Montera Middle School eBulletin
May 12, 2024
Important Dates
This Week's Block Schedule: AB - A - AB
Tuesday May 14, 5pm: Snacks and Doodles Party (Adults Only)
Wednesday May 15, Staff Appreciation Lunch (Contribute Here)
Friday May 17: 8th Grade PicnicMonday, May 20, 5:30pm - 7:00pm: ELP WOW! Event
Tuesday May 21:
- Field Day for 6th & 7th Grade
- Minimum Day - School out 1:49pm
Thursday May 23: Last Day of School / Minimum Day - School out1:49pm
Action Items
- SIGN UP: Help with 6th Grade Field Day (9:15am - 11:15am)
- SIGN UP: Help with 7th Grade Field Day (11:45pm - 1:45pm)
- SIGN UP: Parent Hosted Parties!
- DONATE: Staff appreciation fund
- CONTRIBUTE / VOLUNTEER: Staff Appreciation Lunch
PTO UPDATE
Teacher and Staff End of Year Gifts - Please Donate!
Our Montera teachers and staff put their hearts into teaching and supporting our kids. Please donate to the staff appreciation fund so we can show our appreciation with an end-of-year gift card to each of the 90 staff members at Montera. Our goal is to raise $4,500. Let's show our teachers and staff how much we value them!
We also need volunteers to bring drinks, cookies and bottles of wine to the Teacher and Staff Appreciation Lunch on May 15. Please sign up to volunteer here.
POSITIONS STILL OPEN for 2024-25 PTO Board
We have a number of board positions and Lead Roles open for next year. Please consider volunteering! Without a strong PTO Board and membership, we can't do the important work our Montera students, teachers and families need from us.
You can review next year's open roles and indicate interest in this form. We will get in touch with you to go through the job description and time commitment. Many of these roles can be shared.
Upcoming Events
Snacks and Doodles Party - May 14th, 5pm
Reserve Your Spot Now: Snacks and Doodles Party Tuesday, May 14th 5PM - 7PM (Adults Only) Join us in the library for sweet and savory snacks and an evening of art. Unlock your inner artist with a fun and easy doodling art project led by acclaimed artist, author, teacher, and Montera parent Briana Loewinsohn. No experience required! No supplies needed! Just bring yourself and a creative spirit, $50 per person. Hosted by our very own librarian Mrs. Rogers and Montera parent Briana Loewinsohn.
Parties: Meet Montera families and join in community with these parent and teacher hosted parties. Secure your spot today! Pedi Party, Snacks and Doodles, Guided Meditation, and Pizza and Drinks Party.
Field Day Coming Up Tuesday May 21 - VOLUNTEERS NEEDED!
Field Day is an annual Montera tradition for 6th and 7th graders full of outdoor games and activities. Teachers, Staff and PTO have a super fun day planned including a giant slide and obstacle course, pedal carts, sack bag relay, tug of war and more. However, volunteers are needed to make this event successful.
Please sign up to volunteer for a shift. If you can't offer any time, please consider signing up to send in snacks, popsicles, ice, or a shade tent.
Thank you for your support!
- Your PTO
School Information
Yearbook Announcement
It's not too late to get a yearbook!
Did you miss our 4/15 ordering deadline? You can still order a yearbook! Books ordered after the deadline may ship to the school if there's time, or may be shipped directly to you, depending on when you order. We're currently planning to distribute all books shipped to the school during the school day on May 15th, so there will be plenty of time to sign them before the end of the school year. Our student staff has been working hard putting the book together, and it will be a great record of the year!
Purchase your yearbook here: https://www.treering.com/purchase?PassCode=1014897661773030
Support Our School
Montera Annual Fund
Invest in Your Children — Invest in Montera
We are asking families to give what they can. Suggested donation is $450 per student. Donations range from $10-$2,000.
- Make a one-time or monthly donation online via PayPal
- To donate offline, download this form and submit to Montera by mail or drop it off in the school office.
Summer Fun Fundraisers at the Chase Center
Check out these fun, family friendly, affordable and unique opportunities for a fun day in the city! Hot Wheels Monster Truck Live Shows and Cal Classic Games! CLICK HERE to purchase tickets (and raise money for Montera!).
- $7.50 to Montera each ticket purchased for Hot Wheels
- $10 to Montera for each ticket purchased for Cal Classic
Please note à we will be adding in our Cal Classic games onto the link in the coming weeks once pricing is finalized. These are our NBA summer league games at Chase Center (happening in July).
Montera Sports
Montera's Track Team went to finals! Our Toros won lots of medals in individual events....we are still awaiting the final results. See a team photo below. Go Toros!
How to find game schedules: Sync the Band team calendar with your iCal/Google calendar
Any questions or requests please contact sports@monterapto.com.
8th Grade Activities and Information
- Each student will receive up to 6 tickets
- Tickets will be handed out at the final promotion rehearsal
- If you have extra tickets, please return them so we can give them to others who need them (or give them directly to someone you know who needs tickets)
- There will be a lottery for any additional tickets - details to follow
- Tickets are required for admission due to limited space
- All 8th graders participating in promotion must be at Skyline by 2pm
7th Grade Activities and Information
2025 DC Trip Info
The cost of the 2025 DC Trip will go up on May 1st. SIGN UP NOW! For those who could not attend the original meeting, here is a recording of the meeting as well as the Presentation Slides.
