Mountain View News

This month in Physical Education, we are excited to begin Unit 2: Cooperative Games! Throughout this unit, students will participate in a variety of fun and engaging team challenges that encourage them to work together while developing important social and communication skills. Our focus will be on demonstrating the 4 C's of Cooperation: Cooperate, Communicate Positively, Concentrate, and Compromise. These skills help students become respectful teammates, effective problem-solvers, and positive leaders both in and out of the gym.

Our Grade 3–5 students are also wrapping up their pre-fitness assessments. Over the coming months, students will set personal fitness goals and continue building their cardiovascular endurance, muscular strength and endurance, flexibility, and agility through a variety of activities. They will have the opportunity to measure their progress during our post-fitness assessments in April, allowing them to celebrate their individual growth and achievements.

Please take a look at the wonderful photos of our students working together during one of our favorite cooperative activities, the Scooter Store Challenge! In this challenge, teams used a variety of PE equipment to design and build the tallest free-standing tower they could. Students demonstrated creativity, teamwork, communication, and perseverance while having fun solving the challenge together. We are proud of the effort and positive sportsmanship our Marauders continue to display in Physical Education!

Kindergarten: Our youngest musicians are exploring high and low sounds, finding the steady beat, moving with scarves, singing fun fall songs, and discovering percussion instruments!

1st Grade: First graders are using their voices, bodies, scarves, and instruments to explore steady beat, high and low sounds, rhythm, and fun fall music!

2nd Grade: Second graders are reading rhythms, learning “Pass the Pumpkin,” and having a blast rotating through Boomwhackers, barred instruments, and shakers!

3rd Grade: Third graders are strengthening their rhythm and note-reading skills while preparing “Pass the Pumpkin” with a variety of Orff instruments!

4th Grade: Fourth graders are sharpening their rhythm skills with new note values while learning how composers use tempo and dynamics to make music exciting and expressive!

5th Grade: Fifth graders are putting their musical skills into action as they follow notation, perform with Boomwhackers, and explore the dramatic musical changes in In the Hall of the Mountain King!

Band is off to a great start!

5th Grade Band: Our returning students are refreshing their memories with a first year review. We are also already preparing for our Winter Concert. Bring on Da Band and A Rather Bumpy Sleigh Ride take what we learned last year and add some new challenges! Our first year 5th grade students are off to the races! We've learned how to make a sound, assemble our instruments and read at least our first three notes!

4th Grade Band: With our second lesson under our belt, our younger beginners are making sounds on their "small instruments" , assembling their instruments, finding their home keys and playing three notes. It's tough work, but we are doing it!

Practicing at home: I understand time at home flies by, so any time your child can spend with their instrument is valuable! Playing at home will reinforce what we learn in school and help them progress more steadily.

Beginners: 5-10 minutes, focusing on a steady air stream and a full tone

Second Year Players: 10 minutes, working on assigned lesson book exercises and sections of their concert music.

What’s Happening in the Media Center?

Kindergarten: We’re learning all about the library as a place to read, learn, explore, create, and share! Students read How Do Dinosaurs Go to School? by Jane Yolen. We discussed how to take good care of our books. Students created dinosaurs with Magna-Tiles, participated in a dino dig color sort, and completed a cut and paste dinosaur puzzle.

1st Grade: First graders are discovering how the library helps us become successful readers and learners. After enjoying Acorn Was a Little Wild written by Jen Arena and illustrated by Jessica Gibson, students explored the parts of a tree and retelling through a labeling the parts of a tree and cut and paste story sequencing activity.

2nd Grade: We’re becoming story detectives! Students will practice retelling stories, identifying the main idea and key details, and exploring fiction and nonfiction books. With The Leaf Thief by Alice Hemming, students practiced retelling the story from beginning to end by completing a sequencing cut and paste craft-ivity! Be sure to ask your students all about who is stealing all the leaves!!

