roles available for SY23-24. These roles provide a wonderful opportunity to anyone who is passionate about continuing to build a campus and community culture that is diverse, equitable, inclusive and accessible. Nominations can be submitted HERE and are open until June 5.
2nd Annual Calle Ocho Clothing Swap
June 9, 3:30-6:00pm
The Sustainability Spoke of Communidad is happy to host a clothing swap again this year for the Calle Ocho community on Friday, June 9, 3:30-6:00 pm on the patio. Fun, music, kids activities, and building community!
The entire Calle Ocho Community (families, teachers, staff) is invited to "Shop" at the swap!
Comunidad Website
Don't forget you can always visit the Comunidad website to see the latest events, download the calendar or find ways to get engaged!
Saturday, June 10 from 2:00-4:00pm at Garfield Park
Join Padres and Comunidad for a great way to end the year with a family friendly Party at Garfield Park. RSVP and/or sign up as a caregiver volunteer here! All are welcome, teachers/staff and families (existing and incoming) from both campuses.
Upcoming Events:
Jun 5-9: 5th Grade Capstone Trip
Jun 7: JF Cook - 1st Grade Expo
Jun 8: Calle Ocho - 3rd Grade Expo
Jun 9: JF Cook - 3rd Grade Expo
Jun 9: Calle Ocho - 1st Grade Expo
Jun 9: Calle Ocho - 2nd Grade Expo
Jun 13: Field Day
Jun 14: JF Cook - 4th Grade Expo
Jun 14: PTC/SLC (afternoon only)
Jun 15: JF Cook - 5th Grade Expo
Jun 15: Board Meeting
Jun 16: PTC/SLC Conferences (all day)
Jun 19: Holiday, SCHOOL CLOSED
Jun 20: 5th Grade Promotion Ceremony
Jun 21: Last Day of School