Madera Mustang Messenger

Vision: Madera will develop thoughtful citizens and empower young leaders to become active members in their school, community and government.

Mission: Madera teachers and staff will meet all students where they are, using best instructional practices to cultivate academic and social-emotional growth and success.

Dear Families,

Fall conferences continue until Tuesday, October 27th. We will be on Early Dismissal (12:55 PM) through Tuesday, October 27th. Please see the conference links below. The teachers will meet with each student's parents/guardians during fall conferences. Please sign up for an available time for your child's teacher by clicking the links below in the "Fall Conferences" section of the newsletter. If you will need an interpreter for the meeting, please let your child's teacher know so that we can make arrangements.

Our 5th grade students are beginning their Civic Projects now. Look for more information to come in the following weeks. A total of 462 books were collected in the book drive! Thank you for supporting our student's Civic Project.

We are gearing up for our Trunk or Treat. Silent auction basket donations items and candy are needed. Please drop any candy donation off in the front office. Turn in any auction basket items to your child's teacher.

Student council is also collecting items for our Trick or Treat School wide event. Please see their flyer below.

Other communication modes are: The Madera Website

Follow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MaderaMustangs

October--Commitment and Responsibility--Honoring Hispanic Americans

10/20-10/27-Fall Conferences- Dismissal at 12:55 PM

10/21-Unity Day

10/23-10/31 Red Ribbon Week starts, theme is Make a Difference. Be a Hero. Stay Drug Free.

10/23-Food Drive Friday

10/23-Wear Madera Blue/Spirit Shirt

10/24-Simi Street fair

10/28-Wear Red to celebrate making Healthy choices for Red Ribbon Week

10/29-Trunk or Treat 5-7 PM

10/29-Student Council Trick or Treat Event 1:30

10/30- NO School for students-Staff Development

The Board of Education of the Simi Valley Unified School District values the partnership with parents in the education of children. The District provides opportunities for parent-teacher communications throughout the school year. One of these opportunities is a parent-teacher conference held at the end of the first quarter of the school year to discuss the progress of all of our elementary students. We invite parents to meet with their child’s teacher to celebrate the academic progress that is taking place in the classroom as well as to make plans for how we can work together to foster even more student progress and success.

Parents are a child’s first and most influential teacher. The majority of your child’s time is spent with you, the parent. That is why it is so important for you to be an active part of our children’s learning process by providing both input and support throughout your child’s education. Ideally, students, parents and the teacher form a learning team. Conferences create an opportunity for members of the team to meet together for the purpose of enhancing your child’s progress.

Teachers will meet with each child's parents/guardians.

The following minimum days have been set aside for conferences at Madera:

Conference Days: October 20th-27th

School Dismissed at: 12:55 PM

TK

K

K

1st

1st

2nd

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2nd/3rd

3rd

4th

5th

Trunk or Treat Basket Donations

Madera PTA will be having a silent auction at the Trunk or Treat on October 29th!

We are collecting donations for the baskets.

Each grade will have a themed basket for auction, which are listed below.

Please send all donation items to your child’s teacher by Thursday, October 22nd.

Thank you in advance for supporting our Silent Auction!

Students are allowed to wear appropriate costumes on Thursday, October 29th.

Students should follow the guidelines specified below:

1. Costumes should allow students freedom of movement in order to participate in regular school activities.

2. No bloody/scary costumes.

3. Full-face painting is NOT allowed.

4. Removable makeup only.

5. Temporary hair color only.

6. NO face masks or anything that might impair the identification of a student.

7. All costumes must meet the school dress code.

8. No weapons. replicas, or props of any kind.

9. No air-filled costumes, they do not allow students to sit down and participate fully in the instructional day.

10. Shoes should not have heels, should meet the school dress code for safe playground play.

11. Costumes should not make noise.

12. Our Madera Motto is "Be Safe, Be Respectful, Be Responsible" All costumes must meet the criteria for being respectful of others and being safe. Costumes that are offensive, and promote violence or stereotypes will not be allowed.

This is the fifth year that Madera students are allowed to dress up. We want it to be a fun, enjoyable, respectful, and safe day for all of our students.

Please note that this is an instructional day. Any costume issues that interfere with classroom instruction will not be allowed. Teachers and staff members will not be responsible for damaged, lost, or broken costumes. In addition, costumes must allow students to use the restroom unassisted.

Students need to wear regular clothing under their costumes. If they can not, please send your child to school with a set of clothes so that they can change themselves out of costumes if necessary. Students must be able to change w/o adult assistance.

At the end of the day, student council will host a school trick or treat event. This event is for students only.

We would like to honor our brave men and women who have served our country in the Armed Forces at our monthly character awards and Veterans' Day Assembly on Friday, November 13th, at 8:05 AM.

This year, we would like to do something special for our Veteran's and their families! They are invited to our Goodies with a Grown up at 7:15am, before our Veteran's Day Assembly. Please join us in celebrating those in service to our country.

Parents are invited to attend this event in our quad, near our flagpole, after morning drop-off. The gates will be opened for breakfast at 7:15AM to allow parents to come enjoy Goodies with a Grown up, provided by our fantastic PTA!

If you have a family member or friend that you would like to honor on this day, please send a photo of your honored veteran mounted on a piece of plain white paper.

On the top of the paper, include the picture, and on the bottom of the paper (underneath the picture,) please write the person's name, dates of service, and branch of the service.

We will display these on the morning of our assembly.

On the back of the construction paper, please put your child's name and teacher's name so that the copy of the picture can be returned. If you feel more comfortable sending a copy of a picture this is fine as well.

Please submit these pictures by Friday, November 6th.

If you do not have plain white paper but would like to send a picture, please put a copy of your photo in a plastic bag with the person's name, dates of service, and branch of the service, along with your child's name and teacher's name so that it can be returned. The pictures should be given to your child's teacher.

Tuesday, November 11th, is a "no school" day in honor of Veterans' Day.

Please complete this RSVP to attend.

All guests should come into the school office early to run their ID through the Raptor system.

Thank you!

Food Pantries

• The Samaritan Center-Walk Through Only- Tuesdays & Thursdays 11:00 am - 12:00 pm. (LINK)

• Samaritan Center Client Services (Spanish) and Laundry of Love (Spanish)

• Still Waters Cafe continues to serve as our local food pantry. A food pantry is also held in Moorpark at Moorpark College on Tuesdays from 2:00 - 5:00 p.m. and Saturdays from 12:30 - 2:30 p.m. For more information, please visit (LINK).

• Here is a list of regional food pantries and dinner sites (LINK).

Simi Valley dinner site

Free Food Agencies in Ventura County

New Basic Needs Directory

This new webpage provides direct links to trusted websites that connect youth and families to essential resources, including food assistance, housing support, childcare, mental health services, and more. Whether you're navigating a tough time or helping others find support, this webpage is designed to make it easier to find local assistance. (link)

The webpage is organized by type of assistance, including child care, clothing, food, healthcare, housing, and mental health. There is also a section entitled "multiple services," which links to service providers who can help address more than one basic need.

All Simi Valley Schools use the Raptor Visitor Management System. This system provides visitor accountability, which increases the overall safety of our students and staff. Please bring your ID whenever you are on campus.