Cougar Chat
Educating Lifelong Learners
November 2, 2023
Upcoming
Monday, November 6 - NO SCHOOL for STUDENTS
Parent-Teacher Conference Day
PTO Sponsors Teacher Appreciation Lunch
Volunteer Training 7:00-7:45 via Zoom
Meeting ID: 880 1813 1771
Passcode: 392426
Tuesday, November 7 - NO SCHOOL for STUDENTS
Teacher Work Day
Thursday, November 9
Veterans Celebration 9:30-11:00am (see details below)
Read-a-Thon Pizza with the Principal for Students Who Raised Over $125
Friday, November 10 - NO SCHOOL
Veterans Day
Tuesday, November 14
PTO Spirit Event at Panera 4:00-8:00
Wednesday, November 15
Report Cards Can be Viewed in ParentVUE
Honor Roll Certificates for Quarter 1 Presented
Attendance Ribbons for Quarter 1 Presented
Monday, November 20
Turkey Trot to Celebrate 1,500 Items Donated to the Haymarket Food Pantry
Tuesday, November 21
Parent Advisory Council Meeting at 4:30 via Zoom
Wednesday, November 22-24 - NO SCHOOL
Thanksgiving Holiday
Thank You for Making Read-A-Thon a SUCCESS!
Veterans Day Celebration 11/9
We invite all Veterans connected or related to our students at MVES, to honor each of you and your valuable service. We will have our annual celebration and "Pass In Review" Thursday, November 9th from 9:30-11:00am. Please register veterans using this form: https://forms.office.com/r/Ufj5LmfkGG
Lunch & Birthdays
We have hired one cafeteria host and continue to interview for another. Please consider helping in the cafeteria if you have some time! Volunteers help in a variety of ways: setting up the cafeteria, assisting students in line, responding to student needs, dismissing classes, helping students clean up, put trays away, and line up. They assist in maintaining order during lunch and while students are in line. Use this link if you can spend a little time in the Mountain View Café: MVES Cafeteria Help
Lunch Visitors
We 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.
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. 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.
Birthdays
We celebrate student birthdays on our student-run morning broadcast, The Cougar Connection. Birthdays are announced and students are asked to come to the office to get a birthday pencil and sticker. July and August birthdays are recognized in June.
We continue our efforts to reduce the frequency that students are introduced to sugary foods at school and to reduce the frequency that students with food allergies are exposed to allergens. In alignment with the PWCS Wellness Regulation, we request that if you want to acknowledge your child’s birthday at school, you consider sending in a non-food item such as pencils, stickers, or donation of a book for the class library. Coordinating with the teacher for an extra five minutes at recess is another good idea. We are not able to accommodate food treats (such as cupcakes) for the entire class in the cafeteria. A reminder that party invitations are not permitted to be handed out at school unless the entire class is invited.
Journalism Club
The students each chose to join the club for different reasons. “I love writing and I want to get better at it,” Ariana said. Kat wanted to join the club because she loves to write and hang out with her friends. Ansley commented, “I love to write, and I think this club would be a great way to practice my writing.” Some students have specific goals to improve the content of their writing. Aubrey’s main goal is to improve her ability to get her ideas down on paper. “I hope to learn spacing skills when writing paragraphs,” said Sophie. Maryam commented that she wants to improve her editing skills.
The Journalism Club recently experienced a live virtual tour with Doug Currin, a multiple-award winning, Columbia-based ABC news anchor. The students were then featured on television during the evening news broadcast with Mr. Currin reporting. It was an amazing experience for the club members to learn all about journalism from a true expert!
End of Quarter 1
Honor Roll
We are so proud of all of our students! They have been working hard this year, building on previously learned standards and applying new skills in all content areas. We will celebrate students in third, fourth, and fifth grades who have earned exceptional grades with an Honor Roll certificate. Criteria for earning Honor Roll include: Earning an A or B in all content areas (reading, writing, math, social studies, and science) and earning an S+ or S in all other areas on the report card (including conduct and work habits). Teachers will present students with their certificate during their class meeting on Wednesday, November 15.
Attendance
The PWCS Strategic Plan puts a great emphasis on attendance and 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 was Attendance Awareness Month! We recognized 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. Teachers will present students with their ribbon for excellent attendance for the first quarter of school during their class meeting on Wednesday, November 15
3) Cumulatively - At the end of the year, students with perfect attendance (0 days missed all year) will receive a perfect attendance award.
Purple Star
We are excited to announce that Mountain View Elementary School continues to be a Purple Star designated school for the next three years! This award is presented to schools who demonstrate support to students of military families in numerous and consistent ways throughout each school year. The application process is through the Department of Education. We have had a strong military support program to our students and families over a decade.
PTO
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
Parent Advisory Council
The Advisory Council would like to have a representative from each grade level and specialty program so that we can have input from all aspects of our student population. We are looking for a parent with a child in kindergarten, fourth grade, gifted, and special education to join us! Please send an email to the PAC email address listed below. Minutes from the October meeting are linked below.
Our next meeting will be Tuesday, November 21st at 4:30pm via Zoom.
MVES Parent Advisory Council Meeting
Meeting ID: 895 8813 1796
Passcode: 046216
Council Officers 2022-24
Chair - Tabatha Walton
Vice Chair - Kari Nieto
Secretary - Natalie Lint
Superintendents Advisory Council Rep - Tiffany Brown
Email PAC at mvespac@gmail.com
Art Project
We are collecting toilet paper and paper towel cardboard tubes for a recycled art lesson in the near future. We need about 2000 total, or 5-6 per student. If you have some cardboard tubes around the house, please send them in.
Rick Skelton, Art teacher
Lost and Found
Child Find
A Family Guide to Child Find
When: Thursday, November 9, 2023, 11a.m.-12 p.m. & 6-7 p.m. via Zoom webinar
Class Description: Welcome to the Child Find in Virginia! This session is designed to help parents identify and support children who may have special educational needs. We will explore how to recognize signs of learning or physical disabilities in kids and understand the importance of early intervention. We will learn how to navigate the Child Find process in Virginia, ensuring that every child receives the necessary support and resources to reach their full potential. Join us on this journey to make a positive impact in the lives of the children of Prince William County!
REGISTER HERE:
11a.m. https://pwcs-zm-edu.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_9IHrTPgbTU-QKgCyn6_rjA
or
6p.m. https://pwcs-zm-edu.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_Q1fD7BhITLS8W3MEMRewFg
Opportunities Coming
We have parent volunteers to help reignite our Robotics Club! The club will meet on Thursdays from 4:00-5:00. Information on joining, schedule of events, commitments, and goals for the year will come home soon!
Spring Musical
We are gearing up for our second musical! Is your 3rd, 4th, or 5th grader interested in participating in the production of Frozen Kids at MVES? We have opportunities to participate as a Performer or in Tech Theater (Stage Design)
Frozen Kids will meet on Wednesday afternoons from 4:00 - 6:00 pm beginning February 14th (April 3rd for tech theater)
We will have two performances, Thursday May 16th and Friday May 17th.
*Limit to 50 performers and 15 Tech Crew Members on a first come, first served basis. Registration will go live on December 1st at 7:00 AM.
Performer Registration (Limit 50)
Tech Crew Registration (Limit 15)
MVES Webpage
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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
Embracing New Adventures!
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Webpage https://mountainviewes.pwcs.edu