Principal’s Message: 

Dear Imai Families,

We thank you in advance for helping us keep everyone safe during this unprecedented time. We are continuing with all of our Covid safety protocols to keep our numbers of positive cases low. What can you do to help us out?

1. Keep your child at home if they are not feeling well that includes sore throats, cold symptoms, etc…

2. Remind your child to wear their mask properly.

3. Remind your child to wash their hands regularly. 

And please call the office at 650-526-3490 if you have any questions about next steps if you or your child test positive. 

Our percentage of vaccinated students is going up slowly so thank you for uploading your child’s vaccination record. If you have any trouble uploading, please email me or [email protected] for assistance. 

Attendance Information

Attendance is important: Parent notifications ramp up in January

Research shows that school attendance is a strong indicator of success. It's about students learning what they need to know, belonging to the school community, and being part of the team that is preparing them with good habits for high school.

What’s an Excused vs. Not Excused absence? Illness (including quarantining due to COVID), doctor’s appointments, bereavement, and certain religious exercises are excused absences.

Letters: beginning in this month, MVWSD will send letters to parents of any student who is truant (any three unexcused absences and/ or tardies over 30 minutes means a child is truant). These letters inform parents when students have had three or more unexcused absences and inform families of next steps and any resources or procedures in place to help their family get their child to school regularly.

Calls: In January, MVWSD schools will also begin using an automated system to notify parents when a student is absent from school. This automated call will alert a parent that a student has been marked absent.  This is important for the safety of your child and for our attendance accounting.  Please ensure we have the reason for your child’s absence. 

It’s possible that you might receive a call after you have notified the office of the absence. We apologize for any inconvenience that this additional call may cause. This process helps us to maintain a safe school environment and support your child and family. Thank you for your support.

Be well! Stay healthy!

Arline Siam

Principal

Upcoming Events

 

January 

-10-14- Conference Week Minimum Day

-17 - Martin Luther King  Jr Day No School

-20 - SSC at 3:15pm

 

Reporting Absences

If you are reporting a student's absence, please email [email protected] or call the attendance line at (650)526-3490 ext 3080.

Reminder: Please include your student's name, your student's room or teacher, the reason for absence, the date of absence(s) and the relationship of the person leaving the message. Thank you from the office staff!

District News:

Attendance is important: Parent notifications ramp up in January

Research shows that school attendance is a strong indicator of success. It's about students learning what they need to know, belonging to the school community, and being part of the team that is preparing them with good habits for high school.

What’s an Excused vs. Not Excused absence? Illness (including quarantining due to COVID), doctor’s appointments, bereavement, and certain religious exercises are excused absences.

Letters: beginning in this month, MVWSD will send letters to parents of any student who is truant (any three unexcused absences and/ or tardies over 30 minutes means a child is truant). These letters inform parents when students have had three or more unexcused absences and inform families of next steps and any resources or procedures in place to help their family get their child to school regularly.

Calls: In January, MVWSD schools will also begin using an automated system to notify parents when a student is absent from school. This automated call will alert a parent that a student has been marked absent.  This is important for the safety of your child and for our attendance accounting.  Please ensure we have the reason for your child’s absence. 

It’s possible that you might receive a call after you have notified the office of the absence. We apologize for any inconvenience that this additional call may cause. This process helps us to maintain a safe school environment and support your child and family. Thank you for your support.

Parent-Teacher Conferences are Jan. 10-14. Minimum day for students. Sign up for conferences!

Parent-Teacher (Student) Conferences present a valuable opportunity to discuss your child’s progress, strengths and needs, and work with your teacher to help your child have a successful academic experience. Conference week is scheduled for January 10-14, 2022. Every day that week is a minimum day for students. 

COVID booster now available for individuals 12+

The CDC has now approved boosters for children ages 12 to 15. Boosters provide an additional layer of protection against COVID-19, including the Omicron variant. Also, if you received the Pfizer vaccines as your initial COVID-19 vaccine series, you can now get a booster 5 months after your second dose instead of 6 months. You can schedule your vaccine appointment at: www.sccFreeVax.org.

