Sea Lion Spotlight

Principal's Wave

Happy November Sea Lion Families,

PARENT TEACHER CONFERENCES are coming this week! Please make sure that you've communicated with your child's teacher and have one set up! We have a FULL day of school on Monday, Nov. 2nd. Students do not have school on Tuesday, Nov. 3rd. We then have 12:45 dismissals for ALL students on Wed-Fri, Nov. 4-6th. Please make a note of this!

These conferences are an important opportunity to connect, celebrate your child's growth, and work together to support their continued success. These conversations are about more than just academic progress; they provide an opportunity to discuss your child's social-emotional development, friendships, interests, strengths, and areas where they may need additional support. Most importantly, remember that you and your child's teacher share the same goal: helping your child feel successful, supported, and excited about learning. When home and school work together, we create the strongest foundation for student growth!

HOME/SCHOOL COMMUNICATION - Remember that our teachers are also sending out regular communication to you, using Parent Square. You can access their communication through an email alert, and can also download the app and receive notifications that way. You can also go into the settings/notifications and choose to have it text you that a message has been sent. Please make sure to check these messages when they come through so that we can make sure that you're getting all the important information about your child's experience here at MES!

ATTENDANCE - I know I mention this every week, but this is an area of growth for MES. It's important that we not only get students to school, but get them to their classroom line up spots on time. Sometimes it is just a difference of 5 extra minutes in the morning! PLEASE work together so that your student can be to their line (not just the gate) by the time the bell rings! Know that between 8-8:05 there are MINIMAL cars in the line - even with our new procedure! Our playgrounds open at 8 so we've got supervision for your students!

Please also continue to do the following when reporting absences!

Email us at mesattendance@smmusd.org
Make sure to let us know the reason for your child's absence when you communicate!
Let the teacher know as well.

Ms. Sally Wennes

Principal

This year, SMMUSD has launched an exciting initiative to develop our Portrait of a Graduate, centered around one important question:

What do we want our students to know, be able to do, and demonstrate when they graduate from SMMUSD?

To help answer this question, we have brought together a diverse group of community members, including parents, students, and staff, to collaboratively identify the skills, qualities, and competencies we believe are most important for our students' future success. The group held its first meeting on October 12th, where we began this important work and identified seven possible key competencies for consideration in our Portrait of a Graduate.

Now, we want to hear from YOU!

As we prepare for our next meeting scheduled for November 9th, we are asking our staff, students, families and community members to review the seven competencies and select the top five you believe are most important for every SMMUSD graduate.

Our goal is to gather as much community input as possible throughout this process to ensure that our Portrait of a Graduate reflects the shared hopes, priorities, and aspirations of our entire school community.

Here's how you can participate:

Watch our short video highlighting our first meeting and the work we are doing.
Complete our brief survey by selecting the five competencies you believe should be included in our Portrait of a Graduate.

Your voice matters, and your feedback will help guide our conversations and decisions at our next meeting on November 9th.

We look forward to sharing more information and updates following that meeting as we continue this important work together.

Thank you for taking a few minutes to help shape the future of our SMMUSD graduates!

Calendar of Events

Flyers for events will always be posted below! Don't forget to check out the details!

NOVEMBER

11/2 - 11/6 - Parent/Teacher Conferences happening across campus
11/3 - No school for students due to Parent/Teacher Conferences
11/4 - 11/6 - Minimum/Friday schedule due to Parent/Teacher Conferences (12:45 dismissal)
11/6 - PTA Member Meeting following assembly
11/7 - MEF Gala (Rescheduled date)
11/11 - No School - Veterans Day
11/13 - Zoe's Theater presents Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (9:10am)
11/13 - Square One Fundraiser Concludes
11/18 - Grilled Cheesy Sandwich Lunch
11/20 - November Volunteer Training @ 10:30am
11/20 - Opposite Dress Up Day
11/25 - 11/27 - No School - Thanksgiving Holiday

Important Information & Dates

26-27 Academic Calendar

26-27 Community Calendar

Photo Highlights

This week, it was ALL about Halloween! We had the return of our Trunk or Treat on Monday night and the families had an absolute BLAST! The rain stayed away on Friday and we were able to get in our parade and a whole bunch of parties! Thank you volunteers for your incredible support at making our students' day a BOOTIFUL one!

We're always looking for amazing photos of students and families! f you ever have photos that you'd like to contribute, please send them to Ms. Wennes at swennes@smmusd.org!

More Information for Parents

Make sure to check this space for all the important things that go on for your child! You'll also find out about things going on in our community!

SQUARE ONE ART FUNDRAISER - We are again doing an amazing fundraiser through Square One! Check your child's backpack for a custom flyer that went home last week (and see the sample flyer below). This helps to provide extra supplies that we use during art time with Ms. Nicole! You are ALWAYS able to purchase items through Square One, but the fundraiser part ends on November 13th! Thank you for helping and supporting our program! Any questions? Reach out to Nicole at nfisher@smmusd.org!

Malibu Ed Foundation

Happy New School Year!

