MVLA Parent Newsletter 8/25/2021

“Use your voice for kindness, your ears for compassion, your hands for charity, your mind for truth, and your heart for love.” Anonymous

“If your compassion does not include yourself, it is incomplete.” Anonymous

1. NEW GUIDELINES have been sent out about when to keep your child home. Please review them carefully.
2. Please do wellness checks on your students before sending them to school. Please do not send them to school if they are feeling sick.
3. Please make sure they have masks that they are willing to wear all day.
4. Please send kids with water bottles and have them put their names on them. Several students continue to ask for cups everyday.

STS-NM has launched a text alert system for late buses! It's live and notifications are going out morning and afternoon for issues such as late buses, route number changes, etc. You can opt in at:

https://my.textcaster.com/asa/default.aspx?ID=e57e7dbf-dd59-4d3c-8437-3e5ce3b26122

• The Kids Can After school Program has started. It will be Mondays and Wednesdays from 3:30 - 5:00pm. If your child has not registered, they will have to be on a waiting list as the program is now full.

• Picture Day is August 26th. Please have your student dress to impress.

• IMSSA Assessments for Language Arts and Math (These are State mandated formative assessments.)

• OPEN HOUSE - SEPT 1ST

• PTO Meeting Via Zoom Sept 2nd.

• September 7th - Labor Day - No School

Since we have a very small parking lot and we are working on maintaining covid safety protocols, we will be doing Open House a bit differently.

6:00 - 6:30 - 6th Grade Parents can come to meet and visit with teachers.

6:30 - 7:00 - 7th Grade Parents can come to meet and visit with teachers.

7:00 - 7:30 - 8th Grade Parents can come to meet and visit with teachers.

If you are unavailable or uncomfortable with this process, please join us at our PTO meeting on Zoom on Sept. 2nd or reach out to teachers via email to plan a separate time to meet and have questions answered.

Greetings Wonderful MVLA Parents!

While we have fewer discipline issues at MVLA than other schools, there are still moments when we have to redirect students. The simplest version of what we do here is as follows:

When a student has made a mistake that requires redirection:

1st time - The student is spoken to by staff.

2nd time - If it's possible, the student is given the opportunity to "restore the situation". For example, if they wrote on a desk, they are given the chance to clean it.

3rd time - Parent contact is made either through a phone call, email or a meeting.

4th time - Traditional disciplinary action is taken. They may lose their My Time, have a version of "lunch detention" (usually lunch in my office or at a specific table in the cafeteria) OR for more serious infractions suspension.

Now there are times, when a student has done something that requires that I skip steps. For example, if a student has been physically violent or committed any other type of offense that violates LCPS Rules of Conduct, I am required to progress to a more traditional consequence. That can be followed up by more restorative actions later, but it may start there instead of being progressive.

To review the Rights and Responsibilities, please click here: http://policies.lcps.net/documents/section-j/JI-R_Student_Rights.pdf

As we have already seen, we have quite a few kiddos that need to be out for various reasons. At this time, we are not having teachers do any zooms for at home learning. However, teachers are posting assignments and information in their canvas courses. Students can login to canvas to continue assignments and avoid getting too far behind on their schoolwork.

We do have one zoom students can login to Monday - Friday which is Morning Motivation. It will start at approximately 9:05. That zoom link is in the MVLA Student Canvas Course. Students will only be allowed into that zoom if they have their real name on their zoom account.

MVLA is in search of parents who would like to participate in PTO, School Advisory Council and District Advisory Council. If you have not already signed up and would like to, please click here:

https://form.jotform.com/211724591338154

If you would like more information about what the District Advisory Council is, please click here:

http://www.lcps.net/community-relations/district-advisory-council/

If you would like to serve as our District Advisory Council person, please email Mrs. Martos at amartos@lcps.net. We do already have some volunteers, but we can always use more in case someone is unable to attend.

We will serve breakfast from 8:45 - 9:30. If your student comes late, they can still pick up breakfast from the cafeteria.

If your child requires a special diet for any reason, please contact the school nurse Mrs. Hartshorn. You can call 527-6059 and ask for her and she will help set that up.

Also, please DO NOT have food delivered to campus. If you must bring food on occasion because your student has a special diet and forgot their lunch, that is fine, but please do NOT send deliveries, door dash, etc.

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.