3rd Grade: Penguins are taking center stage! Students will explore fiction and nonfiction through Penguin Problems by Jory John and National Geographic Penguin texts. They practiced identifying the main idea and supporting details of each text, then used what they learned to identify the main idea and supporting details of a separate article about penguins. Students showed off their skills, applying the reading strategy in both fiction and nonfiction!

4th Grade: Fourth graders are becoming Nonfiction Text Feature Detectives! Students will review how headings, captions, diagrams, bold print, indexes, tables of contents, and hyperlinks help readers find important information and add teaching power to nonfiction texts. They’ll put their skills to work in small groups with a fun text-feature matching game.

5th Grade: It’s time to think, build, and problem-solve! Fifth graders worked collaboratively on a STEAM challenge to save Sam (a gummy worm) trapped on top of his boat after a big wave flipped it over, with his life preserver (a candy peach ring) underneath his boat (a cup). Students needed to get Sam into his life preserver and back in his boat without touching him or the boat. The only supply they were allowed to use was a couple of paperclips. They were not allowed to poke Sam or the boat. All students successfully saved Sam!! The focus this week was on collaboration, communication, and finding solutions together to complete the task.

I am pleased to share an update on the exciting learning taking place in the Mountain View art room. Our students have been working hard and exploring a variety of artists, techniques, and creative concepts.

• Kindergarten and 2nd Grade: Students are learning about the life and artwork of Vincent van Gogh.
• 1st Grade: Students are exploring the artwork of René Magritte and learning about Surrealism.
• 3rd Grade: Students are completing their Autumn Leaf projects and will begin creating Crooked Houses next week.
• 4th Grade: Students have completed their Dragon Eye projects, and their artwork looks fantastic! They will next begin creating Dragon Sculptures.
• 5th Grade: Students are beginning to study one-point perspective and learning how artists use perspective to create the illusion of depth and space.

Art Room Reminder

If your child has not yet brought in an art smock, please send one in at your earliest convenience. Art activities can sometimes become messy, and while smocks provide protection, they may not completely cover clothing.

Please keep art days in mind when selecting your child’s clothing, particularly if they are wearing new or special clothing that you would prefer not to get dirty.

Thank you for your continued support and for helping us provide students with a creative and engaging art experience. I look forward to seeing their artistic skills and confidence continue to grow throughout the school year.

This month, we’re building strong library habits and fostering a love of reading! Students are learning library procedures, practicing proper book care, and discovering the joy of finding books that spark their interests. Our upper grades will put their library skills to work as they learn to locate “just right” texts and participate in engaging, collaborative STEAM challenges that encourage creativity, problem-solving, and teamwork.

Hello Parents,

** Please see the video below for more information⏬

What a wonderful few weeks it has been at Mountain View! We had our first Mountain View Moments Assembly, and it was a huge success! It was so exciting to see our students and staff come together to celebrate the positive choices, kindness, and sense of community that make Mountain View such a special place.

During our assembly, we officially introduced our Mountain View school rules and our new school motto. We are excited to continue building a strong school community where everyone feels welcome, valued, and supported. Please take a look at the flyer above for more information about our school rules and motto.

We also introduced our new School Store program! Students will be bringing home information about the School Store in their folders today. Please take a few minutes to look it over. This is a fun opportunity for our students while also helping us raise money to support our school and provide additional opportunities for our students.

💙 Week of Respect

Next week, we will be celebrating Week of Respect! This is an important opportunity to focus on kindness, inclusion, friendship, and treating others with respect. Please see the flyer above for our school spirit days and information about what each day represents. We encourage everyone to participate and help us spread kindness throughout our school community!

safe while traveling to and from school.

📅 Attendance Matters!

As always, please continue to make school attendance a priority. Being in school every day is extremely important to your child's academic growth, relationships, and overall success. Every day at Mountain View is an opportunity to learn, grow, and be part of our school community!

🗳️ Referendum Information

Please take some time to watch the referendum video attached to this newsletter, if you have not already done so. We want our families to have the information they need to understand what the referendum means for our district and our schools.