$1.5 million. That's what MEF has invested in our four schools since our January 2024 launch, thanks to support from Malibu City, SMMUSD, and our community.

As we head into Year 3, we'll need your help keeping our Annual Fund and fall events top of mind with parents. We're working with the PTAs and Shark Fund on a joint-ask flyer for registration packets. A few dates to help us spread the word on:

Annual Fund — malibueducationfoundation.org/donate
MEF Gala — Rescheduled for Saturday, Nov. 7th - Tickets are now on sale for the Second Annual MEF Gala, Saturday, October 17th at Malibu High School. This is Malibu's flagship night in support of all four Malibu public schools: Malibu Elementary, Webster Elementary, Malibu Middle School, and Malibu High School. Every dollar raised stays in Malibu and enables us to build a brighter future for every Malibu student by funding staff and programs across all four campuses.
Get your tickets today at: https://onecau.se/mefgala
MEF Tree Lot - Nov. 27-Dec. 13

BOYS AND GIRLS CLUB OF MALIBU

At the Boys & Girls Club of Malibu, our mission is to significantly enhance the lives of all youth to fulfill their potential as caring, productive, and contributing citizens. Through impactful after-school programs, we focus on academic success, character development, and health and wellness, catering to the unique needs of Malibu's youth. By addressing the needs of families, we foster a sense of safety, support, and community engagement, promoting a brighter future for all!

Academic Year Enrollment

Click here and see the attached flyer to learn more and enroll in our upcoming Academic Year program at the Malibu Elementary Clubhouse/Webster Elementary Clubhouse!

Available to TK–5th grade.
Programs include: Kindness Is Free, Manners Matter, social emotional wellness, STEM based projects, arts & crafts, cooking/gardening, and more!

The Boys & Girls Club of Malibu Wellness Center provides no-cost mental health counseling and social support services to our school community. Click here to learn more and email wellnessinfo@bgcmalibu.org or call 310-457-0360 ext 60146 to request services for you/your child.

Long Term Disaster Recovery Services A Disaster Recovery Coalition established by the Boys & Girls Club of Malibu is here to support Franklin and Palisades Fire survivors with long-term recovery services. Our dedicated Care Coordination Team is ready to assist those who qualify with:

Personalized recovery planning: Working to identify your most pressing current and ongoing needs and creating a recovery plan tailored to your individual situation.
Resource connection: Helping you access the latest available support and resources by assessing your individual needs and connecting you to available resources based on qualifying criteria.
Advocacy: You won't navigate this alone. By understanding community needs, we can advocate for increased financial resources for the community.

To be connected with a Care Coordinator, please email drc@bgcmalibu.org.

Student Birthday Celebrations

Such observances must be coordinated with the classroom teacher and should occur after lunch or at the end of the day. Food may be distributed at school. Healthier options should be encouraged. Cakes or very sweet treats (Sugar-based foods) are NOT allowed. All-natural popsicles are the ONLY choice for birthday celebrations. Our SMMUSD Food and Nutrition Services Wellness Policy calls for staff to limit student consumption of sugar at school. No nuts, if there is a peanut allergy in the classroom. Party favors are ok to distribute. Balloons should not be brought to campus as part of a birthday celebration. Birthday invitations for parties away from school may not be distributed unless every student in the class is invited.

Candy/sheet cakes/cupcakes/cookies at school: Staff, students, and parents may not distribute these at school.

Data Confirmation - MUST DO!

Annual Parent Data Confirmation or Revision - Aeries Parent Portal

The Data Confirmation process is easy. This includes items like Emergency Cards, Parent Handbooks and Policies and Authorizations. We have many important documents and plenty of information for your family within the online registration site, accessed via your Aeries Parent Portal.

There are a couple new things this year - the Consent for School-Based Wellness Services and the Consent for Billing Health Insurance.

SMMUSD is participating in California's Children and Youth Behavioral Health Initiative (CYBHI), which allows school districts to seek reimbursement from Medi-Cal and commercial health insurance for eligible school-based wellness services. These reimbursements help offset the District's investment in counseling, mental health, nursing, and other student wellness programs.
Families will also be asked to provide their child's health insurance information as part of the annual records update. Collecting this information does not authorize SMMUSD to bill insurance. Insurance will only be billed if a parent provides separate authorization, which is completely voluntary.

ACTION NEEDED: Malibu Elementary’s annual registration process is completed in the Aeries Parent Portal. You must complete the complete data confirmation for each student - even if you JUST finished registration!

Log in to your Aeries Parent Portal: https://santamonicamalibu.aeries.net/
Be sure to read, review, and discuss all the materials with your student.
Very Important: We need to gather information from you for emergency contacts. Please add at least two non-parents. While there are many boxes to fill, at minimum include name, relationship, and phone number.
We also need to gather information from you for health documents.

Note: You may decide to print some of the documents for future reference. For a tutorial on how to complete this process, please click here English

The Data Confirmation process is easy. This includes items like Emergency Cards, Parent Handbooks and Policies and Authorizations. We have many important documents and plenty of information for your family within the online registration site, accessed via your Aeries Parent Portal.