Booster and flu shot clinic Thursday (Jan. 13) at Blach Intermediate, Los Altos

COVID vaccines, COVID boosters (including for ages 12+) and flu shots are available. See the attached flyer for information and for the link to make an appointment.

Please upload your child’s completed vaccine card

Many of our younger students are getting their 2nd COVID vaccine shot this week. When your child's vaccine card has their second shot listed, please upload a copy to Powerschool. Vaccine cards will be referred to in the case of a positive COVID exposure for your student, and MVWSD needs accurate data for decisions about COVID protocols. Click here for a video that shows you how to upload documents: https://vimeo.com/606954357.Thank you in advance for uploading your documents now!

Preschool information meetings: Jan. 12 and Jan. 26

The award-winning MVWSD Preschool Program is currently accepting applications for full- and part-day for the 2022-23 school year.

All 4-year-olds residing in the Castro School boundaries are now eligible for FREE, part-day state preschool at Latham.

Our preschool offers age-appropriate early math, language, literacy and science inquiry instruction, as well as social-emotional development in either part-day and full-day classes.

*** Join us for an info meeting on January 12 at 3:30 pm (Spanish) at Zoom link: http://mvw.sd/PK112 or January 26 at 3:30 pm (English) at Zoom link: http://mvw.sd/PK126 ***

Children who will be 3- or 4-years old at any time during the school year are eligible. Priority enrollment is for children who will be 4 years old by Sept. 1.  Full day is 8 a.m.- 3 p.m., part-day is 3 hrs in the morning or afternoon.

Now accepting applications for full- and part-day spaces. Enrollment appointments begin in March. For more info go to www.mvwsd.org/preschool or call 650-526-3560.

Parent University: Managing Stress and Fostering Resiliency

Date: 1/19/22, 5:30 p.m.  Registration Link: http://mvw.sd/pu011922

Does hearing about stress make you feel stressed out? Let’s face this universal phenomenon together. This presentation will:

• Identify common stressors and the effects of stress

• Explore tips for stress management for oneself

• Provide tips on how to support our kids with stress management 

To submit questions prior to the event, please click here. We will do our best to address your question during the session.

Open Enrollment for all MVWSD students starts in January

For CURRENT students in transitional kindergarten-7th grade: Parents will be asked by email to confirm enrollment from January 24-28.

For NEW students:  Open Enrollment is from January 10 through Feb. 4, 2022 online. You can register your child for the 2022-23 school year when online registration opens here:  www.mvwsd.org/register 

Please visit www.mvwsd.org/register for more information.

MVWSD Wellness Parenting Tip: Improving Your or Your Child's Mood

 

Stressful events influence our thoughts (words or images that pop into our mind), feelings (our emotions), and actions (what we do or say). For example, if your childcare falls through, then you might think, "my day is ruined;" you might feel frustrated; and you might act short-tempered with your child, partner, or colleagues. Doing enjoyable activities can prevent stressful events from ruining our day.

To improve your (or your child's) mood:

1) Track your mood throughout the day (e.g., rate how you feel each morning, afternoon, and evening from 1 = unhappy to 5 = happy).

2) Create a list of activities that you enjoy doing.

3) Schedule one or more of these activities.

4) Do the scheduled activity.

5) Compare your mood before and after doing the activity.

Watch this video to learn more about how doing fun activities can make you (or your child) feel better: http://mvw.sd/4V8V1

MVEF Gala Save the Date: March 19, 2022 & Survey input requested

The MVEF Gala Committee is hard at work ensuring that our Annual Gala on March 19th will be a fun evening that raises funds for our schools. We are still working out all the details as current conditions shift - so stay tuned! We do know that Trivia will be back as will our annual raffle. If you'd like to join the planning committee, please contact Andrea Maes at [email protected].