🚗 A Reminder About Arrival & Dismissal

Finally, thank you for your continued cooperation in helping us keep our students safe during arrival and dismissal. Please do not park in our school parking lots unless you are authorized to do so. If you need to park, please use only appropriately designated parking areas on the street. Keeping traffic moving and maintaining clear access to our school helps us ensure the safety of all of our students, families, and staff.

Thank you, as always, for your continued support, partnership, and commitment to our Mountain View community. There is so much happening at Mountain View, and we are grateful to have such wonderful families alongside us!

Together We Belong! Together We Succeed!

Email: melissa.kolenski@motsd.org
Website: www.motsd.org
Location: 118 Clover Hill Drive, Flanders, NJ, USA
Phone: 973-927-2201
Twitter: @MtView07836

Bell Rings 8:30 am

Buses will enter through the front loop and children will enter through Doors, 2, 3 and 4 (gym doors)

Students not assigned a bus:

Walkers- enter through Door 1- Main Entrance

Kindergarten and Ms. Bella. Ms. Tami and Ms. Emily Pre-K- enter through the Gazebo doors

Ms. Cheryl, Ms. Jill, Ms. Jaime Pre-K- enter through Door 2

Car Line- Kiss and Drop students and they can walk up the back path for Grades 1-5 or through the Library Door for Kindergarten. There will be staff members to greet you and assist.

***Safety Patrol is all set up and students have been trained on their assigned duties :)

****Please do not park in any parking lot or in a numbered spot. These are designated for staff members only. Drop off in the gazebo is also a safety concern as our staff is in and out of this lot. Please do not enter this lot.

October is packed with events at Mountain View! We have so many fun ways to get involved, support our students, and come together as a school community. 🖤💛❤️

📚 Clothing Drive
🗓️ Wednesday, October 7
We’re looking for volunteers to help make our fall clothing drive a success!

🔗 Sign up here:
https://m.signupgenius.com/#!/showSignUp/8050F4DAFAA2CA3FB6-65419555-fall?useFullSite=false

📸 Picture Day
🗓️ Thursday, October 8
Say cheese! 😁 We need volunteers to help keep Picture Day running smoothly. If you’re available to lend a hand, we’d love to have you!

Sign up here: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/8050F4DAFAA2CA3FB6-66231701-picture

📖 Book Fair
🗓️ October 13–15
Help our students discover their next favorite book! 📚✨

🔗 Sign up here:
https://m.signupgenius.com/#!/showSignUp/8050F4DAFAA2CA3FB6-66137337-fall?useFullSite=false

🩷 PINK OUT for Breast Cancer Awareness 🩷
🗓️ Friday, October 16
Mountain View is going PINK! 🎀 Wear your pink and join us as we come together to raise awareness and show our support for those impacted by breast cancer.

💗 Donations can be made via cash or Venmo: @flanderspta

🎃 Trunk or Treat 👻
🗓️ Friday, October 23
One of our favorite fall events is back! We’re looking for volunteers to decorate trunks and help make the night extra spooky and fun! 🍬🎃

🔗 Sign up here:
https://m.signupgenius.com/#!/showSignUp/8050F4DAFAA2CA3FB6-65761883-trunk?useFullSite=false

Whether you can donate, help for an hour or stay for the whole event, every helping hand makes a difference! 🍁

Thank you for supporting our students and helping us make these special events possible! 🖤💛❤️

Let’s make it an amazing October at Mountain View! 🍂🎃📚

8:30am- 3:30 pm

Early Dismissal

8:30am- 12:40 pm

Delayed Opening

10:30 am- 3:30 pm

Pre-K

AM Session 8:30 am- 11:00 am

PM Session 12:00 pm- 2:30 pm

*on early dismissal days am and pm pre-k students alternate school days

*on early dismissal days Pre-K students attend 8:30 am- 11:00 (only)