MVLA April Parent Newsletter

Good morning Wonderful MVLA Families!

Last week we did the State Required MSSA Assessments. If your child was unable to be present for both sections, we will need to give them the make up assessments. We will need to do that as soon as possible. It will take them all morning, so please have them to the school by 9am Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday this week.

Next week, eighth graders will need to take the state required Science Assessments. Please have students here by 9 Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday for those assessments. Thank you so much for your cooperation. I know how hard these kids are working and it is very much appreciated.

As many of you already know, one of the biggest MVLA events is coming up this Friday. If you are interested in assisting with this event, please let me know at amartos@lcps.net or call or text me at 575-649-5234. This exciting event will be from 9-12:00 on Friday April 22. We will likely need more judges, people to help coordinate activities and/or provide breaks, snacks or drinks for the judges.

Happy Spring MVLA Families!

It's April and this month is going to FLY BY! There are so many events and activities, I may forget a few. Please feel free to call me and remind me to send out information about anything I may inadvertently leave out.

Here are the some of the major happenings:

April 6-8th We will be doing the MSSA State Assessments. Please send kiddos with their water bottles and encourage them to try their best. If you are comfortable with it, I would even prefer they leave their phones at home so that won't be an issue during testing.

April 20th is also the last DAC of this School Year. This last meeting will be at Mesilla Elementary at 5:30pm.

April 15th and 18th No School

April 22nd - Amazing Shake

April 27th - The top two winning Houses will be attending the Chihuahua's Baseball Game.

The Science State Assessments will also happen this month, but we are still creating the schedule for that.

On March 31st, we held the 8th grade parent meeting to plan the end of year ceremony. After much debate, it looks like we need to keep the ceremony on May 14th. The time will be adjusted to accommodate for those who have another event in the afternoon. The start time will likely be 6:30pm.

Each student will be given 4 tickets to invite 4 people to the ceremony/meal. If they do not need all 4 tickets, we are asking they return them so other students may invite more guests. These will be handed out on a first come, first serve basis. We hate to set such limits, but the size of our space and the size of our parking lot dictate that we must.

Parents will be bringing food at doing decorations. Our fabulous PTO President Jayme Elftman has the sign up list. If you have questions for her or would like to offer your help, she can be contacted through email at jelftman@lcps.net.

1. We would like to start a MVLA 4H club, but we need a volunteer to head that up. If you're interested, please let us know as soon as possible so we can get that started.

3. We are also ALWAYS looking for volunteers to run My Times. If you are interested in hosting a My Time or just coming in as a guest presenter, please contact me.

4. Last but not least, we NEED JUDGES for our Amazing Shake. What that means is that April 22nd, we will need community members to come judge students performing various real world activities. (Interviewing, giving a speech, making change, etc.) If you would like to be a judge or just want to help with planning and logistics, email us, call us, text us.....as soon as possible.

The next DAC meeting date has changed!! The April 7 DAC meeting (this week) has been postponed until April 20, 2022. We will meet at Mesilla Elementary, 5:30 – 7:30 pm. We currently have two people representing MVLA, but the District hopes we can have at least four people from each school. So if you find yourself available to come to that meeting, we would love your company!

Our PTO meeting will be this Thursday, April 21st at MVLA at 6pm. (Warning, I may need some assistance setting up for the Amazing Shake. So if you are able to attend, I may put you to work.)

1. Students also need to remember to bring their water bottle with their name on it. Some students are using not having their water bottle as an excuse to get out of class.
2. Please make sure to send a note or contact the school when your child is absent so we can mark them in the system correctly.

Students are only allowed to use their cell phones before school, at lunch and after school. If you need to speak to your child or get a message to your child during the day, please call the front office at 527-6059 and we will get the message to your student.

If your child does not feel well, please tell them they need to come see the nurse and she will contact you if they need to be picked up. Students should not be calling or texting parents during the day unless it is from the office with an adult present.

Mesilla Valley Leadership Academy is a 6-8 school of choice here in Las Cruces, New Mexico. Started by Dr. Toni Hull, we are a RCA inspired project-based school. We have five houses who all compete to win the coveted Title of Champions each year.

Email: amartos@lcps.net
Website: https://sites.google.com/lcpsmail.org/mesillavalleyleadershipacademy/home
Location: 821 East Lohman
Phone: 575-527-6059

Please be sure to check out http://www.lcps.net/ for information about tutoring, meal services and other district initiatives available to the community.