Please take our Survey! MVEF wants your input on our funding priorities

MVEF wants to know your thoughts about our stretch goal, the programs that we usually fund, and areas where MVEF could potentially fund programs in the future for all MVWSD students.

Please take a moment to complete this survey.  

 

Inclusive Fun Fair - Summer Camp and Recreation opportunities for students with learning challenges. Sponsored by SELPA 1 CAC (www.selpa1cac.org)

 

Tuesday, January 25 7-8:30 PM on Zoom

 

Learn more about local summer camp and recreational opportunities from our panel, including:

Via West and Camp Altitude, The Friendship Circle, Camp EDMO, Camp Tuolumne Trails, Learning Play with Chaia May, Special Olympics Nor. Cal., Animal Assisted Happiness. Camp Harmon, Quest Therapeutic Camps and more!

Register:https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZYsdeCprDMoHNQmNm2AxCpcukE3IRu-YdIZ 

 

MVLA Parent Ed Speaker Series: Jessica Lahey - The Addiction Inoculation

Join us online on Thursday, January 13, 2022 from 7:00 - 9:00pm as Jessica Lahey, educator and NYT columnist, provides evidence-based strategies to raise healthy kids in a culture of dependence. In this supportive, life-saving resource, Jessica helps parents and educators understand the roots of substance abuse and identify who is most at risk for addiction, and offers practical steps for prevention. Register for this free event.

Mountain View Community Shuttle EXPANDED HOURS

Thanks to new VTA funding, the City of Mountain View is pleased to announce that the Mountain View Community Shuttle will expand weekday hours to better serve our community. 

 

Beginning Monday, January 3, 2022, the Shuttle’s weekday hours will be 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Weekend service hours will remain 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. For more information, please call Customer Service at: 855-730-RIDE (7433) or check MVCommunityShuttle.com.

 

PTA News:

IMAI PTA SPRING WALKATHON: Mark your calendars! We are hoping to have our first ever (or, the first in at least a decade) Imai Walkathon on March 19, 2022 (pending COVID status at the time). The Walkathon would be a fun activity for the whole family, helping to strengthen our school community in a social setting while raising funds for programs and materials provided by Imai PTA. 

We need several volunteers to help us with PLANNING activities related to walkathon logistics, prizes, software, incentives, food and beverage / food trucks, music, decorations, marketing, sponsorship, etc. If you would like to be on a walkathon planning committee to help shape and execute our event, please sign up on Konstella. We will reach out shortly to begin setting up committee meetings. Email [email protected] if you have any questions.

 

 

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED FOR COMMUNITY FOOD ASSISTANCE: Please consider supporting Imai in giving back to the MV community! Several MVWSD PTAs have agreed to support the Mountain View Community Services Agency (CSA) with food distribution efforts providing groceries and food to MVWSD families in need. The date for Imai parents to volunteer is next Wednesday, Jan. 19, from 1:15-4:15 p.m.

School pantry volunteers assist with our mobile pantry at the Castro School distribution site. Volunteer responsibilities include assisting with unloading food crates and boxes, organizing food items for distribution, replenishing food items as needed, assisting families with shopping, and loading equipment and leftover food in the van to return to CSA. There will be some lifting involved (20-25 lbs.) and volunteers must be 18 or older. Up to 6 volunteers are needed from 1:15- 4:15 PM at Castro School. The address is 500 Toft Street or you can park on the Mistral side at 505 Escuela Ave. Volunteer parking on the street. Sign up to volunteer on Konstella by this Friday, Jan. 14.

 

 

Attachments:

MVLA Speaker Series 2021 - 2022_Annual Line-up.docx 

Parent U 2021-22 (English)

2021 PC - MVWSD 

MV Community Shuttle Service Expansion (English and Spanish)

InclusiveFunFlyer

Blach Intermediate School- LASD COVID 1st dose Clinic ENHANCED Flyer