Cougar Chat
Educating Lifelong Learners
August 31, 2023
Upcoming
Friday, September 1 and Monday, September 4
NO SCHOOL - Labor Day Holiday
Tuesday, September 5
Watch D.O.G.S. from Last Year can Begin Volunteering (see below)
Friday, September 8
PTO Popcorn Friday - Wear MVES Spirit Wear
Friday, September 15
NO SCHOOL - Holiday
Monday, September 18
PTO Spirit Event at Haymarket Iceplex 4:20-5:50pm
Tuesday, September 19
Last Day to Purchase INSURANCE for your Child's Device (see below)
Monday, September 25
NO SCHOOL - Holiday
PTO Spirit Night at Chipotle 4:00-8:00pm
Thursday, September 28
Back to School Night 6:00-6:45pm
Volunteer Training #1 in MVES Gym 6:45-7:30pm
Friday, September 29
Watch DOGS Kickoff Event 6:00-7:00pm
Safety Drills
We conduct safety drills to practice what to do in the event of an emergency. We conduct fire, tornado, earthquake, shelter in place, evacuation, secure the building, bus evacuation, and lockdown (active intruder) drills. At the beginning of the year, teachers will speak with students about the drills before and after we are finished to help students understand the process and to provide any reassurances needed. You can find more information on safety drills on the division website at PWCS Crisis Preparedness
Reminders
Please send a reusable water bottle to school for your child. They can refill during the day at one of our 4 bottle refilling stations. Please label the bottle with your child's name.
Label Clothes
Please label your child's jacket/sweater/outer wear. We already have items in the Lost and Found that haven't been claimed.
Watch DOGS Kickoff 9/29
We are excited to continue the National Watch D.O.G.S. program at MVES. The program has been very successful, and we look forward to its continued success this year. Please save the following dates:
Tuesday, September 5 - All Watch D.O.G.S. who completed the MVES volunteer training and who volunteered as a Watchdog last year may begin volunteering as early as September 5th. Please use this link to sign up: https://signup.com/go/XcNfojG. Information on when new volunteers may sign up will be provided at the Watch D.O.G.S. Pizza Night.
Friday, September 29 - Fathers/Father-Figures and their children are invited to the MVES Watch D.O.G.S. Kick-Off Pizza Night. The Pizza Night is open to all aspiring and alumni Watchdogs. If interested, please RSVP by Tuesday, September 26th via this link: https://signup.com/go/ppkyKVP. We need an accurate headcount for pizza and chaperones. Please see the attached flyer for more information.
Until then, if you have any questions, please contact MVES Watch D.O.G.S. co-coordinators: Chris Cannon and Mike Williams at mveswatchdogs1@gmail.com.
PALS Assessment
Prince William County Public Schools will participate in the Phonological Awareness Literacy Screening (PALS) in grades K-3 to measure a child's knowledge of important literacy skills.
This assessment will take place between September 5th -29th. All students in 1st and 2nd grade will be assessed, as well as all new students and some identified students in Grade 3. All Kindergarten students will take the assessment between October 2nd- 27th.
This assessment measures a child's knowledge of several important literacy fundamentals; phonological awareness, concept of word, knowledge of letter sounds and spelling. PALS provides a direct means of matching literacy instruction to specific literacy needs and provides a means of identifying those children who are relatively behind in their acquisition of these fundamental literacy skills and are at risk of reading difficulties.
Kiss & Ride
Thank you for being extra safe and cautious through the Kiss & Ride line!
Reminders:
Please do not stop along the grass curve by the brick Mountain View sign. Whether the orange cones and "No Stopping" signs are there or not, it is important that vehicles do not stop along that curve. It blocks the street and makes it challenging for the busses to get by safely.
Please do not block the bus entrance or exits as you are waiting in the K&R lane.
Please be mindful of pulling up close to the vehicle in front of you so we can fit vehicles along the sidewalk.
Focus on Attendance
This year Mountain View will be recognizing attendance! The PWCS Strategic Plan puts a great emphasis on attendance and we are jumping on board! We want to reinforce good attendance habits and reduce chronic absenteeism (missing more than 10% of the school year). We certainly understand that children get sick and need to stay home and we continue to encourage parents to keep children home when they are not feeling well. However, we do want to celebrate good attendance.
This year we will celebrate attendance in three ways:
1) The month of September is Attendance Awareness Month! We will recognize classes with perfect attendance at the end of the day on the announcements.
2) Quarterly - Students with two or fewer absences each quarter will be recognized in their classrooms and will receive a ribbon to take home. The absence count will start over each quarter so that students who miss more than two days in the previous quarter will be able to earn the reward the next quarter.
3) Cumulatively - At the end of the year, students with perfect attendance (0 days missed all year) will receive a perfect attendance award.
Device Insurance
Insurance MUST be purchased by September 19th. Securranty states that it must be purchased within 30 days of the device being issued, so please be mindful of this deadline.
Securranty Insurance for 23-24 School Year
School Family Liaison Chat
Greetings, marvelous Mountain View families!
