Jaguar News

Hello Jaguar Community!

A big shout-out to all of our amazing students who volunteered at Parent Math Night! From greeting families to helping with activities, you showed true leadership and school spirit. A special thank you to our math team for a great tutorial on the new math curriculum as well as our counseling team for their support. We couldn’t have done it without you. Thank you for making the night such a success!

It’s hard to believe we’re already this far into the school year. The energy on campus has been incredible! Our students have settled in beautifully and all classes are now firmly into their curriculum. Teachers are diving deep into lessons and it’s been wonderful to see so much engagement and excitement for learning across every grade level.

A huge thank you as well to the 150+ parents who joined us for Parent Math Night - what an amazing turnout! Your support shows our kids just how important their learning is. I’m also so grateful to those who stopped by our first Coffee with the Principal. I loved the chance to share updates, listen to your ideas, and connect in a more casual setting.

To help us plan future gatherings, I’d love your input. Please take a moment to complete this quick Parent Survey to let us know:

What dates and times work best for Coffee with the Principal
If you’d be interested in a Dads/Male Caregivers group
If you’d like to volunteer at lunch (a huge help in keeping things smooth and safe for students!)
How we're doing specific to parent communication

A Few Important Updates

Gold Week: This week is Gold Week, which means students start their day in 7th period and end in 1st period.
Our African American Parent Advisory Committee (AAPAC) is a joint effort in partnership with College Park High School. The first meeting is Monday, August 25th, at 6:00 pm in College Park's library

Thank you for your continued partnership - it makes such a difference. Together, we’re creating a positive, focused environment where every Jaguar can thrive.

Warmly,

Ms. Jamie Keith

Principal, Valley View Middle School

If you have any questions, feel free to reach out: keithj@mdusd.org.

Important Links

August 25th - STAR Testing Begins; joint CPHS and VVMS AAPAC meeting at 6:00 pm in College Park's library
September 1st - Labor Day (no school)
September 5th - First Flag Football games 4:30-7:00 pm at VVMS
September 9th - Minimum Day - students dismissed at 12:30 pm.
September 10th - CPHS Early Out Wednesday (2:11 release at CP, expect heavier traffic during our dismissal); Believe/Otis Spunkmeyer Fundraiser Kickoff

Always email our office of your student's absences and keep us updated on their health status:

Contact our Attendance Office
- email: vvmsattend@mdusd.org
- call: 925-682-8000 x5090

Cell Phone & Personal Electronics Policy: We want students focused on learning, so please help remind them of our expectations:

1st violation → Student pickup
2nd violation → Parent pickup
3rd violation → Parent pickup + 10-minute detention
4th+ violation → Parent meeting with administration to create a support plan

Tardy Policy: Being on time is key for learning! The following consequences are assigned each quarter (tardy count resets at the end of each quarter):

5 tardies → 10-minute detention
10 tardies → Two 10-minute detentions
15+ tardies → After school detention

This week, our students will begin their first cycle of STAR testing in Math and Reading. Students will take the Math portion in their math class and the Reading portion in their English Language Arts class. Please remind your child to bring their fully charged Chromebook to school each day since testing will be done on the computer.

We give the STAR test three times each year so we can measure student growth over time and celebrate the progress they make. The test helps us see both strengths and areas where extra support may be needed, so teachers can adjust instruction to meet the needs of every learner.

STAR is shorter and more flexible than state testing but it’s just as important in helping us understand how our students are doing. We encourage students to take their time, do their best, and show what they know as this gives us the most accurate picture of their learning. Thank you for partnering with us to support student success!

As many of you know, College Park High School is right next door to us. Normally, their dismissal time is 3:20 pm. However, beginning in September, they will have one early release Wednesday each month, with students dismissing at 2:11 pm. Since our VVMS students are dismissed at 2:15 pm, this overlap creates significant traffic around our campus.

To help ease congestion and make pickup smoother for everyone, we recommend that parents use the Community Center Parking Lot off Taylor Blvd. as a meeting point on these days. College Park’s first early release is scheduled for Wednesday, September 10th and all of their early release dates have been added to our VVMS Events Calendar for easy reference.

Thank you for helping us keep dismissal safe and efficient for our Jaguars!

We’re only a couple of weeks into the school year and our Lost and Found is already filling up! Please take a close look at the picture below with your child. If you spot something that belongs to them, remind them to pick it up and bring it home next week.

Our first Association Meeting of the year is scheduled for Wednesday, September 24 at 6:30 p.m. in the Library. Come meet our school counselors who will be giving a presentation on their services in support of our kids and families, learn about the new middle school sports league, get an update from Vice Principal Buhler, ratify our budget for the year, hopefully fill two open roles, and enjoy refreshments and fellowship! The meeting will be optimized for in-person interaction with a Zoom attendance link to be provided closer to the meeting date.

The two open roles that we need to fill as soon as possible are: 8th-grade Promotion/Party and Financial Secretary - click here if you can help by volunteering for one of these positions!

If you have an interest in any Board position, please reach out! We would love to have you “shadow” us before taking on a role like President, Treasurer, Fundraising, Programs & Hospitality, or Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging (DEIB) next year or beyond.

Volunteering at VVMS

We strongly encourage parents and guardians to get cleared by Mt. Diablo Unified School District to volunteer on campus. There will be calls for help for the Library, Book Fairs, Field Day, lunch period monitors, field trip chaperones, Teacher Appreciation Luncheons, dances, and more - and we hope you’ll want to sign up when you can. Don’t let not being cleared block you from participating - get your paperwork taken care of and come join the volunteers on campus!

Here’s to another great school year!!

2025-26 PTSA Board Members ~ Lucy, Pavel, Sidney, Blanca, Sabrina, and Juaná

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