Mesa Verde Weekly Newsletter
August 14th, 2026
Here's What's Happening in November
November 1: Day Light Savings Ends
November 1-2: Dia de los Muertos
November 6-10: Diwali
November 11: Veterans Day: (no school)
November 16: PUSD Professional Development (no school)
November 23-27: Fall Recess (no school)
We are making one last push for our Eagle Envelope fundraiser, and we need your help! Every donation, regardless of size, makes a difference in the opportunities we can provide for our Eagles.
Participation matters, and every Eagle counts! Whether you contribute $5 or $500, your support helps strengthen our school community and ensures we can continue investing in the experiences that help our students thrive.
Your contributions directly support the programs and experiences that make Mesa Verde Middle School special, including classroom subscriptions and resources, science materials, band, clubs, PE, drama, electives, library resources, student activities, and more. These funds help us provide enriching learning experiences and opportunities for our students that extend beyond what our regular school funding can cover.
We are grateful to every family that has already contributed and appreciate your consideration as we work toward our goal.
Thank you for being part of Team MVMS and helping our Eagles soar. Together, we thrive!
As we enter cold and flu season, we are seeing an increase in the number of students coming to school feeling ill. We understand that families have busy schedules and that missing school can be challenging; however, we ask for your help in keeping our school community healthy by ensuring that children are well enough to return to school after an illness.
Our Health Office supports a school community, with one Health Technician available to assist students who become ill or injured during the school day. When many students are experiencing symptoms of illness, it can be challenging to provide timely care to everyone who needs assistance.
Please help us reduce the spread of illness by:
Keeping your child home when they are sick. If your child has a fever, vomiting, diarrhea, or symptoms that prevent them from comfortably participating in school activities, please keep them home.
Waiting until symptoms have improved and your child is ready to return. Please follow school district guidelines for return to school, including any applicable fever-free requirements.
Encouraging good hygiene. Remind your child to wash their hands frequently, cover coughs and sneezes, and avoid sharing food or drinks.
Monitoring your child throughout the day. If your child is not feeling well before school, please consider whether they are ready to participate in a full day of learning.
We recognize that some symptoms, such as a lingering cough or runny nose, may persist after an illness. Please use your best judgment and follow school guidelines when deciding whether your child is well enough to attend. Our shared goal is to maintain a healthy learning environment for all students and staff while ensuring that students who need care during the school day can receive appropriate attention.
For more information, please follow our Health Services webpage.
Thank you for your understanding, cooperation, and consideration for the health and well-being of our entire school community. We appreciate your partnership in helping keep our students healthy and ready to learn.
Many of our MVMS teachers use DonorsChoose to help bring additional resources, materials, and learning opportunities to their classrooms. If you are interested in supporting our teachers and students, you can often find links to their DonorsChoose projects in teacher communications and email signature lines. Thank you for supporting our MVMS staff and helping create meaningful learning experiences for our students!
In this New York Times bestseller, one of America’s premier physicians offers a must-read account of the new challenges facing parents today and a program for how we can better prepare our children to navigate the obstacles they face
In The Collapse of Parenting, internationally acclaimed author Leonard Sax argues that rising levels of obesity, depression, and anxiety among young people can be traced to parents abdicating their authority. The result is children who have no standard of right and wrong, who lack discipline, and who look to their peers and the Internet for direction. Sax shows how parents must reassert their authority - by limiting time with screens, by encouraging better habits at the dinner table, and by teaching humility and perspective - to renew their relationships with their children. Drawing on nearly thirty years of experience as a family physician and psychologist, along with hundreds of interviews with children, parents, and teachers, Sax offers a blueprint parents can use to help their children thrive in an increasingly complicated world.
AVID Tip of the Week: Fall Back, But Keep Moving Forward!
Daylight Saving Time ends this weekend, which means an extra hour of sleep (hopefully!) but also a change to our routines. As we adjust to darker mornings and earlier sunsets, it's a great opportunity to revisit some AVID strategies for staying organized and managing our time.
This Week's Tip: Reset, Refocus, and Reorganize!
Update Your Planner: Take a few minutes to review upcoming assignments, assessments, and activities. A little planning now can prevent last-minute surprises.
Prioritize Your Tasks: Use a to-do list to identify what needs to get done first. Break larger assignments into smaller, manageable steps.
Establish a Routine: Adjust your bedtime and morning routine to help your body adapt to the time change.
Prepare the Night Before: Pack your backpack, charge your Chromebook, and have everything ready so your mornings run smoothly.
Remember: Successful students don't just manage their time; they make their time work for them!
Attendance and OCIS Contracts: If you have a student who will not be in class for 5-14 days, please notify the office so we can have the parents fill out an OCIS contract for their child. The forms will have to be completed and signed by parents 5-10 days in advance of the absence.If you and your child would like to contract the OCIS, please contact the attendance office.
Parents are required to give 5 days notice for absences up to 5 days, 10 days notice for absences more than 5 days.
Prepping work for students who are absent is an incredible amount of work for our teaching staff and we ask that you give your child’s teacher as much advance notice as possible beyond the above guidelines.
We do not write contracts beyond 14 days. If you plan to be away for 15 or more days please contact the Office for the necessary procedures.
Attendance: To report your child's absence or early checkout, please notify l the attendance office at before 10:00 am on the day of the absence. Please include your child's name, dates of absence, and reason for absence. We kindly ask that you avoid checking out your student during the lunch period from 11:30 am to 1:00 pm. Please refer to the attendance section of our Mesa Verde website for protocols regarding reporting student absences and requesting early release for your student.'
California Education Code 48205 states that a student may be excused legally from school when the absence is due to:
- Personal illness or injury
- Quarantine under the direction of a county or city health office
- Medical, dental, or chiropractic services
- Attendance at funeral services for a member of the immediate family
- Justifiable personal reasons, including, but not limited to, an appearance in court, observance of a holiday or ceremony of his or her religion, attendance at religious retreats, attendance at an employment conference, when the pupil's absence has been requested in writing by the parent and approved by the principal or designated representative
- For the purpose of serving as a member of a precinct board for an election
- Exclusion for failure to present evidence of immunization
- Exclusion from school because student is either the carrier of a contagious disease or not immunized for a contagious disease
Communication with your Student If there is a need to communicate with your child during the school day, please send a message to the Office. Please refrain from communicating with them directly through text messages or phone calls as it disrupts their learning.