What an amazing start we had for our students and staff! Seeing the children with energy and eagerness has been a joy. Thank you for preparing and supporting your children for this year! Among several resources to supplement students’ success, Prince William County School (PWCS) system has an awesome online tool, available 24 hours a day, seven days a week; this is completely free, regulated by PWCS and follows grade-level curriculum: Paper Online Tutoring
Thank you to all parents who have shared their time to volunteer, giving a boost to our beginning! For those interested in volunteering with various opportunities, we will host the first Volunteer Training session Thursday, September 28, 2023 following Back to School Night. Once training is complete, compliance is valid for two school years. We greatly appreciate your time and dedication to help!
Stay tuned to this section throughout the year for information and updates. Exciting things to happen!
Ingrid Allen
PTO Chat
Thank you to all of the families who attended our MVES PTO Family Movie Night, the first PTO meeting of the year, and our first Spirit Night at Cookies and Cream. It was an absolute hit and we are grateful for all of the teachers who participated in the event and families who joined in the fun. 10% of profits goes to our school and there will be many more opportunities to show support. Keep an eye out for our newsletter with upcoming dates. Register TODAY for the 2023-2024 school year and together let's support our teachers and students! Please take a moment to sign up HERE
PTO Officers 2023-24
President - Mike Emerson & Alicia Riccardella
Vice President - Shannon Koval
Treasurer - Mary Wise
Secretary - Katy Stone
PTO Website: https://mvespto.ch2v.com
Email the PTO at: gomvespto@gmail.com
PTO Facebook Page: MVESPTOHAYMARKETVA
Lunch Chat
Volunteers
Thank you to the many helpers we have already had in the cafeteria! Please consider helping us as we continue to work to hire a cafeteria host. Cafeteria Host HelpLunch Visitors
Our students are doing a WONDERFUL job learning the expectations and routines in the cafeteria! We are on track to permitting lunch visitors in September. We will use Sign-Up Genius to make sure we have enough space for parents/families who want to come to school to have lunch with their child(ren). If you are bringing more than one person, please indicate with the appropriate number of slots, so we have enough seats for everyone.
Please arrive 5-10 minutes early to meet your child's class as they pass through the lobby on their way to lunch.
We have set aside two Visitor Tables for this purpose. The only students that should be at the Visitor Table are your children. Students are not allowed to have other students join them at the Visitor Table. Visitor Tables are located at the back of the cafeteria, near the stage. Visitors over the age of 18 MUST have a photo ID to enter the building. You are allowed to bring your child lunch, either from home or an outside vendor. Please do not bring lunches for other children, as this could be a potential allergy issue.
Use the following link to sign up: MVES Families at Lunch The Sign-Up link is also on our website https://mountainviewes.pwcs.edu under Family Engagement>Families at Lunch.
Library Chat
For 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade students:
The library has several Playaway audio books for our upper-grade students to check out. We are happy to have students check these out, but want to let families know that if the Playaway is lost or damaged, the fee can be relatively pricey. Fees can be as much as $65 to replace a lost or damaged audio book.
If you will allow your child to check out Playaways, please sign the permission slip and return to your child's teacher. https://bit.ly/Playawaypermission
Karen Scott, Librarian
Cafe Corner
PWCS Food and Nutrition Department’s Local Harvest of the Month
Did you know your school cafeteria serves seasonal Virginia produce all year long? Incorporating local products into our menus gives students the opportunity to enjoy nutritious fresh fruits and vegetables, while learning about the seasonality of foods and how foods are grown. These products support local farms and are a tasty way to improve the health of our children!
Every month, the PWCS Food and Nutrition Department features a different Virginia-grown fruit or vegetable as the Local Harvest of the Month! Follow @PWCSNutrition on Twitter and Instagram to learn about the monthly Harvest of the Month, and the many local farmers who grow food for our menus! PWCS Nutrition also shares recipes for many of the scratch made menu items that feature the Local Harvest of the Month! This month the featured recipe is PWCS Nutrition’s scratch made Kickin’ Roasted Veggies, which are made with local Virginia-grown bell peppers and yellow squash!
National School Lunch Week Contests in September!
The Food and Nutrition Department is hosting two Division-wide contests in September! The winners of the contests will be announced during National School Lunch Week (October 10th 13th).
Students across the Division have the opportunity to participate in a T-Shirt Design Contest and a School Lunch Minecraft Education Build Challenge! The winning T-Shirt design will be turned into a shirt that will be worn by all PWCS Food and Nutrition Department employees this school year. Students who participate in the Minecraft Education Build Challenge will have the chance to participate in a video chat with one of the Directors of Minecraft Education and have their design be featured at the PWCS Food and Nutrition Department’s Food Show at Colgan High School on October 26th! Please contact the School Food Service Manager at your school to get the rules and guidelines for both contests, or access the guidelines on the PWCS Food and Nutrition Department’s Launchpad.
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Mountain View
Cougars are:
Creative, Optimistic, and Understanding.
As we Grow, we are Accountable for what we do and are Respectful to all in order to be Successful.
Email: harrisay@pwcs.edu
Website: https://mountainviewes.pwcs.edu/
Location: 5600 McLeod Way, Haymarket, VA, USA
Phone: 703-754-4161
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Mountain-View-Elementary-School-1547227678881810/
Twitter: @mvesroars
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