6th Grade Activities and Information
June 2025 Italy Trip - Meeting Summary
This document is the summary for the parent interest meeting for the June 2025 trip to Italy for this year's 6th graders. Interested parents who did not get to attend the meeting (or who need to revisit information) should visit this link for the sign-up QR code, slides, and video of the meeting.
Toro Pics
So many Toro events last week! Below are photos from our Montera Visual Arts Night, STEM night, and Diversity event. Have some great Toro photos to share? Send them to eBulletin@monterapto.com | Check past featured photos of our Toros here!
These and many more opportunities are available to our Montera community, OUSD, and beyond. Items appear in the eBulletin for 2 weeks. Please click here for the full list of current programs.
5 Day Overnight Bike Tour!
Join the California Field School, OUSD Summer Learning, and Oakland Goes Outdoors for a free 5-day overnight bike tour from San Francisco to Santa Cruz from June 21-25. If you are interested, please fill out a 2024 Summer Break Bike Tour Interest Form and a 2024 Summer Break Waiver/Liability Form. Please note that in addition to the trip, there will be an info session and three mandatory training rides:
- Info Session: Wednesday, May 29 from 2:30pm -3:30pm
- Mandatory Training Ride: Tuesday, June 4 from 10am - 12pm
- Mandatory Training Ride: Tuesday, June 11 from 10am - 2pm
- Mandatory Training Ride: Tuesday, June 18 from 10am - 2pm
Project Ignite
In Project Ignite, students would create their own small chapter in their community with friends. As a chapter, students would work towards solving a community issue, whether that is through teaching younger students, hosting events/workshops/competitions, volunteering to do community work (e.g. picking up trash) as a group, starting a positive campaign (e.g. no drug campaign), etc... Students will be guided by experienced leaders in Bloom Institute to start their mini passion project.
This program will last over the summer break! There is no set start and end date, but we recommend starting in early/mid-June until early-August.
Chapter application deadline: May 31st, 2024
Link: bit.ly/bloom-ignite
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Bloom Institute is a student-run nonprofit organization that fosters curiosity and encourages students to explore a wide variety of specialized subjects. So far, we have successfully hosted 30+ unique courses and events for 1K+ students worldwide.
Chrysalis Girls Adventures: Outdoor Expeditions for Rising 4th-9th Graders!
Chrysalis Girls Adventures offers hiking and camping expeditions for girls entering 4th-9th grades. We embrace the outdoor environment as a medium for empowering girls to build healthy relationships with one another, recognize and celebrate their strengths, and connect with the natural world. Students live and travel outdoors, while learning technical skills and engaging in curriculum centered around community building, leadership development, diversity and allyship, self-awareness, positive body image, and healthy living. We celebrate our unique identities as bold & brave girls, while enjoying the breathtaking forests, rivers, lakes, mountains, seashores, and rock formations of the San Francisco Bay Area! This summer, we're offering four 3-day courses. Luna Girls (4th-6th) features rock-climbing and Redwood Divas (7th-9th) features self-defense! Visit our website for more information: chrysalisgirls.org. We'd love to have you on course with us!
Outdoor Adventure Camps in Sonoma for Rising 6 - 9th Graders
Summer at Sonoma Academy: Our fun and educational week-long camps for rising 6th - 9th graders explore a huge raange of topics to suit all sorts of interests. Each camp includes a full day of fun and learning, plus a healthy and freshly cooked hot lunch.
Back to Earth - Summer backpacking opportunity for Oakland teens
My name is Eli Marienthal and I'm the director of a non-profit wilderness guiding and outdoor education organization based in Berkeley called Back to Earth.
We take teens on backpacking adventures in the summer that boost teens' confidence, teach them real world leadership skills, and give them opportunities to connect deeply with peers, mentors, and the natural world.
Click here to watch our video.
Our organization is committed to promoting equity and belonging in the outdoors, and increasing diversity and representation in wilderness education in particular. Our trips are tuition-based, but we are committed to making sure no teen is ever turned away for financial reasons.
We're currently enrolling for our summer program - Wilderness Immersion & Leadership Development (W.I.L.D.) - and have openings on our 7-day Intro trips for rising 8th and 9th graders, as well as 10-day trips for rising 10th graders and older.
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Eli Marienthal (he/him)
Director Back to Earth
(510) 684-3497
FREE Summer Programs for Middle School and High School Students
Check out a variety of free summer programs here: Summer Programs for MS & HS Students
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Montera Middle School
eBulletin is produced on a weekly basis by the Montera Parent Teacher Organization (PTO) except on holidays. It sometimes contains ads from our sponsors and/or services from the community. These advertisements do not imply endorsement of any product or service by OUSD or Montera Middle School.
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We Are Montera. We Are One.
Email: communications@monterapto.com
Website: https://www.ousd.org/montera
Location: 5555 Ascot Drive, Oakland, CA, USA
Phone: (510) 531-6070
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/monterapto
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/monteratoros/